Review Summary: Sum 41 is a great pop punk band to listen to if you are getting into the genre. This is still one hell of an album to listen to, and I got this CD when it first came out and i was in 8th grade. A good listen for any pop punk fan.
Sum 41, the famous pop punk band from Ontario, Canada. Having going with certain styles of bands like blink-182, A New Found Glory, and other various pop punk artists, Sum 41 got placed in this group of fun, yet sometimes immature artists working their way into the mainstream. With releasing catchy jingles like Fat Lip and In Too Deep, this band shows that they are for real, and not just another group of kids trying to say they can put a record out. They released this CD in 2001 and was my first CD that I bought, so I am rather proud of this album. It has a special place in my heart, that not even Chuck, Sum 41’s latest album can beat, and most certainly not blink, as I cannot stand them. It is kind of ironic that I can’t stand blink, but love these guys. Anyway, on with the review.
Sum 41 is:
Deryck Whibley: Vocals, Guitar
Dave Baksh: Guitar, Vocals
Cone: Bass, Vocals
Stevo 32: Drums, Vocals
All Killer No Filler is a type of album that is very catchy and very short. The entire CD, excluding the bonus extras for the computer, clocks in just over a half an hour. The way that Deryck sings the songs on this will separate this from any blink album, any day. They do sound similar, but it is just something about Deryck’s voice that gets to me. Dave Baksh, the main guitarist, at first will make you think that this is a typical blink-182 CD. You will think that until he does a solo, and then you are like, WHOA! this band might have some talent. The Intro to the CD is weird, and the title
Introduction to Destruction will make you wonder where this band is going with such a weird album title and opening track. It leads into the first catchy jingle known as
Nothing On My Back, which is just a bunch of power chords and some different guitar samples. The drums are typical pop punk drums, they are fast and keep the beat of the song. It is one of the better ones on the CD.
The next song is a style of track that Sum 41 is famous for. If you look at each one of their CD's, they have at least one song that is shorter than 2 minutes long. On this CD, it happens to be
Never Wake Up. The title will tell you what the song is about, and it is pretty obvious.
Fat Lip falls after that, and after somewhat of a letdown, you get a pop punk band working at its best. Fat Lip is the song that got these guys the radio play. If you haven't heard of this song, you must be living under a rock or something. This song IS the way Sum 41 plays their music, and one of their best.
Rhythms is next, and although not measuring up to the superior Fat Lip, this can be a pretty fun song to listen to. The drums get this song started off really well. The bridge is a quietly sung by Deryck, and the drums adopt that and then build up to full blast near the end of the song. The guitar line near the end fades out into my favorite song on the CD,
Motivation. This is another classic on the CD. This is the song that got me into Sum 41, and the fun loving guitar line sure helps.
After a few great pop punk songs, we are at a "rest point" on the CD. What I am saying is that the next song,
In Too Deep is a bit slower, I think, and it shows off a side of Sum 41 that hasn't shown up on the CD yet. A very soft and catchy guitar line opens this wonderful song up. Dave offers a very catchy solo at the 1:50 mark. It is short, but sweet. Next up is the song
Summer, which was featured on
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, and is another simple song. I liked it the first time I heard it, but have grown out of it. Deryck shows some good vocal ranges in this song, but there is much better to come on the CD. After the fast paced Summer, Sum 41 slows down a bit, with probably the ballad of the album. It is called
Handle This. This is just Sum 41 playing a typical mainstream, pop punk ballad, but it shows the better side. I don’t like this song as much, and I think that something is wrong with the quality of the song.
Crazy Amanda Bunkface is a step COMPLETELY in the other direction, as far as ballads to being crazy. At about 1:15, Sum 41 shows a really hard side by just playing deeper on their guitars, and adding some weird effects. The song ends abruptly, and is done well.
All She's Got is a song that reminds me of the better side of blink-182, and Dave does some good guitar work. They make the bass audible in this song. The hook in this song is obvious, as he is saying is "believe her", and then goes on with other lyrics after that. The bridge is done well, with a mix of both instrumental and singing parts. This song ends pretty quickly and ends a good song. If it was longer, it would possibly be the best song on the CD.
Heart Attack is next, and it gives us a soft intro, that leads us into a heavier side of Sum 41, but this heavier side is not dark. It is more joyful, as the song gives us a typical teenager's life, and the lyrics are very straightforward.
Pain For Pleasure is the hardest song on the CD, and the message is my personal favorite, saying that the Devil will change pain for pleasure. It gives you a typical Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath metal influences. Dave does some great guitar work, and this song ends the album just like that. Although being very short, it is very brilliant.
What I liked about the album was the consistency. There is few albums that can do this, and create good song after good song, and even throw in a ballad or two. I also loved Dave’s guitar playing. It may be simple, but if you have listened to their Chuck CD, Dave has proved that he can play the guitar. He adds solos where some are needed, and separates him from other pop-punk/rock guitarists.
What I didn't like about the album was how repetitive two songs that were next to each other were, like Rhythms was kind of a mimic of Fat Lip, and stuff like that. I also didn’t like that Dave never used his full potential, along with other band members. They still created an excellent CD, and I guess you can say they weren’t fully able to do what they can do now as of 2006, before Dave left the band, that they have improved off of every album they have done.
Overall this is a great CD to own, and if you are a fan of punk or Sum 41, this is a must have. If you are getting into punk, you should go with this album or any of blink-182's CD's because those (not this), are simple punk and will get you the feel of what the genre is like. This is a better version of what pop punk should be.
Recommended Songs
Nothing On My Back
Fat Lip
Motivation
All She's Got
Heart Attack
Pain For Pleasure
Hope you like it!
