Artist: Avril Lavigne
Album: Under My Skin
Label: Arista Records
Rating:
Reviewer: Bryanna Tago

So you don’t like Avril Lavigne? Yeah, neither did I. The first three hundred or so times I heard "Complicated" I thought it was a pretty okay song and very catchy. Then I started to see Avril Lavigne all OVER the place and to top it off – she was annoying as hell. It was like she tried way too hard to be different than Britney or Christina or Jessica or Mandy or.. Well, the list continues. Sometimes I just wanted to scream back at my TV, "I get it, okay? You aren’t a pop princess, you’re different, you (sorta) write your own lyrics."

When the powers that be started whoring Avril Lavigne all over the place again, I was scared. Scared that I’d have to hear "Complicated Part II" over and over and over and over again all summer; scared that every VJ on MTV would relentlessly force the fact that Avril is ‘edgy’ and ‘different’ down my throat; scared that I’d have to suffer through seeing Avril bouncing all over another mall wailing about it being cold outside. However, and this is a pretty big however, I was intrigued by the first single, "Don’t Tell Me." I was immediately caught by the lyrics – they’re just so much more personal than all the whining and storytelling on her debut album. So I did some research. Turns out Avril had a pretty nasty break up with Jesse Colburn, her former guitarist. Ahh ... so that explains the angst and heartbreak on "Don’t Tell Me." Since I was curious to see what the rest of the album was like, I spent an hour listening to her entire album from start to finish a week before it came out. While I was impressed and it is undeniable that this album is a ridiculous amount better than her first effort, it still falls short of greatness.

In light of recent events (ie: the breakup with Colburn), a lot of the albums lyrics make sense and appear to have been written about him and their relationship. None more so than the intensely fast-paced "He Wasn’t," in which Avril announces "He wasn’t what I wanted, what I thought, no / He wouldn’t even open up the door / He never made me feel like I was special / He isn’t really what I’m looking for." Similarly, on "My Happy Ending," Avril reflects "You were everything, everything that I wanted / We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it / And all of the memories, so close to me, just fade away / All this time you were pretending / So much for my happy ending."

Avril has grown up lyrically and it’s probably due to the extremely personal nature of the songs. She isn’t spelling things with numbers anymore and while she shows some depth to her writing, the lyrics still remind you that she is just nineteen years old (ie: "Nobody's Home"). The music itself has grown up a bit too. I don’t feel like I’m listening to some teeny-bopper girl bouncing around anymore. Although I’m sorry that she had her heart broken, I’ve got to be honest here. Everyone gets their heart broken at some point.. And honestly – her broken heart has helped her in so many ways. This album feels real, whereas "Let Go" just felt forced and weird. I think the best music is also the most sincere. There were a few tracks on Avril’s debut that were sincere and honest and they were good, but most of the album was comprised of filler – stuff that they knew would sell and would appeal to the masses. Granted, on "Under My Skin" there are still a few tracks that are a little juvenile and immature, such as "Freak Out," but the majority of the album displays growth and maturity from Avril and it is sincere and heartfelt. All she needs now are a few more life experiences and her third album will be stellar.