Avril Lavigne’s self-titled album from 2013 was highly slept on by the music industry and the general public. The album still contained some of Avril Lavigne’s iconic piano ballads and heavy rock influences. The album itself is a Here’s To Never Growing Up.
However music critics grew tired of her ideas and anthems. Many music critics responded with mixed reviews. Avril Lavigne’s self-titled album was her least successful album to date despite having Here’s To Never Growing Up and Rock N Roll as buzz singles. The album peaked at #5 on the BillBoard 200 yet suffered from low sales.
Avril Lavigne went back to her rebellious punk rock roots on the song Here’s To Never Growing Up. It's about being young and wanting to be young forever while living in the moment by having fun. The song itself is a nostalgia trip. Its music video on YouTube received millions of views online. Here’s To Never Growing Up was a hit and the lead single.
This song has a moderate tempo of 82 bpm and is composed almost entirely in the key of F major. This song has a moderate tempo similar to Complicated from 2002. The song has a “punch” in its sound due to constant usage of a kick drum. Guitars and drums are the melody.
At the beginning is where Avril references English rock band Radiohead. Ironically Radiohead is also featured in the chorus. At the chorus, she continues "We'll be running down the street yelling kiss my ass"
Avril declares her celebration to never maturing in the second verse. It is clearly a "celebration of being forever young".:
This is who we are
I don't think we'll ever change
They say 'Just grow up.’
but they don't know us
We don't give a fuck!
The songwriting on Hush Hush conveys such deep meaning as the song emits a barrage of feelings. Feelings such as regret, anger, hopefulness, and desperation. Hush Hush is a piano driven ballad that is an original song written by Avril Lavigne herself.
The song starts with a calm vibe where Avril whispers “hush” repeatedly. She seems to be trying to calm someone down or maybe even herself. This could have been after a fight or a breakdown. The chorus is full of pain and regret. She whispers in a peaceful and comforting way “hush hush” planing to ease the sorrow along with the mood.
Verse 2 is where Avril is now filled with regret.
[Verse 2]
When I try to forget you
I just keep on remembering
What we had, it was so true
And somehow we lost everything
Hush hush, now (Hush hush, now)
Rock N Roll has some fun, rebellious anthems. The song is about care-free non-conformance where Avril sing-shouts lyrics in her usual cadence and piercing voice. Her usual piercing falling cadence shimmers throughout the song. Chords from the guitar are electronically synchronized to a full drum kit.
This rock song is similar to classic rock anthems such as I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll, Detroit Rock City, I Wanna Rock, and We Will Rock You. The song itself pays homage and tribute to the genre of rock music hence the appropriate title.
Hello Kitty as a song was a PR disaster. The Hello Kitty music video was slammed by the news media along with the press. Avril Lavigne was accused of racism and cultural appropriation (or misappropriation depending on how you look at it) over the video's stereotypical depiction of Japanese culture. Avril Lavigne did not take the backlash very seriously which her hurt music career in a sense.
Mix the subgenres of J-pop, dubstep, and EDM, and the result is this song called Hello Kitty. The song is clearly inspired by J-pop. The song uses both the Japanese language and English language.
If the songs What The Hell, Wish You Were Here, Everybody Hurts, Not Enough, and Smile were included on this album, the this album would have been more of a success. Now if Avril paid attention to the backlash of controversy over the Hello Kitty music video, then her career and album sales would not have suffered.
I rate this album 3/5***!
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