As the type of person that practically likes every type of music it was actually difficult choosing an album to review. The reason being, albums usually have a few hit tracks while the remaining songs are somewhat mediocre. I recently rediscovered a band named New Found Glory in which they successfully produced a true “hit album”. New Found Glory has been around since 1997 but their newest album, Coming Home (2007), incorporates a slue of new acoustics and melodic beats that alters the music in its entirety. This album definitely shows growth in the band as a whole when compared to their previous albums.

New Found Glory finally has found the right sound after all these years. It’s a definite surprise that the album Coming Home is completely different then past albums such as Catalyst. They achieved this sound with unconventional methods especially for the alternative/punk music. This includes piano playing, violin, and even, yes, hand clapping! Amazingly, it sounds great. If you disagree with this, then you have no business listening to music. That is how strongly I feel about these innovations and how excited I am that New Found Glory has incorporated these instruments for which seems like the first time. I mentioned melodic beats earlier, which is something you can perfectly hear throughout the entire album. The best example would be in the song “When I Die” which has more of the harmonic sound going for it. You can’t help but feel good when listening to this song or any of their songs on this album. New Found Glory has also changed the theme of their music. In the past albums there wasn’t a set “meaning” for the album. They sang whatever was on their mind. But this album seems more coordinated. The overall theme is about life, love and death. Life and love go hand-in-hand in the song “Hold My Hand”. This song incorporates more of an upbeat theme and definite vibe. I would have to say it is a “true” punk song. You will find yourself bopping your head to this song for sure. Even those someone songs have a different beats to them; they all come together in sync. The point is your not escaping the sound just because you hear a distinct beat in one song but not in the other. The album flows together wonderfully and that is a feature that separates the album from its previous ones. Most punk songs have nice lyrics but they usually never make any sense at all. Keeping with the whole “new” aspect of this album, I’m happy to report that the lyrics that make sense and sound great at the same time. Lyrics are important but they are not the first things we think about when listening to music. We are usually captivated with the intense beating of the drums, rocking guitar, and phenomenal voice of the vocalist. After about the fifth time listening to the song, you begin to listen to the lyrics and trying to understand what is meant by all these words. Usually you get nothing in return. But someone finally put the effort into Coming Home to make sure it is heard and understood. It’s amazing how you can relate to these songs. One song that grabbed my attention is “Taken Back By You” which is an inspiring song because anyone in love can relate to it. I’m personally not, but it shows the potential of someone being captivated by someone else by the little things they do. Lyrics like that prove that these artists are putting someone kind of time into their work and not all are making money off of synthesized music and terrible lyrics that rhyme.

Leaving on a final note, fans shouldn’t be too quick to judge the album after listening to one or two songs. To experience the full depth of the album it’s recommended to listen to the entire album. True fans will be able to decipher the hidden story that slowly but surely unravels throughout the entire album. It’s New Found Glory 2.0 and there is no reason to downgrade.

Journal #9

It didn’t take long, after reading “Musical Cheese: The Appropriation of Seventies Music in Nineties Movies”, to realize that I was totally confused. Whose idea was it to use the term “cheese” to examine the idea of music in movies? From what I could understand, he has a very bias on the music topic. I completely disagree with what he is trying to point out. “Cheese” adds depth in a movie. The music in movies is used for a purpose. It is to bring the audience that much closer into feeling like they are there. Imagine a movie without music. You would have yourself an old Charley Chaplin film, which can be entertaining, but not all that it could be. The drama and emotion presents well in films because of the music being played. The music in a movie ties everything else together. Its how you serve the film. Imagine your favorite meals, everything you ever wanted, served on a trash can lid. It’s the delivery that counts. A movie, without the right sound, is the same way. Kevin Dettmar is being way to crucial in his article. In my opinion the article presented itself in a bad way, which made the entire article bad.

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Journal #8

Sarah Hawkins did a great job on the Elvis Costello piece. It’s obvious that the entire paper was a review. Not only did it state in the beginning "Sarah Hawkins wrote this review/re-evaluation..." but also the writing style was similar to an evaluation type of paper. Hawkins starts off with a specific idea/topic. The center of her review was on My Aim Is True, which I believe is an album. But throughout her review she compares many other albums or individual songs but always returns to her main point, which is the original album. She gives us an idea of what Elvis's other songs are like in comparison to My Aim Is True. I believe a reason Hawkins likes Elvis is because he is honest. It is a nice change of pace for her. In his albums, Elvis puts down his shield and lets the audience in on the real man behind the voice. His albums talk about real issues in his life and lets his audience know that he is an ordinary person too. So in a sense, it all ties together but I guess honesty and believing that these artist are people like you and mean is soothing in a way. I could see how Sarah Hawkins would be attracted to his music.