The albums of my life by Chuck Comeau of Simple Plan

The Canadians Simple Plan They return to our country this October to celebrate their twenty-five years of experience. They do it with two concerts within their tour “Bigger Than You Think! Tour”accompanied by Neck Deep and Charlotte Sands.

Before enjoying them live again, we chatted with Chuck Comeau, drummer of the Canadian group, about some of the albums that have marked his life and the history of the group.

(You can check the dates of his passage through our country at the end of this article).

Bad Religion – “Recipe For Hate” (1993)
It’s very difficult to choose just one, but one of the albums that really changed my life was “Recipe For Hate” by Bad Religion. When I heard “American Jesus” for the first time it changed the way I related to music. Until then I listened to a lot of grunge, everything related to Lollapalooza, Beastie Boys… But when I discovered Bad Religion I thought: “This is what I want to do.” I wanted to make fast, energetic, intense, in-your-face punk rock music. And we pretty much started doing it right away. “Punk In Drublic” from NOFX was also very important because it helped us define where we wanted to go musically.

Blink-182 – “Enema of the State” (1999)
That album ended up showing us all the possibilities that this type of music had. You could still make very energetic and intense songs, but at the same time they could be melodic, catchy and talk about personal issues instead of just focusing on politics. I wouldn’t say it gave us a template, because we were already pretty clear on what we wanted to do, but it did show us how far that sound could go.

The Beatles – “1962–1966 / 1967–1970” (1973)
My parents listened to a lot of French singer-songwriters and also a lot of classical music. I think all of this sparked my curiosity and made me interested in very different styles. But if I have to point out a particularly important influence, it would be The Beatles. My father played them a lot at home and we also listened to them together in the car. I think that’s where part of my interest in melodies, song structures, harmonies and arrangements comes from. His lyrics could be incredibly simple and, at the same time, very deep. I was also fascinated by the amount of different things they could do as a single band. Actually, what we listened to the most were the red and blue compilations. It wasn’t a specific album, but they gathered many of their best songs and we played them over and over again.

Slayer – “Seasons In The Abyss” (1990)
I think the first record I bought with my own money, to be honest, was a Vanilla Ice record. It’s not exactly the coolest answer, but it was that time. Although I moved on quite quickly to other types of music. Shortly after I bought “Seasons In The Abyss” by Slayerso I went straight from something totally pop to metal. I also remember that “Use Your Illusion I” and “Use Your Illusion II” by Guns N’ Roses were among the first albums I bought.

Jimmy Eat World – “Clarity” (1999)
I couldn’t tell you which is the album that I have cried the most in my life, but it is very possibly “Clarity.” It has always seemed like a beautiful album to me. I love them Jimmy Eat World and this album is very emotional and very powerful.

Propagandhi – “How To Clean Everything” (1993)
I like them very much Propaganda. I don’t know to what extent people outside of Canada know them, but “How To Clean Everything” from ’93 and “Less Talk, More Rock” from ’96 seem to me to be two of the best punk rock albums ever made in Canada. I would also recommend Marianas Trench. They have amazing harmonies and really good songs. And another Canadian band that I am very fond of is Gob. We toured with them in the past and they have great songs.