REVIEW: Avril Lavigne, "The Best Damn Thing"

Posted on April 27, 2007 by Skittle.
Filed Under Reviews | 2 Comments
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Avril Lavigne - The Best Damn ThingArtist: Avril Lavigne
Album: The Best Damn Thing
Year: 2007
Label: RCA
Score:

Clearly angry at the world.Okay… let’s start off by saying that when I first discovered Avril, back in ’02 when “Complicated” hit the airwaves, I initially turned little more than a raised eyebrow. The idea of a successful musician whose main concern was not being successful at all wasn’t a new concept, but it was still enough to get your attention. I watched from afar as ties started appearing around the necks of girls all around me, emulating the “Look how different I am!” attitude of the Canadian pop-rocker. As time passed, I found myself overhearing her music even as the ties began fading back away. It seemed to be safe to listen now that the crowds had dissipated. Musically, I liked what I heard. Not enough to start wearing dirty white T-shirts and ties, not really enough to share with my friends either since at this point everyone had adopted the new “Look how differenter I am for not being an Avril clone!” attitude. I was just a casual listener. I purchased the Let Go album, as well as her follow-up Under My Skin, both of which have collected a fair amount of play time since.

Naturally, I was intrigued when I discovered that Avril had a new album being released. This time the album was titled The Best Damn Thing and the cover art showed the Avril I remembered, but this time there was something different. How did all of this pink get on the album? That doesn’t seem very Avril. Her hair is bleached? Parental Advisory? Somebody has been doing some changing since I last checked in with her! So I took to the internet and did some downloading the week the album was released. You know, to sample before I buy. The first thing I watched was the music video for the first single off the album, “Girlfriend.”

Is it just me or are her backup dancers drag queens?What?

Since when is Avril churning out cheerleader pop music with unnecessary cursing? Is this a failed attempt at redoing Gwen Stefani’s miserable solo debut? This video is bananas! And what’s up with the Dog the Bounty Hunter hair anyway?! “Hopefully the album is better than this,” I said as I clicked about to start the album. “Girlfriend” is the first track, I had already just heard that so I started listening from track two, “I Can Do Better.”

What?

Hang on. This is different. The voice is the same, but what happened to the meaningful, artistic songs that her first two albums featured? I’m normally supportive of musicians changing their sounds and evolving from album to album, but when it involves a drop in quality as drastic as this I can’t help but say something. I can’t help but blame both her husband and the brainwashing bubblegum trash being recycled over mainstream radio currently. Her husband being Deryck Whibley, the fella from Sum 41. Yeah, the “Fat Lip” band. There are only a few songs on the album that actually sound on par with the songs she’s composed over the previous five years, and not as if she hired Whibley and Fergie to doodle the lyrics on a Blue’s Clues handy-dandy notebook while watching an episode of Hannah Montana. “Keep Holding On” would have been better included on Under My Skin, as it’s one of the few actual good songs on the album. This, combined with “Runaway” and “Innocence,” just may make the album bearable… well, not really. Just keep those three mp3s and, unless you occasionally get the urge to bounce about to brain-dead pop or more likely to annoy your friends, trash the rest. Personally, I’ll be saving my $12 for something more useful… maybe a few Milli Vanilli CDs.

Buy it now!

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2 Responses to “REVIEW: Avril Lavigne, "The Best Damn Thing"”

  1. NEWS: The Rubinoos sue, Avril not amused… | You Sound Like A Robot on March 23rd, 2008 12:39 pm

    [...] name of The Rubinoos says Avril’s new single “Girlfriend” from her latest album The Best Damn Thing (Buy it now! if you must) rips off their old song “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” from [...]

  2. Anonymous on October 3rd, 2008 10:19 am

    I HATE YOU ALL THIS IS WHAT IDIOTS SAY WHO EVER SAYS IS IS A TRASH MOUTH YOU S****!!!!!!!! THATS WHAT YOU ARE I SUPPORT AVRIL. IN YOUR FACE

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