The Fall Of Avril Lavigne

As you all know that we spent a weekend listening to only Avril Lavigne albums to figure out where it all went wrong.

It’s hardly surprising when a pop star becomes a punchline. A life in the public eye is challenging at the best of times, let alone in a digital age when scorn and mockery are easy tactics to cope with mass culture’s persistent attempts to tell us what to buy/consume/listen to. Some pop stars manage to rebound from the jokes; others get buried under them.

The punchlines have been chasing Avril Lavigne for some time now. They’re inevitable when Avril Lavigne suddenly announce her engagement to probably the most readily mocked individual in Canadian music which is Chad Kroeger of Nickelback, and her declining sales and staid rebellion image haven’t helped matters. But it took a particularly dreadful single and a dose of cultural appropriation for the punchlines to coalesce into a full-blown TKO where Avril Lavigne's new Hello Kitty video is terrible and pretty racist.

Hello Kitty is easily the nadir of Avril Lavigne’s career: musically, visually, existentially. Much of the conversation since the video’s release has been about whether or not the Japan-centric clip is racist. Lavigne’s response to the accusations was characteristically juvenile (RACIST??? LOLOLOL!!!) and predictably tin-eared: the fact that it was made with a Japanese director, choreographer, and label, or that Avril Lavigne spends half her time these days in Japan, doesn’t make the video’s portrayal of Japanese culture any more appropriate, or any less uncomfortable to watch. One would think that 10 years on from Gwen Stefani’s controversial Harajuku Girls video, artists and labels alike would have gained some perspective on how problematic these sorts of shallow, culture-raiding gimmicks are. Clearly, we still have a ways to go.

But even if you’re on-side with Avril Lavigne on the racism question, the song and video are still a mess: flashy colours, crude double-entendres, and trend-hopping bass drops splattered aimlessly with only the slightest of cares. Avril Lavigne seems to be sleepwalking through the video, her dance moves barely counting as moves, her lipsyncing atrociously executed. It’s a sad, empty performance of a dreadful song.

RACIST??? LOLOLOL!!! I love Japanese culture and I spend half of my time in Japan. I flew to Tokyo to shoot this video…

- Avril Lavigne @AvrilLavigne 10:05 PM - 23 Apr 2014 from Twitter

The pop star as empty vessel is hardly a novel trope, and a notably gendered one as well: we continue to ascribe agency to men when they release personality-barren pop songs (see Enrique Iglesias’s latest series of frat party anthems, as an example) but readily note its absence when it’s male producers writing for female vocalists (take most criticism of Britney Spears from the past decade). To some degree, Avril Lavigne’s musical agency has always been in question, given how much attention has been paid to her varied songwriting collaborators over the years and the perceived calculation of her mall punk image. But she’s managed to put together a 12-year career with dozens of hits — some of them downright inarguable — to become perhaps our country’s second-most successful musical export of the 2000s. (Her husband’s band which is Nickelback, for better or worse, would be first on that list.)

That sort of sustained success is nothing to scoff at, so why are we so quick to scoff at Avril Lavigne? If Hello Kitty is her rock-bottom, how did she end up here, in full-blown punchline mode? In the interest of cracking the case, we spent our entire weekend listening to her five-record discography, album-by-album, to see if they contain any answers to be found.

(Quick stats primer: a platinum record is a million units in the US and 100,000 in Canada; gold is 500,000 and 50,000, respectively.)

But, before I start talking about what went totally wrong with Avril Lavigne, here's my suggestion. While I'm a huge Avril Lavigne fan, I never like how RCA treat her music poorly between 2004 and 2011. Arista treat her music correctly in 2002 unlike the RCA era. As you all know that many of you fans were more into the Let Go era or the misguided Under My Skin era. But to me, the Let Go era and Girlfriend is the perfect time to get Avril Lavigne active in 2002 and 2007 respectively unlike the Under My Skin era, The Best Damn Thing singles after Girlfriend and the 2010's record material. RCA and 2010's is the reason Avril Lavigne lost her number 1 singles after 2002 (except My Happy Ending and Girlfriend).

I understand that Avril Lavigne is excited about the money that the music will bring, but rushing to her music or her career could jeopardize it for fans and audiences. Say goodbye to potentially record-breaking sales! If anything, why couldn't they just wait and let Avril Lavigne work her magic? Must I mention that suggestion again?

If Avril Lavigne indeed had something to do with Epic Records, then my frustrations with the Epic Records era will come to a boil. But I can't declare that all is lost, because Avril Lavigne's next album for all we care can turn out to be a masterpiece. I wouldn't doubt it, and who knows what's actually going on with Avril Lavigne or the Epic Records era. What I've liked about the Epic Records era is that Avril Lavigne got to do her own thing...

RCA is firing on Avril Lavigne by the end of 2011 because of it. In 2004, RCA put several executives in charge of Avril Lavigne over Arista by the time Under My Skin was released causing Avril Lavigne to move away from LA Reid and Arista and moved to RCA later in 2004. Fresh off the success of Let Go, no less! But then Avril Lavigne saw a slow decline in 2003, with her Losing Grip music video, just playing it safe. When the Let Go era wore thin in 2003, in 2004, Avril Lavigne was then working on her sophomore album, Under My Skin, her second album made by Arista... That plan was shot in the foot, as RCA's executives completely meddled with Arista's Under My Skin (along with The Best Damn Thing and Goodbye Lullaby) that could've been really good and single-handedly ruined Avril Lavigne or her music in the process.

But 2013 has been hands off, and look what they're making! Here's To Never Growing Up, for me, started this great new era we're going through. Her other 2013 singles, Rock N Roll and Let Me Go, along with her fifth album will trace it later in 2013...

Well, this far superior era was never been perfect. Epic Records did an awful job working on Avril Lavigne's reboot comeback last year. I mean, why people hate her last year's music? It's like 2013 music doesn't care about Avril Lavigne. Let's not forget Martin Johnson killed Here's To Never Growing Up and Rock N Roll. Rock N Roll should've done a better job if it was produced by Max Martin instead of Martin Johnson. Not to mention 2013 music hated Here's To Never Growing Up. They prefer Blurred Lines and UGH, We Can't Stop. That's right, that hideous We Can't Stop beats the hilarious but poorly marketed Here's To Never Growing Up.

Since a majority of music listeners wanted to see Miley twerking in her awful We Can't Stop music video, bad promotions, plus explicit writing, Epic Records and Martin Johnson killed Here's To Never Growing Up. Not people hates HTNGU and missed LG/UMS. Then it got ugly.

Her fifth album released the same day going up against a new Eminem album and a new Celine Dion album causing her recent album sold poorly and lost her number 1 peaks thanks to Epic Records and lazy marketing for killing her 2013 comeback. Worse, it was unable to compete against Katy Perry's Prism and Lady Gaga's Artpop and sold less copies than Britney Jean in the US. Why, Avril Lavigne, why? Now I have to wait for her fourth single to release a music video to 2 months ago and she makes a music video for Hello Kitty. If RCA era was annoying, well think again. Hello Kitty is even far worse than the misguided RCA era. I want Give It What You Like, Avril Lavigne. I'm sick of Hello Kitty. Stupid Hello Kitty. Thank goodness she can still have her chance to make her Give It What You Like later this summer. Let's hope she released her Give It What You Like music video to Vevo when she finished her tour.

That's why I hate RCA and Hello Kitty. Why? Because RCA and Hello Kitty killed Avril Lavigne's career from 2004-today. Stupid RCA era and Hello Kitty for ruining Avril Lavigne. OK, without further ado, let's get it started.

Let Go (2002)

Top chart position: Canada #1, US #2

Sales certifications: US 6x Platinum, Canada Diamond (10x Platinum)

Charting singles (US Hot 100): Complicated (#2), Sk8er Boi (#10), I’m With You, (#4) Losing Grip (#64)

Number 1s: Complicated, Sk8er Boi, I’m With You

Complicated is one of those omnipresent singles that’s woven itself so deep into the public consciousness, it’s probably been years since you actively listened to it. Revisiting the song, it’s remarkable how young Avril Lavigne sounds. Over the years, she’s developed a noted drawl in the way she slurs her vowels, an affection every bit as recognizable and imitable as her now-husband’s gruff baritone. Here, you only hear the faintest hints of that distinctive voice, and the result is that even the album’s hits sound more generic than you might remember; they really only stand out in contrast to the radio-ready mush that surrounds them.

And yet, the entire template of Avril Lavigne’s career can be found in those three massive, world-conquering singles. On Sk8er Boi, you have the brat: a punkish, devil-may-care attitude, but with a smirk sneaking through the sneer to let you know it’s not actually all that serious. On I’m With You, you have the balladeer: a fragile-but-determined voice, able to flip a switch and go from soft and broken to a full-blown belter in an instant. And on Complicated, those two personae meet in the middle and create a timeless, near-perfect teenage pop song in the process.

While I don’t want to risk robbing Avril Lavigne of her own creative agency in the fashion noted in my intro, it’s really impossible to talk about her work without detailing her collaborators; nearly all of her creative twists and turns have been greatly influenced by the people she’s worked with. The architects behind Let Go‘s three megahits were a songwriting/production team known as The Matrix, and their success with Avril Lavigne had everyone pegging them as the next big thing in pop music. Instead, not unlike the film franchise that shares their name, The Matrix turned out to be a one-trick pony and spent the next few years rewriting Complicated for artists like Lillix, Hillary Duff, and Liz Phair, with vastly diminishing returns. Had Avril Lavigne continued to work with them, one suspects she would have suffered a similar fate, but she wisely went in a slightly different direction with her follow-up.

I personally love Let Go. It's like it contains my favorite songs. Complicated, Sk8er Boi, I’m With You, and even Losing Grip. Man, love that album and these amazing songs. This will always be the best Avril Lavigne album that I ever listened to. Screw Under My Skin onwards. Let Go ftw.

Under My Skin (2004)

Top chart position: #1 in Canada and US

Sales certifications: US 3x Platinum, Canada 5x Platinum

Charting singles (US Hot 100): Don’t Tell Me, (#22) My Happy Ending, (#9), Nobody’s Home (#41), He Wasn't (not released in the US)

Number 1s: Under My Skin (album), My Happy Ending

A commercial comedown from Let Go, none of the singles from Under My Skin had even a fraction of the cultural impact of those from Avril Lavigne’s debut. And yet, people contend Under My Skin is probably the reason we’re still talking about Avril Lavigne today.

Woah, woah, woah. First of all, I've contend the Let Go era and Girlfriend is probably the reason we’re talking about Avril Lavigne today, not Under My Skin. I mean, why I’d contend Under My Skin is probably the reason we’re talking about Avril Lavigne today? There's no such thing as Under My Skin is probably the reason we’re talking about Avril Lavigne today. Under My Skin is not the reason we’re still talking about Avril Lavigne today.

It’s not easy to break out of the teen music ghetto. It’s the reason why One Direction are shamelessly ripping off classic rock riffs, and why Justin Bieber is flailing to try and connect with hip-hop culture: if teen idols don’t successfully cross over to a wider audience, their teenage worshippers grow up and move on. Good thing it doesn't apply towards Kelly Clarkson, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato and Ariana Grande because unlike Avril Lavigne, the far more successful female artists like Beyonce and Carrie Underwood knows how to make their music successful and appeal many music listeners well. That's why Avril Lavigne was starting from a privileged position in this regard, given that her big singles were already crossovers. But with CanCon hitmakers Raine Maida and Chantal Kreviazuk by her side, Avril Lavigne doubled down on some of the adult-contemporary flourishes that she teased on her debut and created a sound that helped her avoid becoming a one-album wonder (and a sound she’d rely on throughout her career).

The album’s best song is actually one that Raine Maida and Chantal Kreviazuk didn’t touch: on My Happy Ending, Butch Walker is the helping hand. But the song fits in perfectly among the rest of the material. It brings the piano to the forefront (rather than the “strummy strummy la la” acoustic guitar that dominated Let Go), Avril Lavigne’s vocal performance feels much more human than anything on her debut, and the big guitar chorus would sound perfectly at home on a Kelly Clarkson or Pink album. I wish the rest of the record were as solid; much of it is a slog. The only other real standout is He Wasn’t, which is her punkiest track to date and a harbinger of what was to come on her next record.

Now, as I already mentioned, Under My Skin is a total mess in 2004 compared to 2002's Let Go. Why? RCA. That's why. Not to mention He Wasn't's music video did not release in the US in 2005 and no Grammy nominations for Under My Skin either. Under My Skin is a perfect Avril Lavigne album to have Grammy nominations at the 2005 Grammy nominations. But Grammys blew it. I know you all fans loved Under My Skin. But it seems that many music listeners has moved on to other music after 2002 like Kelly Clarkson before her second album was released in 2004. Not only that, people hated Under My Skin in 2004 and people only liked Let Go. Here's what happened.

"I love Let Go. Let Go is awesome and I don't even like Avril Lavigne. I hate Avril Lavigne albums like Under My Skin and I hate Avril Lavigne songs like My Happy Ending. Let Go is amazing and it has awesome songs like I'm With You"

See, that's what happens. Unlike later albums like The Best Damn Thing, Let Go appeals even people who doesn't like Avril Lavigne, Under My Skin doesn't. That's why Let Go appeals to many people who doesn't like Avril Lavigne more than fans even though fans loved Let Go. Ditto Girlfriend in 2007. OK, let's move on to the next album.

The Best Damn Thing (2007)

Top chart position: #1 in Canada and US

Sales certifications: US Platinum, Canada 2x Platinum

Charting singles (US Hot 100): Girlfriend, (#1) When You’re Gone, (#24) Hot (#95), Keep Holding On (#17), The Best Damn Thing (song) (Not peaked above 100)

Number 1s: Girlfriend, The Best Damn Thing (album)

And so we come to Girlfriend, Avril Lavigne’s first and only no. one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and the pivot point of her career. From Girlfriend onwards, the tension between the brat and the ballader would become increasingly pendulum-like, with Avril Lavigne oscillating between the two extremes like a reaction against herself. But, hey, when it results in a track as great as Girlfriend, who’s to argue?

Girlfriend calls back to so many storied musical traditions — girl groups, pop punk, the call and response anthem — that it feels timeless, even as its production places it decidedly in the mid-2000s. (Thank the king of modern Evil Pop himself, Dr. Luke, for that.) It’s instantly hummable, effortless breezy, and is arguably the best Avril Lavigne has ever been at endearingly capturing a sense of defiance on record. (Also, in recording the song in seven different languages, its success helped Avril Lavigne grow her global audience significantly.) So if you think Under My Skin is the reason RCA controls too much power over Avril Lavigne causing Under My Skin to poorly marketed letting Arista unable to manufacture the album on its own in 2004, well think again, The Best Damn Thing and Goodbye Lullaby also did pretty much the same way Under My Skin did except both albums were not made by Arista but rather RCA and caused RCA to butchered both albums by putting in Dr. Luke and Max Martin respectively. Just like Under My Skin was butchered by RCA when it was made by Arista back in 2004. Let's continue.

And yet, there was something off about Girlfriend too. It was the first time a certain feeling of the uncanny began to creep into Avril Lavigne’s portrayal of age. She seemed, at once, a bit too old and a bit too young for the song: too old for it to be an expression of authentic experience, but too young for it to be nostalgic. Much of The Best Damn Thing, ballads aside, follows Girlfriend’s template, making the album decidedly more teenage in its sentiments than even her debut. On its own terms, it’s her best record by a good margin, with a hit-to-miss ratio that dwarfs the rest of her discography. But if Under My Skin was the sound of Avril Lavigne entering adulthood, The Best Damn Thing sounded like her denial of it, a creative direction that brought short-term gains, but long-term consequences as well.

But of course, Under My Skin and The Best Damn Thing are both post 2002 albums that was part of the RCA era (2004-2011). Goodbye Lullaby was also part of the RCA era and that's what I'm gonna talk about on my next subject.

Goodbye Lullaby (2011)

Top chart position: Canada #2, US #4

Sales certifications: None

Charting singles (US Hot 100): What the Hell (11), Smile (68), Wish You Were Here (65)

Number 1s: None

OK, let's talk about Goodbye Lullaby, the last of her 3 albums in the RCA era which ran between 2004 and 2011. As you my know that right after Goodbye Lullaby which I’ll talk about later, Avril Lavigne started to get alot better last year when she moved to Epic Records and reunite LA Ried after Goodbye Lullaby thanks to her 3 2013 singles Here’s To Never Growing Up, Rock N Roll and Let Me Go. Last year to me is like the rebirth of Avril Lavigne songs just like her early days of 2002 music like I’m With You. This might be crazy. I mean, Let Go is the perfect time to get Avril Lavigne to have energy in 2002 and 2003 because people between 2002 and 2003 were in a big craze on Avril Lavigne thanks to Let Go sold more than 6 million copies in the US and Canada by the end of 2002. However, the popularity of Avril Lavigne didn't last very long in 2003 and after 2003, Avril Lavigne started to have trouble having her singles peaked at number 1 at any Billboard chart from 2004 onwards. I know My Happy Ending and Girlfriend did peaked at number 1 in 2004 and 2007 respectively.

You see, 2004-2011 was a very tough time for Avril Lavigne. She was getting very active in the Let Go era in 2002 and 2003 (and Girlfriend in 2007) so that way she has the energy to make great music in the early 2000s (2002 and 2003) (ditto 2007's Girlfriend). But after the Let Go era ended, Avril Lavigne is at the bottom of the barrel between 2004 and 2011 behind late 90s and early 2000s like Britney Spears, Pink and Kelly Clarkson and female artists from 2004 onwards like Taylor Swift and Katy Perry. But now, Avril Lavigne is releasing her hilarious song that came out last year called Here’s To Never Growing Up. That makes Avril Lavigne started to get way back up last year thanks to LA Ried. Considering Here’s No Never Growing Up along with Rock N Roll, Let Me Go and her last year's album which is her fifth album. So what we need for Avril Lavigne is better marketing. I mean, Here’s To Never Growing Up, Rock N Roll, Let Me Go and her last year’s album were poorly promoted thanks to Epic Records for running her second attempt’s comeback. Here’s To Never Growing Up was going Up against Come & Get It, Rock N Roll came out going up against Katy Perry’s Roar and Lady Gaga’s Applause, Let Me Go is going up against Say Something and her fifth album without a title was released the same day going up against a new Eminem album. I think Epic Records did an awful job picking the release dates for Avril Lavigne’s comeback redo last year. Her fifth album along with its singles, Here’s To Never Growing Up, Rock N Roll, and Let Me Go were poorly marketing last year. So what Avril Lavigne needs is a new publicist. Anyway, what Avril Lavigne can do now is to make an album without bratty songs and have her take a risk on promoting that album along with a risky non-bratty lead single for next year since Epic Records did not make enough money to market music like Cher Lloyd. So have Avril Lavigne remove from Sony and move to Universal so that way Universal will promote Avril Lavigne’s next music better unlike RCA and Epic did. Oh yeah, bring back Avril Lavigne working with Max Martin and Shellback on her next year's album too.

OK, enough of the chit chat and let’s talk about Goodbye Lullaby era. First, let's talk about What The Hell.

What The Hell is probably the most underrated single in Her discography: a deliriously catchy ode to hedonism that suffers only in comparison to Girlfriend. But it has two big problems. The first is that it sounds even more immature than Girlfriend, explicit references to sex aside, which means it furthered the feeling that Avril Lavigne was over-relying on the juvenilia card. The second is that it sounds nothing like the rest of Goodbye Lullaby. Worse, no number 1 peak for What The Hell in early 2011. What is RCA thinking?

There’s good reason for that: most of the album was complete and in the can a year before its release, but the record was pushed back several times as, according to Avril Lavigne, her label wanted something more radio-friendly. The reason What the Hell sticks out like a sore thumb is because Goodbye Lullaby is, in fact, a notably more adult album or, at the very least an adult-contemporary one in its sound. It’s the one album thus far where Avril Lavigne lets the balladeer persona take over and the resulting record sounds mature, thoughtful… and dull as dishwater.

The obvious comparison for Goodbye Lullaby is Kelly Clarkson’s My December, another case of a pop star wanting to make a more personal, introspective album and ending up with something that’s more than a little bit boring. The difference is that Kelly Clarkson said no when her similarly-hesitant label wanted to bring in big-gun songwriters to craft some hits; while she suffered in the short term for it, I’d contend the credibility she gained from getting to promote the record as an artistic statement was a major boon for her career. Lavigne was unable or unwilling to put up such a fight, and so in came Max Martin and Shellback to save the day, working with her to write the songs that ended up being Goodbye Lullaby‘s singles. Sadly, even with Max Martin and Shellback, What The Hell, Smile and Wish You Were Here did not peak at number 1 on any Billboard charts at all. What is Avril Lavigne thinking? This sold a few more records, sure, but the album still bombed and the songs further contributed to her image as the poster-child for arrested development. In hindsight, it’s hard not to see it as a mistake.

Thank goodness, the RCA era is over. We can all thank LA Ried and 2013 for saving Avril Lavigne after 2011 and thus, she moved to Epic Records and work on her fifth album for later 2013. Bye bye, RCA era.

Avril Lavigne (2013)

Top chart position: Canada #4, US #5

Sales certifications: Canada Gold

Charting singles (US Hot 100): Here’s To Never Growing Up (20), Rock N Roll (91), Let Me Go (76), Hello Kitty (75).

Number 1s: None

"Here’s to never growing up.” “Let ‘em know that we’re still rock ‘n’ roll.” A self titled Avril Lavigne album is the sound of Avril Lavigne not just acknowledging that people see her as that “poster child for arrested development” I mentioned, but openly embracing the caricature. If Goodbye Lullaby is when Avril Lavigne’s career begins its commercial decline, last year’s self-titled album is when she becomes a punchline — and, bizarrely, she leans into the punch. On paper, taking this approach isn’t the worst idea in the world; it could, conceivably, suggest she’s in on the joke, or result in a seemingly more honest point-of-view than the one on Girlfriend or What the Hell.

Instead, listening to Avril Lavigne's fifth album is like hanging out at a dance club with a drunken 30-something desperately attempting to reclaim her youth. First single Here’s To Never Growing Up sums up the album. Its artwork has Avril Lavigne in full, creepy jailbait mode, nude except for the oversized teddy bear she’s clutching. The song itself is as shameless a rewrite of Complicated as anything The Matrix ever did which, even if it comes with a wink, is still more than a bit insufferable. Then, in the video, Avril Lavigne dresses up in her Complicated outfit, sk8ing down the school hallway. When paired with the song’s insipid lyrics, the entire experience is simply uncomfortable. (The album’s second single Rock N Roll, is a lyrical rewrite of the same idea and every bit as insipid, which is a shame, because musically the song is a pretty great pop track and a nice translation of the crunchy, compressed guitar sound that One Direction have made their name on.)

So where does Avril Lavigne go from here? One expects she’ll probably keep working with her husband, but he does her no favours on Avril Lavigne's recent album with his plodding sense of rhythm; the album has none of the fevered pop zeal of her best material, and features some of the driest ballads of her discography. A return to collaborating with someone like Dr. Luke would be wise, but it doesn’t solve Avril Lavigne’s biggest problem: her image.

Hello Kitty isn’t just an annoying song, or an inappropriate video. It’s Avril Lavigne doubling-down on the very elements of her presentation, sound, and sentiment that people have seemingly grown tired of. Modern pop artists are a total package — image, music, attitude, social media presence, etc. — and no amount of great material can make up for a declining interest in the package as a whole. If Avril Lavigne wants to stop being a joke and return to pop juggernaut status, something needs to change, but if Hello Kitty is any indication of her level of self-awareness, I’m not getting my hopes up. Now let's talk about something went wrong.

To start things off, as I already mentioned earlier, Here's To Never Growing Up is a great way to start a new era. Thank goodness, Here's To Never Growing Up was made after the RCA era is over. With the hilarious Rock N Roll and the underrated Let Me Go was soon followed last year. I personally loved Here's To Never Growing Up. Why? Because it's so funny. The marketing for the song however is awful. Why? Epic Records. That's why. Epic Records killed Here's To Never Growing Up. Not only that, why Here's To Never Growing Up and Rock N Roll has to be bratty songs? They suppose to be funny and music listeners are suppose to be laughing. What is Avril Lavigne thinking?

Now, if you think her 3 albums from the RCA era (Under My Skin, The Best Damn Thing and Goodbye Lullaby) was a complete mess, well think again, this album was also a mess. I mean, 2013 is a perfect time to get Avril Lavigne to release her comeback reboot music. But Epic Records blew it. Stop making bratty songs version of new albums. Avril Lavigne needs to stop making bratty songs and bring back try something new. The only bratty songs-less album is Under My Skin because the only Under My Skin bratty song is He Wasn't. 2013 should be a perfect time to release her comeback reboot album, but all she does is to make more bratty songs and cause that album to market very poorly and hurt Here's To Never Growing Up, Rock N Roll and Let Me Go causing that album to release on a bad release date and sell poorly. Plus she threw Hello Kitty in the mix and that album has lost money. What is Epic Records thinking? She needs to try something new each time. But no, Epic Records held her career back.

What's worse is that Avril Lavigne's far superior recent outputs is huge in Japan. I understand that Japan loves Avril Lavigne. But goodness gracious, why Japan loves Avril Lavigne like her bratty songs? Why her bratty songs are huge in Japan? Couldn't Japan listen to her songs in general like her ballad ones? You know Japan couldn't listen to her bratty ones the whole time. Japan can listen to her ballads too.

Man, I hate mainstream America populars and cultures. Mainstream America populars and cultures ruined appeals. Why appeals doesn't go by worldwide and internet? Bering back appeal goes by worldwides and popularities, appeals. It's getting annoying.

Anyway, let's continue. I hate Avril Lavigne is huge appearance goes by Japan. I want my Avril Lavigne is huge in America appearance back. Why Avril Lavigne is huge in America appearance only have early 2000s and Girlfriend? Avril Lavigne is huge in America appearance needs to appeal Avril Lavigne in general like Under My Skin. Because well, fans loved Under My Skin. Man, 2010s is a very difficult decade for Avril Lavigne. No 2010s Avril Lavigne number 1 singles. RCA killed 2011's Goodbye Lullaby and Epic Records killed 2013 Avril Lavigne appearance like Here's To Never Growing Up. 2010s Avril Lavigne is huge appearance only have Japan. Avril Lavigne still making bratty songs version of albums and never stops. Hello Kitty is ruining her music because she thinks she loves Japan. When will Avril Lavigne ever get her number 1s back? When will Avril Lavigne ever gonna get her first number 1 2010s singles. The only way is inventions. Now I have to wait for the next album to bring back number 1 Avril Lavigne singles. Even Max Martin and a much better era that begins last year isn't gonna help. What a minute. I know an artist that runs similar problems that Avril Lavigne does and I know where would went wrong.

Remember Spice Girls? If Avril Lavigne is having problems with her music after to debut album, then it seems that Spice Girls is having the same problems that Avril Lavigne does. You see, music doesn't care about Spice Girls or Avril Lavigne. Music only appeals mainstream populars like Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus. So you won't find Spice Girls and Avril Lavigne on the radio even though the latter still plays Complicated. This is what Avril Lavigne happens the same way Spice Girls did if Avril Lavigne doesn't treat her post early 2000s music correctly. That's another reason 2004 is mid 2000s, not early 2000s. Let's continue.

You know Spice Girls, right? They're from the late 90s and Spice Girls has become the best selling girl group of the 90s. However, 90s music like 90s radio hates Spice Girls like Say You'll Be There. The only Spice Girls that was huge in the 90s is Wannabe. Others like 2 Become 1 and Spice Up Your Life doesn't. Despite the first 2 albums are all time best selling albums of the 90s, Spice Girls like Spice World only appeal 90s. No questions ask. You see, Spice Girls was pretty big in 1996-1998. But later in 1998, Spice Girls has already suffers after Geri Halliwell was left the group in the same year before the group has suffered way fast between mid 1998 and late 2000. By the end of the 90s, Spice Girls has reached rock bottom causing 90s music moved on to Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears and N Sync and by the end of 2000, Spice Girls broke up causing the third album Forever become a disaster. Even the 2007 reunion isn't gonna help either. This would end up the same way Avril Lavigne did on her 2004-2013 music like Spice Girls did if Avril Lavigne isn't treating her 2004-2013 music correctly (Girlfriend aside). That's why 1995-2008 is a tough period for music. Why? Because 1995-2008 music like Spire Girls and Britney Spears made music harder to get better. At least we have late 90s and early 2000s music like good music sung by useless artists (like Michelle Branch, Hilary Duff and Ashless Simpson). Thank goodness the 1995-2008 era is over after 2008 ended so that way music will started to get better during 2009 thanks to music from the 2009-2014 era like Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande. But the 2009-2014 era killed Avril Lavigne's 2011 and 2013 music like What The Hell and Here's To Never Growing Up respectively.

Overall, the RCA era and Hello Kitty is the reason Avril Lavigne's career and her discography decreasing its sales after the Let Go era from 2004 onwards causing Avril Lavigne's 2004-today music was unable to compete against other 2004-today music like Lady Gaga, not the medium. OK, that's it for my rant.

Oh yeah, one more thing, go listen to Here's To Never Growing Up, Rock N Roll and Let Me Go. Avoid Hello Kitty. Trust me, you will love Here's To Never Growing Up, Rock N Roll and Let Me Go and stay away from Hello Kitty.

What do you think? Would you like a new Avril Lavigne album without any bratty songs one day? Is Avril Lavigne wanted to change her image on the next album? What are your thoughts on Avril Lavigne's declining after the Let Go era ended? Sound off below!