MxPx
Before Everything & After

THE REVIEW

Let's start with the end by saying that, surely among the four albums released from 2000 to today, "Before, Everything And After" is perhaps the least exciting or, if you prefer, the most mature of the USA band, depending on your point of view.                         

The fact is that there is a rather noticeable difference between this album and the previous one. Namely, the classic carefree pop-punk of "The Ever Passing Moment" is heard here in few circumstances, practically making way for a more refined sound, but also more sweet and melodic. In fact, it often ends up in power-pop and melodic rock environments, which is quite new for MxPx. This is evidenced by the frequent use of arpeggios and also acoustic guitars, ending with some more rock solos scattered around the tracks.

Among the 14 tracks (if we exclude the intro-medley and the equally structured outro) emerges a lot of melody and little fierceness. Exemplary are "Everything sucks" or the semi-acoustic "Quit your life" just to give some examples.

"Play it loud" and "First day of the rest of my life" are certainly the ones closest to the classic sound of the band. The first, which is also the opener, strikes for the shouted initial attack (which I believe is an absolute novelty in the production of Mike Herrera and company), however, immediately after, it enters the magical world of the combo made of lively tunes. However, the best track, that is, a sing-along earworm, is undoubtedly the second, with a really excellent motif. This song is part of the soundtrack of the film Freaky Friday (which we see on Italia Uno when they understand not to air it for the umpteenth time!). In the second part, the tracks tone down a bit, although some choruses can catch the attention, boredom prevails.

A thousand different resonances that leave a bit of bitterness, the summary of the CD. For an initial approach with the group, start with "Panic," the album following this one, which gives a much better perspective on the stylistic horizons of the three from Bremerton.