The Art of the Late Night / Avril Review

With summer here, I look forward to returning to a largely late-night-based schedule, which means most of my blogging will be late. Also returning are my Hit Lists, which are posts of random summaries of thoughts, events, etc.

Tonight's Hit List:

• I have given the new Avril Lavigne album, The Best Damn Thing, a complete listen. My quick review: Avril doesn't just trip and stumble with this album, but as far as her current fans should be concerned, she completely crashes into the ground. Best described as bubble-gum pop aimed squarely at the tween market, Avril's given up her serious songwriting side for pure pop candy. What makes matters worse is a complete lack of understanding for her audience, past and present, as her current lyrics are too simplistic for her old fans to care about, yet too vulgar for the tween crowd to hear. As one of her old songs put it... "I don't give a damn" about this album. I hope Avril can spend some time studying what she wants out of her career before she puts together a fourth album.

• Having suffered through Avril's newest album, I decided to take a trip down memory lane and relish her older work. I compiled a collection of 78 tracks by Avril, including her two previous albums, her live albums, rips from her live DVD, imports, and various other bits I scraped up over the years. Out of those 78 tracks, 78 are awesome.
  

• I'm plugging away on two stories right now, "Meltdown" and "Event Horizon." "Event Horizon" will be complete first, and I have a mid-June date penciled in to have it finished. I'll update as necessary.

Short and sweet, I know.

Out.