Sum 41

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Sum 41
Sum 41

Contents

Introduction

Sum 41 is a Canadian punk/alternative band from Ajax, Ontario. They started in 1996 as a quartet made by Deryck Whibley (vocals, guitar), Cone McCaslin (bass guitar), Steve Jocz (drums) and Dave Baksh (lead guitar), though the band has seen several line-ups during the years.

They have sold over 10 million copies of their 5 albums, and have also published a large number of singles plus two live DVDs and a live album.



History


Early years


The band started as group of friends from High School that played in different bands, one of them called Kaspir. One day they all met in a concert of "Hole" and that day happened to be the 41st day of the summer. That's the reason why they decided to change their name to "Sum 41", "Sum" comes from "Summer", and the first time they used it was in a Supernova show.

Sum 41 on stage
Sum 41 on stage

Their first EP, "Half hour of power":


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"Grab the Devil by the Horns and Fuck Him up the Ass"
"Machine Gun"
"What I Believe"
"T.H.T."
"Makes No Difference"
"Summer"
"32 Ways To Die"
"Second Chance For Max Headroom"
"Dave's Possessed Hair/It's What We're All About"
"Ride The Chariot To The Devil"
"Another Time Around"


The line-up those early years was made of Deryck Whibley (vocals, guitar), Richard Roy (bass) and Steve Jocz (drums). The band went through several bassists during their first years until Cone McCaslin joined in 1999, and just one year later they got signed with Islands Records. That's when they released their first EP "Half hour of power" (2000) with their first single "Makes no difference".


All Killer No Filer


Sum 41
Sum 41

Image:allkiller.jpg


"Introduction to Destruction"
"Nothing on My Back"
"Never Wake Up"
"Fat Lip"
"Rhythms"
"Motivation"
"In Too Deep"
"Summer"
"Handle This"
"Crazy Amanda Bunkface"
"All She's Got"
"Heart Attack"
"Pain for Pleasure"
"Makes No Difference" (UK)


Their first studio album arrived soon after their EP, in 2001 "All killer no filler" was released featuring 13 tracks (14 in UK). One of them was to be a huge hit, "Fat Lip", hitting nº1 in USA and many other countries. "In too deep" and "Motivation" were to follow, and the band got more and more popular. They went on the Warped Tour that lasted more than a year in which they gave around 300 concerts, some of them along Blink 182.



Does this look Infected


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"The Hell Song"
"Over My Head (Better Off Dead)"
"My Direction"
"Still Waiting"
"A.N.I.C."/"Asshole"
"No Brains"
"All Messed Up"
"Mr. Amsterdam"
"Thanks For Nothing"
"Hyper-Insomnia"
"Billy Spleen"
"Hooch"
"Reign In Pain (Heavy Metal Jamboree)"
"WWVII" Parts 1 & 2


They didn't lose time and released their next album in 2002 "Does This Look Infected?" hit the streets with the single "Still waiting", making a parody of "The Strokes". It was followed by the awesome "Hell song" and "Over my head".


The band kept making punk rock but this second album is a bit heavier than "All killer no filler", an album that reminds of "Green Day" first steps but with a raw sound and much direct, contestative lyrics. The band supported the album with another world tour and even made some collabs with Iggy Pop.


Sum 41
Sum 41


Chuck


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"Intro"
"No Reason"
"We're All To Blame"
"Angels With Dirty Faces"
"Some Say"
"The Bitter End"
"Open Your Eyes"
"Slipping Away"
"I'm Not The One"
"Welcome To Hell"
"Pieces"
"There's No Solution"
"88"
"Noots"
"Moron"
"Subject To Change"


Their third album, "Chuck", was released in 2004 after the band went through an exciting adventure in the Democratic Republic of Congo supporting a charity organization called War Child. During their stance in Congo their hotel was bombed and the band feared for their lives. A U.N. guy named Chuck helped them out of there, and that's why they decided to name their album after him.


In Deryck's words: "One bomb came too close, hit the hotel and the hotel just started shaking. Everyone dove and was lying on the ground. Things were falling off the walls, mirrors were breaking. That's when we all kind of realized that this was really going bad, and we're probably not going to make it out."


First single of the album was "We're all to blame", followed by the slow-paced "Pieces" and "Some Say", all of them much quieter than the tracks from previous albums. The last single "No Reason" recovered the spirit of previous albums a bit more.


That same year the band participated in the "Rock Against Bush" album with the song "Moron".


At the end of their TOur of 2005 Sum 41 released the live album "Happy Live Surprise" in Japan, and in Canada too under the name "Go Chuck yourself", the album was to be a live DVD but they weren't happy with the result and decided to release it as an album only.


Underclass Hero & Future plans


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"Underclass Hero"
"Walking Disaster"
"Speak of the Devil"
"Dear Father (Complete Unknown)"
"Count Your Last Blessings"
"Ma Poubelle"
"March of the Dogs"
"The Jester"
"With Me"
"Pull the Curtain"
"King of Contradiction"
"Best of Me"
"Confusion and Frustration in Modern Times"
"So Long Goodbye"


In 2006 one of the classic members of Sum 41 left the band, Dave Baksh decided to start a project on his own, Brown Brigade, a metal oriented formation. Deryck decided to take Thomas Thacker as a lead guitar touring member, never considered him as part of the band.


After releasing the track "March of the dogs" on iTunes their last studio album "Underclass Hero" finally arrived in summer 2007, with a single named after the album, which went straight to nº7 in the USA.


After Dave Baksh departure there were many doubts wether Sum41 would be able to go on, and even Whibley was concerned, as he explains at their homepage: "We were kind of left with nobody," says Whibley, who ended up producing the album himself. "And all the odds were stacked against us. People were saying we couldn't recover from all these changes. There was so much doubt."


The album features the songs "Confusion and Frustration in Modern Times," "March of the Dogs" and "The Jester, which criticize the US Government, but also has some introspective tracks such as "Dear Father", "Walking Disaster", "So Long Goodbye" and "Speak of the Devil", in which he speaks of his family, the departure of Baksh and Whibley's inner fears and concerns.


After releasing the second single "Walking disaster" the band started a new Tour along with Finger Eleven, but things didn't go too well; Deryck had an injury, a herniated disk caused during a concert when he jumped over the crowd and over Stevo's drum set afterwards. The Tour had to suspended. After he recovered the continued with their Underground Hero tour in the U.K. with the band "Sound and fury".


After that the band made a tour in Australia along with "Pennywise" and "The Vandals", and then have plans for their new album but there's no release date confirmed.


Style & Influences


Sum 41 are a punk band which takes some alternative rock and metal elements in their albums.


They were a NoFX cover band in their early beginnings and listened to metal classics such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, but their first album was also released at the same time of Greenday success, so they certainly got influenced by modern groups such as them and Blink 182.


They also refer to The Beatles and Oasis in their songs, and even quoted some of their verses along with other groups such as Metallica and Linkin Park.


The group has been labeled as "Punk", "Rock Punk", "Alternative" and even "Pop rock", but their main influences are punk and metal, and that's what they do best.


Deryck Whibley
Deryck Whibley


Albums


2001 All Killer No Filler
2002 Does This Look Infected?
2004 Chuck
2007 Underclass Hero


EPs


2000 Half Hour of Power EP
2005 Chuck Acoustic EP
2002 Motivation EP


Singles


2000 "Makes No Difference"
2001 "Fat Lip"
"In Too Deep"
2002 "Motivation"
"'Handle This"
"What We're All About"
"Still Waiting"
2003 "The Hell Song"
"Over My Head"
"Little Know It All"
2004 "We're All to Blame"
2005 "Pieces"
"Some Say"
"No Reason"
2007 "Underclass Hero"
"Walking Disaster"
2008 "With Me"


DVDs


2001 Introduction To Destruction
2002 Cross The T's and Gouge Your I's
2004 Bring the Noize!
2004 Sake Bombs and Happy Endings
2005 Happy Live Surprise
2005 Rocked: Sum 41 in Congo
2005 Happy Live Surprise


Members


The band has gone through different line-ups since they started:


1996-1997
Deryck Whibley - Lead vocals, Rhythm guitar
Richard Roy - Bass, Backing vocals
Steve Jocz - Drums, Backing vocals


1997-1999
Deryck Whibley - Lead vocals, Rhythm guitar
Dave Baksh - Lead guitar, Backing vocals
Mark Spicoluk - Bass, Backing vocals
Steve Jocz - Drums, Backing vocals


1999-2006
Deryck Whibley - Lead vocals, Rhythm guitar
Dave Baksh - Lead guitar, Backing vocals
Cone McCaslin - Bass, Backing vocals
Steve Jocz - Drums, Backing vocals


2006-2007
Deryck Whibley - Lead vocals, Rhythm guitar
Cone McCaslin - Bass, Backing vocals
Steve Jocz - Drums, Backing vocals


Present
Deryck Whibley - Lead vocals, Rhythm guitar
Cone McCaslin - Bass, Backing vocals
Steve Jocz - Drums, Backing vocals
Thomas Thacker - Lead guitar, Keyboards, Backing vocals (touring member)


Related GMC Lessons


Instructor Gabriel Leopardi recommends checking Sum 41 in this "In the style of Foo Fighters" lesson. Check it out!


Links


Sum 41 Homepage


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Originally by Fran