I must admit, I had low expectations for Hawk Nelson Is My Friend. From what I heard on the band’s Purevolume, it would be just another pop/punk | punk/rock album. Luckily, my prejudices were not entirely correct.
       But don’t get me wrong: Hawk Nelson Is My Friend definitely fits into that genre, and very well too. But it was not the ‘same song every song’ album that I expected it to be.
       The album opens with the rocker ‘You Have What I Need’, which was followed by ‘Friend Like That’, the album’s first single and a good pick for it. My favorite of the regular tracks is ‘Arms Around Me’, which has a very Letters to the President album feel.
       Many of the songs had hints of influence from other Christian artists, like Turn it On (Switchfoot), Somebody Else (Stellar Kart) and hints of the new Kutless style show up in I Still Miss You.
       The first twelve tracks (the non-special-edition ones) make up a picture perfect pop/punk/rock album. Though they’re catchy and grow on you a bit, they’re very repetitious unless you really have that taste for the genre.
       The bonus tracks are some of the best on the disk. The acoustic version of One Little Miracle features Amy Grant, and firmly shows Hawk Nelson’s growing experience of music writing. The second acoustic is of Friend Like That. In my opinion, it’s better than the original. It has a fresher, more original sound to it. The last bonus track is Bring Em Out, featuring Drake Bell. It’s a good addition for a special edition album.
       The DVD features all four Hawk Nelson music videos, along with some behind-the-scenes material (In the Studio with Amy Grant and The Making of the ‘Friend Like That’ music video). I’d also like to mention that the Special Edition features a fold-out board game. Just wanted to throw that out there.
       Ultimately, I would have to say that Hawk Nelson Is My Friend is the, well, ‘least good’ of Hawk Nelson’s three releases. If you’re a hard-core HN or pop/punk fan, go for it. If not, well, I’d say to pass.