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After four studio-releases, Avril Lavigne has finally mustered the courage to simply call her latest outing by her name which is, of course, “Avril Lavigne.”
I find this move interesting, to say the least, because in most cases when an artist opts to release a self-titled album, it is a telling sign he/she no longer feels the need for artsy, complicated, and high-falluting album titles just to get the quick attention of their fans and their critics, as well.
Avril Lavigne knows by now her standing well in the music industry more than others wish to credit her.
This awareness of hers would not have taken place if she had not entered that pivotal stage of her professional career as an artist. At 29-years old, she is no longer exactly that same grungy teen who wore messy eyeliner, neckties, and so on. She has gained some wisdom over the years.
Avril is, indeed, all grown up. She has been married to Chad Kroeger of Nickelback for almost two years now–a fact her fans are surely happy about–after her failed previous marriage.
Some of her loyal fans do wonder if Avril is no longer capable of being fun and cool? Is she “too old” already to even appeal to younger listeners? Is this album worth buying at all?
All of these queries will be answered in my album review of Avril Lavigne’s latest self-titled outing.
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Here is my review of the best tracks of “Avril Lavigne.”
Track 2. “Here’s To Never Growing Up” – The lead single of her latest studio-release didn’t quite match sales expectations nor did it reach the top of the charts.
She isn’t entirely to blame for these things because, in the spirit of fairness, this single got little radio airplay to begin with despite its strong promotion which caused “Here’s To Never Growing Up” to be forgotten among the mix of all the other releases coming from younger mainstream artists at the time. From my standpoint, this track is still worthy to have been chosen to be the lead single.
Track 3. “17” – This song marks the milestone of her age at the time when her breakthrough smash hit ‘Complicated’ was released. There are more references in this track to her past and career beginnings which make the listeners feel with her a strong sense of nostalgia.
Her choice of lyrical content is not the only cling to nostalgia that can be found here. Even the production style in this one gives way to a more edgy feel in the manner this track was mixed–the guitar work got the second most attention in the recording process.
“17” is really a well-executed guitar-driven track which is more reminiscent of her earliest works.
Track 5. “Let Me Go” feat. Chad Kroeger – You got to have a track like this that would feature Avril’s husband Chad Kroeger of the Canadian Rock band Nickelback.
This is a quintessential type of ballad that we would hear Avril do in her two recent outings. While listeners get the point of all of this, they will also find a couple of lines here that allude to dealing with break-ups and heartaches!
Why is that? Well, when this song was penned. Avril was not remarried yet and she was still reeling from her nasty divorce from the lead vocalist of Sum 41.
Nonetheless, this track is still worth a few spins and is certainly good for what it is worth.
Track 8. “Hello Kitty” – The first time I listened to this track, I found it be a fairly decent attempt by Avril Lavigne to get into the whole EDM craze. Well, just a tad bit too late, though.
To make matters worse, there isn’t anything outrightly spectacular or vaguely memorable with the lyrics as admittedly, they couldn’t be more shallow with the lyrical content.
But for me, the one and only saving grace that this track has is that it is just a ridiculously playful kind of song to listen to and undoubtedly, her youngest of fans would enjoy listening to this track with a carefree type of attitude.
Track 12. “Falling Fast” – If there is any doubt that Avril Lavigne can write her own material and pen a song without the aid of a team of songwriters, then this track should dispel those doubts.
Avril Lavigne composed this track entirely on her own and she did a mighty fine job!
Track 13. “Hush Hush” – Every decent album needs a good closer and “Hush Hush” fits the bill perfectly with its melodramatic lyrics, slowed-down tempo, and minimal production style that focuses on the usage of the piano.
“Hush Hush” ends Avril Lavigne’s self- titled outing on a sober, yet uplifting note.
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Overall, the album does capture some of that lost old appeal of Avril Lavigne.
While listening to this album, it kind of makes you feel older, too. It made me recall a fond memory when I was still in my sophomore year in high school when the girls in the classroom would be singing the lines to “Sk8rboi”.
When I think of it, truly, there was a time when Avril Lavigne was one of those foreign artists that got everyone’s attention and was almost second to none in her scene. That was in 2003 and now, it is already 2014.
Hard to believe it has been more than 10 years when Avril made her major label debut. It does make you realize how time flies, indeed, and before you know it, those artists who were once hugely popular are now sadly almost at the point of being completely forgotten.
With that said, just a word of advice. Purchase this album only if you are fan.
My Final Verdict: 6/10