CD Review
Avril Lavigne
Avril Lavigne
Epic Records
2013
✰✰✰ 1/2
By: Joseph Suto
Avril Lavigne released her fifth studio album this past November simply entitled Avril Lavigne and as usual debuted in the top 5. The album is the follow-up to 2011s Goodbye Lullaby. The princess of pop-punk shows on her latest effort that she can still deliver a quality effort as Avril Lavigne demonstrates with a wide array of guests.
The affair features several producers which might explain why the album is a little erratic and seems muddled at times. Avril’s spouse, Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger and former Evanescence member David Hodges collaborate on the majority of the tracks. Also making a guest appearance is none other than shock master Marilyn Manson who appears on “Bad Girl” a song that the more you hear it, grows on you.
One of the strange things with this release is the fact the first three singles “Here’s To Never Growing Up,” “Rock n Roll” and “Let Me Go” were all released before the album itself hit the stores. Since the record landed as of this writing, no other singles have been issued.
With titles such as “Sippin’ On Sunshine” and “Bitchin’ Summer,” Lavigne may have been better holding off on releasing this until late spring. While the album features a mix of the usual things one would expect to find on one of her releases, Lavigne does test the waters into the electronica genre with “Hello Kitty” a song that delves the furthest away from anything she has done before.
On the sunny side of things “Gave You What You Like” is a likable song where Avril’s voice is the centerpiece of the song and stands out with authority. The album closes with a solid pair of ballads “Falling Fast” and “Hush Hush” both which come highly recommended.
Overall the album is just another phase in the development of a girl who has grown into adulthood all the way from Napanee, Ontario. Perhaps her days of reaching the upper echelon of the Billboard charts may be over but as proven with her latest album, she will always please the strong fan-base she has built over the years.
Track Listing
01. Rock N Roll
02. Here’s To Never Growing Up
03. 17
04. Bitchin’ Summer
05. Let Me Go
06. Gave You What You Like
07. Bad Girl
08. Hello Kitty
09. You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet
10. Sippin’ On Sunshine
11. Hello Heartache
12. Falling Fast
13. Hush Hush
