Avril Lavigne - Under My Skin

List Price: $8.99
Our Price: $5.47
You Save: $3.52 (39%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more new music releases

Music CD Cover

• Avril Lavigne - Under My Skin

Free Music Notes for Under My Skin

Free Music Review: Avril Lavigne starts growing up on her second album
Hit: 5 Stars

But for "Under My Skin" there are two key changes. The producer is now Don Gilmore (engineer on Pearl Jam's "Ten" and producer of several Linkin Park albums) and fellow Canadian Chantal Kreviazuk (who I recognize from "Time" on the "Uptown Girl" soundtrack) has a hand in writing half of the dozen tracks and does piano, keyboards, and string arrangements as well. Do Gilmore and Kreviazuk get the credit for making "Under My Skin" a better album or does Lavigne actually get most of the credit? Damned if I call tell, but somebody did some serious upgrading of the lyrics.

Lavigne is writing songs about the down side of teenage boys, which is an expansive subject matter to contemplate. After all, teenage boys are the modern equivalent of the giant dinosaurs of the past that needed a second brain at the other end to help them along. When dealing with them the fundamental rule is to remember that whenever the other brain is engaged, do not believe anything that is being said. As she points out in "Forgotten," it is not like they are listening to you:

Have you forgotten
Everything that I wanted
Do you forget it now
You never got It
Do you get it now

If there is an obvious anthem on this album it would have to be "Don't Tell Me," where she finds these boys wanting because of what they want and have the gall to expect:

Guess it wasn't enough to take up some of my love
Guys are so hard to trust
Did I not tell you that I'm not like that girl?
The one who gives it all away

[Chorus:]
Did you think that I was gonna give it up to you, this time?
Did you think that it was somethin I was gonna do and cry?
Don't try to tell me what to do,
Dont try to tell me what to say,
Your better off that way

The consistent perspective in these songs is rather retrospective, as the charm and illusions on the teenage infatuation that passes for love is dispelled by the harsh realities of being a teenage girl. It is not surprising then that "My Happy Ending" is about anything but:

You were everything, everything that I wanted
We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it
And all the memories, so close to me, just fade away
All this time you were pretending
So much for my happy ending

The theme is rather pessimistic from the start as we see in first track, "Take Me Away," which establishes the idea that teenage love is pretty confusing:

All the pain I thought I knew
All the thoughts lead back to you
Back to what was never said
Back and forth inside my head
I can't handle this confusion
I'm unable; come and take me away

But since I keep thinking that this perspective smacks more of realism than pessimism, it seems to me that in the final analysis Lavigne is not only comforting young women but giving their male counterparts broad hints on what they are doing wrong. Teenage boys can just listen to "He Wasn't" and then do the opposite:

Sit on the bed alone, staring at the phone.
He wasn't what I wanted, what I thought, no.
He wouldn't even open up the door.
He never made me feel like I was special.
He isn't really what I'm looking for.

This is when I start to bite my nails.
And clean my room when all else fails.
I think it's time for me to bail.
This point of view is getting stale.

If teenage boys listen to the lyrics of "Under My Skin" then they should not how to do better. But they better not try to fake it because Lavigne's target audience is going to be singing along with these songs and the words are going to get through. I have been listening to this album repeatedly for about two weeks as you can tell even I started paying attention to the lyrics when I was singing along. I have two teenage daughters and I certainly made sure that they got hooked on theses songs as well.

Under My Skin Poster

DVD SIDE: * Entire album in enhanced LPCM Stereo * Music Video for #1 single "My Happy Ending" and "Nobody?s Home" * Behind the scenes footage * Photo Gallery This disc is intended to play on standard DVD and CD players. May not play on a limited number of models.

Pop Music CDs

• Music > Styles
• Rock