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Chuck 2 prossimamente sui vostri lettori e stereo.. e invece no!!!!
Magari ci fosse stato un seguito prendendo in prestito un espressione cinematografica, ma purtroppo non è cosi. Tornando seri questo per dire che in molti si aspettavano il ritorno sulle scene del gruppo canadese e a loro si chiedevano conferme di quanto di buono fatto vedere col precedente lavoro. Ci si aspettava un ennesima evoluzione sonora o la conferma di un certo di tipo di sound e invece (e qui mi spiace da ammetterlo da fan del gruppo), vede purtroppo il ritorno alle origini. Tant'è che questo "Underclass Hero" potrebbe essere considerato come il perfetto successore di un altro album della band vale a dire "All Killer No Filler".
Il quartetto, oggi trio vista l'uscita dalla band del chitarrista Brown Baksh, manda nei negozi questo disco in piena estate 2007. E viene proprio da dire che le sonorità d'insieme sono proprio adatte al periodo, che tornano sui classici canoni del pop-punk.
Non so cosa abbia spinto la band all alleggerimento del suono, certo la perdita della visibilità commerciale e forse il calo di interesse di una fetta di fan che non erano abituate a certe sonorità metal di "Chuck" non può che aver portato la band a fare una brusca retromarcia. Forse questa brusca virata è dipesa anche dall'abbandono del chitarrista (che ha formato una band di tributo degli Iron Maiden) ed era l'anima più metal del quartetto.
Sta di fatto che ormai il pop-punk è un genere abbastanza inflazionato in cui ci sono poche idee e moltissimi band che si copiano a vicenda. Infatti i Sum anche se riprendono i temi e i propositi che gli avevano portati al successo nei primi anni 2000, rielaborano il tutto arrivando almeno in parte a cambiare qualcosa. Mi spiego meglio, ricordate i primi due album della band che in pratica contenevano x canzoni su x tutte uguali come musiche e durata? Bene, qui le composizioni o meglio le strutture e le soluzioni sonore si ampliano e a tratti diventano più estese. Che per dare l'idea è l'evoluzione che hanno avuto i Green Day cono l'ultimo album in studio avvicinandosi un po' più al rock. Musicalmente parlando almeno personalmente sembra quasi il tentativo di fare un album alla "American Idiot" e cioè alternando molti momenti soft chiamasi ballate a pezzi più classici. Per fortuna però qualche episodio più duro dove emerge una certa energia lo si trova. Basta ascoltare "Speak of evil", "Count your last blessing" e "The jester". Il miglior episodio sembra essere proprio "Count your last blessing" che indovina l'atmosfera enfatizzata dal piano ma che si rivela un aggiunta non male alla rabbia del pezzo dominato dalle chitarre. Doppia anima lenta-forte per "Speak of evil" che alterna chitarre pulite e piano a ritornelli schitarrati e dove prevale una buona dose di energia, mentre "The jester" si avvicina molto ai successi passati del trio come "Hell song" e "No reason", in cui si nota l'uso delle acustiche che si intrecciano alle elettriche nelle strofe e caratterizzato da una strana outro con il rumore di passi che si allontana e il battito cardiaco.
Il singolo di apertura, la title track, è un classico pezzo pop-punk veloce e piacevole all'orecchio (a tratti ricorda "Fat lip" ma è nettamente meglio di quest'ultima) e che conferma che comunque la band riesce per lo meno a creare singoli piacevoli. Vi cito anche la velocissima di ritmo e durata "Kings of the contraddiction" galoppata di batteria a mille all'ora e le lente e abbastanza lunghe ballads "Best of me" e "With me" che sono troppo noiose e che non raggiungiamo i livelli della stupenda "Pieces" contenuta sul disco precedente. Mentre il brano più divertente è senza dubbio "Ma poubelle" canzoncina di intrattenimento eseguita con l'acustica di un minuto scarso ideata e cantata dal batterista in francese. L'ultima traccia è la lenta e suonata solo con le acustiche unite ad una sezione d'archi "So long goodbye".
Il secondo singolo "Walking disaster" è per metterla sul ridere (ma non tanto) una sorta di keyboard pop punk e rappresenta perfettamente i contenuti del disco uno per uno, in quanto ha velocità , ma anche parecchia melodia.
Un aspetto dell'opera su cui riflettere è invece l'uso che oserei sentenziare industriale delle tastiere che ricorrono in più parti, a tratti arricchiscono i pezzi, ma non sempre convincono. Mentre sono buoni i diversi assoli presenti nei vari componimenti.
Mentre la palma del testo più polemico e discusso se l'ha aggiudica "March of the dogs" per le sue offese al governo Bush. Sul testo di "Dear father", (dallo stampo auto-biografico, canzone di condanna verso il padre in cui il cantante lo dipinge come un complete-unkown) niente da dire, ma la canzone nella sua eccessiva orecchiabilità è una delle peggiori del disco.
I pezzi citati sono quelli che più si distinguono, ma adesso facciamo una classificazione a livello sonoro. 15 canzoni che se possiamo così dire prendono tre strade diverse. Dominante è la venatura che io chiamo latte-caffè (pop-punk), segue la strada melodica delle ballads pop-rock (elemento di novità della produzione Sum41 a partire da "Chuck") e la strada energica e più aggressiva che si avvicina maggiormente al punk-rock comprende le canzoni citate sopra (ma che purtroppo rimane molto molto marginale) e che riprende sonorità viste nei due album precedenti.
Un altro spunto viene ascoltando la bonus track "Look at me" di questo disco e mettendole a confronto con le tre di "Chuck". Ebbene solo questo dato basterebbe (per chi abbia ascoltato i due album) a far capire la stragrande differenza che c'è tra i due.
Tirando le somme "Underclass Hero" si dimostra essere un piacevole album e basta: migliore dei primi due album, ma sotto ai due precedenti. Questo è il presente...e il futuro?
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Underclass Hero (03:14)
1..2..3..4
[Intro]
[Verse 1]
Well...I..won’t be caught living in a dead end job(job).
While praying to my government, guns, and God(God).
Now it's us against them,
We’re here to represent.
And spit right in the face of the establishment.
And now I don't believe (In having faith in nothing!),
Stand on my own (Got no sympathy!).
Wasting the youth (While being young and useless!),
Speak for yourself (And don't pray for me!).
[Chrous]
Well because we're doing fine,
And we don't need to be told.
That we're doing fine,
Cause we won't give you control.
And we don't need anything from you.
Cause we'll be just fine,
And we won't be bought and sold,
Just like you.
(A call across the Underclass)
[Verse 2]
Calling out loud with no respect(spect)
I’m not the one, just another reject(ject)
I'm the voice to offend
All those who pretend
Unsung against the grain I'm here to rise against
And now I'm desensitized (I state my place in nowhere!),
Burning the flag (Of the degeneration!),
Everyone sing (The Anthem of no future!),
Down with the mass ('Cause we're not listening!).
[Chrous]
Well because we're doing fine
And we don't need to be told.
That we're doing fine,
Cause we won't give you control.
And we don't need anything from you,
Cause we'll be just fine.
And we won't be bought and sold,
Just like you.
[Bridge]
(May I have your attention please…
I pledge allegiance to the underclass as your hero at large.)
[Guitar Solo]
1..2..3..4
[Outro]
We’re the saints of, degeneration.
We don’t owe anyone an explanation.
Fuck elitists,
We don’t need this,
We're the elite of just alright.
[Chrous]
And well because, we're doing fine
And we don't need to be told
That we're doing fine
Cause we won't give you control
And we don't need anything from you
Cause we'll be just fine
And we won't be bought and sold
Just like you
02 Walking Disaster (04:46)
I haven't been home for a while,
I'm sure everything's the same,
Mom and Dad both in denial,
And only child to take the blame,
Sorry, Mom, but I don't miss you,
Father's no name you deserve,
I'm just a kid with no ambitions,
Wouldn't come home for the world,
Never know what I've become,
The king of all that's said and done,
The forgotten son,
This city's buried in defeat,
I walk along these no-name streets,
Wave goodbye to all,
As I fall...
At the dead-end I begin,
To burn the bridge of innocence,
Satisfaction guaranteed,
A pillow-weight catastrophe,
On a mission nowhere bound,
Inhibitions underground,
A shallow grave I,
Have dug all by myself,
And now I've been gone for so long,
I can't remember who was wrong,
All innocence is long gone,
I pledge allegiance to a world of disbelief,
Where I belong,
A walking disaster,
The son of all bastards,
You regret you made me,
It's too late to save me,
(You regret you made me
It's too late to save me)
As far as I can tell,
It's just voices in my head,
Am I talking to myself,
'Cause I don't know what I just said,
(And she said)
As far as where I fell,
Maybe I'm better off dead,
Am I at the end of nowhere,
Is this as good as it gets?
And now I've been gone for so long,
I can't remember who was wrong,
All innocence is long gone,
I pledge allegiance to a world of disbelief,
Where I belong,
A walking disaster,
The son of all bastards,
You regret you made me,
It's too late to save me,
To save me, [x13]
And now I've been gone for so long,
I can't remember who was wrong,
All innocence is long gone,
I pledge allegiance to a world of disbelief,
Where I belong,
A walking disaster,
The son of all bastards,
You regret you made me,
It's too late to save me,
I will be home in a while,
You don't have to say a word,
I can't wait to see you smile,
Wouldn't miss it for the world,
I will be home in a while,
You don't have to say a word,
I can't wait to see you smile,
Wouldn't miss it for the world...
04 Dear Father (03:52)
I adressed this letter to "dear father"
I know you as complete unknown
I guess it's better you don't bother
All our truth should be left alone
Be left alone
Be left alone
I learned the things you never showed me
Took the chances you'd have blown
And to this day, the one and only,
You remain a complete unknown
Complete unknown
Complete unknown
You're out there somewhere,
I don't know if you care, at all,
It seems that you don't
And since if that day will never come,
So you remain a complete unknown (unknown, unknown, unknown ..)
So many years have been ignored,
You've been gone without a trace
I'm getting used to knowing you're
just a name without a face
Without a face
Without a face.
You're out there somewhere,
I don't know if you care, at all,
It seems that you don't
And since if that day will never come,
So you remain a complete unknown
You're out there somewhere,
I don't know if you care, at all,
It seems that you don't
And since if that day will never come,
So you remain a complete unknown (unknown, unknown, unknown ..)
I adressed this letter to "dear father"
I know you as complete unknown
I guess it's better you don't bother
All our truth should be left alone
You're out there somewhere,
I don't know if you care, at all,
It seems that you don't
And since if that day will never come,
So you remain a complete unknown
You're out there somewhere,
I don't know if you care, at all,
It seems that you don't
And since if that day will never come,
So you remain a complete unknown
You're out there somewhere,
I don't know if you care.
05 Count Your Last Blessings (03:03)
Last call for regret and defeat
To finish the bottle full of empty dreams
Punch strong head that was straight out of line
Another excuse with no alibi
Hitchin on the road of decline
With no name streets and no vital signs
I pissed away the best of me and
No one can help me!
Misery's best friend
Can't be a dead-end
A bag full of regrets and I'm coming clean
So feel it
Especially the rejects
A bad habit
Don't forget it you better
Count your last blessings
And fill up the wagon
Chases this fee
And now I'm running out of time
My hands are tied
And nailed to the cross
I'm looking for all the composure I lost
I'm petulant with a bad attitude
A poster-child vision of wasted youth
I dodged the book and found the key
I can't say the same for dignity
I pissed away the best of me and
No one can help me
Misery's best friend
Can't be a dead-end
A bag full of regrets and I'm coming clean
So feel it
Especially the rejects
A bad habit
Don't forget it you better
Count your last blessings
And fill up the wagon
Chases this fee
And now I'm running out of time
My own enemy
I don't hear you now
Perfect tragedy
God bless us denial
My own enemy
I don't hear you now
Perfect tragedy
God bless us denial
Misery's best friend
Can't be a dead-end
A bag full of regrets and I'm coming clean
So feel it
Especially the rejects
A bad habit
Don't forget it you better
Count your last blessings
And fill up the wagon
Chases this fee
And now I'm running out of time
Misery's best friend
Can't be a dead-end
A bag full of regrets and I'm coming clean
So feel it
Especially the rejects
A bad habit
Don't forget it you better
Count your last blessings
And fill up the wagon
Chases this fee
And now I'm running out of time
07 March of the Dogs (03:09)
Ladies and gentlemen of the underclass,
The president of the United States of America,
Is Dead!
I don't believe in the politics,
Of chosen fools and hypocrites,
Who walk a line that's tread so fine,
Is death or glory have in mind?
And here we go,
I guess the resolution,
No one knows,
Who'll lead this revolution now,
As tension grows,
The way to a conclusion,
It's too late there's no time (it's too late there's no time)
All for none, none for one, two, three, four
March of the dogs,
To a beat of disillusion
Sworn under god,
Breeding panic and confusion,
The white flag is down,
Send in the clowns,
The carnival of sins is now about to begin,
It may be I'm a pessimist,
But I say we need an exorcist,
The root of all evil standing tall,
Under god and above us all,
And here we go,
Again in desperation,
All we know,
Is confusion and frustration,
As tension grows,
No vision of salvation
It's too late there's no time (it's too late there's no time)
All for none, none for one, two, three, four
March of the dogs,
To a beat of disillusion
Sworn under god,
Breeding panic and confusion,
The white flag is down,
Send in the clowns,
The carnival of sins is now about to begin,
Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!
A-one, two, three, four
And now the president's dead,
Because they blew off his head,
No more neck to be red,
Guess to heaven he fled,
Was it something he said,
Or Because of who's in his bed,
By who will we be led?
From whose hand will we be fed?
All the lies by the lying liars who said
We'll be fine,
It's OK,
Hey look mom no head!
Blah Blah Blah Blah...
(It's the carnival of sins,
and a one two three go!
it's alright I said go!
one two three I say go!
It's ok, it's alright)
10 Pull the Curtain (04:18)
(Where'd I go wrong?)
Pull the curtains begin paranoia's wearing thin now
It's wearing thin now
(Where'd I go wrong?)
Close my eyes realize I've become the victimized now
Desensitized now
The one and only day has come. I pay for all the bad things I've done.
(Where'd I go wrong?)
Something's wrong because I find the the glamour in the dark side
In the dark side
(Where'd I go wrong?)
Cheap regrets, can't forget, falling victim to the debts still.
Unpaid in my mind.
The one and only day has come. I pay for all the bad things I've done.
It's gonna take me, you don't know tragedy
I've been to hell and back again to tell it
Close my eyes and lay me down to sleep
I fear the worst; my beating heart ticks to explode
My time is up so...
Why can't I just die!?
Living dead awake the horror show begins so pull the curtains over me...
Bring on the panic the uncontrolled and manic
It's a free-for-all kill them all every last one of them
I don't care at all
Suffocate the dreams in my mind
(I can't stop believing)
Drown the thoughts that have me confined
(Stop this heart from bleeding)
Gutter dreams as black as the night
(Bombed and dead utopia)
No one told me empathy's a lie
(Lost in paranoia)
Suffocate the dreams in my mind
(My last words I'm choking, are all my dreams broken?) (I can't stop believing)
Drown the thoughts that have me confined
(The silence is defeating, my ears won't stop ringing.) (Stop this heart from bleeding)
Gutter dreams as black as the night
(My last words I'm choking, are all my dreams broken?) (Bombed and dead utopia)
No one told me empathy's a lie
(The silence is defeating, my ears won't stop ringing.) (Lost in paranoia)
Now we're gone
Do you still feel the same, well now
Can't you see, I need help?
To stop before myself
Can't you help me now?
12 Best of Me (04:25)
Its so hard to say that I'm sorry
I'll make everything alright
All these things that I've done
Now what have I become
And where'd I go wrong
I don't mean to hurt
Just to put you first
I won't tell you lies
I will stand accused
With my hand on my heart
I'm just trying to say..
I'm sorry
Its all that I can say
You mean so much
And I'd fix all that I've done
If I could start again
I'd throw it all away
To the shadows of regrets
And you would have the best of me
I know that I can't take back a love that mistakes
But I will try
Although its not easy, I know you believe me
Cause I would not lie
Don't believe the lies
Don't give jealous eyes
They don't understand
I will break your heart
I will bring you down
But I will have to say
I'm sorry
Its all that I can say
You mean so much
And I'd fix all that I've done
If I could start again
I'd throw it all away
To the shadows of regrets
And you would have the best of me
I'm sorry
Its all that I can say
You mean so much
And I'd fix all that I've done
If I could start again
I'd throw it all away
To the shadows of regrets
And you would have the best of me
13 Confusion and Frustration in Modern Times (03:46)
Up in smoke, pop goes the culture
The tension blew it up
We're choking from a bleeding ulcer
We eventually threw it out so
What went wrong? Where's the voice of reason?
It's long gone, we lost it long ago
Apathy plus ice fill the void of motivation
I can hardly breathe at all
Confusion's all I see
Frustration surrounds me
Solution, bid farewell
Sedation, what the hell?
I broke the mirror to the past
To find what I was looking for
The bleeding heart of broken glass
Is all I found and nothing more regrets
Short of no correction
Paid my debts, to anxiety
The iron lung collapsed from the pressure and the swelling
I can hardly breathe at all
Confusion's all I see
Frustration surrounds me
Solution, bid farewell
Sedation, what the hell?
Confusion's all I see
Frustration surrounds me
Solution, bid farewell
Sedation, what the hell?
Dead-end roads
And warning signs
Destination nowhere
In sight
So!
Divided we stand
Together we fall
There isn't a God
That can save us all
So don't pray on your knees
Just, beg on your hands
There is no belief
In this promised land
Divided we stand
Together we fall
There's no God
That can save us all
So don't pray on your knees
Just, beg on your hands
There is no belief
In this promised land
There's no belief
Confusion's all I see
Frustration surrounds me
Solution, bid farewell
Sedation, what the hell?
Confusion's all I see
Frustration surrounds me
Solution, bid farewell
Sedation, what the hell?
15 Look at Me (04:03)
Look at me
Who am I supposed to be
And what do I believe
Can you tell me
Since you've made up your mind
Who knows what you believe
And I just don't know
No I just don't know
Who I'm supposed to be...
Look at me
Am I the image of your hopes and tragedies
Just look at me
Will I ever be more than just a memory
Cause you just don't know
No you just don't know
All I am is me
All I am is me
All I am is me
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di fullmentalkaoss
Un'involuzione a mio parere senza precedenti, un ritorno alle arie liceali che li aveva caratterizzati nei primi anni della loro carriera.
DAVE TI PREGO, RITORNA!!
Di Just_emi94
La copertina raffigura quest’ultimo mentre sputa, che è stata la mia reazione dopo aver ascoltato l’album per intero.
Questo cd mi ha fatto venire voglia di fare headbanging con una placca di metallo spesso 5 cm fissata sulla fronte.
Di blink41
I Sum 41 erano e rimarranno la band tra le più influenti punk rock o meglio pop punk che piaccia o meno è oggettivo.
Il punk rock è un genere scanzonato, che non si prende eccessivamente sul serio e quanto detto rispecchia i primi Sum 41 come i Blink 182.
