Good Charlotte -- Good Morning Revival
Many words come to mind when thinking of the band Good Charlotte. For most who listen to
music at or above a tenth grade level, a few that come to mind are "terrible", "piss", "abortion", and the ubiquitous "worst". It seems like for every crazed fan, there are two even more zealous haters that go to extremes to show the band (and its fans) just how unwelcome their musical presence is. This was all too evident at the UK's ‘03 Reading Festival when the band was peppered with bottles on stage during their set. Four years later and the band’s still trying to recover (metaphorically) and pull a comeback of sorts. The band owned alternative rock radio back in ‘03 with "Life Styles of the Rich and Famous" and "Anthem" off their cleverly titled "The Young and the Hopeless". They became pop culture phenoms overnight, being routinely cattle prodded in award/talk show host punch lines (ie Chris Rock’s “Good Charlotte? More like mediocre Green Day”). Since then, the band released The Chronicles of Life and Death in ‘04, to mixed reviews. The band clearly has had much of their buzz and attention of their fan base usurped by emo pop-punk upstarts My Chemical Romance and Fallout Boy.
As evidenced on their new release, "Good Morning Revival", the chaps appear to have been paying close attention to recent lectures by Associate Profs, Brandon Flowers/Justin Timberlake/Chris Martin. "Where Would We Be Now"
features almost identical piano and drum beat found on Coldplay's "Clocks". Shockingly, a second track, "Beautiful Place", also features pretty much the exact same drum part as "Clocks". Didn’t half of planet Earth get sick to death of “Clocks” in ‘03, so why would anyone want to be haunted by it again 4 years later, on Good Charlotte songs no less? The band offers their modern take on mismatched relationships on "Something Else": "she drags me to parties with people who ask me where I went to college, she knows damn well I barely finished school…". There’s even mention of salaries and dividends later on. That's deep, and Charles Schwab would be proud. On "All Black", the answer to THE major burning question is revealed: What color are the seats in their Cadillac? ALL BLACK.
"Keep Your Hands Off My Girl" is a not so thinly veiled broadcast (subtleness rivaled only by Neil Young's "Let's Impeach the President" and "Donald Rumsfeld is a Straight-up Murderer"--from his I Do Not Agree with Many of This Administration’s Policies LP) that throngs of hott barely legal tail throws themselves at the band non-stop, much to the dismay of the bystander
boyfriends. Pop stars get alot of action, really, is that true? I liked this song better when it was done by The Darkness four years ago ("get your hands off of my woman, motherfucker!"). Worse than the lyrics, is their stab at rapping, which makes Blizzard Man (Ludacris, Common) sound like Eminem by comparison. Much like "Chronicles…", many songs are drenched in synth and string arrangements that only a solo Richard Ashcroft could truly appreciate. GC (again) spends an awful amount of time on songs that are sans their traditional punky brewster-pop sound, opting instead for straight-up dance power pop (which leaves much to be desired). Piano pop ballad “March On” was inked well before Hilary Duff dumped singer Joel Madden ca. Nov ’06, but one can’t help think he’s probably using that song to move on with his life after getting duffed.
It’s not much of a consolation prize, but there are a few traditional GC tunes---"The River", "Face the Strange (Bonus track)", "Broken Hearts Parade" (which sounds like it features the out-of-work horn section from the Bosstones), and "Misery".
By the end, all one’s left with is unanswered questions. How did I listen to this album 3 times? Why did I listen to this album 3 times? Will I be able to delete this album from the iPod (in my mind)? And of course, who can I talk to about refunding the 3 hours of my life that were wasted listening to this album? Upon first listen, it’s obvs (whether intentional or otherwise) why this album’s release was pushed out several times from summer ‘06 to March ‘07.
Can't wait for debate teams across the US to square off on what's more laughable about Good Charlotte: Their lyrics or their "punk rock" image? Cornell-Hoffstra...slaughter. Decide for yourself, check under "Interesting Failures" at your local/online record store, or just wait 6 months for its inevitable dollar store release.
Rating: 1/5
-Damore
Many words come to mind when thinking of the band Good Charlotte. For most who listen to
music at or above a tenth grade level, a few that come to mind are "terrible", "piss", "abortion", and the ubiquitous "worst". It seems like for every crazed fan, there are two even more zealous haters that go to extremes to show the band (and its fans) just how unwelcome their musical presence is. This was all too evident at the UK's ‘03 Reading Festival when the band was peppered with bottles on stage during their set. Four years later and the band’s still trying to recover (metaphorically) and pull a comeback of sorts. The band owned alternative rock radio back in ‘03 with "Life Styles of the Rich and Famous" and "Anthem" off their cleverly titled "The Young and the Hopeless". They became pop culture phenoms overnight, being routinely cattle prodded in award/talk show host punch lines (ie Chris Rock’s “Good Charlotte? More like mediocre Green Day”). Since then, the band released The Chronicles of Life and Death in ‘04, to mixed reviews. The band clearly has had much of their buzz and attention of their fan base usurped by emo pop-punk upstarts My Chemical Romance and Fallout Boy.As evidenced on their new release, "Good Morning Revival", the chaps appear to have been paying close attention to recent lectures by Associate Profs, Brandon Flowers/Justin Timberlake/Chris Martin. "Where Would We Be Now"
features almost identical piano and drum beat found on Coldplay's "Clocks". Shockingly, a second track, "Beautiful Place", also features pretty much the exact same drum part as "Clocks". Didn’t half of planet Earth get sick to death of “Clocks” in ‘03, so why would anyone want to be haunted by it again 4 years later, on Good Charlotte songs no less? The band offers their modern take on mismatched relationships on "Something Else": "she drags me to parties with people who ask me where I went to college, she knows damn well I barely finished school…". There’s even mention of salaries and dividends later on. That's deep, and Charles Schwab would be proud. On "All Black", the answer to THE major burning question is revealed: What color are the seats in their Cadillac? ALL BLACK."Keep Your Hands Off My Girl" is a not so thinly veiled broadcast (subtleness rivaled only by Neil Young's "Let's Impeach the President" and "Donald Rumsfeld is a Straight-up Murderer"--from his I Do Not Agree with Many of This Administration’s Policies LP) that throngs of hott barely legal tail throws themselves at the band non-stop, much to the dismay of the bystander
boyfriends. Pop stars get alot of action, really, is that true? I liked this song better when it was done by The Darkness four years ago ("get your hands off of my woman, motherfucker!"). Worse than the lyrics, is their stab at rapping, which makes Blizzard Man (Ludacris, Common) sound like Eminem by comparison. Much like "Chronicles…", many songs are drenched in synth and string arrangements that only a solo Richard Ashcroft could truly appreciate. GC (again) spends an awful amount of time on songs that are sans their traditional punky brewster-pop sound, opting instead for straight-up dance power pop (which leaves much to be desired). Piano pop ballad “March On” was inked well before Hilary Duff dumped singer Joel Madden ca. Nov ’06, but one can’t help think he’s probably using that song to move on with his life after getting duffed.It’s not much of a consolation prize, but there are a few traditional GC tunes---"The River", "Face the Strange (Bonus track)", "Broken Hearts Parade" (which sounds like it features the out-of-work horn section from the Bosstones), and "Misery".
By the end, all one’s left with is unanswered questions. How did I listen to this album 3 times? Why did I listen to this album 3 times? Will I be able to delete this album from the iPod (in my mind)? And of course, who can I talk to about refunding the 3 hours of my life that were wasted listening to this album? Upon first listen, it’s obvs (whether intentional or otherwise) why this album’s release was pushed out several times from summer ‘06 to March ‘07.Can't wait for debate teams across the US to square off on what's more laughable about Good Charlotte: Their lyrics or their "punk rock" image? Cornell-Hoffstra...slaughter. Decide for yourself, check under "Interesting Failures" at your local/online record store, or just wait 6 months for its inevitable dollar store release.
Rating: 1/5
-Damore
posted by Gorilla at 7:35 AM
3 Comments:
Request, could Peabs review more rap, like Young Bucks new cd, I feel that with his Cosby connection he could reveal many new insights and nuances into the street poetry ie. message and various beat’s that the general populace may miss.
I think Blizzard Man is setting the bar for rap in 2007. Now hand me that bum sperm!
Yo Yo, turn my headphones. Blizzard Man, Ludacris...1995. Rap song, rap song. Doin raps & going to parties, is basically what we're all about. We're super famous so the ladies let us hump them. They show their boobs & my dingy gets hard.
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