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CBC
10-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Sum 41's 10 best songs, ranked
While the history of pop-punk may be geographically tied to its British roots in the '70s or the '90s explosion in California, its dominance in the early aughts was partly led by a wave of rising Canadian stars. One of the most successful pop-punk bands to come out of Canada was a group of Ajax, Ont., teenagers who called themselves Sum 41. After signing to Island Records in 1999, Sum 41's first single, "Fat Lip," shot to No. 1 on the Billboard rock chart. Since then, the band has released eight studio albums and sold 15 million copies worldwide. Sum 41's ability to combine pop melodies with riotous rock helped shape the sound of 2000s pop-punk, and its experimentation with hip-hop and metal expanded and transformed the band's identity over the years. After 25 years together, Sum 41 disbanded earlier this year with the release of its final album, Heaven :x: Hell, and its last tour, which concluded with a pair of hometown shows in Toronto. With one more appearance left, at the 2025 Juno Awards where Sum 41 will be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, CBC Music is looking back at the band's best songs. From rambunctious anthems to emotional slow jams, below are our top 10. 10. 'Underclass Hero' "Underclass Hero" came out at an interesting time for Sum 41. The lead single from the 2007 album of the same name, it marked a return to the band's pop-punk form after the more metal-leaning album Chuck, released three years earlier. But it also marked the departure of bass guitarist Dave "Brownsound" Baksh, who had left the band a year earlier. (Baksh returned in 2015.) Despite Baksh's absence, "Underclass Hero" managed to capture everything that embodies the best of Sum 41: an instantly catchy lead guitar hook, strong melodies, a driving energy and an anthemic chorus that sounds amazing with a live audience singing along. It also marked an increasing maturity in singer Deryck Whibley's songwriting while still staying true to his punk roots, dealing with themes of alienation, frustration and, ultimately, defiance. "And we don't need anything from you," he sings. "'Cause we'll be just fine, and we won't be bought and sold, just like you." 9. 'Some Say' While Sum 41 is best known for its high-energy pop-punk anthems, Whibley has also penned some standout slow jams. "Some Say" is still a full-band effort, complete with an explosive chorus, but led by an acoustic guitar and Whibley's poignant songwriting about society's growing apathy. (On a live album, he introduced the song by saying it's about "your very, very, very confused parents.") "Think before you make up your mind," he urges listeners, "you don't seem to realize/ I can do this on my own/ and if I fall, I'll take it all." For a band whose public persona was largely tied to partying and destruction, "Some Say" shows off a more serious and insightful side of the band that deserves equal appreciation. 8. 'Fat Lip' The opening in-your-face guitar riff on the rambunctious "Fat Lip," the lead single from Sum 41's debut album, All Killer No Filler, thoroughly embodies the band's rebellious spirit and serves as a great melodic hook. Mixing rap with a splash of metal, the rock song emphasized Whibley's hunger for success as he railed against his parents' wishes for him to settle into a stable 9-to-5 job: "I'll never fall in line/ become another victim of your conformity and back down," he proclaims on the chorus. The head-banging rapping (as depicted by the spiky-haired band members in the music video above) was "the thing that really, finally made it come together, after all the writing was done," Whibley explained to Stereogum. Although the track almost didn't make the album, it blew up and landed Sum 41 on the charts, spending 12 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. 7. 'Makes No Difference' Sum 41's rip-roaring debut single, "Makes No Difference," was the perfect introduction to the band, with its youthful angst, defiant lyricism and catchy chorus. "Yeah, there's nothing more you can't ignore/ and say, 'It makes no difference to me,'" sings a baby-faced Whibley, giving a metaphorical middle finger to naysayers. The track appeared on the Half Hour of Power EP, giving listeners a taste of what would become the foursome's signature spry, pop-punk blend. If the infectious melody and addictive hooks alone weren't enough to lay the Sum 41 groundwork, the accompanying music video certainly set the band up for success thanks to its colourful depiction of riotous revelry, complete with a cameo from none other than rapper DMX. 6. 'The Hell Song' Once the opening verse of "The Hell Song" hits, the only thing you'll be asking is whether Whibley wrote it as a middle finger to Nickelback's monster single "How You Remind Me," which came out a little over a year earlier. (And you wouldn't be the only one.) Apparently not, though: as Whibley told MTV in 2002, the song, which was released on 2002's Does This Look Infected?, is about an ex-girlfriend who had recently contracted HIV. "It's the heaviest thing that's happened in our group of friends," he said at the time. Less tortured-sounding than its possible predecessor, "The Hell Song" is set at a blistering pace, couching its woe-is-me lyrics inside the three-and-a-half-minute blast of bravado. The accompanying video, which was nominated for best breakthrough video and best direction at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, is a whirlwind of dolls with the band members' faces glued on them — along with figurines of the Backstreet Boys, Snoop Dogg, Ludacris and the Spice Girls, of course. 5. 'In Too Deep' The second single off All Killer No Filler, "In Too Deep" is all about a relationship falling apart. "It's one thing to complain, but when you're drivin' me insane/ well then I think it's time that we took a break," Whibley snarls, all snark and disdain over distorted power chords and drums. Whibley wrote the song when he was 18, based on his only romantic reference point: a Grade 10 relationship. It didn't go very well and he catastrophized. "I was just like, 'I'm not gonna have any girlfriends anymore. I'm not good at the relationship thing,'" he told Kerrang! Magazine."In Too Deep" was officially released a few years later, and by that point Whibley had embraced the universality of teenage romantic anxieties — and the song's immensely catchy chorus cemented it in the upper echelons of pop-punk breakup anthems forever. "In Too Deep" was featured in the 2001 film American Pie 2, and the world-ending but ultimately run-of-the-mill woes that Whibley taps into lend themselves well to that era of coming-of-age teen comedies. "In Too Deep" made it into the movie, but not the official soundtrack — that honour went to "Fat Lip." 4. 'Still Waiting' Two years before Green Day released American Idiot, a defining post-9/11 protest album, Sum 41 went platinum with its own anti-war anthem "Still Waiting." The lead single off the band's highly anticipated sophomore album, Does This Look Infected?, "Still Waiting" came charging out of the gates with an urgency and aggression that felt distinctly different from the band's debut. "Drop dead/ a bullet in my head/ your words are like a gun in hand," Whibley shouts, as if his voice was a swinging fist. The chorus was simple, but effective: "So am I still waiting for this world to stop hating?" While Whibley originally got pushback that it was perhaps too juvenile, he explained to Alternative Press that "that's what all this bullshit is in the world — it is all juvenile and stupid." A sign that Whibley made the right decision to keep that lyric is just how resonant that line (and this song in general) still is all these years later. 3. 'Landmines' The lead single off Sum 41's final album, Heaven :x: Hell, "Landmines" sent the band to the top of the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart for the first time since 2001's "Fat Lip." Returning to the band's tried-and-true pop-punk formula, "Landmines" employs some of the band's greatest strengths — but brings them together in a way that sounds rejuvenated instead of nostalgic. Released after the band's breakup announcement, "Landmines" could just be a straightforward breakup song, but its lyrical nods to past songs ("Is it pleasure of pain?;" "Going out of my head") can also be read as a sentimental goodbye to the band itself. 2. 'Pieces' One of the band's most emotional tracks, "Pieces" perfectly combines heartbreak with rock 'n' roll. This and "Some Say" marked a darker, more sombre turn for Sum 41 on its third album, Chuck, and it paid off, letting fans into a different side of Whibley and his songwriting. In the former, he sings about the dissolution of a relationship and opens up about feelings of depression, revealing: "This place is so empty, my thoughts are so tempting/ I don't know how it got so bad." Whibley's voice is weary here, not charged up like he usually is, giving a performance that's raw and vulnerable, cutting straight to listeners' hearts. It's a gut punch that can still render any fan to tears. 1. 'We're All to Blame' The band's best anti-establishment anthem, "We're All to Blame" showcases Sum 41's quintessential formula: bouncing aggressively between metal-forward verses and softer, melodic choruses. The lead single off Chuck, "We're All to Blame" was released at a time when political documentaries like Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me and Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 were trending, and counterculture found its way to the forefront of pop. Whibley doesn't hold back throughout the track, shouting his frustrations with society for its inaction and injustice. "We're hopelessly blissful and blind/ when all we need/ is something true to believe." Fast-forward to 2025, and that message still tracks, doesn't it? The song's commercial success, along with follow-up singles "Pieces" and "Some Say," secured the band a double-platinum album in Canada and a Juno Award for rock album of the year. Bonus track: 'Pain For Pleasure' And now for the lore of Pain for Pleasure. Both the name of the final song on All Killer No Filler and Sum 41's parody alter-ego, "Pain For Pleasure" reimagines the group as an '80s hair metal band in both physicality and sound. Drummer Steve Jocz, who left the band in 2013, sings lead vocals on the metal track, and wrote it "on the toilet," as noted in Whibley's memoir, Walking Disaster: My Life Through Heaven and Hell. The one-minute, 43-second banger epitomizes the band's playfully unserious side, but goes surprisingly hard, locking it in as a definite fan favourite.
CBC
27-02-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
'I'm starting fresh': Sum 41's Deryck Whibley looks back on his life through heaven and hell
For nearly 30 years, Sum 41 has been one of Canada's most beloved and successful rock bands, but this year they're hanging it up. They recently played one final concert at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena, and next month they'll be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at the 2025 Juno Awards. But the big news around the band hasn't been about their farewell tour. What's more interesting is that lead singer Deryck Whibley is now sharing the untold story of Sum 41 for the very first time. He recently released a memoir, Walking Disaster: My Life Through Heaven and Hell, which reveals surprising and harrowing details from his life that he says his own bandmates weren't even aware of. "The whole story is just kind of out there," Whibley tells Q 's Tom Power in an interview over Zoom from his home in Las Vegas. "There's no secrets. I've let everything out. And now I just feel like I'm starting fresh completely with everything. Like, my whole life." WATCH | Deryck Whibley's full interview with Tom Power: In his conversation with Power, Whibley shares some of the stories from his memoir, including what it was like being raised by a single mom in small-town Ontario, how he discovered he had a talent for music, and why Sum 41's big hit In Too Deep was recorded and almost released by two different bands before Sum 41. But Whibley also touches on some of the more difficult subjects from his book, such as his battle with alcoholism that nearly killed him, and his troubled relationship with Sum 41's former manager, Greig Nori. "It was really hard to go there, but it's something that I had been struggling with and had buried, and at the same time, it was a constant thing in my mind," he says. "If I was to leave it out or skirt around it somehow and act like it never happened … then I'd be lying. I'm like, well, how can I put out a book about my life if I'm going to leave out this huge thing?" Before publishing his memoir, Whibley had never told anyone about his alleged abuse, including his bandmates. He says he's still processing it now, but it's getting easier to talk about. "I love my life, I love everything I've been through," Whibley says. "Sure, there's been some tough moments and things that I don't want to relive or would never wish my kids go through, but my life's incredible. I mean, I have everything I've ever dreamed of and music gave that to me."
