Reviewed March 30, 2008
Avril Lavigne : The Best Damn Thing Musicpass Digital card
by Ron Hollywood

produced by Avril Lavigne, Rob Cavallo, Dr. Luke, Butch Walker, Deryck Whibley

In the digital age comes the new Musicpass digital download card from Sonymusic. You purchase an album of music on a small card similar to a credit card in look and size alone. You visit the musicpass.com website and enter the PIN and serial numbers on the back of the card. The album songs and bonuses are shown to you and you then save the file to your Mac or Pc. Of course these files are easily loaded onto itunes or Windows media player. It’s an interesting way to buy an album with the bonuses such as videos or digital booklets. We’ve decided to try it for Avril Lavigne’s, The Best Damn Thing.

A more pop Avril is what we’re getting on her third album. She’s also a lot happier than her darker second effort, Under My Skin. Even though she’s more mature and married she’s never sounded more like a teen s8ter punk than now. The skull and crossbonez are still here, but in pink. There’s no doubt you’ve heard the first single Girlfriend with it’s blaring chorus of “Hey hey, you you I don’t like your girlfriend / No way, no way, I think you need a new one / Hey hey, you you I could be your girlfriend”. Even though she’s gutting about another loser boyfriend on I Can Do Better, there’s a cheerleader pop bridge that is totally out of place. This is repeated on the title track The Best Damn Thing including a similiar “Hey hey you” shout-out.

The album’s filled with fist-pumping gurl revenge lyrics on some lame guy like Everything Back But You with “Hey, Hey psycho babe / I hate you, why are guys so lame / Everything I gave you well I want, Everything back but you.” or I Can Do Better with “I’m better off without you anyway / I thought it would be hard but I’m okay / I don’t need you if you’re gonna be that way / Because with me, it’s all or nothing / I hate, you now So go away from me / You’re gone, so long / I can do better, I can do better.”

The adolescent sk8er attitude we’ve come to expect from her seems torn with a pop and rap side. This is even evident with the musicians helping out from punks like her husband Deryck Whibley and Blink 182 drummer, Travis Barker to Dr. Luke and Lil Mama rapping on a senseless remix of Girlfriend (this is one of the digital download extras). With too much experimenting between styles a song like I Don’t Have To Try ends up lost in the shuffle with Avril almost rapping about “I’m the one who knows the dance” then bursts into a juvenile shouting chorus.

It’s Runaway that shows a real mature sound and lyrical content that reminded me of the vibe on Mobile from Let It Go. Another standout track is Innocence a piano laden ballad whose lyrics symbolize how I feel about the song “This innocence is brilliant I hope that it will stay / This moment is perfect Please don’t go away/ I need you now And I’ll hold on to it / Don’t you let it pass you by”. One of the best songs she’s ever recorded in her career.

Hot is what a great radio hit is all about with great production from Dr. Luke a catchy chorus and the song is straight forward in the right direction. Although it’s different to hear Avril sing about coming onto a guy “I want to lock you up in my closet When no one’s around / I want to put your hand in my pocket Because you’re allowed / I want to drive you into the corner and kiss you without a sound / I want to stay this way forever / I’ll say it loud / Now you’re in and you can’t get out / You make me so hot / Make me wanna drop You’re so ridiculous / I can barely stop I can hardly breathe / You make me wanna scream You’re so fabulous” Sounds more like what Britney would sing.

Straight ahead rockers like Contagious or the punkier One Of These Girls even out the lost flow and bring things back in balance. The latter is nice to have Avril singing about how even girls can be jerks too “She’s one of those girls
They’re nothing but trouble / Just one look and now you’re seeing double / Before you know it she’ll be gone / Off to the next one”.

I think if Avril let’s go of all this experimenting where songs get lost and gains more full direction where’s she’s going musically she could release her best forthcoming album.

The Musicpass digital download card includes two videos, Hot and When You’re Gone. The first is yet another example of Avril no longer being a skate boarding tie wearing punker. She wears a bustier and designer clothes singing about being Hot over a guy. The video for When You’re Gone is three separate stories, an old man missing his dead wife, a young girl being torn from her boyfriend by her mother and a soldier fighting in the war far from his pregnant wife. Avril is on the piano in between. Two very good videos worth watching on your ipod.

Finally comes a digital reproduction of the Cd booklet which includes album credits, but no lyrics and some sexy photography of Avril. The album cover photo was shot bu husband Deryck Whibley himself.

I’d certainly recommend getting the musicpass card over the standard Cd because for a cheaper price you are getting more value with the videos. It’s also better than an itunes purchase which only includes the Avril manga Five Wishes as a bonus.

1. Girlfriend 3:36 — (Avril Lavigne, Lukasz Gottwald)
2. I Can Do Better — 3:17 (Lavigne, Gottwald)
3. Runaway — 3:48 (Lavigne, Gottwald, Kara DioGuardi)
4. The Best Damn Thing — 3:10 (Lavigne, Butch Walker)
5. When You’re Gone — 4:00 (Lavigne, Walker)
6. Everything Back But You — 3:03 (Lavigne, Walker)
7. Hot — 3:23 (Lavigne, Evan Taubenfeld)
8. Innocence — 3:53 (Lavigne, Taubenfeld)
9. I Don’t Have to Try — 3:17 (Lavigne, Gottwald)
10. One of Those Girls — 2:56 (Lavigne, Taubenfeld)
11. Contagious — 2:10 (Lavigne, Taubenfeld)
12. Keep Holding On — 4:00 (Lavigne, Gottwald)

Other artists in the musicpass digital card series are Daughtry, Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood, Bruce Springsteen, Santana and more to come.
Visit the link to the musicpass site below for more details.
musicpass.com

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