Previously, we ran a poll to ask about your favourite best-selling Canadian album (those nominated for the Album of the Year JUNO). Here, we would like to know your favourite of the 5 albums nominated for Pop Album of the Year at the 2012 JUNOs. Let the voting begin!
Don’t forget to share this post on Facebook and Twitter so that other fans of your favourite artist can vote too!
FACTS IN BRIEF
Goodbye Lullaby:
• Avril Lavigne’s 4th Studio Album.
• Released 8 March 2011.
• Considered by fans as her 2nd best album after Under My Skin according to an Avril Bandaids’ poll.
• The 4th best-selling 2011 Canadian album in the world, 1st by a female artist.
• Contains the #1 most successful Canadian 2011 single worldwide—”What the Hell”.
• Exactly half of the songs were written by Lavigne herself; the other half were co-written with others.
• Avril produced 2 of the tracks.
Thank you to our readers for voting for your favourite of the best-selling Canadian albums last year. You chose Avril Lavigne’s Goodbye Lullaby over albums by Michael Buble, Nickelback, Drake, and Justin Bieber as your favourite. Because of this, below is our special piece on the album.
On the cover of Avril Lavigne’s fourth studio album, Goodbye Lullaby, is a grand piano set in a glade surrounded by a forest of leafy trees. In world literature, the forest has always stood to symbolize demons of unknown ferocity. But those who were brave enough to enter such a dark and spooky realm were rewarded by finding hidden within a treasure, a holy being, a talisman, a magic sword, a band of merry men, or something as simple as a refuge from the menacing world on the outside. After a marriage that crumbled like brittle leaves in the autumn, a refuge awaited Avril; she found a peaceful, mellow spot with a piano lying in wait and began to craft her new work.
This was the first album on which Lavigne wrote a number of songs on her own, two of which she produced. Previously, she had co-written all tracks with others. The song-writing, production, and singing are first-rate through the entire disc. The style of music is somewhat mellower than on her previous works, as she composed most of the tracks on acoustic piano and strove for a more emotional vibe.
The year 2011 was launched, in part, by Avril Lavigne’s debut of the 2nd track on the album, the most successful Canadian single of 2011 worldwide. She performed “What the Hell” on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. “What the Hell” or “WTH” is the song that drove home the fact that Avril Lavigne can sing the pants off most of her contemporaries. The vocal range and strenuous demands of pitch-accuracy required to sing this piece are highly challenging, and Avril performed this live without any use of Autotune devices on variety shows, chat shows, reality shows, and concerts through the year, nailing each note with precision every time. Even those who dislike Avril’s style and music were forced to concede that her singing skills are exceptional.
Avril’s record company at the time, RCA, decided to release tracks co-composed by Max Martin and Shellback as the singles. “Smile” is a sassy number in which funky electric guitar strums and punchy beats precede a powerhouse chorus. “Wish You Were Here” is a more stripped-down acoustic number with a crisp, 
strong beat. The song centers on the feeling of missing someone, and one can see Avril’s real tears in its music video. The album includes bonus track “Alice” which Avril composed unaided for the Tim Burton Hollywood feature film.
Little Black Stars (Avril Lavigne fans) tended to favour songs that she co-wrote with former bandmate Evan Taubenfeld, especially “Everybody Hurts” and “Push”.
After listening to the songs Avril wrote herself we could almost conclude that she does not need to co-write her music with others. One of our favourite tracks on the album is “4 Real”, a song she wrote and produced herself. This beautiful song is about sincerity and commitment in relationships. It is very rare for a recording artist to be 
both an exceptional singer and composer and Lavigne proves here that she is one of those rare embodiments of such dual talent.
Like Elvis and the other founders of rock and roll in the 1950s, Avril has centered her lyrical themes on relationships, romance, heartbreak, and life’s struggles. Because her superstardom blasted through the domestic realm and embraced the entire planet, she had to consider that most of her fans were not native English speakers and many were in cultures where karaoke was the most important form of entertainment. It was not simply good enough to compose attractive music; she had to ensure that the songs were fun to sing with accessible everyday English verses bearing universal 
themes: “You say that I’m messin’ with your head”, “Didn’t think about it, just went with it”, “You stole my heart and you’re the one to blame”, “Everybody hurts some days; it’s okay to be afraid” are examples of such catchy verses.
Avril Lavigne is a Canadian princess who grew up in small town Ontario. She was, in the blink of an eye, thrust into a complicated and ferocious environment and, through her music, she tries to make some sense of it all. Seeking that place of romantic calm, like the kissing couple amidst the hockey riots, she worked her magic, putting her whole heart into this very, very good album.
In a music industry saturated with uninspired rock and filled with stars of style, not substance, talentless and manufactured, we welcome Avril Lavigne, and the few like her, to save the day and show us what real music is all about.
A couple weeks ago, we asked what your favourite Canadian album was last year (of the best-sellers). Avril Lavigne‘s Goodbye Lullaby received the most votes. Thank you to all who participated. Because you chose this as your favourite Canadian album last year, we will be writing a special piece on the album soon.
Fan site Avril Bandaids has run a survey on Avril’s Goodbye Lullaby era to gather feedback on how it went. We are happy to share some of the results with you.
1. Avril fans regard Goodbye Lullaby as her second best album after Under My Skin.
2. Fans regard their enjoyment of Avril’s music and the singer’s personal happiness as more important than her public reputation and commercial success.
3. Two-thirds (67%) of the fans rated Goodbye Lullaby as above average, 27% average, and 6% below average or poor. Fans regarded all aspects of the album (including sound and vibe, lyrics, artwork, production, and song themes) as outstanding.
4. Interestingly, when fans were asked what their favourite song on the album was, the #1 choice was “Everybody Hurts” which was not released as a single. Their second favourite song was “Wish You Were Here” which was their favourite of the singles.
5. Favourite music video was “Smile”.
6. When asked about the overall success of the album, most (45%) felt it was mostly a success with some missteps.
7. The “missteps” were felt to be the promotion of the album; 80% felt it was not promoted well enough.
8. Fans felt the best aspects of the Goodbye Lullaby era were the live performances (72%).
9. The majority (58%) felt that, overall, Goodbye Lullaby has helped Avril’s career.
10. In terms of Goodbye Lullaby’s commercial performance, fans felt that the most positive influence was the album’s musical quality (77%) and the most negative (73%) was the delayed release of the album.
11. 42% of Avril’s fans surveyed were able to attend at least one of her shows on the Black Star World Tour.
12. The fans’ favourite performances of songs on the tour were “I’m with You” (#1) and “Everybody Hurts” (#2).
Before Canadian artists begin cranking out new albums this year, we wanted to conduct a poll to see what your favourite Canadian album was last year. For this particular poll, we’re just going to limit answers to the five best-selling 2011 Canadian albums worldwide. Perhaps you didn’t like any of them or perhaps you liked all of them. But, if you had to choose one, what would it be?
It is officially the winter solstice, so our announcement could come on no better day. (You’ll understand what we mean further down the post).
There was so much good music that came out in 2011, it will have the JUNO judges pulling their hair out to come up with a list of nominees for album of the year in a few months. Many recording artists released their magnum opus this year.
Our third favourite album this year comes from Ron Sexsmith, the most overlooked Canadian recording artist of modern times and one who is admired by the likes of Sir Paul McCartney. Long Player, Late Bloomer is a beautifully-crafted folk pop album and was produced by the eminent Bob Rock. It is the St. Catharines native’s best effort to date in our humble opinion.
At #2 is Goodbye Lullaby, pop punk princess Avril Lavigne‘s best album yet for one uncomplicated reason: there is not a single weak moment on the disc. Filled with inspired pop tunes from start to finish, it is but a gem. And, of course, no current Canadian recording artist can outsing her pure, pleasant, and pitch-perfect voice.
#1? Well, it’s a bit cold in here, so let’s “pull the wool up like a smoke screen” and introduce it gradually…
It would make more sense to fly over the North Pole, as the distance would surely be shorter, but the airlines would rather take us on the scenic route, like “two sparks tumbling along”, and have us stop over and change flights in a number of bustling cities with “busy parks” on different continents. The easiest way to fly from Vancouver to the largest city in this region of the world would be to stop over in Beijing, but that would be expensive. A cheaper alternative would be flying to Chicago, USA or London, England, then to Moscow, and finally to our destination of Novosibirsk, a city just shy of 1.5 million people, the largest urban center of northern Asia, an area of the Russian Federation known as Siberia.
Before we go on our flight, we want to stay where we are, in Vancouver, and travel back in time. We set the dial of our time machine to March 29, 2009 and push the button. After a flash of lights, we find ourselves in pre-Olympic Vancouver. We hop onto the SkyTrain which will drive our soul downtown. Many passengers will be going to our destination today and are very excited. After arriving, we disembark and walk over to what was then known as “GM Place”. We purchase tickets at the door and make our way inside. The show is about to begin. Nickelback blows us away with a tour de force performance, after which we see the host of the proceedings, comedian Russell Peters. We are, as some of you have figured from the clues, at the JUNO awards gala of 2009. A number of awards are being presented for the best in Canadian music.
At about 5:40 pm, after a performance by Sarah McLachlan and a cute comedy sketch with Peters and Michael Bublé, Maple Ridge’s beautiful Filipina-Canadian pop star Elise Estrada, the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage, and Terrace’s country singer Aaron Pritchett step onto the stage. They will be presenting the prestigious award for New Artist of the Year. The nominees are Jessie Ferrell, LIGHTS, Crystal Shawanda, Kreesha Turner, and Nikki Yanofsky. James Moore announces, “And the JUNO goes to…”. He opens the “envelope” which looks more like a CD jewel case, and then declares, “LIGHTS!”
As Elise Estrada begins clapping, another young woman, in a purple dress, looking very surprised and very happy, stands up and makes her way to the stage. The song “Drive My Soul”, a Top 20 hit, begins playing. The crowd is cheering. We are cheering too. She gives the three presenters a hug and positions herself in front of the microphone. “Whoa. Oh my goodness. I was so not expecting this … You know, I didn’t get into this to win awards; I got into this to create some amazing music, and we’ll try to anyways…”.
What was significant about LIGHTS winning the JUNO was that she had not yet released her debut album; it came out later that year in September. The Listening was an electronic pop record and was later certified gold in Canada.
Encouraged by her success, she decided, in the making of her sophomore baby, to depart from mainstream sounds to something more creative, more gritty, on the “alternative” side of the musical spectrum. Various personnel within the record company, who were more concerned with the business side of music, opposed the artistic move, and she was faced with manipulative forces trying to push her in different directions. She remained fixed in her resolve and focused on her goal of creating something different but exceptional musically. A great team consisting of Thomas Salter, Dave Thompson, Jay Parson, Brian Borcherdt, and Graham Walsh assisted her in crafting and perfecting a Canadian masterwork.
After some delays, Siberia was released on October 4, 2011. It is an indie electronic rock album with some elements of dubstep, and it received rave reviews. Siberia debuted at #3 on the Canadian albums chart behind Adele’s 21 and Feist’s Metals and sold 10,000 copies in the first week. She went on a North American tour to promote the album and will be heading to Europe next year.
Although Siberia pays homage to the great masters of electronic rock—FM, Gary Numan, Bjork, and Metric to name a few—LIGHTS has carved out a niche for herself by honing her own unique style. Amidst the ethereal, pulsating synthesizer buzzes, her voice comes through as sweet as honey, and her lyrics are more inspired than the pennings of the aforementioned.
Everyone has their favourite tracks. Ours are the title-track “Siberia”, single “Toes“, ballad “And Counting…”, and, most of all, the hauntingly gorgeous “Cactus in the Valley”, a song she composed entirely on her own.
LIGHTS fought off all opposition to make her work of art like fighting off the cold to brave the “icy tides” and “sail across the east sea”. In her song “Toes” she sings, “You capture my attention”. No, LIGHTS, you have captured our attention and have worn out the laser on our CD player from a countless number of listens.
“I didn’t get into this to win awards; I got into this to create some amazing music,” she said. And she has done just that. LIGHTS’ Siberia is our pick for album of the year 2011. Well done.
Update: At the end of April 2012, Siberia was awarded GOLD certification in Canada.
Do you have a favourite Canadian album of 2011? Let us know: canadianmusicblog@yahoo.ca.
