Sick Puppies - Welcome to the Real World (2001)Release ID: 45531
Holy sh*t, I did not expect Sick Puppies to appear on this site! Then again, I shouldn't be too surprised. They do have some alternative metal going on in their sound, and I reviewed an album by another nu metal gone alternative rock band, Lostprophets. Anyway, I've seen the name of this band Sick Puppies floating around in different sites and thought it's about time to welcome myself to the world of this band's material...
The band entered the scene with their first EP Dog's Breakfast, two years before their debut album was produced and released. The album sounds promising despite the inexperienced vocals, poor production, and the goofy cover art of the band members naked in cloning tubes.
The title track already unleashes the album's nu metal style as the band attacks corporations that rule the world in the lyrics. Sadly, the song doesn't hold up high due to its weak dissonance. One of the singles "Rock Kids" is better though, despite some edgier lyrics rapped by Shim Moore's vocals that seem to have puberty after-effect. "Duck Bite" is OK, but not notable. "Every Day" is a great single. Nice intro, nice chorus!
Then we switch a folky ballad in "Time Will Pass". Shim's vocals shine here, but the song itself is a bit boring. The true standout here is the anthemic "Nothing Really Matters". The tone is more progressive with rhythms to keep you interested, as the fast verses and slow choruses make a great balance. Next up, "Open the Door" starts with an odd knock-knock joke: "Knock knock." "Who's there?" "Maks." "Maks who?" "MAKES NO DIFFERENCE, OPEN THE DOOR!" The instrumentation is really good, along with the vocal distortion. "Holding Out" sounds awful in the verses, but the chorus is beautiful. "Something Different" is pretty cool with nice variation.
"Do You Know" has some soft folky verses, but the choruses have some great explosive rock. "Me Much Plenty" seems to drop in quality, almost more like a demo than a full-fledged track. What should've been the closing track, "The Way" is a beautiful acoustic ballad, despite the inexperienced vocals. A radio edit of "Rock Kids" appears, but all they did was shorten the track which is not much to change there. "Spanky & Speedy" is a forgettable hidden track, simply just short lame comedic punk.
All in all, Welcome to the Real World is a pretty good official start to the band's career. The band would hit higher levels of fame with their next album Dressed Up as Life, but the nu metal sound of their debut should please some fans of the genre. A whole new world awaited this trio of Rock Kids....
Favorites: "Rock Kids", "Every Day", "Nothing Really Matters", "Open the Door", "Something Different", "Do You Know", "The Way"
