New Found Glory - Not Without A Fight
Rating
RIYL
Four Years StrongNever Heard Of It
Motion City Soundtrack
Hit The Lights
Release Date
03/10/1984
Label
EpitaphTracklist
1. Right Where We Left Off2. Don't Let Her Pull You Down
3. Listen To Your Friends
4. 47
5. Truck Stop Blues
6. Tangled Up
7. I'll Never Love Again
8. Reasons
9. Such A Mess
10. Heartless At Best
11. This Isn't You
12. Don't Let This Be The End
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New Found Glory returns to the center stage from a couple of years of poor releases and a 90s covers album that didn’t seem to help their critical image. This time around NFG isn’t going down without a fight with their sixth album, ironically titled Not Without a Fight.
Not Without a Fight is a detachment from their most mainstream release, Sticks And Stones. Borrowing some melodies found on Catalyst, NFG finds a catchy medium in their latest release. In an interview with Amp Magazine, lead vocalist Jordan Pundik said how this album was going to bring fans back to what made them fall for the group in the first place.
You won't get this impression with the album's first track, but more so on the second track, “Don't Let Her Pull You Down”. The wah wah pedal in the intro of the song definitely lets on that this album is not the same band, and that track one was just the end of the post-Catalyst NFG. This is rebirth of the gang vocals and hard-hitting guitar riffs that brought them their original cult following.
Going throughout the rest of the album, every track is on point. NFG keeps up with the theme of “fighting” with attempting to outdo themselves on each track. NFG didn’t even waste any time on writing a ballad this time around. Every emotion they wanted to portray in their lyrics, whether it’s happy or sad, comes through intact over the power of their upbeat melodies and the lashing out of the vocals.
Mark Hoppus took the reins on producing this album, but he really didn’t have as much sway as people would think. According to the group, a lot of the songs for the album were demoed before jumping into the studio with Hoppus. He was there mostly for moral support, but his biggest contribution to this record was on the bass. Some of the basslines on the album originated from ideas the Blink 182 bassist had while in the studio.
The first single off this album, “Listen To Your Friends,” is probably the softest song on it, potentially barring the first track “Right Where We Left Off”. It’s catchy and melodic with a vivid storyline not usually seen in NFG songs. I don’t see how the Ultimate Fighting Championship spoof video has anything to do with the song itself, but it keeps up with the whole fighting theme, and it’s not a bad video at all. As the video ends, it fades out in a huge brawl between NFG and two UFC fighters, but then fades in with a nice black & white picture of them embracing one another.
Love them or hate them, they’re back and reaching for that number one spot. Epitaph is lucky they caught the group at this point in their career. Expected to sell about 25-30k in the first week of their US release, NFG has already reached #36 within several weeks on the Australia charts. Their music is returning to the mainstream and that may not necessarily be a bad thing. It proves that bands can go bad for a bit and still return to the roots of what made them great.
--Jose Terrero
Comments
I wanted to like this record so bad, but I just can't. I think its great that they brought back their old sound, but the songs on this record in my opinion are just weak.
Dubuque
I'm on the edge with the record. It has some great tracks, but it always has some bores.
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San Jose, CA
loved the album. hated "i'll never love again"
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Atascadero, CA
im trying to get into this since this band was one of my more influential punk bands when i was just discovering the genre but not too many of the tracks really grab me.. found it pretty boring.
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Fishers, Indiana
I found the CD inoffensive. It was listenable, and I guess I enjoyed it, but I found no reason to return to it.
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Los Angeles
kind of like a fart in the wind. I really wanted to like this cd, but it did nothing for me
Somewhere in New York
If Mark Hoppus did some of the basslines for this CD, does that really mean anything good? He was never a great bassist by any means, unless he's gotten better in his years of producing.
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JMU
It's not ironic that the album is titled Not Without A Fight. Learn what the definition of irony is.
Minnesota
Yeah, same. Thought it was ok on first listen but haven't been back to it since.
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Dubuque
Going through all my CDs for my Top 10 and came across this one. As much as I LOVE NFG, this will not be making it. Didn't have any songs that really stuck in your head like their previous stuff.
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