Avril Lavigne - The Best Damn Thing

Avril Lavigne
The Best Damn Thing (Sony, 2007)
Grade:
Pop Music Scale: B
Music Critic Scale: C-/D+

Avril Lavigne - "Hot"
Avril Lavigne - "Runaway"
*Due to a notification, these songs have been taken down.

If you're new to MFR, you may have begun to see an evolving pattern: everyday, a stunningly well-written piece of music journalism or two is posted, each post discussing the truly great (and not so great) records being made in music today; but every once in a while, this damned Ian kid posts something about an obviously dreadful pop record. This is one of those reviews.

First off, I would like to get this out there: I discovered Avril Lavigne.

That's right, before Sony.

To say the least, I was intrigued by this Canadian "punk" girl. Seriously, I was 15, and she quoted Dillinger 4 as one of her top five favorite bands in RollingStone Magazine -- totally true, look it up -- I was as good as her's.

But then, obviously, the music was dreadful. Did it stop me from buying it? No, of course not.

Then a few years passed, I grew up and Avril and I went our separate ways. She married to the short guy from Sum 41 and I didn't. Ya know, the usual dividers. But this is actually what prompted me to see what this new record was all about. I mean, she did marry the cutest guy from Sum 41, so, was there any sort of positive influence? To be honest, I can't really tell, it's still over-the-top pop fluff with some very tame distorted guitars. So, in turn, until I get an angry e-mail from Sony, here are the two best tracks off the record. They're catchy and fun, so, if you're into that. Well, yeah.

In the end, there are four actually worthwhile songs on the album -- good solid pop songs -- but they are surrounded by the standard filler, so the album doesn't come off as an album, but as an excuse for a full-length.

Oh, and here's her video for fun.



(Ian Anderson)