Long Island Sound: Sunday finishes on a high note

As chapter-closers go, Taking Back Sunday's "Live From Orensanz" (Warner Bros.) CD/DVD set is a pretty great one.

Recorded at the Angel Orensanz Foundation on the Lower East Side before the band's surprise announcement that it was reverting to its "Tell All Your Friends"-era lineup, "Live From Orensanz," released last week, marks the final TBS project to include longtime bassist Matt Rubano and guitarist-singer Matt Fazzi.

Using acoustic instruments and featuring sometimes radically new arrangements, the "Orensanz" songs show the strengths of this version of the Rockville Centre-based band. Recent songs, including a slowed-down, jazzier "Carpathia" and a jangly, more dramatic take on the title track from "New Again," showcased the lineup's musical flexibility, while the new song "Didn't See That Coming" and the epic "Everything Must Go," with a gorgeous string-section opening and a passionate vocal from Adam Lazzara, offered a glimpse of what could have been if this lineup, with guitarist Ed Reyes and drummer Mark O'Connell, continued.

The reworking of TBS classics, especially a poignant "One-Eighty by Summer" and the pairing of "A Decade Under the Influence" with Queens of the Stone Age's "Lightning Song," provide a new focus on the lyrics and Lazzara's unique delivery. Of course, it wouldn't be a true TBS concert without a few good sing-alongs, evident on "Cute Without the 'E' (Cut From the Team)" and "Make Damn Sure."

With guitarist-singer John Nolan and bassist Shaun Cooper returning to the fold, the TBS sound is sure to shift again.

"Live From Orensanz" will serve as a portrait of the band pursuing its more musically adventurous interests. It also raises expectations for the path the band, currently in Los Angeles recording with producer Eric Valentine, has chosen.