Warped Tour 2004 compilation, Various Artists
I’m a big fan of compilation and sampler CDs; not only do they serve to be good ways of finding new bands, but they also act as an easy means of a mix CD, without the heartache and bother of having to make your own! The Warped franchise CD has been going for several years now and is always decent value for money, and the 2004 version is no different. There are 50 songs spread over two discs, and at less than a tenner you really can’t complain. As with all good compilations there is something for everyone, although there is a lack of new or unreleased stuff for me personally.
Stage 1, as the first disc is monikered, has a pretty impressive line-up, with New Found Glory, NOFX, Flogging Molly, Anti-Flag, Thursday, The Descendents, Bouncing Souls, Yellowcard and Pennywise making up the first nine songs. However, of those hardly any are new with most featuring on each band’s last release. As a result it’s a collection of heard-it-all-befores, but a good collection nonetheless. Perhaps the strength of a compilation such as this is its diversity, and with rapper Atmosphere sat alongside the moog-pop of Motion City Soundtrack, which itself is sat near the bubblegum pop-punk of Sugarcult and the Police-esque Maxeen, there really is something for everyone. Of the latter half of the disc, Go Betty Go do the girl-fronted pop-punk thing well, while Denver Harbor remind us why Fenix Tx were so loved. The rest is reasonably predictable fare, with Jersey doing their very best Rancid impression. I swear they were a pop-punk band a couple of years ago…
Disc 2 isn’t as consistent, yet still features some heavyweight acts, even if the songs are again ones you probably have heard before. Bad Religion and Good Charlotte kick things off, while Alkaline Trio and Taking Back Sunday showcase good, but not great, songs in ‘Blue Carolina’ and the demo version of ‘A Decade Under The Influence’ respectively. For me the best track here is bizarrely the Simple Plan effort ‘Crash and Burn’, which maintains their infamous melodies but has a punk buzz to it. It’ll be interesting to see if this is the direction their new material intends to head towards. Coheed and Cambria and Piebald impress, before a mediocre slab of bands that blend into one another. Hazen Street and Pepper, who are very Sublime-esque, impress at the death.
This is certainly a good CD with plenty to offer, but for me there are too many songs I have heard before. If you’re new to the punk genre this CD is an absolute must however, with some of the genre’s better acts in full flow. Either way, it probably will be the soundtrack to may American’s summer. Now if only the tour came back here…
www.sideonedummy.com
Paul
