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Posts Tagged ‘New Found Glory’

  1. Best Albums of 2009

    December 31, 2009 by Steph

    We’ve got our top albums of 2009! Instead of compiling one big list, each of our writers and photographers have submitted their own top 5 list. We invite all of you to send in your top 5 list of albums for 2009 too!

    Steph:

    There were a number of good EPs that came out this year, but I decided to exclude them from my list to make this tough decision a little easier.

    1. Say Anything (Delux Version) by Say Anything
    Slightly different than their first two albums, Say Anything still has the raw honesty and catchy rock beats that I expect and love from Max Bemis and gang. By far my favorite album of 2009,  I’ve listened to each song on the upward of 20 times. There’s not a bad one in the bunch, including the bonus tracks.

    2. Everybody by Ingrid Michaelson
    Ingrid always brings it with her smooth vocals and the whole album is great. “Soldier” was one of my favorite songs of the year.

    3. Not Without a Fight by New Found Glory
    I wrote a full review about my love for Not Without a Fight but to put it simply, this album combines the best of old NFG and new NFG.

    4. Ratitude by Weezer
    I had to include this album because A. Because of this album, I have a renewed faith in Weezer’s talent post-Blue-Album and B. Their incorporation of diverse genres makes this album genius! (What other rock band does Bali-wood?)

    5. It’s Not Me, It’s You by Lily Allen
    The reason I chose this album is similar to the reason I picked Ratitude. Not only does Lily push the envelope with her feisty lyrics, but she tries interesting things musically and doesn’t box herself in with the pop song “standards”

    Catharine:

    1. Brand New Eyes – Paramore
    I absolutely love all their albums, and this is no exception. Next to All We Know Is Falling, this album was the right progression. Riot! was fun, but this album is genius!

    2. The Fray by The Fray
    My favorite ‘feel good’ album of the year. I never tire of listening to this album and although most can agree a lot of Fray songs sound exactly alike, it’s an amazing sound and I could listen all day!

    3. It’s Not Me, It’s You by Lily Allen
    What’s not to like about Lily Allen? Haha! She’s a kickass girl with a truthful mouth. This is an awesome album. My favorite track has got to be “F**k You”.

    4. Fearless Platinum Edition by Taylor Swift
    The re-release of this album made it even better. With 6 brand new songs, it made it feel like a totally new Taylor Swift album. Her music is a guilty pleasure I will proudly announce to the world. She makes falling in love, breaking up, and getting revenge sound so good!

    5. Nothing Personal by All Time Low
    This has got to be my favorite ‘work out’ album of the year. The fun and upbeat songs kept me going for hours at the gym and on long walks!

    Jackie:

    1. Strict Joy by The Swell Season
    The sophomore release from the dynamic Oscar-winning duo of the movie “Once,” this record is simple and poignant. There’s no huge, overproduced mumbo jumbo. It’s piano, it’s guitar, and it’s Markéta Irglová and Glen Hansard’s amazing harmonies. By far my favorite album of the year. It’s still on constant rotation in my car even though I bought it months ago.

    2. Abbey Road (2009 Stereo Remaster) by The Beatles
    If this had been a brand new release, it would have been my number 1 by about a million miles. The last record The Beatles would ever release together, this album has such a diverse collection of songs, it’s hard to even really begin to describe its brilliance. It’s a great representation of the talent of all four Beatles, not just John and Paul. The band definitely “went out with a bang” with this one.

    3. The Fame Monster by Lady Gaga
    Knock her antics and insane outfits all you want. The one thing you can’t say about Lady GaGa is that she’s not original. On her second release she combines a little bit of Abba, a lot of club/dance instrumentals and her usual sexually-infused, woman-empowered lyrics. I was a huge fan of “The Fame” and GaGa didn’t disappoint again with this record.

    4. The Script by The Script
    I had never heard of this band before I saw them on a TV appearance one night. Hailing from Ireland, the band recently opened for U2. Though they may not be extremely original, there is no doubt this is a well-written, diverse and emotional record. If you’ve just been through a breakup, check out “Breakeven” and you’ll find yourself exclaiming “exactly!” throughout the entire track. The lead singer’s voice is also exceptional and surprisingly soulful.

    3. Uplifter by 311
    One of my favorite bands for as long as I can remember, I realized a dream and saw them live this past summer. This band has continued a long line of great records with “Uplifter.” A slightly harder album than some of the past, they still don’t lose their infectious positive message and reggae-based vibe. Nick Hexum and S.A. Martinez have some of the best combined voices I’ve heard. You wouldn’t think their voices would mesh well together but they do, and that’s showcased on this album. This is without a doubt, my “Summer Album” of choice.

    Cassie:

    First of all…I think this is probably a little biased because the albums that came out recently are going to be remembered more…but

    1. Battle Studies by John Mayer

    2. Everybody by Ingrid Michaelson

    3. Fearless by Taylor Swift (don’t deny it)

    4. Say Anything by Say Anything

    5. Brand New Eyes by Paramore

    J-Man:

    1. Billy Talent III by Billy Talent
    I could pretty much listen to Billy Talent’s entire library all the way through without skipping a song. These guys have given me no reason to stop loving them.

    2. The Resistance by Muse
    When you listen to Muse’s new album, it makes you feel like you should be watching something epic and awesome happen. This is the definition of good music.

    3.Welcome to the Masquerade by Thousand Foot Krutch
    Thank you TFK, for not sucking anymore. I’m going to pretend that this and Phenomenon are your only two albums.

    4. Act II: The Father Of Death by The Protomen
    This is the second album in their concept rock opera about Mega Man. You heard me. Rock Opera About Mega Man.

    5. Raditude by Weezer
    Weezer has made another awesomely sing-along-able pop rock album. They are amazing at being mediocre, and I love them for it.

    J-Man’s (dis)Honorable Mentions:

    Ocean Eyes by Owl City
    I hadn’t heard of Owl City till this year, and since first listening to “Fireflies” on XM radio in a sprint store I worked at, he has become one of my favorite artists. The only reason he doesn’t get an official spot is because The Postal Service called and they want their sound back.

    Part Six by MC Chris
    I was listening to Chris before it was the cool thing to do. INDIE CRED. The guy is an absolute emo douchebag, but I can’t stop listening to his awesome brand of hip hop. He got bumped off the list because, seriously, he’s an emo douchebag.

    The Fame Monster by Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta
    Somewhere, along my path of absolutely hating Stefani Germanotta, I managed to accidently become a Stefani Germanotta fan. It may have something to do with the numerous amazing covers of her music on youtube, culminating in Cartman doing the best rendition of “Poker Face” in existence. It may have something to do with her amazingly produced catchy music. Either way, she doesn’t make the official list because of her STUPID STUPID STAGE NAME.

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  2. New Found Glory, Bayside, and Set Your Goals in Anaheim, CA

    April 20, 2009 by Steph

    Not Without A Fight Tour

    Set Your Goals, source: myspace.com/setyourgoals

    What happens when you put three of the most high-energy hard-working and genuine rock bands on tour together? If you made it to your local venue for the Not Without a Fight Tour, you’d know the answer. Set Your Goals and Bayside opened for New Found Glory on the tour for NFG’s new album of the same name. The night was full of moshing, crowd-surfing and altogether punk rock pandemonium in celebration of these great acts.

    Set Your Goals assaulted the stage with fast punk riffs slathered with heavy bass and Matt Wilson’s and Jordan Brown’s in-your-face tenor and shouting vocal duet. They played a few newer songs, announcing the release of their new album this summer on Epitaph records. They also played a few off their old EP Reset like “Goonies Never Say Die!” but mostly they played the favorites off of their 2008 full-length Mutiny, which is packed to the brim with rebellion, attitude and swashbuckling (Urban Dictionary defines this as “Anything and everything a pirate does that is awesome, usually involving a good amount of rum, jumping off shit, and screaming ‘ARRR.’” Sounds about right.). Songs like “Echos,” “To Be Continued,” “Mutiny,” and “Work in Progress,” had the crowd in a full-out mosh frenzy. Set Your Goals put on a great show and got the crowd pumped for the other bands to come.

    There seemed to be a pervading question throughout the crowd after SYG’s set. What happened to the opening band? The tour was originally scheduled to open with the band Verse and their untimely break up brought Shai Hulud on tour, but the band was no where to be seen. Jordan of New Found Glory later explained that this venue, the House of Blues Disney (at Downtown Disney next to Disneyland) was the only venue that refused to allow Shai Hulud play due to the content of their lyrics. Bull hockey.

    Bayside

    Bayside came on stage next. Their ironic and self-deprecating rock bled through the speakers to be met with eager fans, singing along at the top of their lungs. Anthony Raneri’s distinctly charming and gloomy vocals were accompanied by Chris Guglielmo on drums, Nick Ghanbarian slappin’ the bass and Jack O’shea’s fast-fingered guitar solos. Jack reminded me of the lead singer of H.I.M., Ville Valo, with his sweaty mob of black hair swinging around the stage and his teeth grit in rock-and-roll sweet anguish. Bayside rocked songs from all their albums, with a few of my favorites “The Walking Wounded” and “Devotion and Desire” with “Roshambo” off their newest (and excellent) release Shudder. Their performance seemed to come out strong and wane in energy as it went on, but all and all was powerful and the songs were flawless.

    New Found Glory, source: myspace.com/newfoundglory, by Peter HillNew Found Glory, still going strong after nine years, commanded the stage and riled up the crowd as they took us from 2009 to 2000 and back. Didn’t know time travel was possible? Try watching New Found Glory play “Dressed to Kill” and “Hit or Miss” as the entire venue sings along. They played some of the most memorable high school anthems like Sticks and Stones’ “My Friends Over You” and Catalyst’s “All Downhill from Here.” Then the more sentimental songs from Coming Home like “Oxygen” and an acoustic performance of “Too Good to Be.” To bring us up to date, they jammed out some of their newest soon-to-be anthems from their March release Not Without a Fight like “Right Where We Left Off” and “Truckstop Blues.” A guy in the front row was singing along with his middle finger in the air and vocalist Jordan pointed out, “how 2009 of him” but really this is the sentiment that Not Without a Fight provokes—attitude and passion. Before the night closed, the band made sure to let the crowd know that all the bands on the tour are sincere. They’re “not doing it to sell a tshirt.” And I think this is what made the show so great. Honest rock and roll is the best and only kind there is.

    * all image sources provided in the image properties

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  3. New Found Glory’s new album Not Without a Fight

    March 9, 2009 by Steph

    Not Without a Fight is the best possible title for New Found Glory’s eighth studio album. Dripping with determination and ferocity on this release, New Found Glory has found the perfect combination of punk rock and maturity and proves that they’ve still got it and they’re not going anywhere.

    The title track of the album is called “Right Where We Left Off.” Instead of being a direct pick up from where Coming Home finished, this album is a better integration of the maturity, sharpness, and melodic complexity of Coming Home and the NFG brand of pop punk that they made famous with Catalyst and Sticks and Stones. The tracks are drum-heavy and have catchy guitar riffs contrasting Jordan Pundik’s prominent clean tenor vocals. The bass on each track throbs like the heartbeat of the band which could make anyone’s chest pump with the amp—a perfect concoction for moshing.

    The gang vocals on tracks like “Don’t Let Her Pull You Down” and “Such a Mess” contribute to the fighting spirit of the album. This is supported by the intro of “Such a Mess” which is similar to Four Year Strong’s Rise or Die Trying with its heavy bass and clean guitar riffs that creates a really powerful sound. Songs like “This Isn’t You,” “47” and “Tangled Up” prove that it’s not about being thick-skinned for NFG; it’s about saying exactly how they feel, but giving it a kick in the ass. Even though they’re songs about frustration with love, they’re still pissed off and unforgiving as Jordan sings in “This Isn’t You,” “Your words break me down like a wrecking ball, I’m so sick of it all.” “Reasons” is the perfect tie between past and present New Found Glory with an acoustic intro and heartfelt lyrics that progress into a chorus of pounding riffs.

    A lot of bands promise to return to their previous sound and many can’t manage to re-conjure up their most perfect moment. New Found Glory promised Alternative Press in their issue of the Most Anticipated Albums of 2009 that they were going back to their roots for this album and not only have they been successful, but they’ve also managed to retain the life lessons they’ve learned along the way. Congrats, NFG. You got your fight back.

    To follow up with their new album release, New Found Glory is going on a seven week tour with Bayside, who released their forth studio album Shudder this past September, Set Your Goals, who is now recording a follow-up to 2006’s full length Mutiny, and Verse, who released their studio album Agression this past June. They’re coming at you fast, rowdy, and full of new music so check out the tour and keep your eyes open for a review of the show.

    Category Albums | Tags: | 1 Comment