Having navigated the tricky path from rebellious teen rock chick to established pop star, Avril Lavigne finally seems to have settled down emotionally. Many of the messages on her self-titled fifth studio record are to do with acceptance, and she’s not really all that mad at the world anymore.
With her recent marriage to Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger, Lavigne appears to have found her equilibrium and this album is a fairly neat summation of her career’s high points to date.
The album gets underway with a heavy dose of thumping drums and distorted guitars behind Lavigne’s sugary sweet vocals on Rock ‘N’ Roll.
Despite being about as ‘rock ‘n’ roll’ as a Britney Spears record, it’s a very solid pop track with a storming hook and the overriding sense that Lavigne really doesn’t give a shit what people think of her anymore.
Here’s To Never Growing Up, the album’s lead single, carries an exceptional chorus, while the pumping electronic elements drive it on.
The use of acoustic guitars harks back to her earlier days, while gang vocals reinforce one of the few rebellious messages here: “They say just grow up, but they don't know us/We don't give a fuck, and we're never gonna change.”
Lavigne shows off her vocal range on Bitchin’ Summer but towards the end, in a moment that could have spelled disaster, she also shows off her rapping skills. Though questionable, the segment actually fits well within the context of the track and provides some diversity.
Let Me Go, a husband and wife duet, is the perfect mix of Lavigne and Kroeger’s styles and it works very well. The rock instrumentation of Nickelback rolls alongside soft piano and strings, while Kroeger’s harmonies on the chorus demonstrate something of their partnership. Lavigne brings back her more sombre side on Give You What You Like, while the sunny, Katy Perry-esque 17 injects a well-needed dose of happiness.
Among the gems, though, this album definitely has its cringeworthy moments. Lavigne’s collaboration with Marilyn Manson, Bad Girl, is, from the opening roar right until the last note, completely awful. Manson’s snarls are cheesy and unenthusiastic, while there’s no real collaboration between the two – just a mismatch. Hello Kitty manages, somehow, to be even worse. From the awful lyrics (“Hello Kitty you’re so pretty”), to a weak dubstep beat in the chorus and Lavigne’s cries of “Kawa-iiiii!”, it’s beyond bad.
Thankfully, things get back to normal as the album winds down, although the hooks get noticeably weaker and their impact lessens. The exception is the irresistible groove of Sippin’ On Sunshine - it’s everything you’d expect from Lavigne and more. With some of the strongest pop tracks of the year present on its tracklisting, ‘Avril Lavigne’ is another solid effort from someone who can’t seem to produce a bad album.
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