Cheap No Pads No Helmet Just Balls (+2 Bonus T (Music) (Simple Plan) Price

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Customer Reviews of No Pads No Helmet Just Balls (+2 Bonus T

Well-captured teen angst combined with good music
Simple Plan captures nicely--and perhaps takes to extremes--the emotion felt by adolescents on the edge of adulthood, when it seems to them that the world is falling on them, that their lives are the worst ever lived, and that they are alone and stand little chance of establishing any emotional connection with anyone. Combine that with catchy melodies, good vocals, and a nice beat, and Simple Plan has come up with a, um, simple plan for talking to the darkness and insecurity that lurks in the heart of everyone from junior high through college age, and even older.

Each of the songs takes the point of view of a lonely kid who has reached the edge of adulthood, only to find that things aren't all they were cracked up to be. It may be a kid who can't find or who has lost a girlfriend ("Addicted" or "Meet You There"), or who has entered the working world and feels the loss of childhood ("The Worst Day Ever")or whose parental relationships have frayed in bitterness ("Perfect" or "One Day"). But each kid is alone, without anyone to share his hurt, and without much ability to put his hurt into perspective, therefore such titles as "The Worst Day Ever" and "God Must Hate Me" (decried in some reviews) do sum up what the person is feeling--and what we sometimes feel in our hearts, however grown up we may happen to be.

Contains two bonus tracks from the earlier version of the CD, "Grow Up" (the character doesn't wanna)--a rather juvenile song with a younger point of view than most of the other songs, and "One By One", an interesting song about breaking away and preserving one's dreams.

Each song uses simple, often powerful language, to express the depression and angst. Yet, on balance, we feel that the characters are going to get past this. There is no sense that the kids are going to spiral downwards with drugs, crime, or other self-destructive behavior. The lonely kid will eventually find his girl, the kid bitter at his relationship with his parents will eventually find an adult relationship with them.

Perhaps the most powerful song, though, interestingly, the fourth released as a single, is "Perfect", the song of a kid addressing his dad (most likely in his mind), and grieving over the formerly good relationship they had which has turned sour. The words are alternately bitter, sad, and hurtful, until at last the kid comes to terms with the fact that the relationship is gone, and all he can do is go on with his life despite his dad's disapproval of the way he's living it. It is powerful stuff, and perhaps a broader age range can relate to this particular song.

Simple Plan has struck a chord with this CD. I suspect, though, that there is a limit to how far they can delve into teen angst with any degree of success. I await their second album (Spring 2004) with interest.

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I'm addicted to...this cd....
It's a really really good cd. I got it before I'd Do Anything was on the radio and I haven't stopped listening to it since. Don't judge the band on I'd Do Anything or Addicted. Even though those are both great songs, the rest on the cd are even better. SP is kind of a mix of Blink-182, Green Day and New Found Glory so if you're into any of those bands, check this one out.