Head Above Water actually gets me a little emotional. I didn’t think that would happen with an Avril song since middle school haha.
The song is truly horrible, but truly and insanely catchy. I thought Tell Me It’s Over was actually pretty decent. I don’t need to swim in the drip drip, but will def listen Friday!
here's my quick little track by track review of the new album: 1. Head Above Water - This is a pretty great song. Kind of a weird opener though. Didn't realize that the singer of We The Kings co-wrote it. Good for him. 2. Birdie - This song is a jam! Looks like it was produced by the dude who did "Centuries" by FOB. There's a fun fact for ya. 3. I Fell In Love With The Devil - Seems like piano intros are her thing for this album so far. This one has a "Wrecking Ball" kind of vibe. Her voice is even kind of Miley-ish on it. 4. Tell Me It's Over - No piano intro on this one. This one's got an old jazz club feel. Has a really catchy chorus! Co-written by Ryan Cabrera. 5. Dumb Blonde - Catchy but dumb. Co-written by Bonnie McKee and produced by the singer of SR-71. Huh. 6. It Was In Me - Back to the piano intro. Catchy chorus. But it's very similar to all the other piano ballads on this thing so far. Co-written by Lauren Christy who co-produced Avril's first album. 7. Souvenir - This one's a jam. It's got a country pop kinda vibe to it. I'm into it. And she does some of her oldschool "eh-yeah yeah!" yodel stuff in it which is a fun callback, haha. Also co-written by Lauren Christy. 8. Crush - Not a Mandy Moore cover. It's got a similar vibe to "Tell Me It's Over." Co-written by Zane Carney. 9. Goddess - Another country pop kinda jam. Very catchy chorus. Why does she pronounce "bananas" like that though? I wish she ended the song saying "Bah" because.... 10. Bigger Wow - I wish "Goddess" ended with her saying "Bah" since this one starts off with a bunch of "na na na's." That would have been so good! I like this song. Another country pop vibe one. I like country pop Avril! "Buh buh buh buh bigger!" Catchy little song. 11. Love Me Insane - Same writing/production team as "Bigger Wow." It's a slower jam and has a stand-up bass in it, which is always cool. This sounds like it could have been a rejected Camila Cabello song or something. 12. Warrior - Another piano-based ballad with a big chorus. There's a lot of these kind of songs on this album. I guess that's the recipe for a "mature" song these days. Co-written by Nickelchad so that's...fun... It's got some catchy choruses, and there's a couple songs I was bobbing my head to, but there's so many songs on here that have a very similar formula. Like they wanted to write an epic piano ballad, but they didn't know if it was THE ONE so they wrote a couple more in the same vein in hopes that at least one would end up sticking, but then they decided to just throw them all on because they were out of ideas. It's not a bad album though by any means. The weakest song is "Dumb Blonde" and even that one has a catchy enough chorus that it isn't too hard to get through. I'd give this whole thing a 2.5/5
The first thought I had about this album was, "huh this is a weird album opener." I'm halfway through but I'm not really into it :/
This is not good. She's still got a voice that could really put a song over, but she gets really C-grade songs. Only the title track and "Souvenir" are worth a damn.
Avril Lavigne: Head Above Water Tour 09/14 — Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre 09/15 — Portland, OR @ Keller Auditorium 09/17 — Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater 09/18 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek Theatre 09/21 — Denver, CO @ Paramount Theatre 09/24 — Minneapolis, MN @ State Theatre 09/26 — Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre 09/28 — Detroit, MI @ Fox Theatre 10/01 — New York, NY @ Pier 17 at South Street Seaport 10/03 — Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theatre 10/05 — Wallingford, CT @ Oakdale Theatre 10/06 — Toronto, ON @ Sony Centre for Performing Arts 10/08 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian Theatre 10/09 — Washington, D.C. @ MGM National Harbor 10/11 — Philadelphia, PA @ XCite Center at Parx Casino First tour in five years!
Hopefully hits the U.K.! Admittedly her new album doesn’t hold a candle to hear first 4 but it will still be good to jam out to all the classics.
I wasn't a fan of her last 2 albums, but I've always wanted to see her live. Hoping I can convince someone to join me!
Remember seeing her on The Best Damn Tour, was a lot of fun. Having not really connected w/ this album, & being kinda poor-ish, don't know that I'll see her again, but I'm glad she's coming back to Pittsburgh in case I change my mind.
Just got to hear the new album the other day and it was actually decent. I expected worse due to the reception. It Was In Me is fantastic and one of her best songs ever. I might try to catch one of the European shows next year.
So me and my gf are meant to be seeing her in Amsterdam in two weeks but are unsure what to do with the virus spreading and her cancelling dates. Guess we’ll see how it unfolds!
Annnnd the tour is cancelled... I'm glad we held off booking flights. Hopefully she reschedules later this year/early next when things have blown over.
Not sure why Pitchfork has been promoting that review from 2018 lately but i don't keep up with them. It's not even a good read, the writer doesn't have the range to understand the impact and legacy Avril and that album in particular have
I didn’t even realize it was from 2018. They do seem to randomly make Instagram posts about reviews at odd times, but I assumed it was the albums anniversary or something.