All the kids will be hooked
You have to give it up for Simple Plan, a band who do nothing original, nothing remotely inventive or new, they've come pretty damn far. Thing with them is that they're good and doing nothing new, but they are smart business boys who know how to capitalize from their young pre pubescent fans, the stuff Micheal Jackson's dreams are made of really. On this live CD done for MTV you can feel how much this insanely huge crowd loves them, the cheers are that of those that take me back to the lone Spice Girls concert I attended in my youth -they are ear shattering. What you have to keep in mind is that Simple Plan are the Bon Jovi of their generation, they do nothing wrong because everything has been done before, there is no line to cross, no out to sell, it's all been done. They sing- and guiltlessly- effervescent, good, strong pop punk; they are spot on, from every track on this CD they exude the energy that wins them over hyper kids on Ritalin every night on stage. Live CD's tend to be pretty run of the mill, but this has a good quality sound and it's a Simple Plan fan's dream set, new and "older" songs, hyper, fun and bouncy- I think I can hear the foundations of the floor of the venue moving in the background. Songs that better the band are few and far between, but one indicative track of their potential and hidden versatility is discernable in "Me Against The World", though it has to be noted this garners the smallest response from the audience, irony eh?
They engage with their audience lyrically, aesthetically and banter with them-to be fair if I was 9 years old I would probably adore everything about them, it's so incredibly uncool, but these guys are the boy bands of today. Don't be a pretentious wanker you have to accept that these boys are good at what they do, it's clear from the CD. So what if they have no depth or breadth, behind the three power chords they play, there is no vocal range, there is no song about anything other than girls, girls, and growing up issues, but they don't need to progress past that, they found their comfortable place, made peace with it and the kids eat it up. Because really what do you think the kids will think to that fact that these are grown men approaching their thirties singing about the "problems" of 'The Worst Day Ever' and about how "God Must Hate Me"? Oh come on.
Sure they do have their sickly sweet moments, the sugar wouldn't melt "We Love You so much guys!!" and some of the "You all look sexy tonight" comments scream R.Kelly, but overall they're a tight band, they play their songs well and have fun with it. Tthey compiled a good set of songs that vary enough for any Simple Pan fan and you can hear it in the audiences reactions -for them every moment is golden from acoustic to ballad to power pop.
You have to give it to them and I'll say it over and over, they're good at making their fans happy. If you didn't like them before, you probably still won't, though you can't deny they're good show men for their target audience, but if you like Simple Plan this is a must buy, if only for the live footage of the show also featured on the CD. This looks set to reap in millions in sales for the boys of Simple Plan once more, in the eyes of their fans they can do no wrong live or otherwise-and they do what every band should do for their fans-they make them happy and excited. Bless them, bless their little fans and bless their little collection of pop punk songs and accolades, they deserve it.