Review - New Found Glory

Band: New Found Glory
Album: From the Screen to Your Stereo Part II
Label: Drive-Thru Records
Rating: 4/5
Seven years ago New Found Glory released an EP titled From the Screen to Your Stereo. It was at a time when the band was just starting to gain popularity. The EP worked for the band because it took some really cheesy songs and made them fun. Big success came with the track “The Glory of Love” from The Karate Kid. Nowadays, New Found Glory is known as one of the creators of the pop punk genre. With their return to Drive-Thru Records comes From the Screen to Your Stereo Part II.

New Found Glory has perfected the carefree fun-in-the-sun sing along. The biggest difference from Part I to Part II is that this time around the band decided to feature other artists on a majority of the songs. The best features include Patrick Stump on “King of Wishful Thinking” and Lisa Loeb on her own hit “Stay.”

It’s pretty simple to decide if you like this album or not. If you’re a fan of New Found Glory’s other music you’ll also enjoy this album. Others that don’t love the New Found Glory vibe or aren’t into cover songs should take a pass on this one. But don’t criticize the album because you hated it before you even listened to it. Is that asking for too much?

Despite it’s good qualities, From the Screen to Your Stereo Part II does have some weaker moments. Johnny Cash’s “It Ain’t Me Babe” could have been better if the band had stuck closer to the original call-and-answer style of the song. Instead of having Sherri Gilbert (of Eisley) do a solo answer to lead singer Jordan, Jordan did the call and Sherri accompanied him on the answer. “Iris” came a little too close to the original and could have been catchier. All I can say about the instrumental “Amelie J'y Suis Jamais Alle” is that it was an interesting song choice.

The tracks on From the Screen to Your Stereo Part II are sure to spark some fond memories. Listeners will likely say, “Hey! I remember this song!” and have some obscure memory attached to it.

Once again, NFG has brought its fan some good clean fun.

Recommended tracks: Kiss Me, King of Wishful Thinking, Stay, Don’t You (Forget About Me)

The track list for From the Screen to Your Stereo Part II is as follows:

1. Kiss Me originally by Sixpence None the Richer, from She's All That
2. It Ain't Me Babe (featuring Sherri Gilbert of Eisley) originally by Johnny Cash, from Walk the Line
3. The Promise (featuring Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional) originally by When In Rome, from Napoleon Dynamite
4. King of Wishful Thinking (featuring Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy) originally by Go West, from Pretty Woman
5. Stay (featuring Lisa Loeb) originally by Lisa Loeb, from Reality Bites
6. Lovefool (featuring Adam Lazarra of Taking Back Sunday and Stacy Dupree of Eisley) originally by The Cardigans, from Romeo and Juliet
7. Iris (featuring Will Pugh of Cartel) originally by The Goo Goo Dolls, from City of Angels
8. Don't You Forget About Me orignally by Simple Minds, from The Breakfast Club
9. Intro (Amelie J'y Suis Jamais Alle) from Amelie
10. Crazy for You (featuring Max Bemis of Say Anything) originally by Madonna, from Vision Quest
11. Head Over Heals originally by Tears for Fears, from Donnie Darko