Since 2004, music lovers have enjoyed a real camaraderie with rising pop-punk band Hawk Nelson, helping the quartet sell nearly half a million albums, land personal appearances on major television and motion picture projects, and gain high-profile song placement (“Bring ‘Em Out”) with NBC’s NFL Sunday Night Football campaign. “Going into this record, we sat down and thought about how we’ve always had this mentality of not so much winning fans as making friends,” says frontman Jason Dunn. “We want to be clear that we’re all about being on the same level as the audience.” Now the true bond of friendship between the group and others continues to strengthen, mature, and be more overtly celebrated than even before with the Ontario-originated act’s third Tooth & Nail release, Hawk Nelson Is My Friend. For all of their adventures and successes thus far, the members of Hawk Nelson still see themselves as “four guys just trying to make it,” says Dunn. “We’ll always be working toward that, trying to be THE band and write the best songs possible.” Hawk Nelson Is My Friend most definitely lives up to that goal.
Hawk Nelson Is My Friend Special Edition includes the board game and bonus DVD that includes making of the album, making of the music video, a music video collection"including brand new video and more; plus 3 bonus tracks!
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Turn the same thing on (again| Posted November 05, 2008
Hawk Nelson’s third studio album release is here and it sends a clear message: Hawk Nelson wants to be your friend. The band doesn’t want just fans, but loyal friends who feel that they are esteemed by this band. The special edition doesn’t just want their friends to be entertained by listening, but to watch them on their DVD, and play the board game that goes along.
Even though their second album (Smile it’s the end of the World) had a more diverse sound than their debut (Letters to the President) it was not really better than it. So Hawk Nelson put out a straighter punk rock album, which cuts the verity of music some and in terms music is closer to their first CD. But it does allow the Punk to really become good, which is what happened, at least in the first half. Hawk Nelson always like to start off their CD’s with good fast rock song, “you have what I need” is closer to “the one thing I have left” without the poor ending, and just a better punk/rock sound which is the hardest song on the album.
The first single “friend like that is a fun punk song that moves fast enough to avoid the bits that sound off. The album keeps on moving with “turn it on” which starts off with a intro that sounds like a slightly toned down “Meant to Live” intro (by Swicthfoot). The song itself is a good fast paced punk song that isn’t perfect but it’s really enjoyable. An excellent part in the album musically is “one little miracle” a medium rock song, with an absolutely great refrain, expect it to be a hit soon. The album kicks back into high gear with “let’s dance” which is really good and a really up tempo beat. By the time the snappy punk song, “ancient history” is better, ends its feels as though it’s just getting started. It’s really sad that the average song length is about three minutes long, but “Ancient history” is still awesome.
Then begins the second half of Hawk Nelson CD, which is about as boring as a bad Stellar Kart CD (pick one). The soft rock song “somebody else” is nice but it stops the flow of the upbeat good punk which is not a bad thing except that “arms around me” is even softer. The upbeat punk track “just like me” is almost dreadful, especially the chorus, which sounds like Hawk Nelson at their worst. “Not the same” is a light rock song which really is nothing impressive. “words we speak has a great chorus which is a great punk sound. The soft and touching track “I still miss you” is very basic, but that is not the strength of the song.
Stop the press! Hawk Nelson actually says something in virtually all of their songs! That is a huge step up from every other Hawk Nelson song that was about girls and parties. However don’t get too carried away yet, no one said the lyrics were really deep. “you have what I need” has some good things to say. Right after ‘All I wanted was honesty/and that was something only you give’ is the line “It took forever just to realize that I had to give myself away/ so I could see your face”. Not really amazing but definitely a step up.
A good anthem for the youth is “friend like that”, and “turn it on is about living with purpose. “Let’s dance” conveys the importance of the individual while urging the hearer to be content with one’s own skin. A song about a Grandmother who passed away (“I still miss you”) is the best song writing done on this album and should be up there with total Hawk Nelson hits. Some pretty solid lyrics but don’t try too hard to interpret “words we speak”. Also on the down side is “ancient history”, and it might be hard for many people to appreciate the message in “not the same”.
The features of the special edition are the board game, the DVD, and the three bonus songs. Two of the bonus songs are acoustic versions of “one little miracle”, and “friend like that”. Although Amy Grant’s vocals show up on the former it doesn’t aid the song much and the extra softness of it doesn’t help it either. The acoustic version of “friend like that” is still some good punk and it isn’t toned down much. The party song “bring ‘em out” is a throw on for fun. The DVD has four music videos, the making of two, and a video of the guy’s sky diving (whee). The board game is more cute than anything else.
Hawk Nelson is starting to anger me. Hawk Nelson is my Friend had such a fabulous start musically that is was very disappointing to see it fall so in the second half. The Punk has hit its peak so far for the band and it would be nicer to see some more diversity and keep the good punk rock. But if the last three albums have been any indication, that might be asking a little too much. Over all it will please friends, but the nagging feeling that it could have been better is still there, and not even Amy Grant, and the board game can fix that.
Can It Get Any Better Than This?| Posted October 19, 2008
I pre-ordered this cd,because I knew Hawk Nelson wouldn't dissapoint me. And I was right! This cd was worth every penny!All the songs are amazing! I especially love"Anciant History"!!!!And the dvd is pretty cool,too.The sky diving part is hilarious!!!!!!!And you get to see Jason recording with Amy Grant on "One Little Miracle,"which is awesome! HN is definitely one of my favorite bands and I'm excited to see what the future holds for them!
Great| Posted June 02, 2010
I thought this was a pretty great album. Best song off of it is Friend Like That, but most of the others were pretty good too. The song that I least like on it is I Still Miss You, I don’t hate it, it’s just not my favorite. This album seems to begin veering away from the previous albums, it’s a great album but this is the turning point in Hawk Nelson it seems. I recommend getting the edition with the 2 extra songs. I like listening to acoustic songs, and playing with th songs on my acoustic guitar.
Two Thumbs Up!| Posted September 21, 2009
Hawk Nelson is my friend is one of the best CD's I have yet heard. This up-beat, makes-you-wanna-dance feeling one gets from listening to Hawk Nelson's positive message is easily obtained. I highly recommend this album along with the band's other albums!
Good, but not Great.| Posted November 04, 2008
I pre-ordered this CD in late February while browsing some of my favorite bands' websites. I ordered the CD/DVD and it came with bobbleheads of the band and a Hawk Nelson poster. I never got my poster though which angers and puzzles me but that's not what my review is about. I expected the same Hawk Nelson that I heard in Letters to the President and Smile, It's the End of the World, but that's not what I got. What I got was a lack of rock songs like "Racecar", "The One Thing I Have Left", and "Is Forever Enough" to name a few. There were songs that just seemed to bore me. That little section between the songs "Somebody Else" and "I still Miss You". But, what it lacked in the Hawk Nelson rock we have all come to love, it made up for in catchy lyrics. I only give Hawk Nelson Is My Friend 3 1/2 stars.
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