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The Best Damn Thing | Avril Lavigne
RCA NY | April 17th

Review by Mabel Kwong

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RCA Records
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Sounds like … Sum 41 and Blink 182, with a female lead vocalist.

Avril Lavige’s third album The Best Damn Thing is a collection of songs that sound like they were meant to be played live, and played loud. Lukasz Gottwald (Kelly Clarkson’s Since U Been Gone) produced the bulk of the songs here, and the album is emphatically upbeat and fast-paced.

The opening track and first single Girlfriend sets the tone for the rest of the album. Upbeat, sing-a-long and clappy, the track even features a cheerleader chorus - ‘Hey, hey, you, you’, a theme Avril revisits throughout the album. I Can Do Better has more ‘Hey heys’ and ends up sounding all too similar to Girlfriend. Likewise Everything Back But You and the title track. The other fast-tempo songs sound rather alike too, all laden with prominent drum beats and guitar riffs. Hot and One of Those Guys must have been separated at birth, their guitar riffs are so similar.

When You’re Gone and Innocence are the lone ballads. The former builds up nicely to a crescendo climax. The latter stands out more with splendid piano work and heartfelt lyrics. Speaking of lyrics, the album reeks of attitude ‘I wanna scream and lose control’ from mid-tempo Runaway and ‘I wear the pants!’ off I Don’t Have To Try. Avril lets angst rip with ‘Damn this guy’ in Contagious.

Overall, the songs sound too much alike for the album to bear repeated listens. The crash of drums and wild guitar playing serve as the basis for this, so it’s unsurprising that the ballads offer some relief. The last track, Keep Holding On from the movie Eragon, is the sore-thumb on the album, being a pop ballad. That said, it’s still comfortably The Best Damn Thing on the album.

6 out of 10