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| Album
Review |
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Back in 2001, Sum 41 hit the punk rock scene with the release of their
'All Killer No Filler' album. The album was a very energetic poppy punk
album which gained Sum 41 a huge fan base and helped them sell out huge
arenas. 'All Killer No Filler' was followed up with 'Does this Look Infected'
in 2002 and 'Chuck' in 2004, both albums saw the band move away from their
original sound and their fans soon deserted the band as well leaving them
back playing the smaller venues across the country once again with most
people ruling this the end of Sum 41.
So three years have passed since the release of the last Sum 41 album
'Chuck' and a lot has changed, first of all frontman Deryck Whibley married
Canadian pop singer Avril Lavigne and helped produce and mix tracks on
her new album 'The Best Damn Thing'. Dave Brownsound has left the band
leaving Sum 41 as a three piece band, and Sum 41 are now back with a brand
new album called 'Underclass Hero' which see's Sum 41 go back to the sound
of 'All Killer No Filler' and also sound quite like Blink 182 and Green
Day in places.
The album opens with the album title track 'Underclass Hero' which also
happens to be the bands new single, the song is a straight forward infectious
pop punk song that will easily remind the bands fans of 'Fat Lip' and
the 'All Killer No Filler' days. 'Walking Disaster' starts off pretty
slow but soon speeds up with great guitar work and vocals leaving you
thinking that Blink 182 have got back together. 'Speak Of The Devil' has
a slow build up with guitar riffs and standout drumming coming in and
out until the song properly kicks in and you get treated to an infectious
chorus. 'Dear Father' is another song that reminds me of Blink 182 from
the starting vocals to the outro. 'Count Your Last Blessing' is quite
a fast infectious song that is really good with a keyboard piece running
throughout. 'Ma Poubelle' is a short random track that gives you a nice
break from the fast poppy punk. 'March Of The Dogs' is one of my favourite
tracks and reminds me very much of Green Day at the beginning with the
spoken intro and then kicks into a pure Blink 182 sound both musically
and vocally giving us a very catchy slice of pop punk.
Most of the songs on the album are pretty damn good but towards the end
of the album things go slightly downhill for example 'With Me' is a damn
boring song. 'Pull the Curtain' is quite poppy but overall pretty average
sounding. Things seem to be on the up with the Green Day sounding 'King
Of Contradiction' which is a short fast straight up punk track. 'Best
Of Me' is a ballad that you are either going to love or hate. The album
finishes with 'So Long Goodbye' which is a song that deals with Dave quitting
the band and is a mellow acoustic song.
So after a three year wait for another Sum 41 album they are back to their
best with the release of 'Underclass Hero', the album has 15 tracks with
at least 10 of the tracks being pretty damn good and the other 5 songs
which aren’t totally bad but they are just not really what you would
expect from Sum 41. It’s good to see that the band have gone back
to their roots and are back playing the same kind of music as they were
when they started out mixed with a serious sound of Blink 182 which I’m
sure most people will love but some will find to similar.
4/5
Review by Trigger |
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| Band
Members |
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Deryck "Bizzy D" Whibley
(Vocals, Guitar)
Cone McCaslin (Bass)
Steve "Stevo 32" Jocz
(Drums) |
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| Track
Listing |
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1. Underclass Hero
2. Walking Disaster
3. Speak Of The Devil
4. Dear Father
5. Count Your Last Blessings
6. Ma Poubelle
7. March Of The Dogs
8. Jester
9. With Me
10. Pull The Curtain
11. King Of Contradiction
12. Best Of Me
13. Confusion And Frustration In Modern Times
14. So Long Goodbye
15. No Apologies |
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| Band
Related Links |
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| Review
Score Code |
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- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
-
What Was That? |
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