Slightly Bruised and Broken (Sticks & Stones - New Found Glory)

Member Name: rleigh

Product:	Sticks & Stones - New Found Glory
Date:	15/07/08 (40 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: An upbeat and fun album of pop punk tunes.

Disadvantages: Very similiar to the bands second album 'New Found Glory'.

'Sticks and Stones' is the third New Found Glory album and the point at which New Found Glory's sound took a bit of a dip. Actually, that's not entirely true as this album sounds very much like the bands second album; therein lies the problem though. 'Sticks and Stones' was released two years after the bands self-titled second album 'New Found Glory' and is incredibly stylistically similar to its predecessor. This is not a bad album, it's actually a fun release of pop punk; if you own 'New Found Glory' however then you've basically already heard what is present here with the 'Sticks and Stones' album.

Twelve tracks feature here, it's a fun pop punk album and one which features excellent vocals and fantastic use of guitar. The choruses always are brilliant, and many of the albums tracks are great to sing along to; particularly in the summer when the sun is shining. It's a feel good album and one which contains such top tracks as 'My Friends Over You' and 'Head on Collision'. The music is bouncy and uplifting, the album progresses well and no real bad tracks are present here whatsoever. All twelve of these tracks are upbeat pop punk numbers and never does the band try out anything at all different here.

'Sticks and Stones' is a fun album from an excellent pop punk band, it's hard to get too excited about if you've heard the bands second album 'New Found Glory' however as there's nothing new whatsoever present here. The tracks are definitely different, only slightly though and many of these twelve tracks are more or less carbon copies of those that feature on the bands second album. The music is fun but there's just no real sense of progression whatsoever on behalf of the band here.

The first time I listened to this 'Sticks and Stones' album I really was extremely disappointed. I'd previously listened to and loved the bands 'New Found Glory' album and was hoping that this album would appeal to me equally. This is not a bad album, it just shows no progression whatsoever on behalf of the band and at this point I really felt that New Found Glory had run out of ideas as a band.

'Sticks and Stones' is an album I'd recommend listening to if you don't have 'New Found Glory', if you do however then it's probably best to give this album a miss as it's basically just more of the same. 'New Found Glory' is an album which contains a great number of brilliant tracks I feel, 'Sticks and Stones' also has a couple however and the absolute highlight of this album for me has to be seen as 'My Friends Over You'. I love that track and every time I hear it I just can't help but sing along; it's extremely cheesy, fun though and every time I hear the track I smile. 'Sticks and Stones' is not a bad album of pop punk, if you're going to choose between this and 'New Found Glory' however then I'd go for 'New Found Glory' every time.

Summary: 'Sticks and Stones' is a pretty decent album of pop punk, definitely not the bands best though.