SIMPLE PLAN, is not just an album but a statement of artistic ambition and growth from the Montreal-based quintet. As you'd expect from any band that would call it's debut album NO PADS, NO HELMETS... JUST BALLS, this self- titled release is a fearless, without- a-net excursion into dynamic music-making, taking what we love best about Simple Plan the unbridled energy, the ripping guitars, the hook-filled melodic sensibility - and incorporating a slew of inventive sonic approaches informed by new collaborators such as Nate Danja Hills (Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Duran Duran, Nelly Furtado), Max Martin (James Blunt, Kelly Clarkson, Avril Lavigne) and Dave Fortman (Evanescence, Mudvayne). The new equation yields 11 songs that are unquestionably Simple Plan but still sound unlike anything it's done before, from the loping synthesizer loops of the opening track and first single "When I'm Gone" to the tight dance groove and R&B flavor of "The End", the hip-hop styled beat of "Generation" and the unabashed power balladry of "I Can Wait Forever."