Catalyst is the fourth studio album by American pop punk band New Found Glory released on May 18, 2004 through Drive-Thru and Geffen Records. It was the band's last album to be produced by Neal Avron until 2011's Radiosurgery. Background New Found Glory released their third album Sticks and Stones in June 2002 as a joint release between MCA and Drive-Thru Records. By December, the group were working on new songs, which vocalist Jordan Pundik said were "getting a lot heavier and even more aggressive". Between April and June 2003, they co-headlined the Honda Civic Tour with Good Charlotte. They had a practice room backstage that allowed them to work on new material. Around this time, MCA Records was absorbed by Universal Music Group subsidiary Geffen Records, which resulted in its staff and roster being moved to Geffen. Bassist Ian Grushka thought that the merger was a positive experience, as he said MCA was "kinda falling apart. Many people that worked for MCA were taking their job for granted and they were too comfortable...slacking off and not doing their job". In August, the group toured Australia and Japan, before taking a week's break. After this, they started pre-production for their next album at the Hurley factory in Costa Mesa, California and the Swing House. Pre-production this time lasted longer than for previous material, as the band worked on 30 tracks. The group moved into a house together in Malibu, California, and worked on material whenever they wanted to. It gave them more free time, compared to their past records, to develop their song ideas. Production After playing two shows, the band began recording their next album in September 2003. The sessions were helmed by producer Neal Avron, and took place at Royaltone and Sunset Sound Studios. Avron was assisted by engineers Chris Wonzer, Ryan Castle and Femio Hernández. Castle and Travis Huff served as Pro Tools engineers. Recording finished in January 2004, after the band tracked 18 songs in total. A variety of session musicians appear on the recordings: David Campbell (string arrangements and viola on "I Don't Wanna Know"), Joel Derouin (violin on "I Don't Wanna Know"), Charlie Bisharat (violin on "I Don't Wanna Know"), Larry Corbett (cello on "I Don't Wanna Know"), Riley Avron (backing vocals on "Your Biggest Mistake"), Debra Byrd (backing vocals on "Doubt Full"), Angela Fisher (backing vocals on "Doubt Full") and Tony Wilkins (backing