Flash back to the year 2004 for a bit. Several pop-punk, emo and hardcore bands have been signed to major label deals, CDs are still selling in waves, and it’s an ultra-exciting time for this scene of music. New Found Glory came in riding a major high after their most successful record, Sticks and Stones, blanketed the pop-punk scene with great singles like “My Friends Over You” and “Head On Collision” getting some airplay on MTV’s popular Total Request Live (TRL). Enter Catalyst. The record was set up for success as well with a bulletproof lead single of “All Downhill From Here” that wasn’t going to do anything to dissuade longtime fans of NFG from liking the new material. Catalyst had a harder edge to it, starting with the hardcore-esque gang vocals of “Intro” that bled into the lead single, while the guitars just felt heavier in general throughout the LP. While this album had a mix of styles and sounds that were brought forth, and musically it’s a bit all over the place, it’s hard to not admit that this is still one of the band’s strongest albums to date.