Various Artists – Music Saves Lives 2007

SideCho Records are back with a new edition of the Music Save Lives compilation – and once again they hit the same highs and lows of last year’s release. Like last year, it’s somewhat hard to figure out exactly what the compilation is promoting since it never explicitly says it anywhere on the album. Although, since the foundation has been much more vocal on their cause than they were in earlier years, it’s much easier to figure out what they’re trying to do with the CD. Last year’s disk was released to raise awareness for the need of blood donations in Southern California, this year they’re taking it a step further as they’re trying once again to get blood donations throughout the Vans Warped Tour and Taste Of Chaos but they’re also encouraging people to sign up for the bond marrow registry. Basically, the album is free if you give blood at any of the Music Saves Lives blood drives nationwide or signs up for the bone marrow registry. So on top of helping a good cause, you get a pretty decent CD too.

Once again, Music Saves Lives 2007 features a prominently pop-punk sound with acts like Liam And Me, Head Automatica, Run Doris Run, Relient K, New Found Glory, Sugarcult and Jack’s Mannequin lending tracks to the album. So right there you can get a bit of a feel as to what you can expect from the album. They do, however, mix it up every once in a while too. k-os lends his hit hip-hop single Sunday Morning while Stacy Clark‘s track Say What You Want is a catchy pop track similar to Meg & Dia or Tegan & Sara. They also have a few laid back emo acts like Mae, Kaddisfly andDaphne Loves Derby scattered throughout the album. Unfortunately, I hate all those bands and find them boring, so those three tracks are normally ones that get skipped over.

Sadly, though, this year’s releases is seriously lacking in unreleased material. Last year’s compilation featured half a dozen never heard before tracks and this year barely has any. The only exception would be a few tracks by Relient K and Run Doris Run.

But overall, a solid pop-punk compilation. It flows nicely and has a good cause. There’s nothing outstanding about it and not one I would necessarily run out to buy but I would still say it’s a nice added bonus to get after you donate some blood.