Avril Lavigne "Let Go" Album

	Title: Let Go Format: Album Label: Arista Released: 2002-06-04
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Tracklisting & Lyrics

Reviews

Talk about pressure -- being under 21 and having a record deal no longer qualifies as extraordinary. And as mass-produced teen pop makes its exit and a glut of young singer/songwriters enter, child prodigies no longer have built-in marketing appeal. So if newcomer, 17-year-old Avril Lavigne truly wants to be "Anything but Ordinary," as she sings on her debut album, , she'll have to dig deeper. Luckily for Lavigne, aside from youth, she does have talent. Her debut runs the gamut from driving rock numbers like "Losing Grip" -- where Lavigne shows off her vocal range, powering into the anger-fueled, explosive rock chorus -- to singer/songwriter pop tunes like "My World," where Lavigne fills listeners in on the past 17 years of her life. Lavigne handles a variety of styles deftly, but she still has some growing up to do lyrically. "Sk8er Boi" has a terrific power pop bounce, but shows her lyrical shortcomings: "He was a punk/She did ballet/What more can I say" -- a lot. The phrasing is awkward and sometimes silly: "It's funny when you think it's gonna work out/Till you chose weed over me you're so lame," she sings on "Too Much to Ask." Not surprisingly, the standout track is the first single, "Complicated," a gem of a pop/rock tune with a killer chorus. But listen carefully and you'll realize that "Complicated"'s sing-song melody borrows just enough from Pink's "Don't Let Me Get Me" to make it familiar and likeable. Nonetheless, the song is a knockout radio hit. Lavigne, a self-professed skater punk and labelmate of Pink, shares her "Take Me As I Am" credo as well. And that said, it's hard not to look at this record, executive produced by Arista label head Antonio "L.A." Reid, who is thanked by Lavigne for allowing "me to be myself," and feel cynical about the music industry's willingness to reproduce a hit over and over. Lavigne, however, is a capable songwriter with vocal chops, and at her age, one imagines, she is still finding her feet, borrowing from the music she's grown up listening to. The problem is Lavigne is still so young she's listening to the radio hits of the '90s and early 2000s: she's Pink when she's bucking authority, Alanis Morissette when she's angry, and Jewel when she's sensitive. shows promise, but the question is whether Lavigne and only Lavigne will shine through on her next effort. ~Christina Saraceno, All Music Guide.

Self-professed skate punk Avril Lavigne sings that she'd "rather be anything but ordinary" on her debut. While the fact that she had a record deal by the age of 16 separates her from the pack, too often Let Go's lyrical shortcomings drag the teenager's musically impressive recording entree into the realm of the typical. The catchy choruses of Go are substantial, though, thanks to Lavigne's riff-driven melodies and powerful vocals, which at times adopt the unorthodox intonation quirks of fellow Canadian Alanis Morrissette. The nuanced, dynamic "Losing Grip," "My World" (which perfectly captures the ennui of suburbia), and the buoyant power-pop blast "Sk8er Boi" are the collection's highlights. But Lavigne's honest yet awkward words weigh down the likes of "Mobile," "I'm with You," and "Naked." "Nobody's Fool," which displays her Pink-like take-me-as-I-am credo, hints that someday Lavigne's lyrics will match the strength of her music. ~Annie Zaleski, Amazon.com.

It's easy to immediately dismiss Avril Lavigne as yet another flash-in-the-pan pop/rock princess designed by the labels to help rake in the neverending supply of cash generated by that musical whore, MTV's Total Request Live (TRL). Fortunately for those who don't subscribe simply to what is deemed popular by those in power, Avril Lavigne's Let Go shows some definite promise (and is actually quite catching to boot).
Don't be fooled, however. This is by all means a calculated morsel of pop perfectionism. It's all there; the catchy hooks, the "can't get it out of your head" choruses, and (of course) the image. The days of being a beauty queen, song-and-dance Britney Spears remake have been fading fast. Not caring is the new cool - and Lavigne has this down pat. A skater-girl rocker with just enough sensitivity to be real but just enough sass to make her dangerous, she's a record label's dream.
Especially since she's actually a talented artist.
The majority of Let Go features your basic pop-rock confection: guitar laden rock tracks which would have fallen under the "alternative" category back in the early 90s and have since become part of the pop-music world. Still, Lavigne manages to do her part right for the most part. She's a fairly proficient guitarist (especially since she's just 17 now - just wait until she's in her 20's!) and her vocals are extraordinarily strong. At times sounding like the vocal meanderings of Alanis Morissette meets the guitar-pop sensibility of Michelle Branch, she still manages to retain an identity all her own.
Where the album does falter is at the songwriting level. At time she'll stumble, like "We rock each other's world!" in "Sk8r Boi." But honestly, she's singing to her age group, and it's something to be commended more than anything. Like any teenager, she's bound to say some things that just don't work (whether in a song or just in life). The honesty and reality of her songs will undoubtedly win her a steady fanbase. It's a safe bet to say this isn't the last we'll here of Avril.
Above all, Lavigne is easy to associate with - we all know what it's like to deal with people not being who they are. Let Go focuses on this idea a lot. She's the kind of girl you can look back to your high school years and know she was that kind of naughty girl you secretly wanted but never had the balls to talk to.
She'll get the boys looking, and get the girls listening - but she's no Britney Spears. Instead she's just what pop music has been missing. ~Bill Aicher, music-critic.com.