Sometimes revenge is a dish best served piping hot.

Jimmy Eat World hail from Arizona and officially formed as a band when Jim and Zach, friends since pre-school, decided they needed to find a couple of other guys to help them make the kind of music played by their favorite punk-pop groups. They scored a deal with a small, local indie label, and after establishing their reputation with a couple of solid releases and years of constant touring, the band’s hard work paid off when major label Capitol Records, former home of Sinatra and The Beatles, signed Jimmy Eat World to a one-album deal with an option for more.

That first album, Static Prevails, released in 1996, was marked by constant label interference, questioning the band’s song choices, producer choices, recording choices — basically everything down to the color of their socks. It resulted in an album no one was completely happy with and it didn’t fare well critically or commercially, but surprisingly Capitol decided to give Jimmy Eat World a chance at another album, and this time left them completely alone. It wasn’t so much a vote of confidence, however, as a vote of apathy.

In between their first and second albums, Capitol Records changed the head of the label and the new guy didn’t care about Jimmy Eat World, or their second album, in the slightest. So they flew under the radar while recording Clarity, a record they knew might be their last and therefore threw everything into, but unfortunately, despite some good reviews, the album sold poorly and Capitol used it as an excuse to drop the band.

Hope you’re hungry, Capitol, because you’re about to be served.

Jimmy Eat World wasn’t ready to give up just yet. They decided to finance their next album themselves, exhibiting faith in their music and what they had built over the past decade together. Their producer agreed to defer payment and the band got to work on a song about their current situation, about staying positive, doing your best, and believing everything will work out fine. They titled the song “The Middle,” and it was by far the most commercial track they’d ever produced.

The rest of the world agreed.

Jimmy Eat World signed with DreamWorks Records and released “The Middle” as a single in the fall of 2001. The song shot into the US Top 5 and remains one of the most played songs of the 21st century, while Bleed American, the album that spawned “The Middle,” went platinum in the US and Canada. Perhaps Capitol should have paid more attention. Don’t burn the roof of your mouth on that yummy yummy revenge.

So just try your best ….. with Jimmy Eat World.