CD Review: Avril Lavigne: The Best Damn Thing

I should start this reviewing by pointing out I'm in my mid-40's; in other words, this album was not made with me in mind. I'm 25 years beyond the target audience, probably the wrong sex and not supposed to like it.

That out of the way, I don't mind this CD. Or rather, I can understand others who do like it. If I was in my teenage years, I could see me liking Girlfriend, which reminds me a lot of Kim Wilde's 1980 bopper anthem, Kids in America.

That said, it's kid music. Avril Lavigne is a young married woman, and is still writing stuff like :

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.

She needs to grow up musically soon, or be left behind.

Another influence that keeps popping up, especially the title track The Best Damn Thing, is the Spice Girls. This should serve as a warning to Avril and her people. While fine for the teenage audience, if Avril plans on having a career down the road, she is going to have to mature with her audience. She has already surpassed the Spice Girls in longevity, but pushing out songs that sound like them is not good for the long haul.

I also note that the production team double track her voice in most of the album, and when they don't her voice comes across as weak, as it does for the verses of When You're Gone.

Overall, this is a decent collection, and should be a successful CD for Avril Lavigne. However, she is at a career stage where many careers begin to stumble. This CD is not such a stumble, but neither does it raise her to the next level of performance.