History YMMV / Sum41

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: Deryck admitted that the Island/Def Jam had more faith in them releasing "Still Waiting" as the first single off of ''Does This Look Infected?'' despite it being so radically different from their previous one, which had only been release a few months prior. Not only was a it a hit for the band, but is near-universally considered a GrowingTheBeard moment by fans.

** Whatever good reputation the already controversial "Anna Nicole Is A Fucking Stupid Cunt" had died with it's subject matter.

** If you go onto Website/YouTube and look up "We're to Blame," click on any video and there will be tons of comments referencing ''Film/GodzillaFinalWars''. Do the same for "Noots," and you'll see comments referencing ''Film/FantasticFour2005'' instead.

** The first video for "Makes No Different" includes candid footage of the band committing very real acts of petty violence with Super Soakers, including robbing a pizza place. While morally questionable in 2000, two decades worth of gun violence becoming more controversial and minimum wage workers receiving more sympathy on social media makes their crimes seem less like harmless fun and more like just crimes. The ubiquity of cell phones also means that those random innocent pedestrians getting sprayed with water would be less mildly annoyed about their clothes getting wet and more alarmed about their expensive phones getting damaged.

** "Pull the Curtain" vs. "Shut Up" by Music/{{Blink182}}

* FaceOfTheBand: Deryck Whibley. Even during the time between ''Screaming Bloody Murder'' and ''13 Voices'' when [[IAmTheBand he was the only founding member to remain]], the others seemed to agree that the band was really his baby.

** Their cover of [[Music/{{Nickelback}} "How You Remind Me"]] became this after Music/AvrilLavigne married [[Music/{{Nickelback}} Chad Kroeger]] following her split from Deryck.

** Their cover of [[Music/{{Nickelback}} "How You Remind Me"]] became this after Music/AvrilLavigne married Chad Kroeger following her split from Deryck.

* TrueArtIsAngsty: As mentioned above, while their first album is considered a fun product of its time, the more thematically and sonically mature ''Does This Look Infected?'' is agreed to be an improvement in every way. The fact that all of their music since then has stuck with the DarkerAndEdgier approach speaks to a consensus that they're one of the few bands of [[PopPunk their genre]] to pull this trope off successfully.

* WereStillRelevantDammit: Parodied in the video for "Still Waiting," which shows the band at the mercy of a [[KnowNothingKnowItAll hopelessly out-of-touch]] record executive (Will Sasso). He starts by kissing up to the band despite not having listened to their new album, assuming it's probably all sorts of songs about skateboarding and [[BreakupSong getting dumped]]," then convinces them to change the band's name to The Sums and even adapt Scandinavian-sounding stage names to cash in on the GarageRock revival acts like Music/TheHives, Music/TheWhiteStripes, Music/TheVines and Music/TheStrokes (the resulting video being a direct parody of the "Last Night" video) and because "number bands" like Music/Blink182 and [[Music/GreenDay Green Day 75]] are out of style.

* DorkAge: The two albums without Dave are generally considered their weakest, mostly because he was the one responsible for the awesome heavy metal influences. ''13 Voices'', his first album back, also sees the return of the thrash metal riffs and licks.

* ReplacementScrappy

** In an era where the longterm trauma of underage people being exposed to things like drugs and sex is taken a lot more seriously, the line about drinking underage in "What We're All About" doesn't feel like something to brag about.

* TrueArtIsAngsty: As mentioned above, while their first album is considered a fun product of it's time, the more thematically and sonically mature ''Does This Look Infected?'' is agreed to be an improvement in every way. The fact that all of their music since then has stuck with the DarkerAndEdgier approach speaks to a consensus that they're one of the few bands of [[PopPunk their genre]] to pull this trope off successfully.
* ValuesDissonance

** "Take a Look at Yourself" vs. "Man Overboard" by Blink-182, "Welcome to the Black Parade" by My Chemical Romance, and 'Letterbomb' by Music/GreenDay. Yes. They copied THREE songs.

--> My last words, I'm choking...

-->"And if I failed you, well I swear I tried my best\\

* GrowingTheBeard: While ''All Killer, No Filler'' is considered a classic 2000s PopPunk album, ''Does This Look Infected?'' is generally agreed to be where Sum 41 settled more into their own sound distinct from other bands of their genre, one more thematically mature while still having the same fun energy of their first album and determined the sound of all their future albums.
** It's to the point where Deryck Whibley said to Loudwire that he felt ''All Killer No Filler'' was their weakest disc and almost no fan disagreed.

** If you go onto Youtube and look up "We're to Blame," click on any video and there will be tons of comments referencing Film/GodzillaFinalWars.
** If you go onto Youtube and look up "Noots," click on any video and there will be tons of comments referencing Film/FantasticFour2005.

* {{Narm}}

** "The Hell Song" vs "How You Remind Me" by Music/{{Nickelback}}.
** "Hooch" vs "Boom" by P.O.D.

** "No Reason" vs "Infest" by Music/PapaRoach and "One Step Closer" by Music/LinkinPark.
** "We're All to Blame" vs "Chop Suey!" by Music/SystemOfADown. (Or, alternatively, "Forest")
** "The Bitter End" vs "Battery" by Music/{{Metallica}}.
** "I'm Not the One" vs "A Place for My Head" by Linkin Park.
** "Pieces" vs "The Scientist" by Music/{{Coldplay}}.
** "88" vs "One" by Metallica.
** "The Jester" vs "House of Wolves" by Music/MyChemicalRomance.
** "Pull the Curtain" vs "Shut Up" by Music/{{Blink182}}
** "This Is Goodbye" vs "Everytime I Look for You" by Blink-182.
** "Underclass Hero" vs "Feeling This" by Blink-182.
** "War" vs "Centuries" by Music/FallOutBoy
** "Best of Me" vs "Hate Me" by Music/BlueOctober and "The Reason" by Hoobastank
** "Take a Look at Yourself" vs "Man Overboard" by Blink-182, "Welcome to the Black Parade" by My Chemical Romance, and 'Letterbomb' by Music/GreenDay. Yes. They copied THREE songs.

** What is their first album, ''Half Hour of Power'' or ''All Killer, No Filler''? The band calls the latter their debut. Which makes sense, as it's their first full-length release. ''Half Hour of Power'' is an EP.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Whatever good reputation the already controversial "Anna Nicole Is A Fucking Stupid Cunt" had died with it's subject matter.

** While Tom "Brown Tom" Thacker (from Music/{{Gob}}) was by no means ''dis''liked, most agreed that he couldn't hope to fill Dave Baksh's shoes, as Dave was the one responsible for all of the intricate guitar solos and riffs while Thacker's playing was too similar to Deryck's. It didn't help that a white guitarist replacing the Indian-Canadian Baksh made the whole thing seem like an unintentional RaceLift. He'd eventually be RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap once Dave returned.