10 Rock Bands That Got Better With Age

10. Sum 41

If you saw the kind of shenanigans that Sum 41 got into in their early days, chances are you wouldn't want to bet money on them really going the distance. Just listening to a song like Fat Lip from their debut record, this felt like the kind of band that had a few pop punk jams in their arsenal, only to be forgotten a few years later when trends changed once again. As those trends changed though, Sum weren't willing to go along with the program.

Being students of the old school of rock and roll, the band marked a bit of a turning point on their album Chuck, taking the same pop punk tropes that they were known for and injecting some metal influences into the mix. Though they always had a decent amount of shred in their style, this was the moment where they were unashamed about their chops, with songs like the Bitter End being straight ahead thrash tracks that no one else was even thinking about in pop punk circles.

As some bandmates have come and gone, each record has remained a new turning point for the band, from the ambitious sounds behind Screaming Bloody Murder to turning into a hard rock band in later life on albums like Order in Decline, with no less than three guitar players in tow. Not bad for a few kids who originally started off soundtracking every middle schooler's pool party.