The Class of 98 was founded by Steve Wilson in 2004, who had moved to the Nashville area in 1998. (The group's members did not graduate from any educational institutions in 1998.) Wilson made home demos before putting together a four-piece influenced by second-wave emo acts such as Braid and Jimmy Eat World. The group played locally in Nashville and opened for John Davis of Superdrag and The Juliana Theory over the next two years. They signed with The Militia Group in 2005 and recorded their debut full-length in less than three weeks. It was released under the title Touch This and Die in 2006, and won comparisons to Jimmy Eat World, Gin Blossoms, and Copeland. Songs from the album were featured on E!, MTV and The WB television programs.

The group went on hiatus in 2007, with Harms going on to play with The Glorious Unseen and Baumhardt with Thousand Foot Krutch. The group returned in 2010 with an EP titled Eye of the Needle and released their sophomore LP, Heaven, digitally on Jan. 11, 2011.