New Found Glory - New Found Glory
Here's to us fools that have no meaning, I tip my glass to you
This post was originally published on January 31, 2024.
Release Date: September 26, 2000
Genre: Pop-punk, alternative rock
Label: Drive-Thru Records/MCA Records
Producer(s): Neal Avron
Today's kids will never know the struggle. When my sister burned me a copy of this album, it was from a CD that her friends had already burned for her thrice over. Therefore, likely due to compressed or corrupted files, the songs wouldn't actually play. I had to find bootleg MP3s online, but oh, was it worth it. New Found Glory's second album is, for many, their definitive one.
While it utilizes the same producer as Sticks and Stones and Catalyst to follow, the band's sophomore effort has a slightly lighter, looser sound. The songs are shorter and Jordan Pundik's younger vocals were in the sweet spot where they weren't too piercing yet. The lyrics radiated both youthful cynicism and sentimental wisdom, a duality that still exists in their work today. They re-recorded the runaway fan favorite, "Hit Or Miss," and improved it. I do admit there are a few songs in the middle here that aren't their best, it's still a really, really good album, showing they had a strong handle on this thing even this early on.
Highlights
Favorites:
"Dressed To Kill" has interesting, slightly feedback-y production that goes surprisingly well with its pretty chorus.
Speaking of pretty, "Eyesore" is one of their finest ballads. Despite the grinding guitars, it has a kind of sighing vulnerability that I never get tired of. An excellent acoustic demo exists, but for some reason isn't included with the bonus tracks on Spotify.
"All About Her" is another really underrated mid-tempo song that just takes the typical New Found Glory songs and does them so well. It chugs, it wails, and it sweeps me away every time.
The band has always excelled at closing tracks, and "Ballad For the Lost Romantics" is no exception. It's celebratory yet somber, and each individual guitar stab tears through the bittersweet lyrics.
Since I only had the standard edition, the bonus track "So Many Ways" was one of the most pleasant surprises in their catalog. It's a relentless, ever-changing melody, yet always circles back to find its center. The lyrics are sincere, and Jordan cries them with some of the most passion I've ever heard from him. When I checked the run time, I was surprised it's only three minutes, because it feels longer in the best way. It feels epic.
Least Favorites:
"Vegas" has some of the weakest lyrics from the band's early days, especially the verses. It's okay, but not a greatest hit or a fan favorite or anything like that.
Similarly, "Black & Blue" has its moments, but isn't memorable unless you're me who knows these songs back to front.
Final Thoughts
NFG's self-titled is another great record in their remarkably strong, consistent discography. It contains some of my all-time favorite songs of theirs, and those haven't been dethroned after more than twenty years. (The first of their many EPs, From the Screen to Your Stereo, came out a year later and features fun covers of movie songs that sound a lot like the album itself.) Whether you want to call this their best album or not, which some do, it's certainly the purest. On only their second try, they had found themselves completely.
Rating
With similarly high highs but lower lows than Sticks and Stones or Catalyst, this album ends up with a slightly lower final score, so once again, I'm rounding it up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.
Further Reading
(Article) It’s All Dead: Reflecting On: New Found Glory - New Found Glory