Well, the best way to start off the review is to describe SM's two previous albums. Both albums were fast, aggresive, energetic, melodic, a little bit ska, and all out great punk rock. With this in mind I went out to get SM's new self-titled cd. I was expecting the same kind of high-powered work, maybe with a little less ska.

As soon as I got the album, I stuck it in my car cd player, and started driving around. The first song, "Sometimes I Don't Mind," came on. It was a slower song, and I thought to myself, " It's pretty good, slow, and a bit different, but good. The next songs should get faster." The second song, "Permanent Holiday" came on. It was way poppier from anything I've heard from SM. It was a catchy jump-up and down song, but it was very soft compared to songs from the last two releases. It lacked that edge and emotion that their older songs had, so it made the song feel empty and dull, despite it's catchy quality. Nevertheless, I still believed that the following songs would sound more like their older stuff. After the third song, "The Fade Away," I realized this was it, this was the tone of the cd and it wasn't going to change. The seventh track "Extraordinary," even featured a symphony orchestra, it's a good song, but something else that caught me off guard. If five years ago you were to tell me that SM will make a song like this, I would never have believed it. It 's itching for radio airplay. the ninth track, "All Out" was another slap in the face it was a rap/rock song. It was something else that sounded nothing like Suicide Machines. All in all for any old school fan of SM, who hasn't heard this album might be abit of a shock. For any fans of pop-punk that haven't heard SM you'll probably like this cd, but check out their old stuff too. All in all it's actually tolerable, but I can't help it think that Hollywood records probably forced them to go poppier, and stick a rap/rock song in their to make them more "marketable." Well that's it, the hightlights include "Sometimes I don't mind" "Permanent Holiday" "Green" and "The fade Away."