Sum 41 - Underclass Hero Review
Posted by Dan Marsicano on 07.25.2007
Sum 41 returns to the music scene after three years with one less member and a return to their All Killer No Filler roots. Can the band successfully return to their older sound while pleasing fans who enjoyed the punk-metal sound of Chuck?
The Band
Deryck Whibley- Lead Vocals, Guitars, Piano
Cone McCaslin- Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals
Steve Jocz- Drums, Backing Vocals
The Track Listing
1.Underclass Hero
2.Walking Disaster
3.Speak of the Devil
4.Dear Father (Complete Unknown)
5.Count Your Last Blessings
6.Ma Poubelle
7.March of the Dogs
8.The 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
The Review
It has been three years since Sum 41’s last album, Chuck, and a lot has gone on behind the scenes in the band. Their lead guitarist, Dave Baksh, left the band to form his own metal band, Brown Brigade, and lead singer Deryck Whibley married Avril Lavigne in a highly publicized wedding. After all that has happened to Sum 41, they return, as a trio with Deryck taking over all guitar parts, with their new album, Underclass Hero. The album’s sound harkens back to the All Killer No Filler days with lyrics dealing with personal situations and political awareness. The big questions of Underclass Hero is if Sum 41 can continue without their lead guitarist and if their return to their earlier sound is a good move for the band.
The title track, and current single, starts the album off with a bang as the band sounds energized and full of life. As Deryck sings about the struggles of rich vs. poor, the band switches between punk and metal riffs. Cone gets some nice backing vocals in and Deryck pulls out a nice solo, although it is very reminiscent of basically any Green Day solo.
After the frantic energy put across in “Underclass Hero,” Sum 41 slows the album down for a minute as “Walking Disaster” starts. As an acoustic guitar and piano play in the background, the feeling that comes across is one of maturity. However, after a minute of maturity, the song picks up steam and turns into a full out punk-rock song. The song is a negative view of Deryck’s childhood and everything around him. “A walking disaster, the son of all bastards, you regret you made me, it’s too late” really resonant with the listener. “Walking Disaster” is a personal song that works for the band, as it has a more mature sound for Sum 41, even though it sounds a bit too much like Blink 182.
“Speak of the Devil” starts out with some good vocal work before leading into a standard punk-rock song. Slower verses followed by a heavier chorus are repeated a few times. The song is decent, and has some nice riffs, but it isn’t that spectacular. “Dear Father (Complete Unknown)” is an emotional song that is about Deryck’s father, who left him and his mom before he was born. The song is driven by acoustic guitar and is mainly a slower number, only picking up a bit at the end. The song is catchy and shows the band’s maturity lyrically, but musically, the song is standard for the genre.
A creepy piano piece starts off “Count Your Blessings.” The song has an Evanescence vibe to it in the verses before the standard Sum 41 heavy chorus. The song is a dark and moody punk song that has its moments, but sounds like a song that could have been done by any other punk-rock band. “Ma Poubelle” is the joke track of the album, as the lyrics are spoken entirely in French and the song has a jazzy lounge feel to it. What is the song about? I have no idea, since I don’t speak French, but I assume its something in the style of Sum 41’s humor.
“March of the Dogs” is a song that is driven by angry political lyrics. Hell, the first two lines of the song are “Ladies and gentlemen of the underclass, the President of the United States of America is dead.” The song is catchy, but driven down by its ham fisted political message. I have never been a fan of bands trying to get a political message across, unless the lyrics are witty and full of imagery, and Sum 41 doesn’t help me change my mind on that.
“The Jester” is a song that is also driven by politically charged lyrics. However, unlike “March of the Dogs,” the band uses better imagery and word play to describe the negative aspects of the government. The song is catchy and much more upbeat than most of the other songs. The ending is odd, as footsteps and a repeating bass line is heard in the background.
“With Me” is another slower piece. The song starts off entirely acoustic before the song becomes electric. The song is similar to previous tracks as the song switches from slow verses to heavy choruses. The emphasis on acoustic guitars is a nice touch, but the song is a bit boring as it goes nowhere musically.
“Pull the Curtain” is a heavier track with some nice drumming throughout by Jocz. The song takes a while to build up, but once the song hits the halfway point, the band sounds reenergized. Deryck screams like his life depends on it, the best solo on the album blares out of the speakers and Cone and Steve scream backing vocals as if the end of the world is coming. The piano returns at the end of the track and the melody sounds similar to “We’re All To Blame,” which is an interesting twist to the end of “Pull the Curtain.” The next track is the fastest song on the album, with an awesome metal riff at the end. “King of Contradiction” is an inferior “Welcome to Hell,” but still makes an impact because of its speed and intensity.
“Best of Me” is an unspectacular ballad. Honestly, the song has a similar musical structure to almost all of the other songs. “Best of Me” has a slow beginning with acoustic guitars and piano before the song gets heavier. “Best of Me” does take a bit more time to build up, but it goes nowhere and also has a solo, but like most of the solos on the album, it screams out “Green Day” to me.
“Confusion and Frustration in Modern Times” is a fast number with a catchy chorus. The song deals with the downfalls of our current society. Jocz bangs on the drums like an animal and Deryck’s riffing is heavy and upbeat. “So Long Goodbye” is an entirely acoustic song. The song is about the departure of their former lead guitarist and the band’s reaction to it. “We always knew that it’d come to this, its time like this I forget what I miss” sums up the band’s feelings perfectly. The song is dark and depressing and is an interesting way to end the album.
Deryck Whibley had the tough challenge of singing and performing all of the guitar parts on the album. He does a decent job considering the band’s situation, but Dave Baksh’s talent is definitely missing from the sound of the album. Without him, the band loses its metal edge and the guitars sound merely like most other punk rock acts.
Cone McCaslin does a competent job on the bass guitar. His only really big moment to shine is in “King of Contradiction,” where he gets a bass lead. Steve Jocz still impresses on the drums. He gets in some nice fills and knows what kind of beat fits the mood of the song.
I really wanted to like Underclass Hero as much as their previous works, but I just couldn’t do it. I think the band, musically at least, took a big step backwards. Instead of the band evolving their sound, like they did on Does This Look Infected? and Chuck, Sum 41 return to their punk roots, but matures the sound and lyrics a bit. That is fine, but the problem is that the band’s mature sound is similar to what Blink 182 and Green Day did to their music when they “matured.” While there are some songs that sound great (the title track, “The Jester,” “King of Contradiction”), most of the songs are too plodding and slow to really stand out in my mind.
The 411: Underclass Hero is an album that will find an audience. People who enjoy Sum 41's earlier sound and fans of their music in general will flock to this album. Personally, I enjoyed their later albums, when they evolved thier sound to include their 80's metal influences. Underclass Hero is just too slow and plodding for the most part, as the band seems lifeless at times. More tracks like "King of Contradiction" and "Underclass Hero" would have made the album more lively and exciting. Overall, I would recommend this to fans of the band, but anybody else will find it too much like any other punk-rock band that "matured" their sound.
