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