AVRIL LAVIGNE
The Best Damn Thing
RCA
· When Avril Lavigne isn’t sounding like Blink-182, she’s playing the girl that all those tortured Blink-182 songs are about.
Avril Lavigne is being pumped by her record label as the best damn thing while her single "Girlfriend" is being pumped by radio stations and Internet providers all over North America. It’s a fitting calling card for the punk princess’s new album because it embodies the boggling schizophrenia that dominates the whole album. One minute she’s a heartbroken lovesick puppy, the next she’s an obnoxious power hungry diva – sometimes in the same song.
The album is immaculately produced and catchy as hell, but lyrically it’s a step backward for the 22-year-old Lavigne. In fact, most of the songs on The Best Damn Thing sound like they were written by a troubled teen, rather than the married woman we see peering out with those blackened eyes from so many magazine covers. That’s not to say that the CW-ready power ballads aren’t excellent or that Lavigne’s three-part harmonies aren’t enough to make Josie and the Pussycats jealous. It’s just that despite her songwriting credit, I question how much of the album is actually hers. With no less than seven producers and four co-writers, selling an image probably took precedence over creating songs. It’s a pity because, even with all its flaws, The Best Damn Thing is catchy like a freakin’ cold. If only I didn’t feel so stupid singing along.
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