By 2016, when Simple Plan released Taking One for the Team, they were no longer the newcomers of the early 2000s. The demand for slick, radio-ready pop-punk had started to die down, and the genre itself was in a strange middle period. Pop-punk was not as popular as it was in the early aughts, nor was it comparable to the “Defend Pop-Punk” movement popularized by Man Overboard in the early 2010s.
Taking One for the Team is also one of those records that rarely anchors the nostalgia conversation. When we discuss Simple Plan’s legacy, the conversation almost always circles back to early staples like “I’m Just a Kid,” or “Perfect,” songs that defined a generation and still dominate playlists and tour setlists. Compared to those era-defining tracks, Taking One for the Team can feel overshadowed, buried underneath the band’s early 2000s breakthrough and sophomore records.
None of this is to suggest that Taking One for the Team is a misstep. In fact, this album displays a strong body of work, reinforcing how strong Simple Plan actually are. Even at a time when pop-punk wasn’t exactly dominating the charts, Simple Plan stayed true to themselves and delivered the fun and consistent tracks that fans had come to know them for. They did not abandon the blueprint that made them successful, but this record displayed a different type of pivot, stretching their sound just enough to experiment with new genres and collaborators while staying true to Simple Plan.
What changed wasn’t the foundation, it was the framing. Bringing in New Found Glory’s Jordan Pundik on “Farewell” kept the record within the confines of acceptable scene features. But inviting R.City onto “Singing in the Rain” introduced a breezy, reggae-infused feel that echoed earlier experiments without fully leaving pop-punk behind.
The decision to feature Nelly on “I Don’t Want to Go to Bed” immediately displays that Simple Plan were not playing it safe. On the surface, it might seem like a surprising choice for a pop-punk band, but it was clearly intentional. The collaboration set them apart from their music counterparts, while showing that they were flexible enough to work across genres. It brought more pop and hip-hop elements into their sound, reaching potential new listeners, and proved that the band was not confined by traditional expectations. Whether driven by the need to step outside of the box or creative marketing, these features demonstrated how Simple Plan was confident enough to take a chance on stretching their formula, while still staying authentic to their roots.
By the time Taking One for the Team arrived, Simple Plan had already been laughed at in parts of the scene. They had endured hostile crowds, with objects thrown at them during festivals like The Vans Warped Tour, yet they kept playing. There is a toughness there that can be easily overlooked if all you hear is “pop” or “pop-punk” band. Taking One for the Team was their fifth album, and the band had already proven their durability. They had gotten to a point where they were pop-punk staples, they did not need to impress anybody, and that freedom shows in this record.
Ten years on, Taking One for the Team deserves its flowers. While it may not have produced the generational hits of their debut, tracks like “Boom!” made an impact, and for many fans, the album’s charm lies in the band’s consistency and underrated tracks. Critically, the reception was generally favorable, with AllMusic stating that it was a “pure, no frills feel-good fun,” as well as a “crowdpleaser from start to finish.” Consequence of Sound were a bit more harsh, taking issue with the band’s genre-bending experimentation on the record, calling Simple Plan embarrassing. I feel as though that perspective misses the point. Simple Plan were stretching the pop-punk formula without abandoning it, exploring new sounds while sticking to the heart of what they had always created. 2016 may not have fully embraced Taking One for the Team, but a decade later, the risks that Simple Plan took on this record prove that they have staying power and aren’t afraid to play by their own rules.