Resurrection (New Found Glory album)

Background

In October 2011, the band released their seventh studio album Radiosurgery via Epitaph Records. To support the album, the band headlined the Rockstar-sponsored "Pop Punk's Not Dead Tour" in North America ahead of Set Your Goals, The Wonder Years, Man Overboard, and This Time Next Year. The tour commenced on 6 October in Santa Cruz, California and ran through to 20 November in San Diego. Following a report published in Billboard magazine announcing the band would be entering a "lengthy hiatus", Chad Gilbert spoke out and strongly denied these rumors before confirming they would be recording their first live album the following year. The band went on to release Kill It Live in October 2013, which featured the band's live set recorded over two nights at Chain Reaction in California, as well as three new studio tracks including single "Connect the Dots." The release was followed up with a co-headling tour alongside Chicago punk band Alkaline Trio with support from H₂O. The tour commenced on October 23 in San Francisco, through November 25 in Tucson.

Following the completion of the aforementioned tour, the band made a shock announcement via their Facebook page on December 12, informing fans that founding member and rhythm guitarist Steve Klein had parted ways with the band. The statement explained that Klein was no longer in the band due to "personal differences" and that they would begin searching for a replacement soon, having made plans to record albums without him.

Writing and recording

Drummer Cyrus Bolooki recounted the writing process of the album in an interview with Blunt magazine: "This time around was cool as there was a lot of collaboration going on, there were no roadblocks. There really wasn’t that much stress; it was fun writing this record. I live a short drive from Chad’s [Gilbert, guitar] house so I’d head there and he’d record guitars and structures, I’d add in drum parts and send it around to everyone where the lyric ideas were coming through. It wasn’t just Chad either, Jordan [Pundik, vocals] contributed a lot of vocal ideas. The three of us in California [bass player Ian Grushka resides in Florida] would go to Chad’s and sit around the dining room table while Jordan recorded demos on this crappy microphone. We did that over a dozen times; we’d actually written the record before we set foot in the studio."

Critical response

Resurrection received generally favourable reviews from music critics, with a Metacritic rating of 73/100 based on six reviews. Kerrang! commented, "Resurrection is a powerhouse of a record, the brave onward steps of New Found Glory proving that hope--like pop-punk--is not dead". Exclaim! felt that "The band have once again found their sweet spot". Thomas Nassiff of AbsolutePunk.net said, in a polarizing review of the album, that "The worst part about this album is that it feels like New Found Glory writing a New Found Glory record for the sake of writing a New Found Glory record. At no point do I get any sort of impression of passion during the album's runtime." The album was included at number 20 on Rock Sound's "Top 50 Albums of the Year" list. The album was included at number 44 on Kerrang!'s "The Top 50 Rock Albums Of 2014" list.

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 25 on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 14,000 copies in the United States, narrowly outselling fellow rock band Yellowcard (who released Lift a Sail on the same day) by less than 100 copies.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by New Found Glory.

1. "Selfless" – 3:47
2. "Resurrection" – 3:01
3. "The Worst Person" – 3:30
4. "Ready & Willing" – 3:22
5. "One More Round" – 3:03
6. "Vicious Love" – 3:23
7. "Persistent" – 3:06
8. "Stories of a Different Kind" – 3:06
9. "Degenerate" – 3:24
10. "Angel" – 3:44
11. "Stubborn" – 3:30
12. "Living Hell" – 2:41
13. "On My Own" – 3:04

Personnel