Good Charlotte Albums (4)
'Good Morning Revival'
Release Date 3/16/2007
Tracks 13
Label Smi Epc
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What The Critics Say
When ironies are as delicious as punk-pop quartet Good Charlotte turning into the very thing they parodied on their career-making hit, "Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous," it's hard to resist the temptation to repeat the story, no matter how often it's been said. After all, it is true. Good Charlotte succumbed to every temptation fame has to offer and turned into L.A. scenester frat-rats, which, in turn, turned them into gossip-blog fodder as lead singer Joel Madden dated teen queens and super-skinny celebs whose main claim to fame was being famous. It's a textbook rock & roll cliché, and now that the apex of their popularity is beginning to recede into the past, they've fallen back on another textbook rock & roll cliché for their fourth album, 2007's Good Morning Revival: desperate trend-chasing. True, the group was beginning to stretch out on their first post-fame album, 2004's The Chronicles of Life and Death, but where that found the group getting a little more ambitious, Good Morning Revival -- released a full five years after their breakthrough, The Young and the Hopeless -- demonstrates that they now have real concerns about appearing fashionable, so they've adopted the two main rock trends that surfaced since 2002: dance-punk and '80s fetishism. They've morphed from blink-182 into the Killers, a stylistic makeover that makes Madden's swipes at the "plastic people" of Hollywood on the opening "Misery" ring a little hollow since his sudden pursuit of glam style seems like the epitome of L.A. emptiness. To be sure, the icy synth textures and guitar atmospherics borrowed from the Edge are the foundation of this album, but Good Charlotte aren't content to just restrict themselves to tricks they learned from the Killers; they sample from a wide spectrum of sounds and bands from the last five years. There's the pounding electro-disco of Rapture-lite "Dance Floor Anthem," which feels like it should be ironic, but isn't. There's the Blur/Gorillaz-aping "Keep Your Hands Off My Girl" -- its chanting verse borrowed from "We Got a Line on You," the hook from "Song 2," its beat from the Gorillaz -- and there's the Coldplay-esque shimmer of "Where Would We Be Now," complete with the finishing touch of piano arpeggio. This kind of calculating changeup would have worked better if the band had the hooks or the good sense to embrace their crass pandering so it's good trashy fun; if they signaled that they knew how ridiculous this shift in direction was, it'd be easier to enjoy. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'The Chronicles of Life and Death'
Release Date 10/5/2004
Tracks 15
Label Sony
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What The Critics Say
Good Charlotte's popularity exploded in 2002, when the brash singles "Anthem" and "Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous" catapulted them to the top of the punk-pop heap. Once there they couldn't be stopped, at least in part because they endorsed their pop side as much as their punk-derived image. When naysayers tried pointing out the music's lack of substance, Charlotte's irascible core -- tattooed brothers Benji and Joel Madden -- challenged them with the issue of "Boys and Girls," a vacuous yet irresistibly fizzy new wave-styled goof. The Chronicles of Life and Death, Good Charlotte's first post-fame album, uses that status as a loosely binding concept. The Maddens are unquestionably happy with their celebrity. But they've also realized that money won't always buy happiness, or heal their old scars. After an indulgent string section intro, the title track begins to the beep of a heart-rate monitor. "Money talks/In this world," Joel Madden sings the song's modified power pop strut. "That's what idiots will say/But you'll find out/That this world/Is just an idiot's parade." It's the jaded realization on the other side of "Lifestyles"' stardom-baiting. Whereas their previous effort was, with a few notable exceptions, boisterous punk-pop, Chronicles includes an echoing relationship-woe piano ballad ("The Truth"), the subdued "Ghost of You"'s synthesizers and vocal harmonies, and quirky keyboards and acoustic guitars in the lyrically bitter "The World Is Black" ("I can't live when this world keeps dying..."). Joel Madden has also matured since The Young and the Hopeless -- his newly developed husky tenor suits him well on the more introspective material, but can still belt out the rousing punk-pop choruses of "Walk Away (Maybe)," "Predictable," and "Secrets." The album's best track might be its greatest departure. "I Just Wanna Live" is a punchy blend of power chords, string samples, and disco beats that features Madden rapping in a Nelly-inspired flow. For all their well-crafted ambition on Chronicles, "I Just Wanna Live" feels like Good Charlotte's centerpiece, since it's spiked with rock power, but gets its soul from the pop life they lead. [The Chronicles of Life and Death was issued in "Life" and "Death" versions, each with a unique bonus track.] ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
'The Young and the Hopeless'
Release Date 1/1/2002
Tracks 14
Label Epic
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What The Critics Say
Good Charlotte's The Young and the Hopeless is punk-pop déjà vu. Rehashing worn clichés aplenty on each track, cuts such as "The Anthem" emerge exactly as the title overtly implies: a high-velocity, guitar-driven reason to lash out against the usual growing pains inflicted by parental authority and high-school drama. Grafting the widely recognizable drum motif from Iggy Pop's infamous "Lust for Life," "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous" is downright predictable, while offerings including "Boys and Girls," "Day That I Die," and "Moving On" are strictly paint-by-numbers rockers sans personality. However, "Emotionless," a shoegazing ballad with a clever orchestral backdrop, stands as the sole moment of truth. An album title that clearly reflects the content; stick with bands such as Green Day if radio-ready punk-pop is your preference. ~ Tom Semioli, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Punk-ska quintet Good Charlotte often sounds like a cross between Green Day and Smash Mouth on its self-titled debut album, and the band members also show evidence of a familiarity with the Clash. The beats come fast and furious, the simple guitar chords noisily fill the middle range, and the vocals are sung with snotty belligerence. "Little Things," the lead-off track, sets the tone; it's about the petty humiliations an outsider can encounter at high school. Elsewhere, the lyrics speak of musical aspirations in the face of 9-to-5 pressures, condemn absent fathers, and berate ex-girlfriends who would rather date football heroes. This is all standard-issue stuff, and in fact the only odd element here is an occasionally expressed religious interest. The band members all give profuse thanks to God in their acknowledgments in the CD booklet, and God also turns up here and there in the lyrics, such as in "Complicated" ("giving thanks to the lord, and I pray every day") and in the hidden bonus track, apparently titled "Thank You Mom" ("You showed me how to love my god"). Religion can turn up in the strangest places, of course, but such remarks seem incongruous among lyrics that casually employ minor vulgarities and have a generally angry tone, performed by a group that favors tattoos and extensive piercings in its photographs. Good Charlotte can't quite be called a CCM group on the basis of its debut album, but the band's songs definitely send mixed messages. [The compact-disc version of Good Charlotte is a "CD Extra," its multimedia content consisting of a music video for "Little Things" that finds the group cavorting in a high school.] ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
