The Best Damn Thing product reviews

To be honest, teen-queen music hasn't usually been a hit with me... I usually find the constant theme of teen angst, pointless pettiness and the whole autobiographical "Look at me, I'm so brilliant!" attitude a bit annoying and distracting. And yes... this album DOES have that still... but stone me dead if she doesn't pull it off well!

Yes, she's young, self-centred and egotistical... at least that's what comes through in the songs, but the music is great, the beats strong, and at least young Avril hasn't fallen into the usual trap of working out a great chorus, and using it as the body of the song by simply repeating the whole stanza 4 or 5 times to fill out the 3 minutes, and relying on a killer video to sell the song.

Speaking of videos... I have to say that the video for "Girlfriend" had me howling with laughter... it was just SO 'highschool politics' and if you have a good memory and imagination, after having seen it once or twice, listening to the song off this album will have you giggling all over again.

I was most impressed, however, when I looked back on the album as a whole and realised that she has quite a range of moods she can sing, from the usual teen high-speed bop of 'Girlfriend' or 'Contagious', through the emotive balladic style of 'Innocence' and 'When You're Gone', to the self-empowering 'I Don't Have to Try', which has almost a punk'esque sound to it. A very talented young lady, is Avril.

Overall, if you want a bit of an eye-opener to listen to, and only recall Avril's early teen-angst stuff like 'Sk8r Boi'... then you may seriously want to consider giving this album a go. She's starting to showcase some serious talent nowdays, and the early stages of maturity that will take her music into the next age-bracket of listeners. I was impressed, and you probably will be too.