Take This to Your Grave is the debut
studio album by American
rock band
Fall Out Boy. It was released on May 6, 2003, by
Fueled by Ramen. The album was produced by
Sean O'Keefe. When the band was signed to
Island Records, Island employed an unusual strategy that allowed the band to sign with independent label
Fueled by Ramen for their debut, to later move to the major label for a second album. O'Keefe had helped with the band's demo, and the group returned to
Smart Studios in
Madison, Wisconsin to record the bulk of their first album. Living on a stranger's floor for part of the time and running out of money halfway through, the band recorded seven songs in nine days, bringing them together with the additional three from the demo. While Stump had previously written all prior lyrics and took them lightly, Wentz took the process with a considerable seriousness and obsessively picked apart his bandmates' lyrics. The "exhausting" process led to numerous revisions of single songs and several arguments. The album cover, which features all four bandmates sitting on a broken futon, features a blue tint reminiscent of
jazz records and was the second choice after the original was rejected by the label.