10 Perfect Albums That No One Saw Coming

One of the biggest curses of pop punk is having to eventually grow up. Even though you might be able to make your millions singing about your teenage angst, that kind of look starts to look a little bit shallow when you start to reach your 30's. Sum 41 were always more than just your traditional pop punk act, and fans were blown away when they had a full on metal album on the scene with Chuck.

Then again, Does This Look Infected was already leaning into a heavier direction on songs like Still Waiting, only balanced with the more straight ahead pop punk songs like Over My Head and My Direction. There's no compromising sounds on this album though, as the band lean into their heavier side and even get to thrash metal levels of intensity on some songs. Outside of the one ballad Some Say, you can hear the band trying to step up to the big leagues of rock players, with Dave's shredding giving some seasoned metalheads a little bit of a flashback to the Kirk Hammett style of soloing.

For as shellshocked as fans might have been, this was just a sign of things to come later down the line for them. Aside from returning to pop punk on albums like Underclass Hero, almost every other Sum 41 album has seen them dial up the intensity even more like on Order In Decline. At this point, it almost feels wrong to even call a band like Sum 41 pop punk anymore. They always had the potential for something heavier, and it just took a few years of experience to get there.