Goodbye Lullaby
| Avril Lavigne
Goodbye Lullaby
Goodbye Lullaby is the fourth studio album by Canadian singer and songwriter Avril Lavigne. It was released on March 2, 2011 through RCA Records. Recording sessions for the album began in November 2008 and continued over a period of nearly two years, concluding in October 2010. Goodbye Lullaby is a primarily a pop rock album and is considered a more introspective record from Lavigne in comparison to her previous material, consisting mainly of stripped down instruments such as the piano and acoustic guitar. Lavigne assumed an integral role in the album's production and co-wrote every original track on Goodbye Lullaby, as well as collaborating with several producers including Max Martin, Shellback, Butch Walker, and her ex-husband Deryck Whibley. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Rolling Stone
March 8, 2011. Goodbye Lullaby is lovelorn and introspective, full of gusty tunes with a surprising message: Avril cares.
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Slant Magazine
May 7, 2011. . . . Goodbye Lullaby finds the erstwhile mall punk once again trying her hand at a more mature record. Though she’s brought in top-tier pop producers like Max Martin and Butch Walker, the results really aren’t any more impressive than they were on her sophomore effort, Under My Skin.
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Boston Globe
March 8, 2011. And while “Goodbye’’ features some of her best vocalizing and is chock-full of the pop hooks that have become her trademark (thanks, in part, to collaborators such as Max Martin), Lavigne struggles lyrically.
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BBC Music
March 8, 2011. Self-effacing fourth album from the Canadian star, but lacking authenticity.
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Village Voice
March 9, 2011. Faced with competing for “pop” ambitions this “rock” wannabe never really had, she instead strides toward brunette-dom on the new, stalwartly unfun Goodbye Lullaby, which—if you couldn’t tell from the piano on the cover—means Vanessa Carlton and Michelle Branch. This is the death of Auto-Tune, moment of silence.
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Washington Post
March 8, 2011. Once a Hot Topic punk pioneer, she now sounds like a B-list Katy Perry who isn't having any fun.
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Billboard
March 3, 2011. . . . Lavigne surveys love lost and found amid mostly acoustic guitars, piano and strings. But it's not all dour. She's decidedly in love on several of these 14 tracks, but it will clearly take more than just another "Sk8er Boi" to rock her world in the future.
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IGN
March 14, 2011. You could not possibly hate a baby enough to play them this lullaby.
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SPIN
March 8, 2011. You know you’re in trouble when Avril Lavigne starts sharing song titles with R.E.M. and Pink Floyd. Yet if “Everybody Hurts” and “Wish You Were Here” find the former brat-punk princess in dreary woe-is-me mode . . . , Goodbye Lullaby isn’t entirely free of the singer’s shallow-end sass . . . .
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A.V. Club Music
March 8, 2011. Lavigne is a divorced singer-songwriter about to enter her late 20s, but on Lullaby, she would’ve been better off not acting her age.
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Plugged In
Goodbye Lullabye should have been named A Tale of Two Avrils. Just when you start to suspect it's going to be nothing but vacuous, profane shout-outs to tired rock 'n' roll tropes, Avril pulls a whiplash-inducing 180, trades in superficial synth-pop for serious acoustic stylings, and wades into an eight-song requiem for her failed marriage.
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What Culture
October 16, 2013. Overall, the sound is much more raw and stripped-back than her previous ventures (it is unlikely to attract Lavigne any new listeners) but still includes tracks that are more upbeat pop songs amongst the ballads. At heart, however, it is very much a breakup record.
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Los Angeles Times
March 8, 2011. On her new outing, “Goodbye Lullaby,” the Canadian punk princess files down her fangs a little bit, which makes her bratty side easier to swallow but her sweet side all the more saccharine.
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Entertainment
March 9, 2011. Avril Lavigne — like her breakthrough single from 2002 — is, in a word, complicated. . . . Goodbye Lullaby seeks balance: The first half is loaded with glossy confections, while the second consists of quieter reflections clearly inspired by . . . her ex-husband, Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley.
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PopMatters
March 15, 2011. Though Lullaby boasts plenty of slow-to-midtempo love songs, none of them are what you might term “power ballads". They’re more what you might term “four-chord guitar ballads on serious themes".
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seattlepi.com
April 26, 2011. Avril is back! She brings it with tons of fun songs to suit your mood, in love and out of love!
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All Music
March 8, 2011. Lavigne once again seems to be grappling with emotions just beyond her reach, never articulating her angst or crafting a melancholy melody, making Goodbye Lullaby feel affected, not genuine.
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Blast Magazine
March 12, 2011. The album is an improvement on her recent work; Avril’s voice is still great, and the songs are pretty much in line with her catalog. With that in mind, its an enjoyable listen, but you may not take much from it.
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American Noise
March 4, 2011. These are stories about loss, about walking away, about the end of things, but they fail to communicate anything meaningful about those topics—just an overbearing sense of defeat that seeps into every part of the album.
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Digital Spy
July 3, 2011. It might make for an album that breaks little ground stylistically, but continues to keep Avril at the forefront of the brat-pop movement.
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MGTXmatty
August 23, 2011. With a nack to writing catchy pop tunes and lyrics that are equally as pleasing there was no doubt that this album would be popular with her already big following of teen fans.
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Her Campus
March 14, 2011. Overall, the album is a great mix of guitar-driven, mellow songs. Lavigne’s voice shines in the tracks. However, a good amount of the album seems to be emotionally disconnected.
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SF Gate
March 6, 2011. Mostly, Lavigne, who at least used to buy into her own faux-rebellious stance but now uses her music videos to hawk her perfume and clothing line, merely sounds defeated.
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punk for posers
March 14, 2011. On Goodbye Lullaby there isn’t a thirsty polar bear in sight, but there is that distinct stench of advertising that often seems to provide the consumable glue between the sincere and the spurious.
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Edge of the Plank
March 2, 2011. . . . Goodbye Lullaby could be classed as a break-up album, expressing a mellow tone with meaningful and deep lyrics (the best lyrics she has ever written in my opinion) which many can relate to.
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Express
March 4, 2011. With a divorce in her recent memory it's no surprise that this fourth album, which was two years in the making, is a little darker and a little more grown up than her earlier kid-rock output.
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Contactmusic.com
March 21, 2011. After such a promising start, 'Goodbye Lullaby' turns out to have overloaded its first section with the quality tunes, leaving the latter part struggling in comparison.
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ShufflePlay
March 12, 2011. Goodbye Lullaby is a decent album from Avril all things considered. Sonically, it’s a mixture of her first two records. On paper, it sounds like a great idea because both records were great in their own respects, but the end result isn’t as impressive as imagined.
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laut.de
March 4, 2011. The tracks almost invariably miss any of their own contours. They have no character, not even a bad one. And that's nothing to do with the pop-genre, which is often so vulnerable to superficiality anyway.
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YAM Magazine
March 8, 2011. Goodbye Lullaby is more of the same, except she curses a lot more in her songs like Wish You Where Here and Smile, making her sound like an 8-year-old who’s found out that she can say bad words.
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Vulture
March 8, 2011. . . . most of Goodbye Lullaby is solidly non-ridiculous. It’s speedy, energetic, straightforward, gleaming pop-rock with, yes, lots of acoustic guitars and big choruses and adult poise.
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NY Daily News
March 8, 2011. Avril Lavigne's 'Goodbye Lullaby' is a musical bait & switch that doesn't stray far from past albums.
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Andrew J C Nicholls
March 14, 2011. Despite its flaws, and there are a few, Goodbye Lullaby is a very good album that doesn’t disappoint. It may not be her best work but it is far better than her worst.
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EMBRACE YOU Magazine
March 11, 2011. Overall, EY gives this album a rating of 4.8/5. It’s completely lovers friendly, and while her previous albums were more on the rockier side, ‘Goodbye Lullaby‘ showcases a more subtle Lavigne.
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REUTERS
March 8, 2011. Avril Lavigne more "emotional," "raw" on new album.
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Newsday
March 7, 2011. Avril Lavigne's "Goodbye Lullaby" (RCA) is a mess. There's so much self-involved nonsense, "Goodbye" can't come fast enough.
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Review Stream
All in all, a good solid senior effort that I do not believe lets fans down. In fact I think it dares to rival her previous albums (less of course her last one).
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MASS LIVE
March 7, 2011. “Goodbye Lullaby” reflects some struggling with musical maturity and direction, always a challenge from someone who has reached such lofty heights at such an early age.
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Baeble Music
March 8, 2011. The fourth studio album to come from Avril Lavigne, entitled Goodbye Lullaby, strips down past years' theatrics and focuses primarily on the emotional origin of the musical content.
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Pop Renegade
February 24, 2011. . . . Goodbye Lullaby trades brassy kiss-offs for a sobering dose of introspection. The music is more grown-up too: strings, down-tuned piano notes, and soft-strummed acoustic guitars are all over the album. Lavigne and her collaborations go for a more direct line to traditional pop here, . . . .
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StarTribune
March 8, 2011. . . . Lavigne still sounds like the teen who broke through with sassy pop/rock almost a decade ago. Yet Lavigne's sound is dated, her voice is immature and her themes are mostly vapid and unappealingly morose.
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