Long before Weezer ever started dropping cover albums, the lords of the pop punk realm, New Found Glory have consistently released high energy covers of your favorite movie tracks since From the Screen to Your Stereo debuted 19 years ago. The third installment in the series, From the Screen to Your Stereo 3 stays the course with its high energy, feel good, and unapologetic pop punk roots.
Here’s a track by track review of the new album:
“Cups”
This is an amazing choice for this particular album and a personal favorite. This short and sweet track from Pitch Perfect and is a great way to kick off the album. As a drummer, I was instantly intrigued by [Cyrus] Bolooki’s genius drum intro take on Kendrick’s memorable hand/cup Flipping beat from the film. It was absolutely brilliant, and within the first five seconds of listening to the record, I was instantly hooked.
“This Is Me”
One thing I always love about these From The Screen To Your Stereo albums is discovering one or two new tracks along the way. I haven’t seen The Greatest Showman, but I absolutely dig this song. As usual, I am learning a song from New Found Glory before I hear the original, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Jordan Pundik delivers the lyrics with a lot of heart and passion, as an always great showman, himself.
“Power Of Love”
This may be my favorite track on the record. It’s such a fresh take on the classic Huey Lewis & the News song from Back to the Future, and the ticking clocks at the beginning are a nice nod to the film. This has always been a song that made you feel good, but now I just want to jump up and down to this rocker. It’s the perfect mix of fast punk rock and heavy breakdowns –an NFG Staple. Cyrus Bolooki absolutely crushes the drum part on this one. In true New Found Glory comedic fashion, I would love to see a Back to the Future parody video to go along with this one in the near future.
“Let It Go”
It’s New Found Glory playing ‘Let it Go!’ ‘Nuff said! It’s exactly what it sounds like on paper and it is awesome. The breakdown is particularly epic.
“Accidentally in Love”
I absolutely love that there is an NFG incarnation of this song. This is a personal fave Counting Crows song, and I’m so glad I get to rock out to this new version. At the times you’re not jumping up and down to this one, you may want to do a cheesy dance with your significant other.
“A Thousand Years”
This rock ballad is another change of pace with a great intro. The song from the Twilight series is another heartfelt one with amazing vocal harmonies. I can easily see this being the song that fans request at shows. And if you’ve ever seen NFG live, you know that they’ll most likely oblige.
“Eye of the Tiger”
For those who haven’t yet experienced any of NFG’s From the Screen to Your Stereo albums, this is a great place to start … although it closes the album. “Eye of the Tiger” is an all time great rock track with one of those classic intros. I absolutely love this new sped up intro with the blazing guitar by Chad Gilbert. The guitar tones are amazing here. You’ll also notice that all of the guitar tones on the rest of the record are perfect as well. You can check out the hilarious “Rocky” spoof music video for this song here:
This is album is EXACTLY what you’d expect, and absolutely what New Found Glory fans have been eagerly anticipating. There’s nothing cute or experimental about this record. It’s just NFG being NFG. Sure, I would love to see a few guest vocal spots (say an Idina Menzel or Christina Perri? ) much like those featured in From The Screen To Your Stereo 2, but I honestly am just being picky at this point. The album is darn near perfect. Although the quality is light years ahead of where the original From The Screen to Your Stereo was 19 years ago, the album is absolutely the same at it’s core. That’s something that is rarely seen in music these days, and I absolutely love that NFG never forgets where they came from. From the Screen to Your Stereo 3 is a perfect album for the summertime and another insta-buy!
Rating: 9 out of 10
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