The Best Damn Thing
| Avril Lavigne
The Best Damn Thing
The Best Damn Thing is the third studio album by Canadian singer Avril Lavigne. It was released on 17 April 2007 by RCA Records. The album represents a musical departure from her earlier studio album Under My Skin (2004), which incorporates more elements of post-grunge music. The Best Damn Thing is seen by critics as Lavigne's most commercial effort. The album was noted as her first effort to feature a wide range of producers, including Matt Beckley, Rob Cavallo, Dr. Luke and Lavigne herself, who was credited as the executive producer.-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Rolling Stone
April 17, 2007. Like most everything she’s done, The Best Damn Thing is big, big, big, with teen punk and ballads getting shots of pop steroids — as well as big doses of her usual sass, anger and vulnerability.
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Slant Magazine
April 15, 2007. . . . The Best Damn Thing is simply in bad damn taste. It’s an unexpected move for Avril, . . . . The Best Damn Thing is a big step back for an artist who was just starting to grow up.
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PopMatters
May 30, 2007. Those with a sweet tooth for bubblegum in the pop-punk variety will find a lot here to love. Those who have no interest will probably keep on guzzling the haterade.
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BBC - Music
April 17, 2007. In all of its foot-stompin', hand-clappin' splendour, this parade of hollaback hymns to bad boyfriends, bad girlfriends and bad behaviour shows an Avril Lavigne who, on her third album, knows the secret to a great pop chorus and isn’t taking herself too seriously.
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The Guardian
April 19, 2007. Her confidence is obnoxious but irresistible, whether chanting about periods on the punchy title track, or launching into Runaway's massive soft-rock chorus with gusto. Crammed with hooks, The Best Damn Thing is a triumphant comeback.
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AllMusic
April 17, 2007. True, this is far from deep, but Under My Skin proved that a deep Avril is a dull Avril. The Best Damn Thing, in contrast, builds on every one of her bratty strengths, which makes for ridiculously catchy pop -- the kind of music that provides a soundtrack for teens and guilty pleasures for everyone else.
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The Collegian
April 30, 2014. All in all, Lavigne moves beyond the dark black goth of Under My Skin to show her pink goth side on The Best Damn Thing. I give it five stars. Lavigne is showing the world punk-goths can be happy and upbeat too.
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Sputnik Music
April 15, 2007. The fact that she doesn’t try to make every track downbeat and super-personal makes The Best Damn Thing one of the more emotionally honest albums of the year.
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Music OMH
April 16, 2007. . . . latest disc The Best Damn Thing doesn’t so much as moan about boys, rather it showcases Lavigne in a far feistier mood,kicking their asses and taking names respectively.
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The Young Folks
April 17, 2007. The Best Damn Thing displayed Lavigne’s maturity and growth as a singer-songwriter as her music dove into deeper topics of loss and hope.
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Melodic Net
“The Best Damn Thing” has some great tunes of course like the Butch Walker penned “When You´re Gone” and “Everything Back but You”, but overall feels this like her most uninspiring and “teenie” record so far. Some youngsters might like it, but I don’t!
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Entertainment
April 13, 2007. . . . she’s provided the best darn rock & roll album teen girls are likely to hear all year…at least till that tough rock chick Kelly Clarkson comes back to bang heads and take names.
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NOW magazine
You'd think Lavigne'd be able to swallow her insecurity enough to write one song that's not about dissing other girls or how great her honey is. . . . I miss the tomboy tween who scoffed at the ballerina that wanted to snag her sk8r boi.
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Common Sense Media
Though other lyrics address more traditional lovesick longing, there's an overall sense of empowerment and control, spiced with an ironic wink that helps get these simple, appealing songs across.
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New York Times
April 16, 2007. Just about every word and every note on Avril Lavigne’s third album, “The Best Damn Thing,” is delivered as if it leads to an exclamation point. As an album “The Best Damn Thing” is too relentless to be heard end to end. Its songs are expected to bring occasional jolts to a playlist.
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This Must Be Pop
April 6, 2007. If I was expecting an album full of tracks as ace as Girlfriend, I would have been sorely disappointed, but I haven’t forgotten the fact that Avril has been decidedly mediocre for the majority of her career until now.
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entertainment.ie
Mrs. Whibley's third album has been pegged as a 'less mellow, more upbeat' junket by some - but the paradoxically-titled 'The Best Damn Thing' sounds eerily familiar to the 22-year old Lavigne's previous output.
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IGN
April 18, 2007. The title definitely doesn't refer to the music found within, that's for sure.
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Contact Music
May 23, 2007. Lavigne has said of this album that she wanted more upbeat tracks, as those were the ones she enjoyed playing more on tour. While this may be the case, it is actually two ballads that prove to be the stand-out moments. . . . but this couplet are far from enough to save what is a mediocre record.
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PEOPLE
May 7, 2007. Smartly, the whiny-voiced Lavigne keeps the ballads—and the honeymoon sentiments—to a minimum. She’s much better as a mean girl than a mushy one.
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Guitar Chords
“The Best Damn Thing,” mega popular singer Avril Lavigne’s third album is packed with fun songs and heartful ballads that will appeal to any teen girl.
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Perfect Music
October 3, 2008. As I've said earlier, I am really an Avril Lavigne fan. And this album really proves that she's the best damn thing!
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Iowastatedaily
April 19, 2007. Overall, I would recommend previewing the album before buying, as the mix of musical styles make some songs more favorable than others.
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Austin Chronicle
May 18, 2007. Her homespun homilies . . . ain't Emily Dickinson, but Lavigne's punk-lite cheerleader chic could well be tweens' first tantalizing steps down the primrose path to Patti Smith. Or, all right, Pink, but The Best Damn Thing is still more fun than an afternoon shopping with your BFF.
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Robert Christgau
I never cared whether she was really a punk (as if)--I just wished she'd act like one ("The Best Damn Thing," "Everything Back but You"). **
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The Edge
April 17, 2017. The Best Damn Thing marked Avril Lavigne’s transition from teen-tomboy queen to sexually mature blonde bombshell, replacing ties and combat pants with heavy eye make up, lacy dresses and corsets.
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The Boston Globe
April 17, 2007. For reasons that require little explanation, Lavigne takes a giant, calculated, silly step backward on her third CD, " The Best Damn Thing" -- to the youthful spunk, but sadly not the precocious range of her debut CD.
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