With all the pomp and circumstance that surrounded this release when it was leaked on the internet, you'd have thought 'Catalyst' was a great album. But sadly it's not. Good, yes, great, no. I have been a New Found Glory fan for quite some time now, ever since the intial release of their self-titled record, which ended up being my soundtrack to 2001. To hear the new record was as good, if not better than this album, was really music to my ears. I decided not to get an early sneak peak by downloading MP3s, instead saving myself for the initial release day and parting with my hard-earned cash. On initial listens I was actually disappointed with this album - I couldn't quite get the hysteria surrounding it. Over two weeks have since passed and it has grown on me, but not to the extent worthy of the pre-release press.
Don't get me wrong, there are some fantastic songs on this record. But to me it seems that you can't get past one good one without coming up against something cringe-worthy. With an extra 2 songs added for the UK release, 'Catalyst' actually contains 16 songs, and while this may make the record value for money it certainly is a little weighty in listening. Cutting this down to 11 tracks would certainly have added an extra half-star to my rating. The CD kicks off with 'Intro', a short burst of punk rock fury which actually led me to check to see if I had the right CD. Well actually that's a lie, because as soon as Jordan Pundik's vocals kick in you know it's NFG, such is the uniqueness of his voice. And I know some like it and some don't, but either way it suits NFG's sound. Either way, the raucous introduction soon subsides into the perky and anthemic 'All Downhill From Here' which is as good as anything the band have done. It's also arguably the best track here, which is kind of sad.
Other highlights include 'Truth of your Youth' and 'Failure's Not Flattering', while 'Your Biggest Mistake' and 'At Least I'm Known For Something' both show a grittier side to New Found Glory. A lot of people have been speaking about NFG's heavier sound, but I would go as far as saying there is little real difference between 'Sticks and Stones' and this album. A token slow song, keyboards and part of an orchestra does not a more mature band make. It means that tracks like 'I Don't Wanna Know' are cumbersome and predictable and more akin to Simple Plan than what the band actually do best.
I've possibly been a little harsh throughout this review, mainly because New Found Glory set my expectations extremely high and as a full-length album of 16 songs they don't hit the spot for me. There are perhaps 10 or 11 that do, and so make this record worthy of a purchase, but somewhere along the line a decision to cram in tracks which let the side down has cost them dear. 'Catalyst' is a good record, but it's far from great. It's not really more mature and it certainly isn't that much 'harder' in sound, bar perhaps a beefier production. It's good, but not great, and certainly not as good as the self-titled, but I still like it....
www.newfoundglory.com
Geffen Records
Paul
