You know what Sum 41 really needs?

[Jesus Christ Supermarket]

Better influences. I really love Sum 41, but they really need to expand on their sound. I didn't like Underclass Hero, but I'll admit I liked the different approach Deryck and the band did to make the album not sound as 1 dimensional as their other ones. But even on that album it still kind of feels like they just want to play it safe and grab their influences from recent popular bands so they can fit in with them. The problem I think though is that the bands they they get influences from all have expanded their sound and aren't afraid to fail if their sound sounds like crap. So when a certain band draws an influence from older bands or even rips off a band... (Like Green Day ripping Queen or My Crappy Romance ripping Queen, or even Muse ripping... Queen) it still sounds unique because they kind of mix the "old"style with their "new" style. It's no mystery that Sum 41 want to make it big like those bands. But since they draw their influences/ rip off recent bands... it's sounds like they just want to be posers and just want to make a quick buck. Which I know isn't the case since they so obviously love making music. (You think they'd be working on an album for 3 yrs?) Granted it could be risky since Sum 41 isn't a big enough that can release crappy albums every year, but I still think they should take the chance. I know Deryck's really into Exile on Main Street and Cone's into London Calling, I personally think they should draw an interest to David Bowie , I don't know just... don't rip off Queen please.

There I said my piece, I am prepared to take criticism... only if it's good.

[Jeremy Kill]

I think Deryck is one of those people that just doesn't really care what is going on around him. Or at least, he doesn't actively go out and find out what's out there. Every time he's in an interview and asked about influences or new bands he likes, the answer is always the same. He's got no time, he doesn't listen to new music, he denies it or he just doesn't know.

Deryck seems more traditional and set in his ways. He sticks to listening to the old stuff while someone like Mark Hoppus is actively listening to and finding new music.

Though, now that you mention the Queen thing... I really hope they don't do that.

[Jake-41]

Don't hatee on Queen! :(

[UltraKolby]

And speaking of Queen, didnt Sum 41 did a cover of Killer Queen by Queen?

[Tyler.]

green day ripped queen and mcr? wtf?

but yeah i agree that they need to find their own sound still. all of their albums seem to sound like another band

[kILLDR3n]

I think the whole thing you wrote is wrong.

[Jake-41]

I think the whole thing you wrote is wrong.

yup.

Honestly, i've searched for another band with a sum 41 sound, and there just isnt one. They have a unigue sound which is why they have such a small but loving fanbase.

[Dylan]

i think what sum 41 really, really needs is a producer. i understand that deryck wants to be in control and all that jazz, but producers know what they're doing, especially gil norton. when i heard he was gonna produce sum 41s new album i was pumped, gil has produced the two greatest foo fighters albums among others and its a shame that things didn't work out. in my mind it seems deryck is almost this delusional control freak and wants to make albums almost by himself. its what happened with underclass and little piece of me feels like it could happen with this album.

im also worried because, i listen to the overall sound quality of albums like nine inch nails' The Slip (imagine for a moment, trent reznor producing a sum 41 album... pretty fucking epic, eh?) or even the foo's echoes, silence patience and grace, and they just have a clarity that i want to hear from sum 41. and underclass' sound was not clear as it should have been and neither is scumfuck which is ultimately why i don't listen to it as much.

in short, they should have kept gil on as producer, and seen how it went. in the end, if they didn't like it, they could do it by themselves on they're next album.

[Lars]

green day ripped queen and mcr? wtf?

Pretty much.

Just a lil example: the last 'solo' in 21st Century Breakdown.

[silverdolphin]

I think the whole thing you wrote is wrong.

[Hentaiman]

I agree about the producer thing. They could've done it with Gil, then if they really didn't like it in the end, they could just scrap it and start all over like Good Charlotte did with their recent album, that they changed producers and scrapped the whole thing.

[Jesus Christ Supermarket]

Don't hatee on Queen! :(

I love Queen... I just seems a trend now that bands rip off them.

Honestly, i've searched for another band with a sum 41 sound, and there just isnt one. They have a unigue sound which is why they have such a small but loving fanbase.

Honestly, the only thing I think that made them sound unique was Dave. You can tell he had classic metal influences which sounded really great with the Pop Punk sound. Some of the songs you can tell have the 80's metal influence which is very evident in All Killer, which is why it was praised for not being an "Enema" rip off. Now that Dave's gone though, so has the Sabbath-esque sound we never heard in Underclass.

What I'm trying to say is that... at this point of the game The Sums shouldn't sound this derivative.

i think what sum 41 really, really needs is a producer. i understand that deryck wants to be in control and all that jazz, but producers know what they're doing, especially gil norton. when i heard he was gonna produce sum 41s new album i was pumped, gil has produced the two greatest foo fighters albums among others and its a shame that things didn't work out. in my mind it seems deryck is almost this delusional control freak and wants to make albums almost by himself. its what happened with underclass and little piece of me feels like it could happen with this album.

im also worried because, i listen to the overall sound quality of albums like nine inch nails' The Slip (imagine for a moment, trent reznor producing a sum 41 album... pretty fucking epic, eh?) or even the foo's echoes, silence patience and grace, and they just have a clarity that i want to hear from sum 41. and underclass' sound was not clear as it should have been and neither is scumfuck which is ultimately why i don't listen to it as much.

in short, they should have kept gil on as producer, and seen how it went. in the end, if they didn't like it, they could do it by themselves on they're next album.

Agreed with everything you said. I think we all can agree that Deryck is narcissitic with his music. In the end, that always becomes a problem. Look at Smashing Pumpkins... there's only one original band member left... the lead singer Billy Corgan. His new album sounds like crap because he literally does everything with it. He writes it, plays everything on it (minus drums which a 19 year old does), records it, produces it, mixes it, masters it, and self releases it. His fans hate him for it, but he doesn't care cause he has his head so far up his ass. I'm afraid The Sums will disband some day because of it. They might as well call themselves: "Deryck Whibley and the Sums"

Sorry I'm not sticking to one point (Damn ADHD)

[upperclasszero]

I agree with you. And the producer thing. But i don't really think Sum 41 gives a fucking shit at this point. They make music now for fun, and tour for fun, which is probably the most fun a band could have

[pteargriffin]

i think saying those bands are ripping off queen or whatever is ridiculous, they take influences and mix it with their own sound, don't fight me on it because i really don't care, i like those bands a lot and that's fine for me, everyone's always gonna be influenced by something else, doesn't mean you're ripping it off, you're making it your own, it's like movies and stories, after so many years, centuries of stories, nothing is original, impossible to be original, it's just something influenced by other stuff and made into it's own thing, and that's why it works and why it's still interesting.

with this 12 minute song on this coming record, i've very intrigued to see what this is like, is it gonna be sum 41 with like theatrics or what, i don't know, but i can't wait to find out.

as for the producer thing, i think they really need that, i don't like when someone in the band produces the record because i really think that outside ear is very important, you pick a producer that isn't gonna force things on you, but that has the ability to tell you when something just isn't working and you can trust their opinion. everyone works differently i guess, when my cousin and i record we self produce everything, but before we release stuff we show it to a few select people that we know give honest opinions so that they can tell us what's working and what isn't really coming through. i just think an outside voice is always helpful.

[FuckT41182]

I think the whole thing you wrote is wrong.

[Raku]

I think it would be neat for them to do big name collabs like they did with iggy pop. Maybe do a song with the Foo Fighters?

[sprinks41]

I think the whole thing you wrote is wrong.

[Tyler.]

green day ripped queen and mcr? wtf?

Pretty much.

Just a lil example: the last 'solo' in 21st Century Breakdown.

never heard of anyone that has thought that before lol. muse ripping queen is a yeah, but green day no.

as for sum 41, i think the first 2 albums had the beastie boys influence on a few songs but otherwise it was just normal punk and their own sorta style with some trumpets occasionally etc. dtli was pretty much their own, i can't think of something that sounds like that. chuck was sooooooo much like linkin park sometimes, and the metallica influence of course. and uh kinda reminded me of green day. then skumfuck reminded me of MCR. i want the next songs to remind me of sum 41 :(

[keefer]

I truly and honestly believe that Screaming Bloody Murder will be Sum 41's finest work. This album, from what we heard, sounds different but still has that true Sum 41 sound to it. It's gonna be insane, the band are back to being that raw and uninfluenced group that they used to be, nothing holding them back. SBM is gonna floor us all, and we're gonna fucking love it.

[Jeremy Kill]

Honestly, i've searched for another band with a sum 41 sound, and there just isnt one. They have a unigue sound which is why they have such a small but loving fanbase.

Honestly, the only thing I think that made them sound unique was Dave. You can tell he had classic metal influences which sounded really great with the Pop Punk sound. Some of the songs you can tell have the 80's metal influence which is very evident in All Killer, which is why it was praised for not being an "Enema" rip off. Now that Dave's gone though, so has the Sabbath-esque sound we never heard in Underclass.

What I'm trying to say is that... at this point of the game The Sums shouldn't sound this derivative.

Hopefully the band (as in Deryck) will eventually allow Tom to be part of the songwriting process. I know Tom will say that he's just happy playing guitar and that it really isn't his place to be writing songs, but I think it would be really good for the band's growth and the evolution of their sound. The title track for Screaming Bloody Murder will be the definitive "should Tom write songs for Sum 41" for me. Gob's last album was pretty good, so I'm imagining it'll be like that.

as for the producer thing, i think they really need that, i don't like when someone in the band produces the record because i really think that outside ear is very important, you pick a producer that isn't gonna force things on you, but that has the ability to tell you when something just isn't working and you can trust their opinion. everyone works differently i guess, when my cousin and i record we self produce everything, but before we release stuff we show it to a few select people that we know give honest opinions so that they can tell us what's working and what isn't really coming through. i just think an outside voice is always helpful.

I agree. I think it's good for the creative process if you have someone else listening and forming their own vision of where they want to take the music. It could really open up the creativity valve for the artist and open up doors. Though, to be honest, if the outside voice is too controlling or wants to take things in too far a different direction, they have to go. It's annoying when you have a specific vision and someone else wants you to do it completely different. I'm thinking that's what could have happened between Sum 41 and Gil. Though, I would love for Sum 41 to work with a different producer than their own Deryck Whibley in the future. Just for variety, you know?

I think it would be neat for them to do big name collabs like they did with iggy pop. Maybe do a song with the Foo Fighters?

Yeah, I wish the band would do more collabs and covers. Little Know It All is awesome and I love listening to the rock remix of Get Back by Ludacris. When I first heard Sum 41's cover of Killer Queen, I couldn't believe it was Deryck singing and wrote it off as probably being fake.

I truly and honestly believe that Screaming Bloody Murder will be Sum 41's finest work. This album, from what we heard, sounds different but still has that true Sum 41 sound to it. It's gonna be insane, the band are back to being that raw and uninfluenced group that they used to be, nothing holding them back. SBM is gonna floor us all, and we're gonna fucking love it.

The thing I like about Screaming Bloody Murder is that it isn't built up as being "Sum 41's best work ever" by the band themselves. I remember with Underclass Hero Deryck would tell people with was "their best work," "classic Sum 41," and "fast, edgy" on the Q&A. It really hyped it up for me to sounding like how I thought classic Sum 41 would be. With this new album, they just described the sound. They didn't constantly play it off as their best work in every interview they did. That's why I think this album will be different and the best thing they've ever done.