No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls [Enhanced, Original recording reissued]

Simple Plan | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 19, 2002)
• Original Release Date: 2002
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced, Original recording reissued
• Label: Lava
• ASIN: B000060P79
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (801 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,495 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #77 in Music > Alternative Rock > Hardcore & Punk > Punk Revival
  • #89 in Music > Alternative Rock > Hardcore & Punk > Punk-Pop

Track Listings

1. I'd Do Anything

2. The Worst Day Ever

3. You Don't Mean Anything

4. I'm Just A Kid

5. When I'm With You

6. Meet You There

7. Addicted

8. My Alien

9. God Must Hate Me

10. I Won't Be There

11. One Day

12. Perfect

13. Grow Up

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

You can tell a lot about a band by the company it keeps. Simple Plan's close chums include Good Charlotte and Blink 182, giving one a fair hint of the sound the group's debut, though, judging by song titles like "I’m Just a Kid," "The Worst Day Ever," and "God Must Hate Me," it’s clear these Canadian pop-punkers are aiming for a younger demographic still. Ignore the bikini-clad babes that festoon the sleeve--there’s none of Blink 182’s smutty double-entendres here. Frontman Pierre Bouvier writes about skipping school, crashing dad’s car, and lusting after girls that don’t know he exists. "Every day," he sob, "is the worst day ever." The music itself is far from glum. "I’d Do Anything" is a beaming Green Day-style chugger, while "When I’m With You" is a tale of obsession and heartbreak that owes more to the Go-Go's than Rancid. Seasoned punk fans will be put off by the excessive juvenilia, but the new wave should lap this up. --Louis Pattison

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Stuff, November 6, 2002

By 

Ron (Jersey) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls (Audio CD)

If you like Blink 182, Sum 41 or Green Day, you really can't miss with this band. A solid first album with great hooks and nice harmony. Don't expect anything real deep, but fans of pop-punk should really enjoy this. Keep an eye out for another new band called Good Charlotte

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No gimmicks, just Simple Plan, August 4, 2002

By 

Pauline (Winnipeg, MB Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls (Audio CD)

Hey everyone. I got this CD about 2 and a half weeks ago. I've spun it about 55 times. I haven't gotten tired of it and I doubt I will. This is a disc that you won't want to stop listening to. There's a flow to it where the song before and after the one you're listening to relates to it somehow. I think it's great! These guys are polished musicians and the vocals are awesome. The sound is crisp but still has a live feel to it, which you need in any CD that you wanna rock out to. This album features guest appearances from members of Blink-182 and Good Charlotte. The songs tackle the areas of teen heartbreak, friendship, girl-chasing, hopelessness and just plain old teen angst. Oh.. not to mention the goofball song My Alien. My favorite tracks are the last 3, "I Won't Be There", "One Day", and "Perfect", Perfect being #1 on my list. They're songs about unsupportive parents who are unsupportive of their kid's creativity, aspirations, and free-thought. I can personally relate to them. So this is a record that reflects the everyday lives of all youth. It's an awesome CD, so pick it up either here, or at your local CD retailer. Peace Out!

35 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well-captured teen angst combined with catchy music, October 31, 2003

By 

Gary M. Greenbaum (Fairfax, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls (Audio CD)

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, which are songs much more juvenile than the others, "One By One", and "Grow Up" (the character doesn't wanna).

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.