The Carnival Of Sins - 10 years of Underclass Hero

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TomiT14
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The Carnival Of Sins - 10 years of Underclass Hero

Post by TomiT14 »


Click to view the fullsize image.http://i64.tinypic.com/2i84du.jpg[/imgwidth]


THE CARNIVAL OF SINS IS NOW ABOUT TO BEGIN!

That's right, folks! 10 years has passed since Sum 41's 5th studio album, Underclass Hero hit the shelves!

For us TNSers, Underclass Hero was very special. TNS was founded in order to have a place for fans to discuss the upcoming album, so UH was the record that got this thing started.

At the time, Underclass Hero received a lot of criticism, the most compared to any other Sum 41 release. Both media and the fans were expecting a heavier record after Chuck, and UH was constantly being compared to other albums. It was also the first recording without Dave Brownsound, so a lot of fans felt disappointed. Still, a big part of the fans thought it was their best work at the time, and some think it's their best album even today.

How did you feel about Underclass Hero when it first came out? Has your view changed in 10 years?

Let's celebrate the most underrated Sum-album by sharing your favorite moments from that era using the hashtag #Underclass10.
Share pictures, make a cover for a song of your choice or post your favorite piece of lyrics!

Let's show the band that we're doing fine, still after a decade!
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Post by The Jester »

2007 was a time when I didn't know Sum 41. 2007 was a time when I listened a lot to SP (Yes, 12 year old me was despicable). I didn't discover Sum 41 until right before Screaming Bloody Murder, and SBM was out when truly got hooked and started trying everything they had.

Honestly, I think Underclass Hero is a unique record for Sum 41, and the circumstances surrounding are ones that won't happen again.

Brownsound had just left.
I think Sum 41 had also stopped working with Greig Nori

This led to UH being more of a Deryck Whibley project than anything they'd put out before. SBM and 13 Voices styles are heavily influenced by what was going on with Deryck during the writing. During the making of UH, it was probably a time when Deryck had relatively less personal shit to deal with compared to later records.

There's definitely ways in which UH is a natural progression of Chuck, it's just not the loudness and heavyness. It's more in the themes. HHOP and AKNF are very much true pop punk records, with teenage themes and problems, except for the playful metal stuff that's mostly in HHOP.

Then DTLI drops in, and after having enjoyed a huge wave of succes following AKNF, Sum 41 have learnt a lot, matured a bit, and 9/11 had happened with the world going to hell. Sum 41 started looking at a worldlier scale.

Chuck is a very natural progression to DTLI, and I think the first time they drop the kinda simple songs structures and start really going for different song structures, as well as making straight up metal songs a lot.

Between 2004 and 2007 a lot of things happen, and besides a lot of personal stuff, another one that's massive is definitely American idiot, which got out 3 weeks before Chuck. It influenced Underclass Hero so, so much and I honestly think a little too much.

I see Underclass Hero as written by a man who's critical of the world but who's mentally in a pretty positive place himself. Lyrically and thematically, I think it's great, but it just lacks so much of the edge that makes Sum 41 the band that I love. I think the guitar work on it just falls way too flat and the lack of edge makes a lot of the vocals and lyrics seem flatter too. Underclass Hero has a lot of interesting bits and pieces, but songs overall just lack that final bit of conviction. Furthermore, some things seem too similar too stuff that's put out before.

I like fat lip more than UH
I like Angels With Dirty Faces more than Count your Last Blessings
Welcome to Hell and King of Contradiction are very, very similar.

Then a lot of things, from the Album title to overall theme of the album seems like a half hearted attempt to emulate American Idiot, and there's either not enough Sum 41 or not enough Rock Opera in there. There's not enough story to tie it all together and I feel a number of the songs aren't good enough stories to stand on their own. The one big exeption for me is Pull the Curtain, the true highlight of the album for me. That song just has the makings of such a cool and haunting stories, it's pretty ominous and I desperately want to know more about what the fuck is going on, the last big part before the outro is one of my favourite parts of any song I know, but then the song is over before you can really delve into it. If you're emulating American Idiot, go all out and make that 9 minute song. They showed on SBM they can pull it off amazingly.

So in all, I feel like it can be summarized for me by all the things that it's not
It's not a really a feel-good pop punk album
It doesn't have the bite that I consider Sum 41
It also misses the edge of a political punk album
It's not Rock Opera enough to capitalize on the big theme that runs throughout.

That said, that's all compared to my standards of Sum 41, which is very high.
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Re: The Carnival Of Sins - 10 years of Underclass Hero

Post by X^2 »

Don't feel like writing too much about it, so long story short:
It is by far the weakest album on the Sum 41 catalogue in my opinion. It has a couple of nice songs that have made their way into the live-shows as well, but overall it has too much filler. The biggest problem with this album however is how much similarity some of the songs have to either other Sum 41 songs (even inside the same album) or to songs by different artists. Especially Green Day and MCR come to my mind.
I don't wish to call it a bad album, as I quite enjoy listening to it, but I can see and understand why this album received such negative reviews in the media.

(Look at Me is probably my single favourite song on the album.)
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Post by Sju »

The Jester wrote:During the making of UH, it was probably a time when Deryck had relatively less personal shit to deal with compared to later records.
He said that the fact that he had just moved to LA played a part in it - he did't feel like making a heavy record when he sun was out all the time and he was so happy with Av.

I became a fan in January 2007 at the ripe age of 13, so I was beyond excited to have another album on the way (studio updates! ♥). I've been listening to it a lot over the past year, and definitely appreciate it a lot more now that I'm older. It's not their best for me, though.
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Re: The Carnival Of Sins - 10 years of Underclass Hero

Post by pbueddi »

Album was really special for me, as i was just getting into the band. it was the first record release of theirs that i experienced as a fan. really enjoyed it then, really enjoy it now. i acknowledge that their are some weak songs on it, but some that are also some of my favorite sum 41 songs. "with me" ended up being me and my wife's "song" when we were dating in high school/college, so that will always have a special place for me.
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Post by Jeremy Kill »

The Jester wrote:it just lacks so much of the edge that makes Sum 41 the band that I love.
This is how I felt about the album in a nutshell. I really got into the band because of songs like Still Waiting and Over My Head. After Chuck, I was really hoping the band would go back to a more upbeat style, so I was super excited when Deryck said Underclass Hero would have a "classic Sum 41" feel to it. Of course, my idea of "classic" differed to what Deryck meant.

While I appreciate how much more upbeat and catchy the album is, it just felt like an album out of place. I felt Sum 41 were too old to be making pop punk tunes like this, especially after how mature Chuck had sounded. The problem with the poppier stuff is that sometimes it feels like you've heard certain melodies already. Even though it wasn't the album I had hoped for musically, I listened to it almost every day and learned the majority of the songs on guitar (not that hard though, Cone was right regarding the chords, haha). I was graduating high school the year it was released, so the album became my summer soundtrack. My favourite songs would have to be Speak of the Devil, Pull the Curtain and King of Contradiction.

Underclass Hero was very ambitious, and it's unfortunate that the reception from fans was so divided. My view on the album hasn't changed much over the years, but sometimes I'll catch myself listening to a song and going "Man, that's actually pretty cool that they did that".

That being said, 13 Voices sounds like what I had hoped for after Chuck. Aggressive, but upbeat and catchy with some great guitar parts. Screaming Bloody Murder was pretty much the same, though more dark.

Sorry my addition to the thread is such a bummer, haha. I'll end on a better note :2cool4u: :

On Confusion and Frustration in Modern Times, does anyone else hear Deryck (or someone) say "SSWOOP!" at 3:22? I know in the past he's always done a "suh!" (Bitter End) or "so!" (Still Waiting), but this does not sound like either. In fact, at 1:03 you can hear him say "ssweh!" but it sounds normal. The one near the end sounds more high pitched. :lol!:
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Re: Re:

Post by The Jester »

Jeremy Kill wrote:
The Jester wrote:it just lacks so much of the edge that makes Sum 41 the band that I love.
This is how I felt about the album in a nutshell. I really got into the band because of songs like Still Waiting and Over My Head. After Chuck, I was really hoping the band would go back to a more upbeat style, so I was super excited when Deryck said Underclass Hero would have a "classic Sum 41" feel to it. Of course, my idea of "classic" differed to what Deryck meant.

While I appreciate how much more upbeat and catchy the album is, it just felt like an album out of place. I felt Sum 41 were too old to be making pop punk tunes like this, especially after how mature Chuck had sounded. The problem with the poppier stuff is that sometimes it feels like you've heard certain melodies already. Even though it wasn't the album I had hoped for musically, I listened to it almost every day and learned the majority of the songs on guitar (not that hard though, Cone was right regarding the chords, haha). I was graduating high school the year it was released, so the album became my summer soundtrack. My favourite songs would have to be Speak of the Devil, Pull the Curtain and King of Contradiction.

Underclass Hero was very ambitious, and it's unfortunate that the reception from fans was so divided. My view on the album hasn't changed much over the years, but sometimes I'll catch myself listening to a song and going "Man, that's actually pretty cool that they did that".

That being said, 13 Voices sounds like what I had hoped for after Chuck. Aggressive, but upbeat and catchy with some great guitar parts. Screaming Bloody Murder was pretty much the same, though more dark.

Sorry my addition to the thread is such a bummer, haha. I'll end on a better note :2cool4u: :

On Confusion and Frustration in Modern Times, does anyone else hear Deryck (or someone) say "SSWOOP!" at 3:22? I know in the past he's always done a "suh!" (Bitter End) or "so!" (Still Waiting), but this does not sound like either. In fact, at 1:03 you can hear him say "ssweh!" but it sounds normal. The one near the end sounds more high pitched. :lol!:
for me its kind of hard to compare Chuck SBM and Voices

chuck is the most ambitious in terms of straight forward metal
sbm is probably the most ambitious in terms of songwriting and structure
voices lacks a bit of amibtion here and there i feel especially with almost every song building up to a chorus and then have a big chorus

underclass hero was ambitious lyrically
it was ambitious thematically
and then it wasnt ambitious musically and that did not make sense and it made it feel out of place

if the deryck where gonna emulate american idiot i would have rather seen him emulate some of the storytelling or song structures with a sum sound than make it sound like another band
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