I'm coming out... as an Avril stan!

I've always liked Avril. She might come across as a miserable bitch with a chip on her shoulder the size of Lady Gaga's penis but her music is hot. I never got around to reviewing "Goodbye Lullaby" on the blog but it would easily place in my top 10 albums of 2011. Thus far. Admittedly, it's not quite in the same league as her brilliant 2004 opus "Under My Skin" - which is one of my favourite albums of all time - but in comparison to the soulless shit being served up by Britney and Rihanna, it's a fucking masterpiece. At first I thought it was a little light on singles but with each new spin, I become more and more convinced that songs like "Push", "Wish You Were Here" and "I Love You" could be hits. A lot is riding on the second single. If "Smile" takes off, Avril has a (small) chance of snatching her pop/rock crown back from Pink. If not, it's only a matter of time before we see her co-anchoring The Voice next to Xtina. Actually that would be kind of amazing! But back to "Smile". The perky Max Martin/Shellback produced brat anthem is a total winner. Catchy, radio friendly and infused with enough attitude to keep the kids happy - this should do well with a decent video and a bit of promotion. Now Avril just needs to drag her bony arse back to Sydney for a tour. Nobody mopes around stage looking bored shitless better than her!

Wasted Singles - Vol. 2

I guess it's a bit pointless to talk about wasted singles from a multi-million selling smash hit album but that's never stopped me in the past. So here goes. Contrary to popular belief, I love P!nk. In fact, I was a full blown stan circa "Try This" but - as is often the case with me - I started to lose interest when she blew up. That didn't stop me buying all the singles from "I'm Not Dead" and "Funhouse", not to mention seeing her in concert half a dozen times. Of those two career making blockbusters, I vastly prefer the former. To my ears, "Funhouse" is a lazy re-hash of "I'm Not Dead" for the countries that missed out on the "I'm Not Dead" hysteria that swept through Australia like a bushfire in January. It worked a treat but there are only a handful of songs that made my P!nk playlist. The singles were particularly hit and miss. I like "So What", love "Please Don't Leave Me" and outright worship "I Don't Believe You" but the rest left a lot to be desired. "Sober", "Bad Influence" and "Funhouse"? Bitch, please. Why bother with that shit when you have a gem like "It's All Your Fault" gathering dust on the album?

It's all your fault, you called me beautiful
You turned me out and now I can't turn back

I don't know where to start with "It's All Your Fault". It's one of those tracks that cuts a little too close to the bone and drifts in and out of my life depending on my mood and general level of crazy. P!nk eloquently captures a sense of frustration and confusion that is rarely expressed in popular music. "It's All Your Fault" isn't an angry fuck off anthem or a pathetic plea to be loved. Girlfriend just wants to know where she stands. Not that it's all deep and meaningful. Produced by Swedish maestro Max Martin, this gem is every bit as catchy - if not more so - than the singles that were lifted from the album. The simple "da da da" hook does the trick and she tears the chorus up. I love P!nk's voice on this. She sounds amazing when she rocks out instead of pulling back as she does on lo-fi crap like "Crystal Ball" and "Glitter In The Air". Leave that for the lesbian singer-songwriters who don't know any better! I have no idea why "It's All Your Fault" was ignored by the record company. Maybe they wanted to leave at least one good song on the album, so people didn't demand a refund. As such, there is no video but I found this fan made clip on YouTube and it does the trick. A couple more tracks like this on her next opus and I'll happily jump back on the bandwagon.