Based on a True Story is the second studio album by American pop punk band the Starting Line.

Following pre-production in July 2004, the band began recording for Based on a True Story, finishing in September.

[2] MCA's distribution deal allowed it to acquire Drive-Thru Records' bands over a period of time.

[7] Say It Like You Mean It's lone single "The Best of Me" received attention from MTV2, and was to be released to radio[4] while the group performed on the Warped Tour in the summer.

[4] According to Vasoli, most of the themes on Based on a True Story stem from having the songs but being frustrated by having to wait to get into the studio to record them.

[11] With this in mind, he wanted the song's lyrics to symbolize the "physical and passionate sides of love" while being honest.

During pre-production, Watts felt for the first time that the band was making a record as opposed to a bundle of songs that they simply liked.

[17] Watts said O'Heir gave the songs an "organic feel" where "it's not all computed and Pro Tools and stuff like that".

[17] Eric Rachel produced and engineered "Making Love to the Camera" recorded at Trax East in New York.

All the recordings were mixed by Chris Lord-Alge, with assistance from Dimtar Krnjaic, at Resonate Music in Burbank, California.

[25][26] Based on a True Story was made available for streaming on May 1, 2005, before being released by Drive-Thru and Geffen Records nine days later.

[18] To promote its release, the group did a few in-store performances, and appeared at the Y100 radio festival in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

[31] Shortly afterwards, Geffen Records de-prioritized the album and, as a result, despite the band's increasing popularity, provided very little promotion for the single.

[32] On November 3, Alternative Press reported that the band had left Geffen Records and was in discussion with other labels.

[34] According to Watts, the band talked with Geffen president Jordan Schur who understood their concerns and the reasons they wanted to leave the label.

[19] Vasoli also said that to be released from their contract with Geffen, the band "forfeited rights to the recordings of Based On A True Story.

[36] In February and March, the group headlined the Screaming Is for Babies tour, with support from Copeland, Gatsbys American Dream, Cartel, and New Atlantic.

AbsolutePunk founder Jason Tate wrote that the band's sound was "still catchy, the music still bouncy" with "plenty of guaranteed sing along choruses".

[40] AllMusic reviewer Johnny Loftus drew a comparison between the band's earlier release The Make Yourself at Home EP (2003) and Based on a True Story.

He said the album incorporated acoustic instrumentation, placing focus on Vasoli's "edge-of-tears" vocals, as well as "favoring busy breaks that distract from actual rocking".

[41] Kaj Roth of Melodic magazine mentioned how the group mixed emo and pop punk on Based on a True Story, comparing it to "having Armor For Sleep and Autopilot Off making a record together".

[42] Punknews.org reviewer Meg Reinecker noted how the group had used the preceding three years to mature "both vocally and instrumentally".

[43] David Wild of Rolling Stone wrote that the band "made their sad songs much less cheesy" on the album.

[44] Wild concluded by noting the band knows "how to make sweetly wordy pop out of over-the-top romantic naivete".