Good Morning Revival : Good Charlotte : Review : Rolling Stone

When they first got famous, Good Charlotte were easy to make fun of but still kind of likable: working-class guys dressing like Rancid and making catchy mall punk with little pretense. Then came 2004's overblown, overreaching The Chronicles of Life and Death, and now comes Good Morning Revival, another album that gets further away from the band's core appeal: Its songs are dark and sour, with shimmery electronics and some tortured emo choruses. Jumpier rhythms help, and GC still know how to write a hook. But "The River" is a cruddy, L.A.-dissing aggro anthem, and "Misery," with its litany of heartaches, is one of several cuts that could use some Prozac. Sounds like growing up sucks even more than they originally thought it would.

CHRISTIAN HOARD

(Posted: Mar 21, 2007)

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Give us your review of Good Morning Revival

Review 1 of 9

4of 5 Stars

I enjoyed this album. Even thought "Beautiful Place" and "Somthing Else" about put me to sleep, I still liked the pop feel of "All Black" and "Dance Flooor Anthem." I think people should definatly buy this 'feel-good' album.

Jul 21, 2007 10:17:31

Review 2 of 9

4of 5 Stars

It seems as though this review has focused on the discography of the band rather than the actual content on the album. It is true that this album is completely unexpected from a band of Good Charlotte's "stature," but none the less deserving of respect from all who listen. While finding repeated imagery from previous albums, the band has stepped up and once again strayed away from the label they've obtained over the years. What's been failed to realize is that there is no 'typical GC,' proved by the string of eclectic albums they have released. Though lacking the rock appeal, the album owns up to the hype the band and its fans have put around it, but also may be a disappointment to all who listen with a bias opinion.

Jul 3, 2007 21:37:51

Review 3 of 9

4of 5 Stars

Everyone has to agree that GC has changed a lot since their first album, and the music they play has a much more mature style to it. And with change, comes disagreement.

The River, arguably the biggest hit on the album, has often been misinterpreted. GC did not try to bash LA by writing it, the song meant something more than what you'd understand by listening to it a couple times. It is about how a couple kids from a small town go to a big city, and begin to lose themselves in all of it. It is about redemption, and GC did an amazing job by putting this idea into lyrics.

Overall, the entire album is about what its like to take responsibility and all the emotions and feelings that come along with it.

This album deserves 4 stars, because of the content of the album and not because of my like/dislike of the band.

Jun 18, 2007 21:16:51

Review 4 of 9

3of 5 Stars

Ok, so I’ve been a GC fan from the beginning & when i 1st heard Good Morning Revival, I thought what most of u r thinking, that what the heck is this crap? What happened to them!?! I am still a bit iffy on this CD but as i listened to it more, these songs started to get stuck in my head & I read into the lyrics. That’s when I realized, they are still the same deep lyric, hook heavy writing band. With this CD, it seems that good charlotte is just experimenting with different sounds after sticking, for years, to the punk-pop sound. If bands didn’t experiment, they couldn’t grow. Though they have come far from singing Weezer covers in local malls, Good Charlotte is still a growing band and Good Morning Revival certainly shows that.

There are some things, however, that bother me about this album. i know that the madden twins wrote March On for all their fans going through hard times & telling them to "march on." Well, if you remember, on their Young and Hopeless CD, they wrote a single called Hold On. March On seems to be, for the most part, the same, aside for the difference in tunes & variations in lyrics. March On, in a sense, is a synonym for Hold On. Anther thing is that before actually hearing the CD I heard the twins perform acoustic versions of some of the songs like the river, a beautiful place, and misery. I loved the acoustic versions at 1st listen. They had everything, hooks, great melodies, and even better lyrics. The album versions, on the other hand, were not as enjoyable. I’m not saying I hate the album. I’m just saying that these songs had larger potential and that with so much going on musically, these songs are not being served justice. These are just small things, but all in all, Good Morning Revival is a great CD signifying the growth of a great band.

May 27, 2007 22:22:11

Review 5 of 9

1of 5 Stars

what ever happened to the good Good Charlotte?

May 12, 2007 07:11:34

Review 6 of 9

4of 5 Stars

If you are a Good Charlotte fan.. not a person who likes one or two of their singles.. but a person that likes their albums.. youll like this one too. Sure the single the first time i heard it was like "WTF?!?!?! is this shit".. but i saw them play it live when they were doing their club tour and they definately pull out some Rock on the track live... i was a lil afraid of the what is called "faux rap" but realized there is a difference between rapping and talking with melody. The album is different.. but thats a good thing.. change is good... development and evolution are good. I like dark music and songs that arent happy happy joy joy.

I just love the fact that RS gave FOB a better score on an album that just blatantly rips off of other bands. GC may have been inspired by but they dont rip off... if you doubt me listen to "thnks fr th mmrs" 1:40 - 2:40 and tell me that isnt just completely ripping Panic! off. Not to mention FOB's review was like 5 or six paragraphs and this review is 1 paragraph?(wonder how much RS charges per paragraph) RS is going down hill and fast..

Apr 3, 2007 06:30:47

Review 7 of 9

1of 5 Stars

Good Charlotte always sucked. Hands down. Their commercial breakthrough had laughable and pathetic lyrics, their second album had the phony confidence that they had already done something great with there previous record, and then there's this album, which has no musicality whatsoever, being recycled and boring pop songs that no one wants to hear. The River and Dance Floor Anthem are boring overrecycled Green Day songs, and Keep Your Hands Off My Girl is faux rapping over Panic! At The Disco synths. Man, do they suck.

Mar 30, 2007 17:46:32

Review 8 of 9

5of 5 Stars

Fans of Good Charlotte are going to love this album, as long as they're open to change. Non-fans are going to be pleasantly surprised by this album and likely enjoy what they hear, as well. Good Charlotte has grown up, they are now 4 albums older, and the growth and maturity shows. They've transformed from a pop-punk band and now evolved into a truly great indie-pop band. Joel and Benji Madden's songwriting is top-notch and they know how to write great hooks and catchy melodies- and contrary to what another personal reviewer said- the songs on this album ARE very insightful and packed with meaning. Songs like "March On" and "Where Would We Be Now" show great expression and depth, and songs like "Dance Floor Anthem" and "Keep Your Hands Off My Girl" are perfect indie pop and banging beats. Good Charlotte is a great band capable of much more than most other bands- and this album proves it. "Good Morning Revival" is an epiphany in a way for them- they couldn't have created a more perfect or satisfying album.

Mar 28, 2007 19:22:44

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