New Found Glory – Not Without a Fight
Record Label: Epitaph Records
Release Date: March 10th, 2009
New Found Glory is a band that needs no introduction.
For many pop-punk acts that have been around as long as New Found Glory, their glory days passed long ago. They've released their one staple album in the scene and with every album afterward, they seem to get progressively worse. It gets to the point where even fans of the band are begging that they call it quits. However, with New Found Glory, each album is another breath of fresh air in a genre saturated with vocoder and neon. The band's Epitaph Records debut, Not Without a Fight, shows just how well they put their competition in a finishing headlock.
The energy filled-opener "Right Where We Left Off" should bring a sigh of relief to those who were hoping for a "return-to-form" type album. After New Found Glory's last full length, Coming Home, in 2006, many were disappointed at the change from fast, catchy, angsty pop-punk to songs with softer melodies that brought on the feeling of autumn rather than summer. Though on Not Without a Fight, it's clear that New Found Glory still haven't lost their way of creating an album with sing-a-long choruses and memorable guitar riffs that fans will love. The lead single "Listen to Your Friends" carries a "My Friends Over You"-esque hook, while "47" could serve as a Sticks & Stones b-side. "Truck Stop Blues" is the obligatory "on the road" song and "Tangled Up" features subtle guest vocals from Paramore's Hayley Williams. Both songs have a Coming Home feel to it while still being the same old New Found Glory. "I'll Never Love Again" has become one of my favorites and will be pleasing to those who were big on NFG's Tip of the Iceberg EP. "Heartless at Best" is another highlight of the album as it's one of the band's strongest songs to date. Finally, "Don't Let This Be the End" continues the cycle of New Found Glory always having a strong closing song to their records.
Lyrically, Not Without a Fight a bit cheesy at times with lines like "If I can't get to you / I'll never love again" and "Your words break me down like a wrecking ball / I'm so sick of it all." Honestly though, the expectations for lyrics on a New Found Glory record shouldn't be so high in the first place. Although they're ridden with love and relationships, they're still blatant and to the point. What I love about their lyrics are that they're relatable and never try to be something they're not. Too many bands try to come up with deep poetic lyrics that they themselves probably don't even understand, but thankfully that's something New Found Glory avoids.
As far as production goes, they couldn't have enlisted a better man than Blink-182's Mark Hoppus. Although Neal Avron would have been great for the job, he still did exceptional on mixing it. The production certainly isn't as raw as Nothing Gold Can Stay but it's nothing too over-produced; it reminds me of the sound from Self-Titled. Not Without a Fight's production is bound to be nostalgic to those who enjoyed New Found Glory in their high-school days.
All in all, New Found Glory is back in the ring with Not Without a Fight and to say that it packs a punch is an understatement. With this album, there's no need to put up a fight, because New Found Glory takes the title by default.
I enjoyed this review. Good one, Joe. Not listening to this until tuesday is starting to physically hurt, though. :(
I feel your pain..I've been waiting months to hear this and it's gonna be even more difficult to hold out after reading this.
Nice review, and I'm sure that, after hearing it, I'll agree with you wholeheartedly.
Fun album that won't go unnoticed. Such a veteran group. Veteran leadership much in the vein of Shane Battier and Yao Ming. Yet with the youth and energy of Aaron Brooks and Carl Landry. And the fact that they've kept all the same members for so long shows that their strong friendship is strong like Ron Artest. This album could be a slam dunk better than even Von Wafer could throw down. These guys will go down as one of the great acts, and could perhaps be the Hakeem Olajuwon of pop-punk!
I agree with everything except some of the scores and how the production reminds you of S/T. I felt that album was a bit too polished and prefer the production on this.
This review has said everything that needs to be said.
Quote:
All in all, New Found Glory is back in the ring with Not Without a Fight and to say that it packs a punch is an understatement. With this album, there's no need to put up a fight, because New Found Glory takes the title by default.
I was really disappointed by this album on my initial listen through, and my second. I hope that'll change, but I've already decided not to pick up a physical copy for a while. NFG is my favorite standard pop-punk band, and they were also the fist band I saw in concert, so I had high expectations (just like I did when Coming Home was being released) and this album really let me down. Jordan's voice in particular lacks energy and just feels tired. I'm sad to say, but think this is NFG's weakest release... and really, their first truely weak release ever (which is saying something... the band has been around for quite a while now, as you point out).
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