Sum 41
Chuck

THE REVIEW

Browsing through the various discographies of pop-punk bands, you can notice how there are bands that still maintain their sound from the beginning, others that started with a direct and faster sound have standardized to that pop tinged with punk which is (was?) so fashionable at the moment, and others that have ventured into various experiments: here is the case of Sum 41, a quintessential pop-punk band among the most well-known.

In fact, something I like to emphasize is that Sum 41 could be considered yet another clone or commercial phenomenon trying to reach the success of Green Day, but upon closer analysis, they show a tendency to combine classic pieces of milk tinged with coffee (fashion-punk) with others that rise to higher levels of aggressiveness (although unfortunately all too marginal), which distinguishes them just enough from the competition. This might be due, at least partly, to the musical influences the band experienced in their youth.

But let's proceed in order...

The four Canadians, after a decent beginning, reached success with "All Killer No Filler" a classic pop-punk album, objectively quite modest. This was followed by the more convincing "Does This Look Infected?" which already, through a few songs (No brains, Over my head, and Hyper-insomnia paracondriod), foreshadowed the heavy turn that would arrive in 2004 with "Chuck". The album's name is a dedication to Chuck Pelletier, a UN official who saved the band during a conflict in Congo, where the group was filming for the documentary War Child.

The album artwork is also very nice.

It should be noted that from this album onwards, the 30-40 second songs that "filled" the first three albums are completely absent, in favor of a very developed tracklist, 16 songs that give more than 40 minutes of good vibes.

The fourth album by Sum 41 is something that detaches from previous productions, as the cheerful and light "American Pie" type pieces disappear to make room for a more powerful and mature sound. Indeed, the sounds vary greatly and range from pop-rock and rock to punk rock and even (yes indeed) nu metal and thrash.

Furthermore, the group has never hidden its appreciation for metal, having been raised on a diet of bread, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest. An emblem of this passion is the metallic "Pain for pleasure" contained in "All Killer No Filler," which is strange for them as it completely separates from the sunny atmosphere of the aforementioned album.

After a few seconds of guitar riff in "Intro", the actual CD kicks off with "No reason," a great song, very energetic and fast at times aggressive, also released as a single, in my opinion the most beautiful in their entire discography. But the novelty is called "We’re all to blame," a song characterized by hard and heavy verses and melodic choruses with strong nu tendencies, reminiscent of System Of A Down, beautiful for its dual nature.

With "Angels with dirty faces" the discussion interrupted by "No reason" continues, a punk rock song opened by a voice that at first appears tired but then becomes more energetic. With "Some say" we relax a moment before arriving at Metallica school thrash metal in "The bitter end" characterized by a long central solo. We return to the canons with "Open your eyes" where a solo is played, and we take a break with "Slipping away" a melodic song characterized by strings, but with a great impact, and then we kick off again with the nu-metal vibe of "I’m not the one" one of the best on the album.

The subsequent Pennywise-oriented "Welcome to hell" is also excellent, earning the title of the fastest and most hardcore song of the lot. If the guys made more pieces along the same lines, it would certainly change the music.

But the Canadians also know how to thrill us with the splendid ballad "Pieces", initially performed with the help of strings and acoustic guitars that subsequently along the way intertwine with the electrics creating a very impactful sound.

After the decent "There’s no solution" the CD closes with "88" a song with metallic nuances, with a second instrumental part. But in this CD there are also 3 bonus tracks, in my opinion good ones that would not have been out of place among the others in the main lineup. Here then comes "Noots" which synthesizes the band's style, "Moron" a song full of choruses that seem like The Offspring, and to close, the nice "Subject to change" supported by excellent riffs and from which the band drew inspiration by resuming the theme of the refrain to launch the first single "Underclass hero" of the new album released in 2007.

We’ve already talked about the metal turn and the punk matrix of the songs interpreted in a more aggressive and convincing way, but there’s an additional element of novelty to note: the ballads. Indeed, in the combo's previous three albums there was never a shadow of a ballad, not to mention the use of the acoustic guitar which finally comes to the forefront.

However, what is disappointing for the group is that after this excellent test that promised great things for the future and especially to carry forward a certain type of sound and maturation (note how this album was almost completely overshadowed by TV and by MTV in particular...) and distancing themselves from their classic style, they will unfortunately go back to the old path, but that is another story.

To the detractors who perhaps detest fashion-punky, who have never tolerated them, I say this CD might make you change your mind a bit, if even this one doesn’t sit well with you, at this point forget about their remaining discography.

And here I go further: the demonstration of courage to change course by the Canadian band, call it evolution or experimentation as you like, has never been seen and will never be done by any similar mainstream group. Blink 182 have never changed (almost) a comma, photocopying themselves from start to finish. A half change, albeit too tied to the usual tele-radio environments, was made by the Green Day but then almost turned out to be a flop, reference to "Warning". With the difference that Green Day made a pop-rock turn, Sum 41 did it towards metal. How many pop-punk bands have veered towards metal? I’d say none, and this fact alone is enough.

The arrangements and production by Greg Nori border on perfection, with always fresh and never repetitive sounds.

Coming back to us, it is an excellent CD, the masterpiece of the combo, the best in their entire discography, which by alternating different influences and sounds manages to never bore and convinces completely, changing atmosphere track by track.