Since the 9th grade, I've been a Sum 41 fan. When their first album All Killer No Filler was released in 2001, it was hard not to fall in love with songs like "In Too Deep," "Fat Lip" and "Motivation." As a teenager in my first year of high school, this was one of the first albums I owned and a catchy one at that.
Through the 15 years from then to now I've bought every CD put out by the band and listened religiously to each one. I still even occasionally play songs from each album on my car rides. So where does Deryck and the rest of the Sums (including Dave Brownsound!) latest offering land in the spectrum of all that is Sum 41? Does it ride with the greats like Chuck and Does This Look Infected?, or does it fall flat like the atrocity that was Underclass Hero?
The short answer...somewhere in the middle.
Sum 41 original members Steve Jocz, Cone McCaslin, Deryck Whibley and Dave Baksh
Here's a brief history lesson in Sum 41: Originally consisting of these 4 guys, Baksh (aka Brownsound) left the band in 2006 to work with his new band and was replaced with Tom Thacker on guitars. Later Jocz (Stevo 32) left the band in 2013 and was replaced with Frank Zummo on drums in 2015. It was that same year that Baksh later rejoined the band to contribute his heavy ass-kicking guitar solos and riffs to Sum 41 once more.
With Dave Baksh once again as part of the lineup, the sound found in 13 Voices has undergone a significant overhaul when compared with the two albums that came out before it, Underclass Hero and Screaming Bloody Murder.
That being said let's get into the songs that comprise 13 Voices, which I will divide up into chunks:
Intro (First 3 songs on the album)
Consists of: "A Murder of Crows"/"Goddamn I'm Dead Again"/"Fake My Own Death"
Wow...just wow. Easily the best part of the album is the beginning. These 3 tracks made me fall in love with Sum 41 all over again. Starting with "A Murder of Crows," the subtle lead up into the heavy guitar riffs coupled with the powerfully mesmerizing drums and Deryck once again at the helm of his band is simply breathtaking. This leads right into "Goddamn I'm Dead Again," a perfect combination of Deryck's energized lyrics and Dave's quick fingers on the guitar, an absence that was sorely missed. From there we head into "Fake My Own Death," the first single off of 13 Voices, and a great one at that. The song takes everything we have loved about Sum 41 through the years and amplifies it, but more importantly Deryck, Cone and Dave are all jamming out together in full force. Easily my favorite song off the album. It also doesn't hurt that they poke fun at popular internet memes in the video.
A still from the "Fake My Own Death" music video
Middle (Songs 4-7)
Consists of: "Breaking the Chain"/"There Will Be Blood"/"13 Voices"/"War"
This is where 13 Voices starts to lose some steam. While I like "Breaking the Chain," it sounds a little too much like a Linkin Park song to me, both in formula and execution. Don't get me wrong I like Linkin Park, it's just that Sum 41 never had this LP sort of sound to any of their songs so it threw me off. Not the worst song on the album by any stretch, inspirational even, just not my favorite. "There Will Be Blood" takes the prize of worst song on 13 Voices. I'm not sure what to make of it. It sounds like a mashing together of multiple Pop/Punk bands into one very messy song that doesn't really know its own identity. Even Dave Baksh's guitar playing can't save this one. Next we have "13 Voices," which starts out almost as an intermission song smack-dab in the middle of the album and then quickly turns into an adrenaline fueled guitar and drum pairing followed up by Deryck's vocals. I can't help but feel this one sounds a lot like some of their previously released songs, especially from Screaming Bloody Murder. Kind of a let down when you know they can come up with more original ideas for songs. Last, but not least in this block is "War," another inspirational piece telling of how Deryck overcame Alcoholism and became a stronger, better person with his sobriety and while the message of the song is a good one, it didn't provide me with much of a spark like some of the other songs did.
While "War" provides some insight into Deryck's struggle with Alcoholism, it's kind of boring
End (Songs 8-10)
Consists of: "God Save Us All (Death to POP)"/"The Fall and the Rise"/"Twisted by Design"
The 8th track comes in the lackluster song of "God Save Us All (Death to POP)," another song that sounds like Sum 41 is trying to copy another band's style, almost as if they worked together with Green Day on this one. Nothing too memorable about it, although I would consider it a good song to get my blood pumping on the treadmill while at the gym. Next we have "The Fall and the Rise," a joint effort by all the guys contributing their vocals along with a catchy guitar riff and drums that compliment it all nicely. Unfortunately this one also reminds me of Linkin Park and a song that appeared on Sum's Underclass Hero album. As a result it doesn't feel original and kind of like we got the short end of the stick on this one. Last we have "Twisted by Design," another one of my favorite songs. Deryck's delivery is spot on and the band plays well together on this final hurrah of 13 Voices, easily one of the better songs off the album.
While 13 Voices only has 10 tracks, the version of it sold at Target has an additional 4 bonus tracks, which I'll talk about below.
Bonus (11-14)
Consists of: "Better Days"/"Black Eyes"/"War (Acoustic)"/"Breaking the Chain (Acoustic)"
"Better Days" offers another fast-paced Sum song and is catchy. Only about 2 minutes in length, but good nonetheless. "Black Eyes" sounds a lot like "Count Your Last Blessings" from Underclass Hero, not bad though. The acoustic versions of "War" and "Breaking the Chain" on the other hand are fantastic. I always felt acoustic versions of songs had more emotion within them and Deryck succeeds in performing two songs that I feel are both better than their originals with this added realness and peaceful guitar strums accompanying them.
So where would I put 13 Voices in the Sum 41 catalog? Here is my list of Sum 41 albums from most to least favorite:
1. Chuck
2. Does this Look Infected
3. All Killer No Filler
4. 13 Voices
5. Screaming Bloody Murder
6. Underclass Hero
There you have it. 13 Voices is simply a good Sum 41 album that fairs better than their last two album releases due to Dave (Brownsound) Baksh's return to the band in all his guitar playing glory. The absence of Stevo on drums is a bummer though as I would have loved to have the original band all back together again.
I give 13 Voices 3 out of 5 stars
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