Various

Warped Tour 2004 Compilation (2004)

Scott

While I was contemplating ways to write a review for this year's Warped Tour compilation I read the others Adam has written for the past two for inspiration. I sincerely contemplated copying and pasting his from 2003 and simply changing the band names around a tad. He hit the nail on the head perfectly – There's too many bands that aren't on the actual tour, not enough unreleased material, bad mixture at times, but all-in-all for the price it's worth a shot.

As aforementioned you get a lot for a modest charge. There are 50 songs and you're not going to enjoy every one of them, so don't anticipate that and you might enjoy the compilation. Quality songs by a handful of the heavyweights like New Found Glory (whose unreleased "No News Is Good News" now appears on three recordings), NOFX, Anti-Flag, Thursday, Descendents, Bad Religion, Alkaline Trio, Taking Back Sunday, et al. Throw in a some good tunes by the bands in the middle ranks Motion City Soundtrack (the version of "Capital H" is from the re-issue of I Am The Movie in case you were wondering how many times this band could re-record the track), the Matches, Lawrence Arms, Death By Stereo, Coheed & Cambria, and Matchbook Romance to name a few.

The track listing flows like hitting the ‘scan' button on your car stereo, switching between a pop-radio station to modern rock and then over to talk radio. Squashing Good Charlotte between Bad Religion and the Casualties on disc two is rather awkward. Atmosphere and Chronic Future spread the genres a little more by adding a slice of hip-hop to the buffet. A significant amount of much pop-punk-emo material makes up the bulk of the compilation and not enough punk, especially for a tenth year anniversary of a punk rock festival…but hey, whatever sells.

Down near the end of each stage are a few lesser known acts. The mood and flow of the discs dies here as most of these bands have sounds that are akin to the run of the mill scream laced post-punk that's plaguing the scene like a ton of frogs. Although, Denver Harbor shows quite some potential with their strident guitars and harmonious vocals that certainly stand out above other stale souls. I'm sure there are quite a few people eager to hear the Hazen St. track, however, there's absolutely nothing special about it and hype is rapidly chewing this band apart.

50 songs for $7 is a deal no matter what you get, in this case the content justifies its price. The variety of bands and the moods created by the music set the pace for this year's edition of the Warped Tour. Those selections may not be the perfect choice for a remembrance of a decade's worth of summer memories but it's still quite enjoyable.