Search - Good Charlotte :: Good Charlotte

Good, but you can tell it's a debut.

Anne & Brooke | Maryland, USA | 10/13/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Note: This review was written by Anne with no help from Brooke. Brooke didn't even get to read it before publication. She also doesn't own this album as Anne does.



I liked this album but it has all the classic symptoms of a debut album: All the songs kind of sound the same, the guys are trying way too hard to be cool, and the songwriting isn't as polished as on later albums. All the "What?"s, "yeah!"s, "come on!"s, "here we go"s, "know what I'm sayin'?"s, and "let's go"s did get annoying, but the music was good enough that I could get over it.



1. Little Things--- This is one of the best songs on the album and a good one to listen to if you're stressing over something that means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things. A nice guitar part, and great lyrics, although I couldn't help wondering how your mom being committed and your dad leaving you on Christmas Eve qualify as "little" things. It's still a great song though.



2. Waldorfworldwide--- This is my personal favorite. It's the kind of song anyone can sing along too (save for the hardcore anti GC people, but I'm not going to pay attention to them). I can't listen to it without nodding my head to the music and singing along to at least parts of it, if not the whole thing. Same goes for "Little Things". They definitely got the album started off right, but it starts to go a little downhill about now.



3. The Motivation Proclaimation--- Like I said, this one isn't near as good as the first two songs. It's not a bad song, but I've heard a lot better. If it had been up to me, I wouldn't have put the song that says "I never said that everything would be o.k" right after the song that says "Everything's gonna be alright." That's just me. It's not even all that fun to listen to either.



4. East Coast Anthem--- I think this one was supposed to be their "look, we have an attitude!" song. Lyrcicwise, it's pretty weak. All I got out of it was "On the east coast we ride until we die" and "There's a place inside my mind that you'll never find." These two things don't really fit together, and the song as a whole really didn't make sense. I think I knew what they were trying to say, that they're not like the rest of Hollywood and they're not changing no matter how many people don't like them. They could've made it clearer though. It is however quite fun to listen to and WILL get stuck in your head (not sure if that's a good thing or not.)



5. Festival Song--- This one is kind of a predecessor to their more popular song "The Anthem" which can be found on "Young & the Hopeless." Both have the same you-can't-tell-me what-to-do spirit. Personally, I like "The Anthem" better, but "Festival Song" is good too. If you don't like "The Anthem" you probably won't like this one either and if you do then you probably will.



6. Complicated--- This one's about their dad who left them. I like the bridge but in the beginning there is an attempt at rap that is just plain stupid. This is probably my least favorite of their "dad" songs (the others being "Story of My Old Man" and "Emotionless", both from "Young & the Hopeless".) Not that good but not that bad.



7. Seasons--- Brooke is going to kill me for this but they sound kind of like the Jonas Brothers. It's an "I'm-still-in-love-with-you-and-I-wish-you-were-still-here" song, which I usually don't like but I think this is actually one of the best songs on the album. It's one of those songs that's just an acoustic guitar and a voice when it starts out but by the end sounds like real rock. I love it when songs do that. Some people will probably just deem it a stupid love song (which it kind of is) but I like it anyway.



8. I Don't Wanna Stop--- This one also sounds kind of like the Jonas Brothers, another one that's fun to listen to and gets stuck in your head but is not particularly meaningful. I'm still trying to figure out if the "ba doo ba doo"s make it more fun to listen to or are just annoying.



9. I Heard You--- I like this song but I do think they're a little old to be singing about high school. Once again, nothing really to offer lyricwise (Like I said, it's about high school. Need I say more?) but fun to listen to.



10. The Click--- This is a good one to put after "I Heard You" and is one of the better songs on the album. I like the opening guitar riff and the lyrics, which basically say SCREW THE POPULAR KIDS! It's also about being happy with the true friends you have, instead of wishing you were friends with people who don't even like you. A good one to listen to when you're mad.



11. Walk By--- Remember how I said they all sound the same? The more I write the more I realize how right I was. Guess what my review of this one is going to be. You got it: Fun to listen to (another one that opens with a great guitar riff) but weak lyrics. Wow, I wish there was something else I could say about these songs.



12. Let Me Go--- This one kicks off with a cool bass riff. Yay for variety. Other than that it's the same thing I've been saying about everything else. I'm not even going to bother to say it again because I assume you people are smart enough to notice a pattern.



13. Screamer--- This is one of the better ones. It has, get this, MEANINGFUL LYRICS!!!!!!! A nice guitar part too. It's in my top five, along with "Little Things", "Waldorfworldwide", "Seasons", and "The Click".



14. Change--- Nothing really memorable about this song. It does have good lyrics, but not much else to offer. Certainly no insane guitar solos or super catchy chorus or anything of that sort.



15. Thank You Mom--- This is a hidden song that I don't particularly like but is too sweet to criticize.



There are lots of songs on here that I like for no good reason. As you can tell, this is the kind of album that people who don't really care about lyrics and merely want fun-to-listen-to songs buy. If you're one of those people, you'll like it. I also recommend it to hard-core GC fans, but if you're not and are looking to buy your first GC album, I recommend "Young & the Hopeless". The lyrics are better but they still sound like a garage band as opposed to their latest album that has a sort of dance club vibe (don't get me wrong, I love "Good Morning Revival" but I can see why other people wouldn't). Good Charlotte has serious talent, both as musicians and songwriters, but that talent just wasn't exhibited as well here as on other albums.



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