Punknews.orgPunknews.org Logo
Review Navigator

BackForward

Features

 

Contests

 


Reviews



While a greatest hits compilation for a band always seems rather unnecessary, the fact that aside from, say "My Friends Over You" and "Hit or Miss," New Found Glory never really had hits per se renders their record of the same name a similar futility...unless, of course, there are some contractual obligations that needed fulfillment. But while no example of New Found Glory's glossy pop-punk bravado ever actually reached #1, they've clearly managed to write and record a number of enjoyable songs over the years, whether applied with the guilty pleasure tag or not.

Hits opens with "Situations," which was recorded around the same time as their 2006 snoozefest, Coming Home. Luckily, it's far better than the entirety of that album, with a bounce and vigor that was largely vacant there. The record then transitions to New Found Glory's eponymous major label debut with "Hit or Miss (Waited Too Long)" and the fantastic (no, seriously) "Dressed to Kill." This was easily the band's best era, but unfortunately there really isn't any other arguable "hits" from that album. Plus, the band hand-picked all the songs, after all.

The listener is then guided through the rest of the band's career with snippets off each following album. Sticks & Stones bears "My Friends Over You," "Head on Collision" (which seems thankfully less balladic than when initially released) and the picker-upper "Understatement." The superior Catalyst offers "All Downhill from Here," "I Don't Wanna Know" -- which dulls the momentum a bit -- and "Failure's Not Flattering." "It's Not Your Fault" and "Hold My Hand" represent Coming Home, and while repeated listens have made them continuously less cringeworthy, they pale terribly in comparison to the other songs on the album. 2004 eMusic single "Constant Static" is the last rarity offered up, and it wraps up things in a sufficiently catchy fashion.

While the need for its existence might be questioned by fans (and not just punk purists), Hits is an apt overview of New Found Glory's career thus far, as much as it ignores the band's pre-MCA days and extensive catalog of covers.

STREAM
Situations
My Friends Over You
Hold My Hand




People who liked this also liked:
Alkaline Trio - From Here To InfirmaryAlkaline Trio - GoddamnitAlkaline Trio - Good MourningNew Found Glory / International Superheroes of Hardcore - Tip of the Iceberg / Takin' It Ova!Good Riddance - Remain in Memory: The Final Show



Please login or register to post comments.
What are the benefits of having a Punknews.org account?
  • Share your opinion by posting comments on the stories that interest you
  • Rate music and bands and help shape the weekly top ten
  • Let Punknews.org use your ratings to help you find bands and albums you might like
  • Customize features on the site to get the news the way you want.

    Posted by XCARLUPANDDIEX on 2008-03-29 07:55:37
    My Score:

    3 stars . because the NFG hit singles were good.

    Posted by 655321 on 2008-03-28 18:01:29

    Sickboi has really brought up a good topic of discussion. Somebody needs to elaborate more on this "hardcore following" of NFG!

    My girlfriend is a huge fan of NFG, in which case, she listens to them often. I have never heard anything that sounds hardcore-ish in any of there songs. What is hardcore about singing about kissing a girl on the swing set during recess, really? (a little sarcasm, I'm not actually referencing a particular song). Yet, when I went to one of their show's with her, there were, in fact, big, neck-tattooed dudes punching 14 year old girls in the face.

    Somebody please enlighten me with the detail!

    Posted by paulrulzdood on 2008-03-28 12:17:11

    tenwestchaser, that is correct, however, I think if you consider the fact that NFG were teenagers when they wrote "nothing gold can stay" it's actually a pretty solid album. put it in the late 90's context and the fact that they were kids, it's a pretty nice debut, but they certainly eclipsed it with each release thereafter.

    Sickboi, yea, the only hardcore kids that listen to NFG do so because of the Chad thing and the semi-hardcore breakdowns NFG put in their songs. Same appeal the Movielife has to hardcore kids for example, it's pop punk with hardcore breakdowns here and there. I personally love NFG but think hardcore sucks balls. It's great when you're a testoserone laden angry teen but now that I'm 27, it just sounds like macho-man randy savage yelling at me over the same chuga chuga riff over and over. I can't even listen to Sick of it All anymore and I thoguht they were the tits 10 years ago.

    Paul

    Posted by fallingupwards84 on 2008-03-28 01:45:11

    kind of a high score for such a roughly put together compilation

    Posted by sickboi on 2008-03-28 00:29:33

    Someone answer me this...what's up with all the hardcore kids being into NFG? I mean, I understand the whole Chad/Shai Hulud connection (as limited as it was), but is that it?

    -chris

    Posted by tenwestchaser on 2008-03-27 18:04:02

    Nothing Gold Can Stay was NOT good. In fact, worst thing they ever released. The production made the music sound like a cat pissing on a paper bag.

    Posted by paulrulzdood on 2008-03-27 12:04:32

    NFG kick ass, ya'll are a bunch of punk ass haters.

    Paul

    Posted by shitlips on 2008-03-27 08:39:59
    My Score:

    This band sucks and has always sucked. Oh and will always suck. What a bad representation of South Florida.

    Posted by TommyPickles on 2008-03-26 22:57:49

    Hits? Are you fucking kidding me.

    Posted by IAmJetBlack on 2008-03-26 18:04:04

    "hit or miss is from "nothing gold can stay" originally...but they wanted to cash in on it just like plain white t's so put it on another album"

    This coming from a Face to Face fan.......

    Posted by brett-nola on 2008-03-26 15:40:02

    I tried listening to an old NFG mix CD the other day and it was pretty much a waste of time.

    'Nothing Gold' had 5 or 6 songs that sounded good in 1998 for some reason or another. Everything after that is just a shameless ploy to sell records to 13 year olds.

    One out of five possible beards.

    Posted by paulrulzdood on 2008-03-26 10:00:31

    one of my favorite bands, but this release is totally pointless, I've had "constant static" for years and "situations" was available for free download last summer. The only reason to buy this would be for a fair introduction to the band or the liner notes. But really, if you want an introduction tot he band, just go buy the self-titled album, it still stands up after 8 years as their most consistent album (although sticks and stones and catalyst are also really good). Nothing Gold Can Stay is a great debut for a teenage band, but it really sucks compared to the rest of their cataloge.

    Paul

    Posted by William_Jess on 2008-03-26 08:06:29
    My Score:

    Score is for how much much this band sucks.

    Posted by incetardis on 2008-03-26 06:49:52

    it's kinda funny, how most people bash "coming home". i think it's one of their best albums. sure, it has a different mood than the others - but there are still A LOT good songs on it. and this record HAS staying power. i still listen to it all the time.

    the hits compilation... i don't care. with all their b-sides (4 alone for coming home), they could have easily made a b-sides album... which i would have bought. but this? come on.

    Posted by LooseKanonYankee on 2008-03-26 03:51:48

    I love NFG, put this is just Geffen trying to squeeze the last couple bucks they can out of NFG. The band parted ways with Geffen like a year ago.

    Posted by colin on 2008-03-26 02:57:06

    i used to love (a) new found glory but they've always struck me as a band with no staying power. they could have released the EP, nothing gold, the covers EP and the s/t and had some sort of 'legacy' as a prominent mainstream pop punk band in the post-blink era. however all the releases since the s/t have been nothing but a few catchy riffs that remind us all of what the band was, and moreso signs that they oughta call it quits.

    i've been to some really fun shows when these guys have been playing and there's something to be said for being a naive teenager and their music is a for the fact. but if they were to have a real "greatest hits" it would be half the songs off each their first three albums and nothing else. even then it's just popcorn music, but this is sort of ridiculous.

    Posted by holy_balls on 2008-03-26 01:54:08

    I remember in 2001, I was listening to their s/t CD on my computer really loud and my dad came in the room and started dancing. That pretty much killed the band for me. After that, I don't think I listened to them on my own ever again.

    Posted by Autosuggestion on 2008-03-26 01:35:41

    the fact that aside from, say "My Friends Over You" and "Hit or Miss," New Found Glory never really had hits per se renders their record of the same name a similar futility

    I'm certainly not one to defend the existence of a "greatest hits" record, but your statement above isn't really accurate. It struck me as being off, and so after a quick three minute investigation, I'm here to say that a number of these other songs (All Downhill From Hill, Head On Collision, Failure's Not Flattering) were all ranked fairly highly on American modern rock charts and Billboard, etc. Virtually all of the songs on this collection were released as singles and pushed on major rock radio and had videos on MTV, so it is not as if NFG got together and picked their favorite songs (though maybe their favorite songs became the singles). In fact, as an individual hit goes, while people on the org may remember it better (namely because Orgers probably stopped paying attention to this band in 2002 or so, I know that is the last time I bought an album of theirs), but there are easily five or six songs that were higher on the charts than Hit or Miss.

    Posted by Dudley_Shale on 2008-03-26 01:27:32

    Greatest Shits?

    Posted by scorpiondeathlock on 2008-03-26 01:07:49
    My Score:

    this band sucks now, but the score is for the catchiness of that song "sucker"...madness.

    Posted by timorous_me on 2008-03-26 00:28:42

    Oh, and I've mentioned this before but I don't see why, with all the releases that come out now, that Drive-Thru doesn't put out a remastered/remixed version of "Nothing Gold Can Stay." It's such a good album but I know so many people who were turned off of it because of the quality. They could make the volume more in tune with the others, add "Certain" and the original, pre self-titled versions of "Second to Last" and "Eyesore" to the track list, and maybe a dvd.

    Posted by timorous_me on 2008-03-26 00:04:40

    hit or miss is from "nothing gold can stay" originally...but they wanted to cash in on it just like plain white t's so put it on another album

    Lots of bands do this, though. Bad Religion comes to mind with "21st Century Digital Boy."

    Posted by Big_Guy on 2008-03-25 23:06:27

    "Their s/t rules. I still listen to it today. I remember my mom objecting to it at first because it had a pile of condoms on the front, haha."

    haha, I've had that album pretty much since it came out and I just saw the condoms on the cover a few weeks ago.

    your mom must have a great eye

    Posted by MsJustinChris on 2008-03-25 22:54:13

    I remember sitting around listening to Dressed to Kill back in 10th grade. That was awesome.

    Posted by Trauma16 on 2008-03-25 22:48:43

    I still dig that song "Dressed to kill"

    Posted by facetofacereunion08 on 2008-03-25 22:41:16

    hit or miss is from "nothing gold can stay" originally...but they wanted to cash in on it just like plain white t's so put it on another album

    Posted by billnye on 2008-03-25 22:34:59

    haha to the guy who actually paid for this

    Posted by iruineverything on 2008-03-25 22:28:36
    My Score:

    The "rare and never before seen" photos included in the booklet are the size of thumbnail and are completely pointless. The hand scribed notes from Chad must have taken him 9 minutes to write, proofread and submit.

    Totally half assed. Steal the 2 rare songs off the internet and forget this ever happened.

    Posted by DickAround on 2008-03-25 22:20:37
    My Score:

    Faaaaag.

    That album is awesome. No hate here. Score's for the self titled.

    Posted by skaboom on 2008-03-25 22:05:03

    Their s/t rules. I still listen to it today. I remember my mom objecting to it at first because it had a pile of condoms on the front, haha.

    ...shut up, I was 13 or something.