I have been a long time Goldfinger fan. I got into them around the 'stomping ground' era and have loved them ever since. Hello Destiny is based around albums between 'self titled' and 'stomping ground' in my opinion, as the album has elements of ska and punk rock.
This album is vastly different from disconnected notice, however part of me isn't convinced thats a good thing. I must admit, when I first heard DN when it was first released I was dissapointed, as the album didn't reflect the goldfinger I fell in love with. However, over time I began to appriciate DN for what it was, and when you try not to compare it with 'old' goldfinger (like so many people do) its not actually a bad album, and you can see the clear change and growth of the style through 'open your eyes' and DN.
This leads me to Hello Destiny. As I said earlier the album is based on the older era of Goldfinger, and you can see that John (and newley re-recruited Charlie) have tried to re-captured the old goldfinger sound that many fans fell in love with. Although not bad, I feel the album fails to capture this. You get the feeling that Goldfinger have purposly tried to write an album like their older ones to make complaining fans happy regarding "selling out", however the album lacks the original drive the band had back in 1996. DN showed that the band had changed and grown, and hey, people change, so part of me is wondering why Goldfinger tried to recapture what they believed and what they felt back in 1996 and tried to recreate music when their views and beliefs are very different in 2008. 'Self titled' was how goldfinger felt back in 1996, just as DN represented just how they felt in 2005.
So what does all this mean? Basically I enjoyed the album, honestly I did, there are some catcy pop-punk songs along with a great return to the ska factor (and a nice return of the horns). The only problem is something dosen't seem right, I just can't put my finger on it. Its as if there trying to hard to be old Goldfinger, when in reality they probably should have stuck with the direction they were heading from 'open your eyes' onwards, as these albums are very preachy, and preachyness just dosen't fit in old Goldfinger.
Overall this is a good, refreshing album which is by no means bad. Its nice to hear Goldfinger like they used to be, but part of me wonders what they could have acomplished if they had carried on in the Disconnected Notice direction? Who knows, maybe we will find out in another 2 years!
