Oh my, another fan favourite near the bottom?! Surely, I may as well sign my death warrant now. Let me tell you a story. This was the first Sum 41 album that young me bought, when I first learned to drive. I really liked it then, but at that point, I hadn't heard any of their other albums. Even then I wasn't overly in a rush to listen to the rest of their stuff. I kind of just felt, meh, they're OK. But on second listen, it occurs to me that maybe it is better than I initially remember.
I think the biggest thing for me on this album, is the nostalgia. The memories of listening to this album when I first bought it. But apart from that, there's not much else to offer. It's another heavy one, taking inspiration from the metal bands of the day. You can hear it most on The Bitter End, with Dave shredding like there's no tomorrow. And there's We're All To Blame. It's heavy yes, but that's it. It's probably one of Sum 41's worst songs. There are few hidden gems here too, most notably Welcome To Hell.
I do like the heavy sound, and as I said, there are some great songs, but overall, it doesn't really do it for me. I feel most of my love for it comes from nostalgia and nothing else. There's just too much mediocrity. Some Say is fine, but a bit boring, slipping away, is sad yes, but there's not much to it. Even Pieces. It's OK, and lyrically very powerful, but musically, I don't know. I guess I'm saying that I wish I found the other albums sooner. Because if I had listened to the band for the first time now, my views as you can see are very different.