Sum 41 Chuck Full Album 121
Anaias Bunz
The album's title is named after a volunteer UN peacekeeper named Chuck Pelletier who was in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where Sum 41 was filming a documentary for War Child Canada. Fighting broke out during production, and Pelletier helped the band evacuate their hotel during the fighting, as he was staying at the same hotel.
The album's lyrical content has been described as darker and more mature than the band's previous work. It also had a different sound, mixing punk rock and melodic hardcore with heavy metal. The album proved to be a success, receiving acclaim from both critics and fans, as well as selling over five million copies. Singles such as "We're All to Blame" and "Pieces" gained success on the Canadian and American charts, and the album won a Juno Award for "Rock Album of the Year" in 2005.
The band's previous album Does This Look Infected? (2002) became a commercial and critical success, and the band went on a tour in the album's support. In mid-2004, the band took a break from touring and filmed a documentary for War Child Canada in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The film was called Rocked: Sum 41 in Congo and was released in 2005 by MTV. However, fighting broke out during the filming while the band was staying in a hotel.
"The shooting was all around us, and all these people were waiting, probably to die," said drummer Steve Jocz, reflecting on the experience. "Two UN people arrived at the scene and gave a speech about how everything would be fine," bassist Jason "Cone" McCaslin mentioned. "And then after they left, things just went crazy."
Vocalist/rhythm guitarist Deryck Whibley mentioned that he thought that a day after the UN gave an update about safety, he was expecting they would be able to evacuate. The next day, the band members woke up at 5:00 in the morning when two gunshots were fired. "We went to the hotel's restaurant to get some breakfast, when the gunfire just got closer to us," said lead guitarist Dave "Brownsound" Baksh. A U.N. peacekeeper named Charles "Chuck" Pelletier instructed the residents of the hotel to leave the restaurant. Whibley recalled, "We all just went into Cone's room, where there was around 43 other people there. We were all hiding in the bathroom and hiding on the floor." Baksh added, "Our U.N. peacekeeper was armed with a club, a new club because the price tag was still on it, but they were armed with guns".
Pelletier continued to reassure the band and others at the hotel that everything would be okay. After the crowd was in hiding, Pelletier left to get help. The U.N. continued trying to find out as much information on the gunfire as possible, but updates were few. "After a while, the gunfire seemed to start dying down, and then people started to go outside and they started talking. We seemed to be feeling pretty good, but then out of nowhere, the huge gunfire just went off," stated Whibley. "This war was so unpredictable. At one point, it sounded like it was far away, and at another point, it sounded like it was right outside the door. Then Chuck came in and told everyone to wait for the APC's to arrive. That was probably the scariest part, when we were waiting to get into the APC's." Baksh recalled, "I remember just waiting there and just wondering what the fuck was gonna happen."
Pelletier called for armored carriers to take the hotel's occupants out of the hot zone. "By then, I just kept thinking about everything we did as a band and everything I've done as a person, and I thought, 'This is it. This is how we're gonna die,'" Whibley said. After nearly six hours, the carriers arrived, and the band and the forty other civilians were taken to safety. In honor of Pelletier, the band decided to name their next album after him. Pelletier was awarded the Medal of Bravery by the Governor General of Canada for his actions.[1]
By spring of 2003, the band members began practicing parts for a new album on their own before going into a studio. "The music's better, the songwriting's better, and there's more musical elements in this album," Jocz stated. "We put more elements in this time around, and it feels like the next logical step in what we want our band to sound like".
"We never wanted to make the same album over and over again. We've decided we wanted to do something different every time," said McCaslin. "We started practicing on our own, and then we just put all of our parts together." The album was also mentioned to having a lot of heavy metal influences on it, with Metallica and Iron Maiden being main inspirations for the album's style. "Dave was raised on a lot of heavy metal and grunge," McCaslin noted. "Deryck and I were raised more on California punk rock music," said Jocz. "When we started the band, we were mainly inspired by bands such as NOFX and Pennywise, but when you get older, your brain starts branching off and you start listening to other music."
Chuck was produced by Greig Nori, and recorded at various studios: Sound City in Van Nuys, California; Ocean in Burbank, California; Reaction in Toronto, Ontario; Umbrella Sound, Toronto, Ontario; Soundtrack, New York City; and Sidecar in North Hollywood, California. Matt Hyde acted as main engineer, with additional engineers Ed Krautner and Cameron Webb, both of whom operated Pro Tools; Jorge Vivo did additional editing. They were assisted by Pete Martinez (at Sound City), Miles Wilson (at Sound City), Jason Cupp (at Ocean), Chris Stringer (at Reaction), Robert Poteraj (at Soundtrack), Matthew Davies (at Soundtrack), and Steve Sisco (at Sidecar). "Intro", "Angels with Dirty Faces", "Open Your Eyes", "Slipping Away", "I'm Not the One", "Welcome to Hell", "Pieces", and "88" were mixed by Andy Wallace at Soundtrack, with assistance from Sisco; John O'Mahoney operated Pro Tools. "No Reason", "We're All to Blame", "Some Say", "The Bitter End", and "There's No Solution" was mixed by Tom Lord-Alge at South Beach Studios in Miami, Florida with assistant engineer Femio Hernndez. Brian Gardner mastered the album at Bernie Grundman Mastering.[2]
Chuck has been described under many genres, including alternative metal,[3][4] punk metal,[5] skate punk,[6] melodic hardcore,[7][4] heavy metal,[8][4] thrash metal,[9][4] and punk rock,[10] merging elements of hardcore punk with heavy metal.[11] Apple Music described Chuck as a blend of melodic hardcore with heavy metal influences.[7][better source needed] The album makes use of number of different styles across its run time. Specifically, "The Bitter End" is thrash metal and "Welcome to Hell" is hardcore punk,[4] while the fifth and eleventh tracks, "Some Say" and "Pieces" respectively, are alternative rock songs.[12][13]
Chuck was a commercial success, selling over 5,000,000 copies worldwide. The album won a Juno Award in 2005 for Best Rock Album of the Year. The album was certified gold in Japan, double platinum in Canada and gold in the United States.[15][16]
The EP features only five songs, all of which are all-new acoustic versions to previously released songs. "Pieces", "Some Say" and "There's No Solution" are featured on the album Chuck while, "Over My Head (Better Off Dead)" and "No Brains" are from the previous album Does This Look Infected?.
Chuck is the eponymous twentieth and final studio album by American rock and roll singer and guitarist Chuck Berry, released in June 2017. Berry died between the announcement of its recording on his 90th birthday in October 2016 and its release. It posthumously became his first UK Top 10 chart entry since 1977, debuting at No. 9. This is the first Berry studio album to be released in almost four decades. It was positively received by critics who considered it a return to form and a poignant last statement.
Chuck is Berry's first album in 38 years to consist of mainly new material, since his 1979 record Rockit.[2] The album is dedicated to his wife Thelmetta "Toddy" Berry. The album was announced on Berry's 90th birthday, October 18, 2016, with a release date in 2017.[2][3] Performers on the album include his live backing band as well as his children.[4] Prior to his death on March 18, 2017, it was implied that this album was to be his last.[2]
The album features ten new recordings, including a sequel to his 1958 track "Johnny B. Goode" entitled "Lady B. Goode",[5] and a re-recording of his 1956 song "Havana Moon", retitled and revised lyrically to become "Jamaica Moon" (incidentally, "Havana Moon" had also been re-recorded for Rockit).
Chuck received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 72, based on 16 reviews.[7]
Exclaim! critic Daniel Sylvester believed the songs sounded familiar but still distinct from one another, as "Berry covers a lot of musical ground on Chuck, and most importantly, reveals just how much fun he was still having at the end of his storied life."[18]
Looking back, you had a truly remarkable music career. Would it be possible to pinpoint a certain period you enjoyed the most? Was it the early start of playing with bands or later on?
In 2014, I joined a highly successful Eagles tribute band, touring the country and playing concert venues as well as cruise ships. I was making four to five times the amount of money that I was used to making in nightclubs. Sadly, personal differences and internal problems led to my departure from that band. Shortly thereafter, I joined a successful Fleetwood Mac tribute band, only for the bandleader to disappear, leaving the rest of us owed money. I attempted to start another Fleetwood Mac tribute band, but after just one performance, the group disbanded.
One of the earliest bands that recorded material was called The Aerovons. What initiated you guys to start playing? Was there a certain moment in your life when you knew you wanted to become a musician?
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