Avril Lavigne - The Best Damn Thing

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I've just become involved in a new writing project, and one of my first tasks was a music review for Canadian punk princess Avril Lavigne's new album. This isn't the review I've submitted - this here is much longer - but it sums up my feelings nonetheless.


The degree to which you like The Best Damn Thing will probably depend on your feelings about Girlfriend, the single currently receiving massive radio airplay across the globe (it’s been recorded in 8 languages, including Mandarin). Girlfriend is a change in direction for Lavigne. With this song and the album’s title track, she seems to have dropped her usual grungy cynicism for a manic cheerleader façade. Girlfriend has a definite 1980s pop feel – in fact, it’s a rockier descendent of songs like Bow Wow Wow’s I Want Candy and Toni Basil’s Hey Mickey.

There’s no question that The Best Damn Thing is Avril Lavigne’s most diverse album. I Don’t Have to Try and Everything Back But You are 100% punk – you can definitely hear Sum 41 influence (her husband, Sum vocalist Deryck Whibley, is one of this album’s producers).

Meanwhile, fans of Lavigne’s earlier albums will probably feel more comfortable with tracks like Hot, When You’re Gone, and the smattering of mellow ballads like the hit Keep Holding On, and Innocence.

Avril Lavigne has said in interviews that The Best Damn Thing is about being happy and having fun and she certainly seems to have enjoyed herself making this album. I Can Do Better, the album’s second track, is “girl power” at its most potent – a high spirited celebration of singledom after the end of a bad relationship. It’s currently my favourite track on the album.

There are 2 versions of The Best Damn Thing available – the standard CD and the special edition, which includes a bonus DVD and explicit lyrics frustratingly removed from the standard album.

The Best Damn Thing is crammed with catchy pop-rock tunes. Conceivably, every one of the 12 songs on this album could be released as a single. The only drawback is that the high-energy music and 40 minute running time means The Best Damn Things feels short. Short but unquestionably sweet. Avril Lavigne’s latest is a feel-good, sing/scream-along album, perfect for when you want to dance around your bedroom.

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