If Underclass Hero had....

[Jeremy Kill]

Underclass Hero got pwnt.


Still, Sum > green day. for me at least.

Samesies. Sum 41 made great albums in the past and I still have faith they can switch around in 2009.

In this particular case though, I'd have to go with American Idiot over Underclass Hero. The lyrics of Underclass go deeper than any other Sum 41 album, but they measure up to the ones on American Idiot, at least the ones I sampled in my post.

[fergal41]

seeing as it's quite similar to American Idiot?

Okay, I've compiled a list of the similarities between Underclass Hero and American Idiot and I've been itching to just post them without looking like a douche. And before you say that parts of it are nit-picky, yes, some of it is, but that's more for a "Fun Fact" thing than a true similarity.



Both albums...
Are named similar. They can both be used as titles (i.e. He's an American Idiot, she's an Underclass Hero). Both title tracks start off their respective albums and are pretty much the "mood-setter." So, track 1 of American Idiot is American Idiot. Track 1 of Underclass Hero is Underclass Hero.

The title tracks...
Underclass Hero and American Idiot, have the same style of solo. Musically, they are composed the same and both solos just use the melody of the respective song's chorus. To see a comparison, watch this video at "3:01".

Walking Disaster...
Is basically the story of Jesus of Suburbia in a nutshell. The story goes: kid hates life, kid leaves town, kid is surprised how much life sucks and decides to come back home. The difference is Sum 41 does it in one song, Green Day uses it as the backbone of their rock opera. Also, the second verse of Walking Disaster is similar to the verses in Dearly Beloved (from the Jesus of Suburbia 9-minute behemoth):

Dearly Beloved:

Dearly beloved are you listening?
I can't remember a word that you were saying
Are we demented or am I disturbed?
The space that's in between insane and insecure
Oh therapy, can you please fill the void?
Am I retarded or am I just overjoyed
Nobody's perfect and I stand accused
For lack of a better word, and that's my best excuse

Walking Disaster:

As far as I can tell
It's just voices in my head
Am I talking to myself?
'Cause I don't know what I just said
(And she said)
Far is where I fell
Maybe I'm better off dead
Am I at the end of nowhere
Is this as good as it gets?

Both Deryck and Billie...
Write about their fathers. Now I know Deryck wanted to write a song about his dad, but never had the courage to do so until now. The only problem I have with Dear Father though, is that it doesn't sound real to me, like there's no emotion in the song. When I listen to it, it sounds unfinished. The lyrics are pretty weak on that song as well.

The Les Paul Junior...
Makes an appearance on both albums. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm just saying. Also, I don't think the Junior would've really been used on Chuck anyways since Chuck was a heavier album.

Political Rants...
Exist in both March of the Dogs and Holiday. Both are presented with a distorted effect on the voice giving it that megaphone effect.

Holiday:

Sieg Heil to the president Gasman
Bombs away is your punishment
Pulverize the Eiffel towers
Who criticize your government
Bang bang goes the broken glass and
Kill all the fags that don't agree
Trials by fire, setting fire
Is not a way that's meant for me
Just cause, just cause, because we're outlaws yeah!

March of the Dogs:

And now the president's dead
Because they blew off his head
No more neck to be red
Guess to heaven he fled
Was it something he said
Because of who's in his bed
By whom will we be led?
From whose hand will we be fed?
All the lies by the lying liars who said
We'll be fine,
It's OK,
Hey look mom no head!

St. Jimmy is the king of 40 thieves and...
"Here to represent! The needle in the vein of the establishment!"

The Underclass Heroes are...
"Here to represent! The spit right in the face of the establishment!"

Track 10 on both albums...
Have screams. Letterbomb's scream occurs at 2:20, Pull the Curtain's scream happens at 2:00.

The solo on Best of Me...
Had to have been inspired by the solo of Wake Me Up When September Ends, it just had to.

Empty streets, vital signs...
Have made appearances on both albums.

The beginning of Letterbomb...
Sounds like the beginning of Take a Look at Yourself.

---
Even though it's not comparing to American Idiot, So Long, Goodbye is like Good Riddance in that it incorporates the same three chords played in Good Riddance and the first lines of both songs sound way too similar. Time and direcion?

Good Riddance:

Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go.

So Long, Goodbye:

Time passes by, direction unknown.

Hell yeah, I got bored!

Haha, nice one!

I kind of think theres just something extremely pretentious about Underclass Hero and Deryck Whibley in general recently. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes of next year and I think that getting straight back to work into an EP that sounds different was the last thing I expected from the Sums. I'm hoping to see less choreographed shows/promotion and more original music.

[Claudia]

seeing as it's quite similar to American Idiot?

Okay, I've compiled a list of the similarities between Underclass Hero and American Idiot and I've been itching to just post them without looking like a douche. And before you say that parts of it are nit-picky, yes, some of it is, but that's more for a "Fun Fact" thing than a true similarity.



Both albums...
Are named similar. They can both be used as titles (i.e. He's an American Idiot, she's an Underclass Hero). Both title tracks start off their respective albums and are pretty much the "mood-setter." So, track 1 of American Idiot is American Idiot. Track 1 of Underclass Hero is Underclass Hero.

The title tracks...
Underclass Hero and American Idiot, have the same style of solo. Musically, they are composed the same and both solos just use the melody of the respective song's chorus. To see a comparison, watch this video at "3:01".

Walking Disaster...
Is basically the story of Jesus of Suburbia in a nutshell. The story goes: kid hates life, kid leaves town, kid is surprised how much life sucks and decides to come back home. The difference is Sum 41 does it in one song, Green Day uses it as the backbone of their rock opera. Also, the second verse of Walking Disaster is similar to the verses in Dearly Beloved (from the Jesus of Suburbia 9-minute behemoth):

Dearly Beloved:

Dearly beloved are you listening?
I can't remember a word that you were saying
Are we demented or am I disturbed?
The space that's in between insane and insecure
Oh therapy, can you please fill the void?
Am I retarded or am I just overjoyed
Nobody's perfect and I stand accused
For lack of a better word, and that's my best excuse

Walking Disaster:

As far as I can tell
It's just voices in my head
Am I talking to myself?
'Cause I don't know what I just said
(And she said)
Far is where I fell
Maybe I'm better off dead
Am I at the end of nowhere
Is this as good as it gets?

Both Deryck and Billie...
Write about their fathers. Now I know Deryck wanted to write a song about his dad, but never had the courage to do so until now. The only problem I have with Dear Father though, is that it doesn't sound real to me, like there's no emotion in the song. When I listen to it, it sounds unfinished. The lyrics are pretty weak on that song as well.

The Les Paul Junior...
Makes an appearance on both albums. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm just saying. Also, I don't think the Junior would've really been used on Chuck anyways since Chuck was a heavier album.

Political Rants...
Exist in both March of the Dogs and Holiday. Both are presented with a distorted effect on the voice giving it that megaphone effect.

Holiday:

Sieg Heil to the president Gasman
Bombs away is your punishment
Pulverize the Eiffel towers
Who criticize your government
Bang bang goes the broken glass and
Kill all the fags that don't agree
Trials by fire, setting fire
Is not a way that's meant for me
Just cause, just cause, because we're outlaws yeah!

March of the Dogs:

And now the president's dead
Because they blew off his head
No more neck to be red
Guess to heaven he fled
Was it something he said
Because of who's in his bed
By whom will we be led?
From whose hand will we be fed?
All the lies by the lying liars who said
We'll be fine,
It's OK,
Hey look mom no head!

St. Jimmy is the king of 40 thieves and...
"Here to represent! The needle in the vein of the establishment!"

The Underclass Heroes are...
"Here to represent! The spit right in the face of the establishment!"

Track 10 on both albums...
Have screams. Letterbomb's scream occurs at 2:20, Pull the Curtain's scream happens at 2:00.

The solo on Best of Me...
Had to have been inspired by the solo of Wake Me Up When September Ends, it just had to.

Empty streets, vital signs...
Have made appearances on both albums.

The beginning of Letterbomb...
Sounds like the beginning of Take a Look at Yourself.

---
Even though it's not comparing to American Idiot, So Long, Goodbye is like Good Riddance in that it incorporates the same three chords played in Good Riddance and the first lines of both songs sound way too similar. Time and direcion?

Good Riddance:

Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go.

So Long, Goodbye:

Time passes by, direction unknown.

Hell yeah, I got bored!

Holy shit wow, but no.

[Jeremy Kill]

Holy shit wow, but no.

Why not?

[Claudia]

It's just too vague. Those are things you can find anywhere.

[Max]

It's just too vague. Those are things you can find anywhere.

Are you saying Deryck DIDN't rip off American Idiot? Uhm. Its quite obvious he did, maybe not intentionally but he did.

[twistednightmare]

Thinking about it, if UH had been released around 01 or 03 and they still released Chuck in 04 they'd be riding on the same success they had back then. It was around the time of 01 to 03 where Pop Punk was huge so it would have been a great idea, and 04 was a year for bands to go a bit emotional and dark, i.e. Good Charlotte and Sum 41 to name a few.

[Max]

Hey twistednightmare. A fellow mancunian.

Anyway, the thing is UH would have been huge, maybe as big as American Idiot but what's clear is that it couldn't have happened without American Idiot. Its quite clear that Deryck took a lot of inspiration from that album, and rightly so since it was a great album.

[stevo32]

mmm i don't think that, i belive that Chuck pwned american idiot in 2004, and that was the best album of that year;UH was similar to American Idiot for something but still different for other things and i also think that was made after some events that happened in 2006 ( Dave's departure, Deryck's marriage ecc.) so 2007 was the natural year for it.