"The best damn thing" CD by Avril Lavigne

by Marcel Anders (04.04.2007) Three years after "Under my skin", the 22-year-old presents herself at her best - matured, grown up and ambitious. For a good reason, her third album features a whole arsenal in gifted musicians and producers. Such as drummer-legends, Kenny Aronoff (Tom Petty, Smashing Pumpkins) and Travis Barker (Sum 41, +44), as well as guitarist and Lavigne-husband, Deryck Whibley (Sum 41). Or studio cracks, like Rob Cavallo (Green Day, M.C.R.), Dr. Luke (Pink) and Butch Walker. A team with which she sounds a whole lot more powerful, more dynamic and tighter than on the first two records instead of changing between daring ballads and wild Punk/Pop, she went to the extremes. Either in fast Glam-songs, like "Girlfriend", nice Power Pop, like in "Hot" or acoustical songs, like "Runaway". And Avril - that is new, too - can become really angry: in "I can do better", she counts off with music mogul, L.A. Reid (her ex-chief) and in "I don't have to try" she kicks nasty boys into the abdomen. That much for the topic well-behaved girls…