Cover songs and EP's, two words that I never expected to see in the same sentence have shockingly been put not only in the same sentence, but on the same album. Now, as exciting as that introduction might have been to some, I'm sure that many shallow minds will lose interest as soon as they learn that this crazy concept was produced by New Found Glory. For those of you who stuck around, let's get into the actual review, assuming everyone is familiar with the band members and such.
*This EP is entirely made up of covers of songs that appear in motion picture soundtracks, so lyrics will not be judged here.
From The Screen To Your Stereo, in my opinion, features some of the best New Found Glory performances since their self-titled album (which I also reviewed). Jordan's vocals are at their all time best here, a little less high pitched and nasally than usual. He really brings new life to old songs, while offering nothing new lyrically, he most definitely puts a new spin to songs like Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" from the Titanic where he really takes a much more raw approach than usual, while putting a much smoother take on the Aerosmith song "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing". Every song has been vocally and melodically changed from their original, and this should be extremely appealing to fans of the originals and non New Found Glory fans alike. There is a distinct trace of the energetic pop-punk stylings that this band is loved for throughout this entire album.
This energy is not just limited to the vocals though, it also applies to the instrumental work on the album as well. The guitars really show their talent by not only figuring out parts that were never written originally for guitar, but also add a few twists to the ones that were. Songs like "My Heart Will Go On" and the theme for "Never Ending Story" were never meant to be played with guitars, but NFG pulls it off extremely well. They put an interesting, fast paced twist on "Everything I Do" and "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough" which really capture the essence of what the band can do. While offering new sounds on old songs, the guitarists also add a few uncharacteristic solos into the mix as well. As most of you know, New Found Glory very rarely feature any kind of soloing, but for this album, several guitar solos can be heard, surprisingly enough, a solo sneaks it's way into "My Heart Will Go On". The intro song "That Thing You Do" also features a nice, quick solo. There are also some very interesting breakdowns in songs such as "Never Ending Story" and even a very weird instrument-less group feature in "The Glory Of Love". Cyrus, as usual, does an excellent job drumming, one would be hard pressed to find one song without fast, furious, punk rock drumming. The bass, as usual, though is not heard, which is very sad because I would love to see what Ian would come up with for an album of this sort.
Overall, this album is a very solid effort put forth by NFG. The only real downside is that the songs weren't lyrically changed from the originals even in the slightest, and the bass is drowned out by everything else that is going on. Even people who despise New Found Glory can find something that they like, or even respect on this punk rock cover song EP. This album is very unique, so I congratulate NFG once again. With a lack of a better conclusion, I end this review.
