Goldfinger's best work yet!

Goldfinger changed it up quite nicely on their 2000 release of "Stomping Ground". Their previous work was more ska friendly. It was interlaced with horns and quick guitar rhythms. "Stomping Ground" was a move to the heavier side, without the horns.



As a huge fan of the earlier ska/punk sound, I found myself a little worried about their decidedly heavy, more metal sound. To my amazement, this has become my favorite Goldfinger album yet. Their influences sound like they come from "The Clash" and "The Kinks". The songs are very well written, and performed with great intensity. The loss of horns is welcomed change after you listen to the album. The album is ever changing, and doesn't include a dull moment.



If you find that you like the punk/metal sound of "Stomping Ground" more than it's predecessors, I would also recommend their 2002 release of "Open Your Eyes", as it has a heavier sound as well.



Goldfinger seems to be taking all the right steps of your basic punk/ska band. They are changing with the times on each one of their albums, not recycling material over and over, which several punk/ska bands have a problem with. I am anxious to hear a new album, to see how they've raised the bar for punk/ska once again.

Greatest CD ever

This CD is really cool. The song I really like is 99 Red Balloons. I first heard 99 Red Balloons on GT3. I also like a song called Donut Dan.

They Don't Make Punk Like This Anymore

I really, really sympathize with the contemporary, rock-faring youth of America.



You have nothing like this band. Good Charlotte? Please. They don't have the intensity or power Goldfinger had. GC is an MTV boy band in a somewhat rugged, poser shell of a group. The music was predictable and stale. Bands like Goldfinger don't frequent the Warped Tour anymore, and it's a sorry, sad thing. Anymore it all sounds a little too produced, too calculated and planned. There's no spontanaity, no power, no sincerity. The day of the Boy Band Punk Rockers is at hand, and the genre is in decline. The grassroots, straight-from your garage band really was the likely culprit for corporate abuse, and with the fall of bands like Goldfinger, this was the likely step in the progression of the Corporate strangulation of Rock music the industry experiences today.



Even if Stomping Ground was one of the most polished albums Goldfinger produced, it seriously killed everything else up to that point. It was the greatest achievement punk had made while simultaneously laid the groundwork for its demise. The hooksy, catchy and unbridled passion these cool guys displayed both in the studio and on-stage (if you missed the "Crouching Fish; Hidden Finger" Tour, I pity you) was one of the finer moments of modern corporate rock. Even rock fans outside the punk genre gave these guys due credit for the music they made on this album. Goldfinger was the last bastion of pure, great punk before it was destroyed by Blink 182 and all the boy band poser Punkers destroyed the genre with crappy, 3 chord guitar music and semi-illiterate lyrics.



Give these guys due credit. You may hate punk rock as much as I did before Goldfinger and after them, but these guys made it pallatable for everyone and they made it a hell of a lot of fun. One listen to this record and what I'm saying will become painfully obvious. Stomping Ground remains one of the greatest punk albums ever recorded.