Review by Dom Vigil
Bowling For Soup’s Songs That People Actually Liked Vol. 1 is the greatest hits album that all bands wish they could make. While it would have been easy for Bowling For Soup to throw some of their old tracks together without even really trying and bank on a greatest hits album/tour, the band decided to re-record all seventeen songs on this album and the product is a more mature (but no less energetic and hilarious) re-release of sorts.
The tracks on this album are fan favorites from the band’s first ten years (1994-2003), including stand-outs “Emily,” “Punk Rock 101” and “Girl All The Bad Guys Want.” While we’ve all heard these songs before (and if you’re a die-hard BFS fan, you’ve heard them more times than you can count) it’s almost like a breath of fresh air hearing them re-recorded and (almost) grown up. While I most definitely wouldn’t write off the original versions of these songs, there is absolutely a difference between the original recordings and these new versions. Jaret Reddick’s vocals on Songs That People Actually Liked are definitely more mature and controlled than they were over ten years ago, and it shows on these new recordings. Fear not, though – despite the more refined vocals, Reddick hasn’t lost the meaning of these lyrics over the years, and the emotion and energy is still definitely there. In fact, listening to the new recordings of many of these songs is like listening to them for the first time all over again.
On top of these seventeen re-recorded tracks, Bowling For Soup also included a new track, entitled “20 Years (That’s A Lot Of Beers).” Needless to say, this is an absolute classic Bowling For Soup track. The song documents the band’s experiences over the years, and it is a must listen. The lyricism on this track is hilarious and smart, from my personal favorite line, “We’re still the same we’ve always been/Breakup songs with power chords and a shitload of Miller Light,” to “We haven’t lost any hair/We haven’t lost any pounds/We haven’t lost any fans ‘cause we’re the best fuckin’ band around.” “20 Years (That’s A Lot Of Beers)” is catchy as hell and absolutely the perfect closing track for this record, which makes me even more excited for the (inevitable) second volume of these greatest hits albums.
Rating: 5/5
Listen to “20 Years (That’s A Lot Of Beers)”