Sum 41

Sum 41: Does This Look Infected?Does This Look Infected? (2002)
Island Records

Reviewer Rating: 4.5

User Rating:

Contributed by: xBri15x
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on December 3rd 2002Sum 41 releases their 3rd album "Does This Look Infected?", however this one takes a slightly different direction than their other two previous releases (Half Hour of Power & All Killer No Filler). This new album will most likely please punk fans of all kinds. From pop-punkers to more hardcore fan.

Sum 41 releases their 3rd album "Does This Look Infected?", however this one takes a slightly different direction than their other two previous releases (Half Hour of Power & All Killer No Filler). This new album will most likely please punk fans of all kinds. From pop-punkers to more hardcore fans, and it will possibly convert some of those "Sum 41 suck" people who hate the band simply because their popular. The CD itself is, on first impression, not what you would expect it to be. The cover-art looks original, but CHEAP. The sound quality is clear, but not crystal clear, with some song's words being meshed in with the instruments, making them hard to make out at first.

The first track is definitely not the best track on the CD but it's a good opener. It's medium paced and has typical lyrics for many punk bands, but they're not typical for Sum 41. Where as their former CD's were happier and poppier, this CD is much more down to earth; it's serious, darker, and tells it like it is. The opening song has nice instrumentals and variations in the vocals. They range from fast and loud to slow and low-keyed. The end of the song is the best with harmonic wailing in the background combined with a slur of words at a nice rhyming pace.

The second song "Over My Head" is probably the best song on the CD. It has excellent instrumentals and perfectly timed lyrics. This is also, in my opinion, Sum's best song on any CD. It elongates the words at the beginning of a verse, "I'm fallin' I'm fallinnnnn..." then slams the next verse "NOW I'm In Over My HEAD" and adds a few screams in there, (and throughout the entire CD) which I feel make this album their best yet. They did a lot of maturing for this release.

Song #3, "My direction" is a typical Sum 41 song with a medium pace that you can sing along to, but has parts that pick up the temp and really make the song stand out. It also has Sum's standard elaboration of every word in some parts of the song, "When - will - all - my - problems disappear," with a drumbeat placed between almost every word.

The fourth song is "Still Waiting" which most people have heard. This is the song rated #2 in my book. It's got a fast, almost hardcore feel to it without going completely crazy. I guess it's got that hardcore feel because it's one of their more metal influenced songs. It's not a happy song either which is oddly enough a nice change from their other CD's which were mostly cheerful i.e.- "In to Deep" being uplifting melodic.

Still waiting is followed up by A**hole. It's not really a song though. Its start with an aggravated miss-tab, some swears, and has a snotty chorus. Then it's done, I think it should have been added as song 9 or just left out, but it does fine here.

Back to the real music, "Yesterday.com." I'm not quite sure why it's titled this, but the title doesn't matter anyway! The song is great, the lyrics are good, and the pace is again medium-fast. But the best parts of the song are at 1:00 and especially 1:16 when the song picks up in lyrics and speed. After the increase in speed it mellows out a little, but then some more of those screams get added in and the song finishes strong with another speed-up.

"All Messed up" is a good follow-up to Yesterday.com. This song is most like Sum 41's other songs, the guitar riffs are energetic and the words are annunciated between drumbeats. There's a nice change in pace around 1:18. The best part comes a little over two minutes. I can't really explain why, but it's just how the words flow that makes it better than the rest of the song. Over all this song's catchy, and a little slower paced than the others but it's still a great song.

"Mr. Amsterdam" hits next, it's again a little more of a hardcore-rock song but it's one of the standout tracks. The pace is quicker and has some killer screams. With awesome pick-ups in speed, and lyrical melodicy (I don't think that's a word but you know what I mean!) The instrumental part of the song is great too. OK moving on...

"Thanks for nothing" follows at track #9. The opening guitar sounds like something from Nirvana, but the opening is where that ends. This is the first song with rapping in it, and I believe the last. This is a slower paced song, but it's not a slow song by any means. Its rhythm is incredible and it's a nice compliment to a full, well-rounded CD.

"Hyper insomnia" is next, and it's a great song too. The speed of the lyrics varies greatly per verse. It will have a drawn out line followed by a slurred line and a medium-melodic line. The best part is that some of the verses are complied right on top of each other... "How long will this take to wear offfff-ON AND ON..." With "off' fading out as "on and on" is being screamed in.

Final song = "Hooch." A good song, but in my opinion one of the weakest songs on the CD. It's starts off fantastic but toward the middle it kicks down a notch and your waiting for it to kick up and knock your socks off but that doesn't happen and the song finishes out quite and soothing. A few screams in this song but they're in the way-way background.

Overall a great CD, it has something for all kinds of fans. I don't see how people can use the excuse that this CD sucks just because Sum 41 is so popular or sell-outs. I don't see that simply because it seems like there are more people out there who hate these guys than love them. If you want some energetic music with melodic lyrics, which are carefully placed then you should go out and pick this CD up.

Breakdown:
Cover Art- 2/5- Nothing special
Sound Quality- 8/10- Not as clear a you think it would be for Sum 41
First impression- 3/5- It's hard to make a differentiation between the tracks at first
Lasting appeal- 9/10- One of the best CD's this year (along with Allister's Last Stop Suburbia), especially with the upset by Good Charlotte, that I thought would be huge, but disappointed me.
Best Song(s)- Over My Head, Still Waiting
Is it Something Special?- I think it is; The CD is complete with great lyrics, melodies, instrumentals, and variations in the songs. It's a big step from their other CDs, all of which I loved. I don't care what other people say about their music. If I like it, I like it! I listen to a wide variety of bands; Face to Face, Drop Kick Murphy's, Amazing Transparent Man...

This CD will please punk fans of all kinds. From pop, to hardcore rockers, probably not Emo fans however. If you pick this CD up, I don't think you'll regret it.
Overall Rating- 94/100

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

superskabro (May 29, 2007)

Man, you can tell when a real toddler reviews an album because it's always a track-by-track break down of the whole album. lame lame lame.

Sum 41 isn't that hot either.

Anonymous (October 18, 2004)

2 words: Fuc*ing Fantastic
All the songs are different, but wonderfull. best songs on the album? difficult to choose, but its gotta be Hell Song, Over My Head, Still Waiting and th best 2 of all Thanks for Nothing and Hooch. Magical

Anonymous (January 16, 2003)

"I listen to a wide variety of bands; Face to Face, Drop Kick Murphy’s, Amazing Transparent Man"

Oh fuck you. You suck and punk is dead. Nuff said.

Anonymous (December 28, 2002)

this cd is awesome, i think its wayy better than the first one

Anonymous (December 10, 2002)

"I just think Rotten was more into a fashion show than really getting into the music."

And what type of fashion show is 'God Save the Queen'? Or 'Anarchy in the UK'? I dont understand what you mean by "fashion show". So what if he wore fucking outrageous outfits? It was all about shock value. Did the Pistols want people to look just like them? No! In fact, Johnny Rotten made fun of his audiences on several occasions because they all looked like clones of him. So, in short, you dont have enough knowledge to really judge that Rotten was putting on a "fashion show". Go rent a copy of "The Filth and the Fury". And Sum 41 blows ass.

FeedMyNightmare (December 10, 2002)

"Hardcore rockers"

Haha that line made my day. Thank you Sum41 review person.

Anonymous (December 9, 2002)

I personally dont like Rancid that much, only 2000...but I only like a few Sex Pistols songs too. But I just think Rotten was more into a fashion show than really getting into the music. Sorry, but thats just my opinion. Fuck Sum 41, that's just shit, not music, shit, the way that limp biscuit is garbage.

Anonymous (December 9, 2002)

More people are sticking up for this album than they are for the Sex Pistols... Not right! That just goes to show how many poseurs (like fathead) like Rancid and a few other modern good bands, but go against the Pistols. If anybody thinks they were in it for the money, not the music, then please explain why Rotten quit the band to pursue making PiL albums (the first three are great, but the rest kinda suck).

evildeadalive (December 9, 2002)

woah... is it just me, or were a bunch of posts just deleted?

Obscene_Jesture (December 8, 2002)

If that piece of fucking SHIT song is the best "pop-punk" song in Colorado, I hope Saddaam launches his first nuke and it hits you right in your Afghan looking eyebrows. That has to be the most horrid trash to ever grace my computer speakers since I watched David Hasselhoff strut his stuff at this website:

http://www.hellonetwork.com/demo/toysclub/video.asp?speed=hoo k300

Obscene_Jesture (December 8, 2002)

i just saw these guys play live on MADD TV last night.

I dont care if even their music was good.. i will never be caught dead listening to dudes as ugly as them

they are little skinny DORKS with lame ass tattoos... theres the stickboy bass player, the arabian/osama looking lead guitarist, and the downright ugly "goomba" (the only way i can describe him) for the singer/rhythm guitar. The drummer is downright retarded looking... listening to this guys loud as fuck while driving is about as cool as cranking up Enya and rolling by the beach.

/Obscene OUT

DontBeSoDigital (December 8, 2002)

In other news, Sum 41 still sucks.

Anonymous (December 7, 2002)

hey, because I am a geek with superior mathematical skills I just added your breakdown up, and if you think about, it should be 73 out of 100 if its based on the breakdown.

evildeadalive (December 6, 2002)

I'd probably put it in the top 1.

Anonymous (December 6, 2002)

London Calling = One of the best punk albums EVER, easily in the top 3.

Anonymous (December 6, 2002)

94/100? wow. this must be one of those classic albums i NEED to pick up. an essential album you might say. damn, where the hell have i been? i've been in a rut, listening to my clash and bad brains recrods. i am a fan of punk and hardcore but not emo as he said. well, since 2 2 = 5, i'm going to listen to this kid and buy this essential album.

Luzzew (December 5, 2002)

"you kids will grow out of this type of music, trust me"

I totally agree with that statement. I got started with Green Day when I was 12 years old, and while I still enjoy Green Day, I realize that there is so much more to music than that. Discovering bands like The Velvet Underground, Cursive, The Faint, The Stooges, and Tom Waits is where music is really exciting though. Tastes definitely mature as you get older.

WEZ

Anonymous (December 5, 2002)

where's billy spleen, didn't you like that song, or why isn't it included?

waste_elite (December 5, 2002)

the fact that you thought this album (along with the allister album) were the best albums of the year is pretty sad.

you kids will grow out of this type of music, trust me

Anonymous (December 4, 2002)

I like Allister and Home Grown. Probably the only two pop-punk bands that I actually like and would go see live (which I have, and both put on pretty good shows).

I thought "Last Stop Suburbia" and "Kings Of Pop" were good, but thats just me.

And to get back on topic, Sum 41 can like my pubic hair.

Anonymous (December 4, 2002)

This album SUCKS....worst "music" of the year along with Good Charlotte, Allister, and New Found Glory. All those fake, candy, ice cream music needs to stop. It's utterly terrible. I've seen almost all of those bands live and it is laughable AT BEST!

Anonymous (December 4, 2002)

"one of the best cd's this year" pity,pity-oldpunker-

Anonymous (December 4, 2002)

Lasting appeal- 9/10- One of the best CD’s this year (along with Allister’s Last Stop Suburbia), especially with the upset by Good Charlotte, that I thought would be huge, but disappointed me.

Well, if you're going to compare it to shit like that...

evildeadalive (December 4, 2002)

94 out of 100??!!

REALPUNX4LIFE (December 3, 2002)

Intelligence doesn't have anything to do with taste. My sister is really smart and she likes the Dave Matthews Band. I'm a retard and I don't like the Dave Matthews Band. That oughta tell you something. Just because a smart person likes Sum 41 doesn't mean that they're good. It doesn't mean they're bad either, but you see where I'm going, right?

rightcliqificus (December 3, 2002)

the problem is that some people may hate them cuz they're popular, but most of us hate them cuz they suck and just rip off other bands. i also hate that people think they're punk.

CallingLondon (December 3, 2002)

hmmm....here lies the dillema. this is actually a quite well written review, which leads me to believe the reviewer is fairly intelligent. everything i've heard of sum41 in the past however is pretty unoriginal and is basically music for idiots. i haven't actually heard much of the CD however, so i can't really judge. i should probably just download some of the music.

dongrom (December 3, 2002)

Very good review, I liked the breakdown at the end. Good job.

DonGrom

Anonymous (December 3, 2002)

Please please please stop reviewing this band. Please. And the fact that you have to justify your review and opinion should tell you something.

pope_schlomo (December 3, 2002)

My question is why give it an overall of 100. Should've been -15.

Ramo

Anonymous (December 3, 2002)

again, please quit reviewing this album. ok ok its good , but stop.