In 2002 the Maryland quintet appeared out of nowhere with their hit debut single
‘Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous’ and released the album
‘The Young and the Hopeless’ which was truth be told a good, solid pop-punk album. Ever since then they have struggled to write songs that could match up to those on
‘TYATH’. Although they have progressively got worse from album-to-album, a lot has stayed the same: they still write upbeat songs with catchy hooks and melodies; they still have all the ‘angst’ of an 11-year-old kid whose balls are yet to drop-they are still ‘pop’.
What has been noticeable about Good Charlotte over the last three albums (this one included), is that they all too easily jump on bandwagons just to make money. With
‘TYATH’ it was the MTV brand of commercial pop-punk and with
‘Chronicles of Life and Death’ it was lyrics about, um, life and death.
‘Good Morning Revival’ predictably sees them take a more positive outlook and incorporate synthesisers along with a whole host of other electric sounds and effects.
The album starts out with the title track which makes use of subtle yet funky guitars and synth and softly sung lyrics that are barely audible. It is very short intro and a very disappointing one at that, as it doesn’t create much atmosphere at all. It leads into the surprisingly upbeat
‘Misery’. It is one of the better songs on the album despite fairly horrid lyrics (I say
‘fairly horrid’ because there are a lot worse lyrics on the album) as it manages to use the synth well enough to make an enjoyable, danceable chorus. Next up is
‘The River’, the strongest song on the album and is therefore an excellent choice for a single, and not only for the cameo of Avenged Sevenfold’s M. Shadows and Synyster Gates that will no doubt make them seem a little ‘cooler’. The lyrics for once are good, using many biblical references over a very solid sounding rock stomp. It is a shame for the band and their accountants that before releasing
‘The River’, they released the awful
‘Take Your Hands Off My Girl’ and after its release many will have already written off the idea of the album being worth buying. As mentioned earlier the lyrics are not the strong point of the album, fair play they can still write hooks, but at times, and especially here they are truly cringe worthy, or if it takes your fancy ‘laughable’.
You carry Dior bags,
And you got your Chanel,
You wear Louis Vuitton, HG, and YSL,
Now I got Bathing Ape,
I got DCMA
I got brass knuckles hanging,
From my neck and my chain,
Whatever happened to that band that mocked
‘The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous’…
What makes the song worse is that it is sung in a horrific, monotonous voice. Dreadful.
The simplistic chorus, and ‘oh-oh’s
‘Victims of Love’ make it a little better than the track that precedes it, but to be honest it’s no great achievement. The almost nursery rhyme-like piano riff used in
‘Where Would We Be Now’ is a nice change of pace from the dance/pop-punk that has made the basis for the album so far. It has a nice use of dynamics (quiet verse, louder chorus) that make it one of the stronger songs on the album but is still nothing special.
A failed attempt at a creepy intro courtesy of a deep church organ introduces
‘All Black’ which by contrast is upbeat and manages to finish 2nd place in the ‘awful lyrics’ category to
‘Take Your Hands Off My Girl’ with it’s chorus of
Take a look at my life, all black
Take a look at my clothes, all black
Like Johnny Cash, all black
Like The Rolling Stones wanna paint it black
Like the night that we met, all black
Like the colour of your dress, all black
Like the seats in my Cadillac
I used to see red, now it's just all black
‘Broken Hearts Parade’ is possibly the most upbeat song on the album with it’s blasting trumpets adding conviction to Joel’s vocals, and fast (ish) tempo. Despite its depressive lyrics it is unfortunately reminiscent of S-Club 7, although not being such a bad song. The closing song
‘March On’ has the potential to finish a weak album on a strong note, starting out strong with decorative hi-hat patterns over a simple bass drum stomp, background synthesized orchestration and impressive falsetto vocals. Unfortunately it just doesn’t go anywhere and is over without having the ‘loud section’ that you are left expecting.
Overall, Good Charlotte have made a weak album in
Good Morning Revival . Aside from the occasional good song, the album is poor and mostly made up of uninspired pop. The lyrics are for the most part, shocking and contradict their initial message of the ‘rich and famous are a joke’. Good Charlotte once had the ability to write uplifting, infectious pop-punk songs full of energy; but on this album the uplifting nature, infectiousness and energy has been traded in for synthesisers and melancholy backings that offer no real atmosphere.
Good Morning Revival shows that this is a trade that obviously didn’t pay off for the band and probably won’t make the big bucks that they and their record label had hoped for.
