Music
Review: Avril Lavigne, Under My Skin
After the overnight success of her multi-platinum debut Let Go, it wasn’t difficult to peg Avril Lavigne as something far more dangerous than Britney Spears: a teenage girl dressed up by studio producers and salivating record label execs as the Anti-Britney (in short, Britney with a necktie and a scowl painted on her face as a marketing ploy to capitalize on the inevitable pop fallout). With her perpetually flaunted lack of pop-cult awareness and admitted, unapologetic ignorance of all things “rock” (until a year or so ago she didn’t know who the Sex Pistols were—and, judging by her pronunciation of his name, David-frickin’-Bowie too), the only other explanation was that she was a natural-born talent with an inherent gift like Mozart or an Asian violin prodigy. Go ahead and laugh. But judging by Avril’s follow-up, Under My Skin, if she’s a poser, she sure poses well.
Under My Skin is more metal than “punk” (the label some in the press were quick to slap on Avril, and one she fiercely denounces, though I wouldn’t be surprised if it had “King of Pop”-style origins), and it’s a sound the young and feisty Canadian adopts rather convincingly (Amy Lee be warned). The disc starts with a (head)bang, the opening track “Take Me Away” conjuring ‘80s metal with heaps of guitars and vocal overdubs (apparently 15 Avrils are better than one). She shrewdly ditches her pop confectioners The Matrix this time around, enlisting former Evanescence guitarist Ben Moody for three songs, including “Forgotten,” a stand-out track built around an ominous piano arpeggio and an exploding guitar riff, and the less successful “Nobody’s Home.” That song’s title is indicative of Avril’s biggest weakness: words.
While the hooks here are undeniable, Avril’s lyrics are often vague or archetypical. “There’s not much going on today/I’m really bored, it’s getting late,” she sings on the crappy faux-punk tune “He Wasn’t.” Elsewhere, the immature posturing that once made the very idea of Avril insufferable rears its ugly head on songs like “Freak Out”: “Try to tell me what to do/You should know by now/I won’t listen to you!” And while it’s interesting to hear shades of the Cranberries’ Dolores O’Roirdan’s yodel in Avril’s voice (“How Does It Feel,” “Forgotten”), she enunciates every syllable to within an inch of her life, and a chorus of Avrils shouting “Ye-ah, ye-ah!” begins to sound like a parody by the ninth track in. This time things may be less bounce and more crunch, but it’s suspiciously uneven for rock’s supposed prodigious daughter.
Label: Arista Release Date: May 20, 2004 Buy: Amazon
- Features6 days ago
The Best Horror Movies on Hulu Right Now
- Features6 days ago
The 10 Best Electronic Albums of 2020
- Video6 days ago
Review: Béla Tarr’s Magnum Opus Sátántangó on Arbelos Films Blu-ray
- Film6 days ago
Review: Film About a Father Who Walks Down a Recorded Memory Lane
- TV4 days ago
Review: Night Stalker Is a Cathartic but Structurally Rote True Crime Story
- Film5 days ago
Review: Bloody Hell Is Ultimately a Grind, Despite a Spirited Ben O’Toole Turn
- Film6 days ago
Review: Some Kind of Heaven Keeps Its Subjects at a Frustrating Distance
- Film5 days ago
Review: Hunted Gets Stuck in a Holding Pattern As It Riffs on Fairy Tale Tropes