The Black Swan

The Black Swan is the third studio album by American rock band Story of the Year. Background and recording Story of the Year's second album In the Wake of Determination was released in October 2005 through major label Maverick Records. By July 2006, the band had accumulated nine-and-a-half new tracks for their next album. They spent the following five months working on a live DVD until February 2007, when work began on a new album in earnest. During this time, Maverick Records folded and was incorporated into another major label, who opted to drop the band from their contract. On October 29, 2007, it was announced that the band had signed to independent label Epitaph Records. In addition, it was mentioned that the band were in the studio with producer John Feldmann, aiming to release their next album in spring 2008. The band explained the switch to an independent: "If a band doesn't have a mega bubble–gum shiny pop hit, chances are the label will not even put the record out, much less push it. To [us], it just doesn't seem like a very cool environment to be in". The sessions with Feldmann at Foxy Studios resulted in "Wake Up", "Tell Me (P.A.C.)", "Message to the World", and "Terrified"; Matt Appleton and Kyle Moorman served as engineers. Michael Baskette, who produced the remaining songs, aided with the group's drum sound, knowing when to make a certain hit sound harder. Sessions with Baskette occurred at Studio Barbarosa in Bavon, Virginia. Dave Holdredge acted as his engineer, while Jeff Moll did digital editing. Recording was reportedly finished by the end of December. Chris Lord-Alge mixed "Wake up", while the remaining songs were mixed by Baskette and Holdredge at Barbarosa; Ted Jensen mastered the album at Sterling Sound. Composition Marsala said it had the heavy tone of Determination and the melodic/poppy nature of Page Avenue, drawing comparisons to Underoath, Alexisonfire and BoySetsFire. The album was named after Nassim Nicholas Taleb's book, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable, on unpredictable events and randomness. One theme found in a few of the songs ("Wake Up", "Terrified", and in particular "Pale Blue Dot (Interlude)") is the concept that human existence is insignificant in comparison to the universe as a whole, and that wars, fighting and killing seem pointless.