The majority of movies that make a lot of money at the box office are followed up with a sequel: Jurassic Park, Spider-Man, Star Wars, etc. New Found Glory, a band that has already accomplished many things, are trying to make this concept work on record. So, the Coral Springs, Florida, quintet hopped into their De Lorean, signed with the label who jump started their career (Drive Thru for this one record deal), and created the sequel to the fan-favorite 2000 EP, From The Screen To Your Stereo.
This time around, NFG recorded an entire album’s worth of covers from famous movies, such as Donnie Darko, The Breakfast Club, and Napoleon Dynamite. The album also features a large list of guests, featuring the likes of Chris Carrabba, Max Bemis, Will Pugh, Patrick Stump, Adam Lazzara, Sheri Dupree, and Lisa Loeb. The end result is eleven covers that perfectly display the band at their finest: energy, fun, and full out effort. The production of Thom Panunzio (whom produced 2006’s Coming Home) and the band is nearly perfect. You won’t find a better cover album on the market.
NFG takes all eleven covers and inject their signature sound that thousands have come to know and love. “The King Of Wishful Thinking,” originally performed by Go West and appearing on Pretty Woman, features great tandem vocals from Jordan Pundik and Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump. Adam Lazzara of Taking Back Sunday fame lends his voice to the seductive cover of “Love Fool,” while Max Bemis belts it out on “Crazy For You.” And of course, each track features bombastic guitar work from Chad Gilbert and Steve Klein, as well as tight drumming from Cyrus Bolooki.
The band nicely recreates the anthemic feeling of “Don’t You Forget About Me,” adding in a few screams from Gilbert. NFG tries their hand at the Goo Goo Dolls beautiful track, “Iris,” which NFG gives a good effort. Will Pugh’s vocals are underwhelming, but musically, NFG brings out the passion from the original recording very well. My absolute favorite song is the cover of Lisa Loeb’s “Stay,” in which Loeb lends her voice to the cover of her own song. It’s extremely cool, and the chemistry between her voice and Pundik’s is immaculate.
Some people will complain about New Found Glory recording a covers album instead of working on new material, but after hearing the energy and attitude of Part II, you’ll be glad New Found Glory did this. Really, this album is for us, the fans. It’s an album where we can flashback to the early days of NFG, when most of us were getting into their music. This is a great covers album, and will be perfect for those long road trips. So even though New Found Glory may be growing older, they’ll never be outgrown by their fans nor will they ever forsake their fans. From The Screen To The Stereo Part II proves that.