New Found Glory - Sticks and Stones

Sticks and Stones, the third record from Florida emo-punkers New Found Glory, might wear its broken heart on its sleeve, but that doesn't mean it has to pretend to be mature. No, Blink-182's first choice of opening band have a firm grasp of the puerile: Sticks and Stones churns out dumb punk thrills at such a breakneck pace, you'd swear they were going out of fashion. The chugging "It's Been a Summer" does Blink as well as Travis, Mark, and Tom do themselves, while "Head-On Collision" displays the group's tender emo side, frontman Jordan Pundik smarting at a vicious relationship spat. "It feels like I'm bruised and broken / From our head-on collision," he sobs, as guitars crunch and blunder madly in the background. Thing is, although some of the tunes are spot on--particularly, the lovestruck "My Friend's Over You" and the moshpit-friendly "Something I Call Personality"--there's little to radically distinguish New Found Glory from their peers. If you're a diehard pop-punk fan, you've probably got records like this--and better--in your collection already. --Louis Pattison Amazon.com

A tale of two CDs

before the emo/punk (if you can call it that) boom of 2004, there were still bands, such as New Found Glory, interested in writing simple catchy songs over crunching guitars in the vein of Green Day and Blink182 (before every band, including NFG, started inserting every hardcore and metal cliche in the book).

This music is not incredibly original, but "Sticks and Stones" is very likable and does a fine job honoring the pop-punk tradition. Unfortunately the second half of the disc cannot keep pace with the first half. After "Forget My Name", one figures that if the band can keep this up for five more songs, "Sticks and Stones" becomes a classic. Starting with the fast, crackling, opener "Understatement", the first single "My Friends Over You" and the pinnacle "Forget My Name", the first half rolls along with a great, exciting pace and energy. But, then comes the caveat. With the exception of "Story So Far", the second half pales in comparison with the first half, as you can see and hear the creative juices of New Found Glory running short in the final five songs.

However, the first seven songs are enough to earn this CD four stars (really more like 3.5) as well as making it worth a buy, seeing as you can probably get it for fairly cheap. Pick it up for 11 bucks and you'll get your money's worth August 5, 2006

This is all getting out of hand

Punk is not about listening to bands like the MIsfits and T.S.O.L and other old punk bands. Punk is about not following the crowd and doing stuff your own way and not letting other people get in the way of your own intrests. SO technically if the pop punk listeners listened to all those idiots telling people to listen to old school punk then they would actually become something their not

Anyway this happens to be a great cd. Very differant from Nothing gold can stay and All about a girl. JOrdan's voice obviously was polished in some way. The instrumentals are actually very similar to the sound of their two first cd's.

Now i guess I am going to review each cd.

Understatment 5/5 An incredibly catchy song that doens't get old very fast. This song will please most NFG fans.

My Friends over you 4/5 Most people will adore this song until about a week after they hear it when this song gets very annoying.

Sonny. 4.5/5 This song has very creative lyrics and a very interesting story.

SOmething I call Personality. 3/5 A song that most people will enjoy but it just doesn't do it for me

Head on Collision. 4/5 Pretty much the same story as My Friends Over you.

It's been a Summer 5/5 Starts with a very catchy riff and stays like that for the whole song.

Forget my Name. 4.5/5 Very good lyrics.

Never Give up 4.5/5 A song that can cheer anyone up

The Great Houdini 5/5 Really catchy

Singled Out. 5/5 Defienntly my favorite on the cd.

Belated. 2.5/5 Pretty good lyrics but just doesn't have the thing that makes te other songs so great

The Story So Far. 5/5 Great finisher

Overall 52/60 A great effort July 28, 2006

Best NFG Album!

These are how I rate the songs-

Understatement- Possibly the best opener ever 5/5

My Friends Over You- A really good song but if you listen to it more than two times in a hour time period it gets annoying. 4/5

Sonny- Nice, Calm and Melodic but possibly the worst song on the album. 2.5/5

Something I call Personality- Really fast and cool it almost makes listening to "Sonny" worthwhile. 4/5

Head on Collision- Their greatest slow song ever. 4/5

It's Been a Summer- Really catchy to listen to and it will never get annoying even if you listen to it one-hundred times! 4.5/5

Forget My Name- This song kinda' reminds me of Sum 41, and that is a good thing a really good thing. But it can be really sad if you really listen hard to the lyrics. 4/5

Never Give Up- This song is a little more hopeful than "Forget My Name" and I think everyone can enjoy it. 3.5/5

The Great Houdini- Has nothing to do with Harry Houdini and so I say WTF!!! 3/5

Singled Out- I like the techno beginning alot and the rest also rules. It is the best song on the album next to "Understatement." 5/5

Belated- Sorta' sucks but in its own way it is good. In other words it sounds like a Simple Plan song and that is a put down. 3/5

The Story So Far- Cool song very awesome except for that P.O.C hidden track. Get rid of the hidden track and you have a winner! With hidden tack loser! Keep the Hidden Track, 0.5/5
Without, 5/5

Possibly the greatest punk album ever.

March 7, 2006

pretty good stuff

I am rather new to New Found Glory and, not being a huge fan of this genre of music, was pleasantly surprised.I own both this and Nothing Gold Can Stay and this is the better of the two in my opinion. I also know that one of the members used to be in a band called Shai Hulud, and old metalcore band that I'm a fan of. Check them out, broaden your musical interests. That's what I did with this cd and it turned out fairly well. 4 stars. February 28, 2006

A slight decline

New Found Glory is one of the oldest of the current pop punk bands. Their self titled album was hands down their crowning achievement, bursting with catchy and well written songs for their mostly teenage audience. This album kind of carries over, possessing much of the same drive, but lacking a little bit of each of the elements that made their last album so great.

Understatement starts the album off with a roar. This is actually my favorite song of theirs ever. It is well written, it is catchy, it is fast and loud, and it is pretty much amazing. My Friends Over You is slightly overrated, but I was at one time obsessed with it. It is certainly pretty damn catchy. Sonny is a slow and catcy song about losing someone. Something I Call Personality is a slightly overdone song. By the sound of it, you expect something assaulting, but it doesn't really pick up in any of the right places, and comes out seeming incomplete in some ways, overdone in others. Head on Collison is a good, but lyrically predictable song. Its Been a Summer was like a little mini crack addiction for me. I listened to that song for a good 2 or 3 weeks pretty much all the time. Trust me, it will find its way into your head.

Forget My Name is a great song, if not purely redeemed by the first 20 seconds. Jordan definitely has a good voice for hooking the listeners in. The next two songs are really where the album lags. They are OK, but mainly boring and uninteresting. The album would be MUCH better off just without them. Singled Out is a great song about a long relationship or friendship gone sour. Belated is another boring song which usually has me reaching for the seek button. The Story So Far is another good song. It is actually a little different than what they usually sound like, and it left me hoping for a musical evolution in the band for the next album (which, by the way, did NOT happen).

All in all, this album succeeds in putting out a pretty good pop punk album. A few amazing songs, a handful of decent ones, and a few stinkers. If you are looking for a good cd to listen to these guys, i would suggest their self titled album. If you listened to that and what the next best, definitely go with this one. Definitely worth a try January 23, 2006

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