Various Artists - Hopelessly Devoted To You Vol. 5

When compared to past releases in the Hopelessly Devoted to You series, Volume 5 looks doesn't quite hold up to expectations. Where previous volumes had classics from Samiam, Dillinger Four, the Weakerthans, 88 Fingers Louie, Mustard Plug, and the Queers, this release has the overdone pop-punk of Amber Pacific, the boring metal/hardcore of Break the Silence, and a Thrice cut that I'm assuming wasn't deemed good enough for an album spot. In the album's defense, though, Against All Authority's ska/punk frenzies, Avenged Sevenfold's semi-cheesy but entertaining (and guitar crazy) "Chapter Four," Thrice's classic "To Awake and Avenge the Dead," and recently defunct (and ex-Operation Ivy, Screeching Weasel) Common Rider's previously unreleased "Where the Waves are Highest" are reedeming enough to make the typical "four bucks of less" pricetag reasonable. Not to mention the Melee songs (who are difficult to describe but definitely transcend any one word genre), the dorky, fun pop-punk of Stairwell, and Atom and His Package's "Punk Rock Academy(live)" as the perfect endnote. Dismissing the fact that the label has had ties to better bands in the past, and that those past releases in the series have also held a good deal more music, Hopelessly Devoted to You Vol. 5 is actually worth about what it cost. [www.hopelessrecords.com]