Originally posted by bnyced0:
So are you guys saying it's one of the best albums of the year, or a fun album that you like a few cuts off of, or the single or whatever? ...But if you're portraying it as a critical masterpiece perhaps I'll give it listen, I'd like to think I was open minded enough. But is that what you're actually saying?
First, I'll start by saying "Girlfriend" is my third favorite track on the album, so yes, I listen to the entire thing often, and like any album, it has a few tracks that I don't think are great, but for the most part it's a really enjoyable album.
But no, I would never say that it's a Critical Masterpiece, and I would caveat that by saying neither would Avril Lavigne. This thread is "Best Album of 2007" not critical masterpiece of 2007 (I would also argue that you could just about now be able to amply define the Critical Masterpiece of say 1997 - it takes about a decade to figure out what was critical masterpiece because 9 times out of 10 the brilliance of a critical masterpiece is missed because it's so far ahead of its time). It is what it is - a pop album, and as I've said before, a damn good pop album. I do not take myself (or my music) too seriously to think that I'm better than pop music, because I'm not. I'm a product of pop music and a fan of pop music.
On that note, when I compare it to other albums that I've purchased in 2007 (The Frames, Arcade Fire, Wilco, Katharine McPhee, Daughtry, Clap Your Hands, Explosions in the Sky, Modest Mouse, Of Montreal, the Shins, etc.), track for track, all the way through, I find Avril's album to be the most listenable and enjoyable, and therefore the early front runner for album of the year according to Smackie.
For the record, my favorite album of 2006 was Band of Horses and 2005 was Shout Out Louds tied with Nouvelle Vague. So feel free to take my opinions with a grain of salt if you disliked those too.
