Under My Skin

I don't care what some of the reviews out there say. When you look at today's music, a lot of it is pop. Some is pop-rock, but mainly pop. However, this album is Rock with a little bit of pop in it. This album has drive in the songs and Avril shows us that she can sing without the use of auto-tune and other similar effects. Yes, this was made in 2004, almost a decade ago, but it was still around that time that artists began using stuff like that. But anyway: Avril's music here is very strong, has meaning, and is legit. Legit meaning that it's not all electronic (in fact, this album is all real instruments; there's no electronic influence in it that I can hear. I listen to lots of rock and metal and I can play some of this album's heavier songs with those rock/metal songs and it's not out of place.The music:1. "Take Me Away"- This song starts off the album right. It starts off with a simple little guitar part and then she comes in and starts singing. It just progressively gets heavier and builds into the chorus. I like her voice. It sounds very powerful and inspired and the heaviness doesn't sound forced at all either. It also has a certain degree of darkness to it that makes it very interesting to listen to. The song is very strong and I love listening to it very much.2. "Together"- This one is an interesting and unique song. I like the piano part in it and while she's singing about relationships and stuff that lots of pop singer sing about, this doesn't sound cliche and "written for the sake of writing it". This sounds good! While it's a subject we hear songs about daily, it's done in a way that probably can't be duplicated. Once again, her voice is strong here and she's created another song I've listened to numerous times.3. "Don't Tell Me"- This one follows in the footsteps of the previous song. This one is more of a power ballad than the previous one, but it again follows the same type of typical subject matter delivered in a unique way that only she can pull off. That's something I truly love about listening to her music: It's gonna be different than what other people are doing. Very nice song.4. "He Wasn't"- I'm actually not too big a fan of this song. It's not bad, but I don't really like it. It's catchy, yes. But this one has a punk type vibe to it. I'm not calling it a punk song, but I'm not gonna say that there's no hints of it in here either. I'm just not a fan of that style is all. If I was, I'd probably like this song more. And again, yes, the lyrics deal with typical pop song-type subjects, but it's delivered in a unique way.5. "How Does it Feel"- This one is a soft song. It's a very relaxing song. This song is one of the stronger points of the album even if it is softer. The lyrics may seem a little cliche at first, but after a few listens, they become a bit more meaningful. Great song!6. "My Happy Ending"- This one is more pop-rock. This one is a good song, but this one is one of the songs on here where the pop influence comes across as stronger than the rock influence. Even so, though, it's still a pretty good tune. Her vocal performance still comes off great and the music behind her is still better than your average pop artists nowadays. And the drums sound surprisingly cool! I actually like the beat that the drummer is playing on here (A rarity in today's music, let alone pop music in general. As a drummer, this is a very rare thing to come across). Good song!7. "Nobody's Home"- This one is one of my favorite songs on the album. I like the softer vibe of the song, but yet, the song has a darker sound to it and I find this unique. I can't really describe this song very well because it's just something so interesting! It's beautiful! Avril is definitely a talented artist. The vocal performance on here is phenomenal! The emotion is just so there! I love this song!8. "Forgotten"- This one follows the previous track in the darker sound. This one is heavier and just as intense as the opener and the previous song. I feel the anger/sadness in her voice when I hear the previous song and this one. And the music while it is simple pop chord progressions, has a complexity to it that adds a level of intensity to it. Good song.9. "Who Knows"- I actually am not too big of a fan of this song. This song is pretty upbeat and I usually like upbeat songs...but this one interrupts the anger and intensity of the previous two songs and this one actually has weaker lyrics in my honest opinion. I mean, if this song came on either a different album or was in a different place, I think I would like it a lot better, but nope. I just feel that it lacks the intensity of the preceding songs and it just fails to impress me for that reason.10. "Fall to Pieces"- The opening to this one sounds sad again and it's a softer rock song in the verses. This one is just a simple little rock-love song. This one is still good and has a certain level of originality to it, but isn't the most unique way lyrics like this could've been delivered. I like the song though. It's got the emotional intensity of the better songs here, but the pop influence is a little stronger in this one too. But this one definitely puts the album back in the right direction with the emotional intensity. Good song.11. "Freak Out"- This is a nice pop-rock song. The emotional intensity still flows through this song very well, yet it is more on the positive side too. This one strikes a good balance between the two vibes. I do like this one. Her voice is still strong, the music is still going great on this album, and the chorus is pretty catchy on this one.12. "Slipped Away"- This song starts off sounding sad and dark, but the chorus sounds a little more upbeat. This one is a nice closer to a great album. It's just a nice little tune dealing with, again, stuff that's usually cliche and overdone/not done well. This one is a pretty good song, and I like it. Avril really knew what she was doing when she made this album.Note: As a musician this album doesn't off much technical things, however: The musicianship on this album is the BEST I've heard on a solo artist's album at this point in time. The drums have beats that aren't too complicated for the pop vibe in the songs, but they also have the drive in them to make me want to air drum along to some of the songs. The guitars have some cool stuff, but it's mainly chords. She's got a good amount of talent and she has writing credit on all the tracks. Yes, she collaborates with people, however, on most of the songs, she collaborated with only one other person and most times that other person is a musician and not a producer.Verdict: If you want pop music with some edge to it, this may or may not be your album depending on how much edge you want. If you want metal, this isn't what you'll get. If you want some good rock music, this is definitely your album. If you don't care what kind of music it is as long as it contains emotion and feelings, then GET IT! This was my first album from her and certainly not my last.

One of my favorite Avril Lavigne’s albums. Everything was perfect, and it arrived earlier than expected. The color of the vinyl is beautiful.

Received this only quickly and honestly have enjoyed it since! A little nostalgia for me!

Another great Avril album.

Sounds great

I love collecting vinyls so this was a must have for fans of Avril. I love the exclusive colors Amazon has.

The media could not be loaded. Shipping oversea quite fast.From USA to Southeast Asia arrived in 1 week.Impressive.But one thing that you should be aware.There's a chance you will get crack on CD case.I decided to order from here because it much cheaper than ordering in my country and i would like original made in USA cd for my collections.Theres no thick bubble wrap or outer packaging that gonna protect your CD case. I ordered 3 CDs together in this order ,all of them get some scratch or broked.CD inside still in good condition.

This was from Avril's golden age. Just about every song on this album rocks, and while there are a few that are a bit depressing, most of them are songs of empowerment, of hope and struggle, and of the near-universal theme that men are idiots. And it's true. We are. But I don't really mind those type of songs; in fact, it shows that Avril Lavigne is a gal who can stick up for herself, and maybe in that way she could be a good role model. Of course, I question some of the choices that she made later on in her career, but let's not talk about those, okay?"So what does the music actually sound like?" you are asking. Well, often it is erroneously categorized as punk rock, but i think the Sex Pistols, the Ramones, and the Clash would disagree. Lavigne was quoted as saying, "It's not exactly rhythm and blues. It's not exactly rock and roll. My music is just... well, my music."Or maybe that was the Beatles. I say, it is what it is, and if you buy this record, just put it on, and let the music take you away. Incidentally, "Take Me Away" is the name of the first cut on Side One.