Sum 41

Sum 41 is a band that was created in Canada by the lead singer,  Deryck Whilby in 1996. The band stayed, for the most part, under the radar until around 1999 when they got a record deal with Island Records. Sum 41 released their album "All Killer, No Filler" in 2001. The album was a huge success, especially with the songs In Too Deep and Fat Lip, even if you don't know Sum 41, you've probably heard the song In Too Deep or Fat Lip. The most impressive part, is that Fat Lip was Sum 41's first single and the song made it to the number one spot on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. Fat Lip is still the band's single most popular song that they've released. And with over 30 million albums sold worldwide, you can tell that there must be some talent here. After All Killer No Filler, Sum 41 continued with their unique sound of a pop-punk band with the release of their albums; "Does This Look Infected?", "Chuck", "Underclass Hero", and "Screaming Bloody Murder". But after 17 years of touring, the original Drummer, Steve Jocz (stevo) left the band. If you would like to read more about his departure, read this article. 

Now, what do I think of Sum 41? I first heard Sum 41 when i was very young, I had heard their song "In Too Deep" at the end of the movie, Cheaper By The Dozen. I waited through the whole credits just to find the name of the band so i could get that song on my mp3 player. In Too Deep is probably the song that I have listened to the most in my whole lifetime, I swear i must be half of the views on their music video on youtube. But it actually took me a while to get into the band's other music. I knew of Fat Lip, but i wasn't really a fan because fat lip has more of a rap/hip-hop fell and i wasn't really a fan (i have learned to appreciate Fat Lip now). But, a few years pass and i hear the song "With Me" and i loved it. It was yet another song that i had playing on repeat. So i looked up more songs and in my research, I found that there really isn't a song by Sum 41 that I don't like. I fell in love with their songs, like Walking Disaster, Underclass Hero, The Hell Song, Pieces, and so many other songs. Their pop-punk with a touch of hip-hop sound cannot be duplicated. And their 7th grade humor that they portray in their music videos is classic. In my opinion, overall, of Sum 41 is that this is a band that even people who dont like rock music respect, their music is classic, and even though a punk-rock band is becoming a very loose-term nowadays, i think sum 41 shines through as the epitome of a punk band.

30 Seconds to Mars

Jared Leto. The epitome of a singer songwriter. If you don't recognize Jared from his band, perhaps you would know him from a movie he has played in. Maybe in american psycho, Highway, Lord of war, or perhaps, Fight Club. Or maybe because he was nominated as Time magazines 50 most beautiful people in 1996/1997. Leto did first gain a bit of fame from his acting career, specifically in a teenage drama called "My So Called Life" in 1994. But, in 1998 he formed what i know him best for. His band, 30 seconds to mars. Jared formed the band with his brother Shannon Leto. In 2002, they published their first self titled album, which received a lot of positive reviews. But the release of their seconds album is what really made 30 Seconds to Mars take off (pun intended). The release of the album beautiful lie was a huge success and it even hit mainstream. Followed by their album "This is War", this album hit mainstream as well and really gave the band their name.

But what do i think about 30 Seconds to Mars? I first discovered 30 Seconds to mars with their song that they are most famous for, A Beautiful Lie, as well as From Yesterday. And through the natural processes of just finding new music, I discovered songs like the kill, closer to the edge, and kings and queens. Every song I knew by thirty seconds to mars.... I loved. So one Christmas day when i received all of the cards from the relatives with itunes gift cards in them, I decided to purchase a thirty seconds to mars album on ITunes. I listened to the whole album and I really was not impressed. Although some of their songs are great... like Hurricane for example. all of their other songs and very boring in my opinion. A lot of people may have different opinions. But the good songs by Thirty seconds to mars are great, but all the other ones... they're just "meh".

Foo Fighters

For my first review, i thought that i'd go over the god of modern rock, Dave Grohl, and his band, the Foo Fighters. Dave Grohl is the epitome of a modern rock legend. A lot of people would know Dave Grohl not by his part of the Foo Fighters, but that he is the ex-Drummer of one of the most famous grunge bands of all time, Nirvana. After the death of Kurt Cobain, Dave started his own project, to start a new band. This band is the foo fighters, and even though Grohl was known for his talent on the drumset, he took on the part of the lead vocalist for the Foo Fighters. With Dave's strong lead male vocals and a love for rock guitar in mind, the Foo Fighters managed to survive the rock explosion. Ever since then, they have been growing rapidly and forming an enormous fan base.

But enough background. What do I think about the Foo Fighters? Well, my love for the Foos started in Guitar Hero, actually. The Pretender was probably one of my most played songs on that game, I simply adored the quick tempo of the music and the phenomenal vocals and instrumentals. But other than that, I never thought too much about the band, but I just assumed that The Pretender was another amazing song that Guitar Hero introduced me to, like so many times before. But on one fateful, boring day, I decided i needed more music to listen to. So naturally, i hop right on to Pandora radio and put in a search for The Pretender. That one search is what opened my eyes to the Foo Fighters. I love how their music never hit a rough patch. Their music stays at an exiting pace from start to end. With a sound similar to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, I found that the Foo Fighter's music certainly did not dull with age, like a countless amount of other bands. But in stead, the Foo Fighters music continued to be great, if not better! Even in still releasing music to this day, Foo Fighter's songs never fail to make it on to the radio and be very popular. Many people have heard of the Foos but don't even know it. For example, try listening to songs like Everlong, or My Hero. Most people have heard those songs. Also, because i know that many people reading this blog go to Princeton high school, The Pretender was the song that was preformed as the grand finale at rock the house (Rock 4 a cause) last year (2012) sang by Schiele Preston. Overall, i believe that the Foo Fighters is one of the greatest rock bands today, their music never fails to satisfy and they have a song for everyone.

Thank you all for reading and stay tuned for next week!