#future primitive

Heaven Side:

Waiting On A Twist Of Fate - we already know this is a banger

Landmines - fun and catchy, just some good classic pop-punk vibes

I Can't Wait - now this feels like truly oldschool Sum 41

Time Won't Wait - gotta be honest here, this one is missing a certain je ne sais quoi. If I had to guess i'd say this was one of the ones that was originally written for a different artist

Future Primitive - hella Offspring vibes on this one and I'm here for it

Dopamine - this one's okay, but the verses are very similar to Landmines, making it feel kinda like Landmines again but not as good

Not Quite Myself - wasn't sure at first, initially felt a little samey but I like the way it switched up in the second verse, won me over

Bad Mistake - jammy, banger, awesome Offspring vibes again

Johnny Libertine - Yes! Super oldschool sound, this rules

Radio Silence - Gotta get that ballad track in there! I am deffo vibing with this one, could join the ranks of Pieces and What Am I To Say in terms of classic Sum ballads

Hell Side:

Preperasi A Salire - Something of a transitional filler track, which tbh is pretty much what I expected - really like the Rise Up vocals coming in with it though, that was a nice surprise

Rise Up - it's a banger, your honour

Stranger In These Times - funky intro. Love the tension building in the pre-chorus, and the chorus itself does indeed fuck

I Don't Need Anyone - darker tone off the bat, we like it. Go the fuck off, Dave, hell yeah!!!!! That guitar solo got me feeling like Kaiba getting obliterated

Over The Edge - one of Dreamworks' most underrated pict- oh, edge, sorry, misheard you there. Real pump-up chorus, I dig it

House Of Liars - sliding in with some kickass guitar wails. Cool atmosphere to this one

You Wanted War - oooh, i like the intro here. Channeling those 13 Voices/Screaming Bloody vibes. Guitar solo is very cool, but doesn't top the one from I Don't Need Anyone

Paint It Black - oh this is straight up a cover, then. Well I can't say it outclasses the original Rolling Stones track (just 'cause, y'know, it's iconic) this is nonetheless a very cool heavier interpretation

It's All Me - FAST! ENERGETIC! YEAH! Huh, maybe this is the track that should have been called Time Won't Wait. Dave & Tom back at it again with guitar solos that FUCK HARD. ...Were those last couple of notes a reference to a DTLI track? Sounded super familiar

How The End Begins - Oh, some of these lyrics are going for the throat huh. Caught between a memory and visions of what could be. Damn. Given this is ostensibly the swan song for Sum 41 as a whole, it's got a lot to live up to, but it does be living up it though

Well. Wow. They definitely went out with a bang. I can see myself listening through this a lot in the weeks to come.

Downsides? Some. We know conceptually this album began when Deryck was asked to write some songs for other artists and/or to be bonus tracks on an anniversary addition of All Killer - these ended up being tracks on the Heaven side and it does feel like you can tell which ones they are — if I had to guess, I'd say those were Landmines, Time Won't Wait, Dopamine and possibly Not Quite Myself. Time Won't Wait in particular felt a little bit disjointed, lacking a bit of that Sum 41 personality. That said, songs like I Can't Wait, Future Primitive and Bad Mistake are awesome enough to lift up the Heaven side by a fair margin.

With the Hell side you could argue that with Preperasi being really just an intro to Rise Up and Paint It Black being a cover that we're really only getting 8 heavier Sum songs here, not 10... however, those 8 are all really fucking good. If I had to single one that I wasn't as keen on it'd probably be House Of Liars, but who knows, that one has the potential to grow on me over time.

I think the Hell side is stronger overall, but I'm definitely glad that this did end up being a double album - with Sum disbanding after this, it gives something great to end on across the gamut of their fanbase - those who prefer the oldschool pop-punk stuff, those who prefer the heavier stuff, and indeed those like me who are here for all of it.

Overall though, this whole record is chock full of bangers. While I'm certainly sad to see Sum 41 go, this was an exceptional note to end on.

7:57 PM EDT August 1, 2020:

Santana - "Future Primitive" From the album Caravanserai (October 11, 1972)

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