27 Albums That Shaped the First 27 Years of My Life, #7: New Found Glory - Coming Home

As I quickly approach my 27th birthday (an age, coincidentally, that many musicians met their own mortality), I have been thinking about the role that music has played in my life. I have not played an instrument for nearly sixteen years and have never been in a band, but I would still consider myself an audiophile. The 26000 songs on my hard drive would agree with me as well.

Because of all those things, I thought it would be as good a time as any to compile my list of the 27 albums that most shaped these first 27 years of my life. Starting Friday January 31, I will be posting one album from the list every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until we reach #1 just before my birthday.

Let me make one thing abundantly clear: I am not saying that these are the 27 greatest albums of all time. I am not so arrogant to believe that my personal opinion is the definitive voice on music. I like what I like. Hopefully you will be able to unearth some gems from my list. If not, that is alright. These songs and albums are important to me regardless of anyone’s opinions of them.

#7: New Found Glory – Coming Home
Release Date: September 19, 2006
When I first heard the album: March 2007, December 2008

Why I loved it then: I first heard a couple tracks off the album in early 2007. It only took a few seconds to realize that this was nothing like anything New Found Glory had ever done before. The hyper-energetic songs had been replaced by something more subdued. Despite being someone who is traditionally reticent to change, this was alright with me. By the time I first heard these tracks, I was much older than I was when I heard the band for the first time. Adolescent hopes, dreams, and naïveté had been replaced with the realization that life is going to be challenging more often than not. I was not quite the music lover that I would eventually become, so I did not listen to the rest of the album until December 2008 (that oft-mentioned glorious period in which my musical tastes would fully blossom). After some promising opening tracks, the album began to level off a bit. Then all of a sudden, tracks 8-11 (“Too Good to Be”, “Love and Pain”, “Familiar Landscapes”, “When I Die”) happened. Too often, the songs toward the middle/end of an album tend to be filler to build up to a strong finish. That was not the case with Coming Home. These songs are among the most heartfelt and emotional in New Found Glory’s entire catalog, slowly building until “When I Die”, a song so emotional and powerful that it is nearly impossible to listen to the song and not be moved. This album demonstrated that “different” and “good” are not mutually exclusive.

Why I still love it now: There are albums that are meaningful because they served as the soundtrack to a particularly poignant time in your life, and there are albums that are meaningful because they taught you something about yourself. Coming Home fits the latter description. A number diehard NFG fans do not even include this album in the band’s discography in many discussions, considering it an aberration or something to be looked over. I am not one of those people. I heard this album when I was transitioning from the end of adolescence into full-fledged adulthood and the responsibilities that followed. Coming Home showed me that it was okay to grow up. In fact, growing up might turn out even better than anyone could have imagined. Though the band returned to their old sound in the albums that followed this one, this album will always hold a special spot in my heart.

Lingering Lyric: “I'm still here but I'm waiting/ For our long conversations/ I'm still here but I'm waiting to go home/ When I die I'll be fine/ Cause I know you're always there/ When I die I'm alright/ Cause I know you'll be there/ You are home"
Top Tracks: Hold My Hand, It’s Not Your Fault, On My Mind, Too Good to Be, Love and Pain, Familiar Landscapes, When I Die

Previous Entries
27. Avalon - In a Different Light
26. The Dangerous Summer - Golden Record
25. Just Surrender - If These Streets Could Talk
24. The Lumineers - The Lumineers
23. Relient K - Two Lefts Don't Make a Right... But Three Do
22. Better Luck Next Time - Third Time's a Charm
21. Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight
20. ZOEgirl - Life
19. My Chemical Romance - Welcome to the Black Parade
18. Anberlin - Blueprints for the Black Market
17. Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
16. Rise Against - The Sufferer & the Witness
15. We the Kings - We the Kings
14. Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue
13. New Found Glory - Nothing Gold Can Stay
12. The Graduate - Anhedonia
11. Hawk Nelson - Letter to the President
10. Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American
9. A Day to Remember - Common Courtesy
8. Anberlin - New Surrender

27 Albums That Shaped the First 27 Years of My Life, #13: New Found Glory - Nothing Gold Can Stay

As I quickly approach my 27th birthday (an age, coincidentally, that many musicians met their own mortality), I have been thinking about the role that music has played in my life. I have not played an instrument for nearly sixteen years and have never been in a band, but I would still consider myself an audiophile. The 26000 songs on my hard drive would agree with me as well.

Because of all those things, I thought it would be as good a time as any to compile my list of the 27 albums that most shaped these first 27 years of my life. Starting Friday January 31, I will be posting one album from the list every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until we reach #1 just before my birthday.

Let me make one thing abundantly clear: I am not saying that these are the 27 greatest albums of all time. I am not so arrogant to believe that my personal opinion is the definitive voice on music. I like what I like. Hopefully you will be able to unearth some gems from my list. If not, that is alright. These songs and albums are important to me regardless of anyone’s opinions of them.

#13: New Found Glory – Nothing Gold Can Stay
Release Date: October 19, 1999
When I first heard the album: April 2001

Why I loved it then: As I stated in one of the earlier posts in this series, if there was a Holy Trinity of pop punk music, most would agree that the trinity would consist of Green Day, Blink-182, and New Found Glory. I never got into Blink, and I pretty much abhor post-American Idiot Green Day. New Found Glory, however, is a band that I have always loved. But the way I discovered New Found Glory was unexpected. I heard them for the very first time in Jon Foley’s dad’s car on the way back from Whirlyball at one of the PBC youth group lock-ins. It was like nothing I had ever heard before. Nothing on the Christian station that I listened to compared at all. It was frenetic yet focused and dealt with issues of love and the heart: two themes in which my fourteen year old self was very interested. Interestingly enough, I do not remember whether it was this album or NFG’s eponymous 2000 release that was actually playing in the vehicle. When I finally got a computer and downloaded “Hit or Miss”, I downloaded the original version, and for that reason, my love for the genre is attributed to Nothing Gold Can Stay

Why I still love it now: You never forget your first. Whether your first crush, your first day of school, or myriad other firsts, the newness of an experience creates a lasting impression. This album was my first foray into the world of pop punk. Nothing Gold Can Stay is not the greatest pop punk album of all time. It’s not even the greatest NFG album ever. But what it does have on other albums is that it was THE album that got me interested in the genre. If I had never heard this album, I don’t know what sort of path my musical tastes would have taken. This album shaped my life both directly and indirectly. It was great in and of itself, but its lasting contribution is that it was THE one album that made me want to find things just like it.

Lingering Lyric: “Have I waited too long/ Have I found that someone/ Have I waited too long to see you”
Top Tracks: Hit or Miss, 3rd and Long, 2s & 3s, The Goodbye Song

Previous Entries
27. Avalon - In a Different Light
26. The Dangerous Summer - Golden Record
25. Just Surrender - If These Streets Could Talk
24. The Lumineers - The Lumineers
23. Relient K - Two Lefts Don't Make a Right... But Three Do
22. Better Luck Next Time - Third Time's a Charm
21. Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight
20. ZOEgirl - Life
19. My Chemical Romance - Welcome to the Black Parade
18. Anberlin - Blueprints for the Black Market
17. Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
16. Rise Against - The Sufferer & the Witness
15. We the Kings - We the Kings
14. Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue