CD Review: Avril Lavigne Page 2

The Best Damn Thing: Avril Lavigne

The album works so hard to be upbeat and fun that it can't help but succeed part of the time, though some perfectly good songs get drowned in production - a problem that Lavigne has had in the past. It's always a danger sign when, on some songs, as many as three people get credited with "additional production" or cited as "additional Pro Tools engineer" - and many of the tracks do sound belabored. In particular, Lavigne's voice has taken on that mechanical tinge that comes from an overdose of AutoTune.

Yet the sonic overkill levels off in the disc's second half. Perhaps Avril and crew realized that "no frills" is back in fashion. Or maybe they just ran out of money. In any case, the ballad "Innocence" and the giddy rocker "I Don't Have to Try" each sound like an individual song (and a fine one at that), not multiple songs mashed together. They're the real signs of growth on The Best Damn Thing - too much of which is merely the same damn thing.

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