MxPx - Let it Happen Album Review

MxPx - Let It Happen / 2006 Tooth & Nail / 32 Tracks / http://www.mxpx.com / http://www.toothandnail.com /

This deluxe edition comes at a time when MxPx is trying to make a strong case for their continued relevance in the land of emo, hardcore, emocore, and countless other bands with fades and girl pants. What could be better than releasing a deluxe edition of "Let It Happen", a disc that showed to many that MxPx was capable of hanging with the big dogs of the time (Bad Religion, Pennywise).

The re-release of this disc marks the ten year anniversary of "Let It Happen" first being dropped onto the market; individuals can feel like they are getting something with this album, as there are previously unreleased demos that even the most heavy MxPx fan might not have heard. The production of the disc is at a level where individuals can still appreciate it, even considering that the album does have ten years on it. I'm not saying that the method of recording has drastically changed in the last decade, but there seems to be certain trends ad approaches that are favored in one period that were not in others. The frantic energy of tracks like "Prozac" could easily match the output of a current-day Green Day. Even when the band goes into a slower style, as is the case with a track like "Your Turn", there is still an infectious character to MxPx that even the largest detractors of the band have to support.

The success of "Let It Happen" should set off a wave of re-releases of MxPx stuff along the line of a Ramones, which had four or five new tracks added to each album. If Tooth & Nail (and SideOneDummy for the later albums) could do this, individuals will have a better idea of the inspirations of the band and the creative process that makes so many of these LPs ground-breakers in both the nineties and Christian punk genres. Aside from the completist's desire, the re-release of earlier MxPx albums would be able to create a groundswell of support for the band's next album, which is slated for either this year or 2008. Regardless of Tooth & Nail's aims, "Let It Happen's" deluxe edition is something that any fan of the band should pick up, and something that operates as a strong introduction to the band. Give this album a go, as MxPx is one of the few punk bands of the nineties and oughts that have been able too consistently create music of a solid caliber and achieve some level of notability.

Top Tracks: Prozac, Thoughts and Ideas

Rating: 7.0/10