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From the opening sounds of GOOD CHARLOTTE’s
fourth album Good Morning Revival -- which
launches with an artful, innovative sound collage
that slides into the irresistible “Misery”-- it’s
evident that the world-famous band who’ve sold
over nine million albums has revolutionized its
sound for 2007. And by the time the optimistic
parting shot “March On” rolls around it’s evident
that this is the vibrant adventurous and unexpected
rock album that has redefined the group.
Returning to work with producer Don Gilmore
(Pearl Jam, Linkin Park, Avril Lavigne) -- who
helmed Good Charlotte’s eponymous 2000
breakthrough debut -- was the decisive change
that reinvigorated the band. After a pair of
successful albums like 2002’s tremendously
popular triple platinum The Young and the
Hopeless and 2004’s subsequent million-selling
follow-up The Chronicles of Life and Death
(which were realized with producer Eric
Valentine),GC singer Joel Madden says its
modus operandi on Good Morning Revival
(Epic/Daylight) was simply to“make a record
that we loved and that felt good”
In an effort to achieve that goal, Gilmore
challenged Joel and his identical twin, Good
Charlotte’s guitarist Benji Madden, to bring
their A game. And he was highly critical.
“We threw out 50 or 60 songs and pretty
much started over,” Benji says. “Don was like
‘I want to reinvent you guys. I want people
to ask themselves, ‘Is that Good Charlotte?”
“We wanted to love every track,”bassist Paul
Thomas explains. “Our goal this time out was
to make it an awesome listen straight through.
No fucking filler man”
For the Maddens, who - unlike their bandmates
Paul, guitarist/keyboardist Billy Martin and new
Good Charlotte drummer Dean Butterworth --
had become fixtures of the paparazzi-addled
L.A. nightclub scene as well as prominent DJs,
the opportunity to ship up to Vancouver to
create new music was absolutely necessary
and remarkably fruitful.
The first day in British Columbia the Maddens
had the bulk of “Victim of Love,” the contagious
harmony-laden rock & roll song, down. “We
knew we were onto something,” Joel explains.
And literally every day it was like we were
writing a new song. After two months in Canada
isolating ourselves and getting away from
everything that we were comfortable with was
amazing. We came away with most of what
you hear on this record.”
By the time the group officially hit the studio with
Gilmore, the downtime between its last tour and
its official reconvening was as therapeutic as it
was motivational. “The fact that we were able to
stop, take a deep breath and kind of find some
appreciation for all that we’ve accomplished has
a lot to do with why this record sounds as vital
and electrifying as it does,” says Martin. “We
used to just take every offer that came our way
and we’d never get much in the way of downtime
Now that we’ve had that time off
it feels like a new band in a lot of ways.”
One of the album’s highlights is its first single: the
blistering, unforgettable rocker “The River,” an
impassioned song about sin and redemption that
traverses the dark side of Los Angeles. For the
song, the band brought longtime friends and fellow
musicians M. Shadows and Synyster Gates (of
Avenged Sevenfold) into the mix, marking the first
time Good Charlotte has officially collaborated with
another artist on an album. It turned out to be a
natural fit for both bands.
“We’ve been friends with Avenged for a longtime.
This wasn’t planned, but it ended up working out,
”Joel explains. “We were sitting around listening to
some new music and they liked that song so we
asked them to jump on. It felt right and sounded
really cool. Aside from being friends of ours, we’re
also fans of their music and since this is our first
collaboration, we couldn’t be happier that they’re a
part of our record.”
Good Morning Revival sustains its momentum with
tracks like the fuzzy, club-driven “Dancefloor
Anthem” and the genre-defying, Gorillaz-like You
Tube favorite “Keep Your Hands Off My Girl”
(which was introduced to audiences on the band’s
U.S. fall 2006 tour and will be the lead single in
Europe, Asia and South America). Good Charlotte
has proven that it can thrive in a number of
musical realms.
“Honestly, the first time I heard it, I was like,
‘Are you fucking kidding me? People will never
know that’s a Good Charlotte song,” concedes
Billy. “And then Joel’s like, ‘Well, that’s the
point!’ But soon enough it had me in its
clutches.”
“It’s kind of weird,” Joel says. “That song takes
a lot of balls. I know some people will listen to it
and probably think ‘No thank you.’ It’s definitely
not as if we sat down and penned a piece of art.
It’s kind of like a sarcastic take on the whole
club scene.”
Elsewhere, on the hard-charging dance
beat-steered rocker “Misery” -- in which the
singer observes the “tacky, plastic, shallow,
empty” people that distinguish the City of Angels
-- the keyboards are really pronounced. While
the gorgeous “A Beautiful Place,” which evokes
strains of Travis, The Beach Boys and the
Flaming Lips, asserts that Good Charlotte is as
much of a bona fide pop band and serious chart
contender as it is a techno group or a punk quintet
“I wrote that song in Mexico,” Benji says of
“A Beautiful Place.” “I was down there during
hurricane season and I was in this beautiful beach
environment. I had a night off and I was just
thinking about how lucky I’ve been. “That’s a real
Dean moment. It was different when
we wrote it, but then Dean started playing that
real pronounced drum part. The drums are part of
the hook. And it changed the whole sound.”
Speaking of new vibes, the ups and downs of
relationships propel rock anthems like “Break
Her Heart” and the opposites attract tack of
“Something Else.” These songs, along with the
tender, melodic ballad “Where Would We Be,” find
Joel -- who recently ended a lengthy, highly
-publicized relationship with a certain movie star
-- putting his feelings out there for public scrutiny.
“I’m sure people are going to say these songs are
about this or that,” he admits. “Love is a big part
of me and I’ve accepted that and it’s in my music.
And I’m not afraid to just show it.”
Such honesty coupled with success and personal
growth couldn’t help but inform Good Morning
Revival. “This record shows a lot more of us than
anything we’ve done in the past,” Benji says.
“Because it’s hard to be an angry kid, all mad at
the world when you’ve got it so good. I mean, that
angst will always be there for Joel and I because
of the way we grew up. Our father wasn’t the best
role model as people know. But I definitely have a
moment every day where I go,‘Wow. What a rad life’
I look at myself as being really blessed.”
To which Joel adds, “It’s been a roller coaster ride
for us in our own little way. We were up, then we
kind of went down a bit. But now we’re up again.
I think our new record has really been as much
about looking back as it is about moving forward.
We’ve realized a lot, and I’m really grateful that
we’re still doing what we love.”
Revitalized and inspired, Good Morning Revival
finds Good Charlotte at its creative pinnacle.
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