Hello all. My name's Aziz. Haven't got a great deal to say about myself at the moment, except... ple...
Hello all. My name's Aziz. Haven't got a great deal to say about myself at the moment, except... please leave comments when you read my reviews, I love reading them :D And if you like my reviews, please recommend them to others. Watch this space.
Member since:18.06.2004
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Question: What's harder for a new artist than getting the first album out? Answer: Getting the second album out.
Many will tell you that the first album an artist releases will make or break their career. The really clued-up, however, know better. It's the SECOND album that defines an artist's career. Why? Because the first album is merely, in effect, an intro, a way of saying, 'Hey, this is me, hope you like my work. Wanna hear more?' Whether the album soars or flops, expectations will be raised for the second, to see if you can live up to all you promised on the first record and take the step forward, or if you can make up for producing such dross first time round. If you succeed, you prove you're more than just a fluke, a lucky star, and that you have talent and potential. If you fail, your career will take such a devastating blow, it might be fatal. Most artists can survive a bad first, third, fourth or fifth album with little more than a severely bruised ego. (Ask Bryan Adams, after he flopped with Into The Fire, and then hit back with his best-selling Waking Up The Neighbors)
Few can survive a bad second album. (Ask Victoria Beckham)
Avril Lavigne certainly impressed more than a few people with her debut, Let Go. Many dubbed her a skate-punk princess or punk-rock princess. I don't remember which it was, and it doesn't matter, because both labels are wrong. Lavigne may have been marketed as that, but one listen to Let Go proved that she was more than that. A lot more. The music industry is littered with bands who never manage to rise above the label they're given, the genre they're put into. A select few artists, however, transcend and rise above such boxes and labels. It's what divides the good from the merely average. And it's what separates Lavigne from every other punk-rock/skate-punk act out there.
And so we come to her second album, Under My Skin. On first listen, I couldn't stand many of the tracks. Not because they were rubbish, but because they were so radically different from anything Let Go had to offer. I was wondering if the woman singing on these tracks is the same angsty teenager who sang 'Sk8er Boi' and 'Complicated'. Let me put it this way: if you're expecting Let Go: Part 2, you are in for a great shock.
Because Under My Skin represents Lavigne's transition from the 'Anti-Britney', as she was called by some, to an artist in her own right. The teenager has become a woman, and the depth of her songwriting on Under My Skin reflects that.
Her current single, 'Don't Tell Me', doesn't quite reflect that transition, even though it's a great first single and a great track, and shows she's done work on improving her voice, which was limited on her first album. The next single off the album, 'My Happy Ending', does more to reflect the transition - it's like a more insightful, mature version of 'Losing Grip' from Let Go.
Lavigne's growing maturity is best reflected in, for me at least, the standout track of the album, 'Nobody's Home', a heart-wrenching song about a girl that's run away from home. If you think my observation about her improved voice is wrong, listen to this track, and the acoustic version if you can get your hands on it. Tracks like 'Forgotten', a pretty angry track directed at a (possibly fictional) ex-boyfriend, show Lavigne's ability to articulate rage better than on Let Go. And 'Fall To Pieces', the love song of the album, is more grown up than the, quite frankly, childish though likeable 'Things I'll Never Say' on Let Go.
But don't worry, she hasn't quite forgotten how to rock yet, as 'He Wasn't' and the anthemic 'Freak Out' prove. 'He Wasn't' is probably my least favourite track on the album, simply because it's probably the sole step backwards on what is otherwise a very forward-moving album. But 'Freak Out', an anthemic call to live your life to the full, manages to retain the dynamic energy of Let Go as well as the maturity of Under My Skin.
If Under My Skin has one thing going against it, at the risk of repeating myself, it's that it is so radically different from Let Go as to make you wonder if the Avril Lavigne on each album are actually the same person. Because Under My Skin is, on the whole, a more serious and grown-up record, many of the fans who loved Let Go because of its punk-rock sound may not immediately warm to Under My Skin, and some may not even buy the new album. This would be a great shame, but hopefully Under My Skin will win over new fans with its more grown-up sound.
What makes this more incredible is that, at only 19, she has years ahead of her to improve even more. I for one can't wait to hear what her next work brings, and hopefully that will improve upon what she has achieved with Under My Skin.
If Under My Skin is the album on which Lavigne's career will rest, I think it's in safe hands.
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Under My Skin, the second album from Avril Lavigne, doesn't stray too far from the formula ... more
that made her debut, Let Go, a multi-million seller. Acoustic guitars bolstered by rock riffs in the chorus and sing-along vocals for angst-ridden teens confirm ...
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Jun 20th, 2004
(Jun 24th, 2004)
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