Simple Plan, Canada’s pride and joy pop punk act, successfully infected the mainstream in 2002 with their debut studio album, the curiously named “No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls,” and surprisingly to you, but not Quebec, they are still going strong to this day, and released their sixth LP, the uber underrated “Harder Than It Looks” in 2022, TWENTY years after their first hit stores. Also, in a flex to end all flexes, next to Less Than Jake, Simple Plan have played on more yearly Warped Tour dates than any band. Yes, we mean it, ANY band, so Anal Cunt can suck it. Read on, take one for the team, and infect our social media pages with ardent positivity!
6. Taking One for the Team (2016)
Simple Plan fans know the band doesn’t have any bad full-length studio albums, however, one effort had to be listed in the dreaded last position here, and the band’s last release for Atlantic Records and fifth LP altogether, “Taking One for the Team,” is in this slot. A lot of SP releases have expected AND unexpected vocal features, and this one showcases such with the possibly predictable Jordan Pundik of (A) New Found Glory throwing down some oohs/ahhs, and Nelly, yes, the early-aughts superstar, appearing here.
Play it again: “Boom!”
Skip it: “Problem Child”
5. Self-Titled (2008)
Simple Plan’s third LP was a combination of a departure that disappointed some and an underrated ambitious effort that did the opposite. Regardless of where you lie on the Simple Plan spectrum, and your typical taste when it comes to a specific genre, you can’t deny that the songs here are pretty damn good. The opener “When I’m Gone” not only kind of explained the long gap between their sophomore studio album “Still Not Getting Any…” and this, but it also set the tone for a non-punk record in any way, shape, or form, unless you think that hip-hop + R&B = melodic punk. Produced by Dave Fortman of Ugly Kid Joe, Floyd “Danja” Nathaniel Hills, and Max “Freaking” Martin, “Simple Plan” is far from simple but as close to “pop” as they ever will be.
Play it again: “Take My Hand”
Skip it: “Holding On”
4. Harder Than It Looks (2022)
Simple Plan’s sixth and most recent studio album, as of print date here in a non-paper format, “Harder Than It Looks,” features a fun and youthful energy on more “mature” and “adult,” but not in a boring, trite, and uber-cliche way, songs. At just under thirty-five minutes over the course of ten solid tracks, it is without hyperbole or hesitation the band’s most succinct and tight LP, and a truly, truly enjoyable one at that. Still, we must ask as we are legally obligated to, “Why wasn’t ‘Two’ track two? Sounds like a missed opportunity for iconic status, and now our anxiety-ridden lives are forever in slow motion ruined. Self-released, Simple Plan took the power back with “Harder Than It Looks,” and we are eager to see where and how they end up 2024-beyond.
Play it again: “The Antidote”
Skip it: “Slow Motion”
3. Get Your Heart On! (2011)
Not only is Simple Plan’s fourth and most underrated album BY FAR, “Get Your Heart On!,” the band’s best LP to be released after 2004, but it is so good that it sort of has a sequel in an EP of B-sides from the original sessions called “Get Your Heart On – The Second Coming!” that came out two years later. Like we stated in the section about “Taking One for the Team,” Simple Plan is more than fluent in vocal features from other acts, and Rivers Cuomo of Weezer, who co-wrote “Can’t Keep My Hands off You,” has a prominent vocal cut on said track, and other artists like Natasha Bedingfield, Alex Gaskarth of All Time Low, and George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher of Cannibal Corpse all rep their acts quite well here. In closing, this effort served as a return to form to those who were complaining about their self-titled release.
Play it again: “You Suck at Love”
Skip it: “Gone Too Soon”
2. No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls (2002)
Simple Plan’s debut studio album “No Pads, No Helmets…Just Balls” couldn’t have come out at a better time as non-major/fake indie label pop-punk albums took over planet Earth, and SP had major label backing for an undeniable hit-ridden LP. We are almost vomiting by saying such, but the band should also write a lofty check to whomever created TikTok for their recent semi-unrivaled resurgence via their 2002 anthem, and 2023 mainstay, “I’m Just a Kid.” In the last time we are going to mention a vocal feature in this piece, blink-182’s Mark Hoppus, absolutely slaps the bass out of his voice on the opening track “I’d Do Anything,” which also is one of the better pop-punk opening album tracks. If you’re still hate reading this piece out of spite, God must hate you, and we sure do too!
Play it again: “Perfect”
Skip it: “Meet You There”
1. Still Not Getting Any… (2004)
To put it bluntly and perfectly, Bob rocked it. Basically, Simple Plan’s sophomore effort “Still Not Getting Any…” is the opposite of a slump, and such is proven every time one listens, and because of this, we’d like to personally thank the band for not sucking balls, or anything else that is smelly AF this time around. Please revisit this LP that you pretend to loathe if you haven’t done such in nearly two decades, admit that you still feel that you don’t belong anywhere via its VERY relatable lyrics, and find a way to be like us, FANTASTIC. If you still naysay SP’s influence in 2004, you should know that this record debuted at number THREE on the US Billboard 200 with six figures of sales in its opening week… Welcome to their life!
Play it again: “Jump”
Skip it: “One”