"The chronicles of life and death (Death-Version)" CD by Good Charlotte

by Marcel Anders (September 2004) Two years after "The Young And The Hopeless" which turned them into millionaire-rockstars, the Madden-brothers are definitely sick of writing songs, like "Lifestyle Of The Rich & Famous", to serve the juvenile fans or to serve the status quo. On the last world tour, they went through a similar metamorphosis like Blink 182. The old becomes boring and dull. So, Good Charlotte return more complex, more gloomy and more multi-layered. Not only on the first single, "Predictable", which turns out a great, epic rock song with keyboards, strings and great riffs. Also "We Believe" has little to do with the former sound of the twenty-somethings. This one comes with calm acoustic intro, percussive elements and some intrumental interludes. That makes it only consequent when in "World Is Black" they undertake a surprising step towards New Wave, in the title track return to heavy punk and then dare to try orchestral pop in "Secrets". Good Charlotte have not only become older, they also matured.