I like it. I'd put it just below the first two albums but think it's a definite improvement on the last one. My only real gripes are that it's a bit too eclectic and there were moments where I thought I may as well have been listing to Alanis Morrisette. I'm surprised you don't like 'What the Hell', which for me is maybe the best things she's done since 'He Wasn't'.

so I pretty much love the single "What The Hell"... I might really have to get the album.

It's amazing.

Album of the year candidate for sure dude.

Haha, I can listen to it. I just don't think it really fits the rest of the album. I've been known to rock out to sk8r boi too, for the record. I just find the 2 tracks to be unrepresentative of either album, and among her weakest.

Her new single ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KagvExF-ijc

awesome

Took me a few listens. But that's a really fucking good song. But is it better than the Nicola Roberts single? Frankly, no.

ah, the hook is bad, uff.

I came here to show my appreciation for Avril in underwear at the start of the video but stayed for the Nicola Roberts song.

Kudos, kudos all around (but mostly for Glice)

Oh hell yeah.

She's just too good to be true.

I highly prefer Smile to What the Hell for sure. There are better tunes on the album though. Goodbye Lullaby is still a definite aoty candidate for me. I'd recommend it to anyone who has enjoyed any of the singles so far.

Goddamn, she's hot.

I've got two HUGE (60" x 90") Avril posters coming to me from Thailand this week. I'm so stoked, the wait has been unbearable.

No kidding.... Is this entire thread a joke?


Are you 14 years old?

Yes.

Are you trying to hit on me? :confused:

Is that not a good thing?

No, it isn't.

Not entirely, but I don't think those kinds of songs are really Avril's strong suit. Wacking great choruses is where she comes into her own for me and I can't think of anyone in pop right now who even comes close to her on that front. If she has any real claim to pop greatness, I'd say it's with songs like 'He Wasn't', 'I Always Get What I Want' and 'What the Hell' rather than the more lyric-heavy stuff like 'I'm with You'. (Although I do love that song, too).

Yeah, her hooks are great and I kinda get what you mean now (although Alanis has great hooks too). Even a somewhat boring track like 'Too Much to Ask' is absolutely SAVED by the chorus. But even the magic in that hook is in those Alanis-esque high-notes. She's always been a HUGE Morisette fan. Not sure if you were aware of that or not, but it's neat you made the comparison between the two.

I definitely prefer the serious/angrier/lustful/pained side of Avril over her bubblegum-punk alter-ego. So I guess I disagree with you there. But to each his own, and I love it all - honestly.

I'd also like to note the brilliance of 'Naked' off of Let Go. The chorus contains the line "I'm naked around you, and it feels so right," Out of context, obviously a sexual reference, but within the song it refers to her feeling emotionally transparent. Nothing too high concept, but there's no denying that it's clever.

Then there's the line "I wanna see you go down on one knee", which sounds sooo much like "I wanna see you go down on me" that I can't believe it's not intentional.

Another thing worth noting to naysayers is that she was only 17 when recording Let Go, which might put our appreciation in a more legible perspective.*




*which I do note sounds highly inappropriate based on the point I just made in the paragraph prior

Talking analytically about Avril Lavigne is funny.

That's how I feel about 'Smile': an ok song saved by a stellar chorus, while What the Hell just pounds you from start to finish. I didn't know she was a big Alanis fan, but it obviously makes total sense, especially now, when she's trying to carve out a more mature identity, away from her Sk8r Boi origins. I was really worried when she released 'Alice' because it almost looked like she was trying to turn into Tori Amos.


Likewise. I prefer her bubblegum/power pop stuff, but that's largely because I'm a fan of that type of music anyway. Her true strength though, may simply be that she's not a one trick pony: capable of throwaway stuff like 'He Wan't' and at the same time stuff like 'Nobody's Home', which somehow manages to deal with an earnest topic without sounding pompous (a la U2).


She does have an uncanny knack of writing lyrics that on the surface appear banal but which simultaneously seem perfectly in keeping with her age. Something like 'Anything but Ordinary' is a perfect example of that for me. If I have any worries it's that as she's maturing she may be losing that edge which was so evident on Let Go and Under My Skin. I certainly think that was the case with Best Damn Thing, which I look at as an album where she was basically trying something different, with mixed results. I'm not sure if she's completely found her way again on the new one but it's definitely a step in the right direction. On Best Damn Thing she seemed to be fighting her instincts in a bid for credibility. I think on Goodbye Lullaby she's a bit more comfortable with herself. Not simply trying to abandon what she'd achieved on the first two albums but not merely trying to replicate them either.

Demonrail - YES!!!

I couldn't agree more with everything you said. You nailed it bro.

I almost mentioned 'Anything but Ordinary' in my last post actually, the line about her laughing herself to sleep, and asking "is it enough to die?" hahaha :D

Another example of clever wordplay from Avril would be on 'Together'...

When I'm alone I
Feel so much better
And when I'm around you
I don't feel

[Chorus:]
Together
It doesn't feel right at all
Together
Together we've built a wall
Together
Holding hands will fall
Hands will fall

But yeah good point about her softening up around the edges a little. Best Damn Thing was definitely the start of that, I remember when 'Girlfriend' first hit and everyone couldn't help but ask, "What the hell happened to Avril Lavigne?" But she was still hot as fuck, so we let it go.

It happens way too often to successful artists known for their angst though. Remember Slipknot's Vol 3 Subliminal Verses? I mean... fuck. But at least her new video has her wearing all black, seducing the camera, and holding a guitar. At least there's that.

My posters actually came in a few hours ago. Not 60 x 90 inches, but centimeters. :mad:

Still a sexy purchase nonetheless. :o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOdfTJ6cCq4 - Avril 1994 (10 yrs old - 1st performance ever) Some XMAS pageant or something

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXwRtvBIqT4 - more pre-fame avril (yuck, country!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju_JfXZBcTM - Avril in studio (15 yrs old - note the dreads lol)

That's the song that first made me think there was more to her than I thought. It's like 80s era Fleetwood Mac made by a teenager.


Well considering 60x90 inches is probably bigger than she is, you've pretty much got a lifesize picture there.

Glad to see her Axl Rose look didn't last too long.

Ok, so I finally cracked and 'legally acquired' the album (I'm too broke...).

First listen: there's a very strong possibility that this is album of the year. And Laura Cantrell has just done a Kitty Wells cover album with a spoken verse on I gave my wedding dress away.

Something is going to very seriously need to come with free blowjobs to beat those two.

I have to agree. There really isn't a bad song on it. I do secretly wish she'd have put a few more flat out pop numbers in there, though. With the obvious exceptions of What the Hell and Smile, it's quite a subdued album, more in the key of something like 'Nobody's Home' - which to be fair is also a big favourite of mine. But then that may partially acount for why she's more interesting than a majority of her peers. She seems perfectly comfortable in a number of styles while a group like Paramore only really work in a single one - pretty much defined by Hallelujah and Misery Business. The further they move from that template the worse they get, while Avril can switch from epic ballads (I'm With You') to straight up power pop ('He Wan't') with no apparent drop in results.

:) THANK YOU

I almost didn't want to like it - what with it being much more 'mature' than Best Damn Thing, which I almost like more because no-one else seems to. There were certainly more of the pop-punk numbers there, though nothing as 'fuck me that's a bit good' as what the hell. But yeah - funny, it's the first album without her odd thing for scratching/ hip-hop lite things. Time will tell if I'm still as enthusiastic about this as I still am for Under My Skin.

Also: I think the surprisingly short opener is a much-neglected weapon in the popstar's arsenal.

I'm on listen number 8, I think.

I definitely prefer her more serious tracks.

How long will this topic go on?

Avril is eternal.

NEW video for 'Wish You Were Here'


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT1-sitWRtY

Damn, damn, damn... what I'd do to have Avril here.

Been listening to her entire output lately, this might seem like a funny thing to say about fucking Avril Lavigne but I think she's a talented woman.

Would've said more but I gotta go now so let me save that for later..

she is talented.

Talented? Sure. Colloquially speaking, anyone who can play or sing or write or draw is at least a little bit talented — skilled is a more accurate word, even if none of the skill is innate (anyone who takes enough drawing classes and has fingers will eventually be able to draw) or expert-skill (scientifically inexplicable speed and proficiency in mastering a activity, technically and in a manner that suggests a keen understanding of what makes the activity meaningful).

So YAH. Like, pretty much everone who professionally does anything relating to art or sports or chess or computer programming, etc. has some "talent" if you're using the colloquial definition. Science places a distinction between "talent" and "skill," with "talent" being reserved for hypothetical discussions of innate ability and expert skill. Lots of study is done to determine if innate skill even exists, or can be measured, and it's fucking fascinating stuff, really.

But dudes... really? Avril Lavigne?

I take WAY too much shit about thinking Kanye's talented to swallow this without a fight. She's "talented" in the most basic way. Sub-Taylor Swift level talent. Perhaps even sub-Britney level talent. What characteristics does her music exhibit that makes it stand out? That makes it unique?

I will never dis people for the music they like (unless they do it to me first, then I'll get super immature aboit it, as you all know), but my opinion is that this particular artist has contributed nothing of substance to the world of music. That's just my opinion. Maybe I missed something awesome that she did. But ... what exactly moves someone (lookin' at you louder) to resurrect a 2011 thread to say Avril Levign is legit?