birdie2020
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Post by birdie2020 on Apr 3, 2019 23:31:05 GMT
Since the HAW thread is locked out after a month and a half of the album being out and some members seem to be "over" the whole Avril thing in general, it got me thinking about the fandom future as well as the future of BA. Hoping to discuss here what you think is the future of being an Avril fan will mean. Will there be a lot of us? Will we be few because fans are tired of bad promo planning, don't like the new era, or are just tired of Avril's style? Will BA even exist as a place for us to discuss everything Avril? Personally I think I will continue to be a fan unless something drastic changes my mind. I'm hoping Avril is working her way back to performing longer sets regardless of the songs played. I'm thinking a tour could be a possibility now that her songs are sounded pretty good in the promo performances. However, I think a lot of fans are frustrated and expect more out of her. For whatever reason we are not getting it yet, but that doesn't mean we never will. I wonder if she'll even make another album after the way this one was received and how quickly the fans turned after a month. Yeah, I don't listen as much since I've played it everyday since it came out. It isn't shiny and new anymore, but I still listen from time to time. I do get irritated by some things Avril does, but I like some things she does too, so I mean really, who is perfect? It really is a "what have you done lately" business and so as a result, especially with everyone's lack of an attention span (blame social media, super fast internet and news, or whatever you want, but it's true) it's natural for people to just leave her behind and move on to the next thing. So BA what are your thoughts on the future? Is this the end of an era? Is this the beginning of a comeback? Remember HAW seemed to get locked out due to what was posted there recently so please remember that when posting here.
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paperbackwriter
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Post by paperbackwriter on Apr 3, 2019 23:49:40 GMT
I was going to post this in the HAW thread but it was locked while I was writing it.
Sure Avril could be more energetic on stage but as far as song choices for the Japan trip, we don't know what she was asked to do by promoters. Sure the acoustic set was touted as a "fan event" but that doesn't mean she got to choose what what to do for it. For all of her trips to Japan where she has done two performances she has sang the single and an old hit. Besides this Japan promo and the Honda stage Avril has not done any promo where she has been asked to play multiple songs. It's not like 2004 where her management set up a mall tour for her to showcase her new stuff and she hasn't done a sessions at Aol or those shows in Europe where she would play multiple songs from the album. Sure she could do a facebook live acoustic set but I honestly don't think she thinks of these type of things. She's still in the old school promo mindset. And using her instagram videos as proof she has energy is ridiculous. Those are a few seconds long and she could be acting out in what she assumes is an entertaining way for the camera. Why she doesn't always do that on stage I don't know, but short videos aren't always an indicator of the real truth.
From what I have seen of her performing HAW, she is so into it. She is very passionate about music again and it shows. I don't understand how not playing any other new songs somehow negates that. I don't see how not performing certain songs means she's lazy and dispassionate. I think she just doesn't understand what the fans want from her. Honestly all the negativity on the internet probably seems like a bunch of angry haters when she sees her fans in person and everyone is loving on her. No one has said to her these songs mean so much to me can you perform them live? No one has even asked if she will perform new songs or if all we will get is the single and an old hit for non fans.
What Avril needs is a good management team again. Someone to tell her what to do in a sense because she doesn't appear to know herself anymore with how much the industry has changed. She had a very good team behind her from Let Go to TBDT and they pushed her to do more. Hasn't anyone noticed that after Avril left Nettwerk things started to go downhill in terms of quality promo? She does all kinds of interviews from home. If her manager was like we need to do an acoustic live from the house and play the new songs for fans would she really say no? She would probably be excited. But no one in her life appears to be mentioning these things to her. In the last facebook live she did a year ago her manger told her she could do whatever she wants. That's not working, so give her some ideas!
I'll still be a fan. I don't really care what she performs. Yeah it's nice to see new songs performed but I love her music and I am ok with that. I like a lot of bands that do barely any promo at all for their albums and I don't watch them live. I just enjoy their music.
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BogoGog24
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Post by BogoGog24 on Apr 4, 2019 0:05:14 GMT
To be honest I think it says a lot that some of her most dedicated fans are so disappointed with her and some are considering not even seeing her if she does go on tour. She will always have casual fans show up at her concerts, but let's be real - she is having trouble filling up venues these days and the last thing she should be doing is pissing off even more fans because she can't do something as simple as playing new songs like literally every single other artist in the entire music industry does. Only Avril does stuff like this and the thing that frustrates me the most is the excuse after excuse that gets pulled out to defend this behavior. It is more irritating than the actual stuff Avril is doing IMO. Being a fan does not mean we have to just settle for everything she does. We are her customers and we can choose to stop supporting her at any time we want to. It is a 2-way street. She may not "owe" us anything, but we don't necessarily owe her anything either. I can put my time and money towards another artist who fulfills my expectations better if this is the way she's going to handle things now.
Here's the thing. Music is a business like anything else. We are her customers and a big rule in business is that you treat your customers right or else they give their business to someone else. If she hopes to not be playing to half-empty arenas again or opening up for a boyband, she needs to take what her fans are saying into serious consideration and start stepping up her game. We really aren't asking all that much of her except to play some new songs like every other artist does.
We have supported her through thick and thin, through now THREE bad album cycles. There is always some excuse or reason why the albums turned out poor or why the promo sucked or why the tours were bad. Yet we stuck by her and continued to support her. We stuck by her while we waited 5 years for a new album, we were kept in the dark a lot of the time through multiple delays and not knowing much about what was going on, yet we were still all here for her when it finally came out. Now we simply want to hear her play some of the new stuff, which for whatever reason she can't be bothered to do, and we are being accused of demanding too much from her, to go easy on her because she was sick, that she doesn't owe us anything, she hasn't had time to practice, she doesn't know the lyrics, she has to cater to her casual fans, blah blah blah blah blah. I do believe she genuinely appreciates her fans and appreciates the support - she could show it by playing the new material, even just another song or 2, even if it's just DB or TMIO.
I just don't get how she can say that this album is so personal to her, that it reignited her passion for music again and showed her how much she needs music, but then she won't perform the songs. Even in promo stages before a tour an artist might play only singles and not album cuts, but they are the singles from that album. In past eras she has performed for example WTH, Push, WYWH, and Smile - all singles, but new songs from the new album regardless. Her fans in Japan don't need to be reminded of Sk8er Boi or MHE. Those songs came out nearly 15 years ago. If she's not going to promote her new album, what's the point?
If she isn't physically capable of putting on a performance with a decent size setlist or learning new lyrics or whatever the excuse is, then she shouldn't do it until she is ready. Period. Nobody forced her to do this. By agreeing to fly around the world and attend these events, presumably her doctor gave her the ok and she is healthy enough to at least get through it, otherwise don't you think she wouldn't have? There is really just no acceptable excuse at this point for why the era has been handled as poorly as it has been.
I have sympathy for her for what she has been through. I really do. But I think the fans have every right to be disappointed at this point with the way things have gone. As I said, it says a lot that there are multiple fans disappointed with her and considering not attending her tour. She needs to get her act together if she hopes to still salvage her career. Of course a few angry fans on BA isn't going to matter, but who knows just how many of her fans feel this way.
Wanna know why Taylor Swift is the biggest artist in the world right now and holds the record for the biggest selling US tour in history? Because from day 1 of her career, she went out of her way to make sure all her fans felt appreciated. She'd do meet and greets for hours, to this day she never even charges money for them, she would write personal blog posts, she responds to fans on social media, she listens to what they want in terms of tour setlists and even merch design. She does her best to cater to them and make them happy. And as a result, she has built up a following that is so loyal they have filled up entire stadiums for her when everyone thought her tour would be a failure. Because of her loyal fans, the tour succeeded. Avril would be lucky at this point in her career to fill up arenas these days, let alone stadiums. She does not have that loyal of a fanbase and it's no surprise why. She hasn't done a lot to earn it. Avril has never been this close with her fans and I get that. I'm not saying she needs to go out of her way and invite them to her house like Taylor does. But when you treat your fans like you really value them, they will be loyal to you and help you succeed. If that's what she wants, she needs to do better. Period. We all know she can do better than this. Music is important to you? You appreciate your fans? Then act like it.
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BogoGog24
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Post by BogoGog24 on Apr 4, 2019 0:13:53 GMT
I was going to post this in the HAW thread but it was locked while I was writing it. Sure Avril could be more energetic on stage but as far as song choices for the Japan trip, we don't know what she was asked to do by promoters. Sure the acoustic set was touted as a "fan event" but that doesn't mean she got to choose what what to do for it. For all of her trips to Japan where she has done two performances she has sang the single and an old hit. Besides this Japan promo and the Honda stage Avril has not done any promo where she has been asked to play multiple songs. It's not like 2004 where her management set up a mall tour for her to showcase her new stuff and she hasn't done a sessions at Aol or those shows in Europe where she would play multiple songs from the album. Sure she could do a facebook live acoustic set but I honestly don't think she thinks of these type of things. She's still in the old school promo mindset. And using her instagram videos as proof she has energy is ridiculous. Those are a few seconds long and she could be acting out in what she assumes is an entertaining way for the camera. Why she doesn't always do that on stage I don't know, but short videos aren't always an indicator of the real truth. From what I have seen of her performing HAW, she is so into it. She is very passionate about music again and it shows. I don't understand how not playing any other new songs somehow negates that. I don't see how not performing certain songs means she's lazy and dispassionate. I think she just doesn't understand what the fans want from her. Honestly all the negativity on the internet probably seems like a bunch of angry haters when she sees her fans in person and everyone is loving on her. No one has said to her these songs mean so much to me can you perform them live? No one has even asked if she will perform new songs or if all we will get is the single and an old hit for non fans. What Avril needs is a good management team again. Someone to tell her what to do in a sense because she doesn't appear to know herself anymore with how much the industry has changed. She had a very good team behind her from Let Go to TBDT and they pushed her to do more. Hasn't anyone noticed that after Avril left Nettwerk things started to go downhill in terms of quality promo? She does all kinds of interviews from home. If her manager was like we need to do an acoustic live from the house and play the new songs for fans would she really say no? She would probably be excited. But no one in her life appears to be mentioning these things to her. In the last facebook live she did a year ago her manger told her she could do whatever she wants. That's not working, so give her some ideas! I'll still be a fan. I don't really care what she performs. Yeah it's nice to see new songs performed but I love her music and I am ok with that. I like a lot of bands that do barely any promo at all for their albums and I don't watch them live. I just enjoy their music. You could be right but at the same time... seriously? Avril has been in the music industry for over 15 years. I'm not expecting her to know how to handle promo herself and be able to market herself, but she has been in the business and around businesspeople for years, she had to have learned a few things. She has no problem knowing how to market Abbey Dawn or another artist's song when she wants to, but her own music, it's like she suddenly plays dumb. Maybe she is just uncomfortable with the idea of self-promotion, as though she feels like it is bragging or rude. I can see that. She was brought up in an old-school way like that. And yes, she's used to having people do things for her. But I really don't think she is as clueless as you are making it sound like she is. If she was really that clueless, she wouldn't have lasted 15 years in the business. She knows how all this works more than I think her fans think she does.
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paperbackwriter
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Post by paperbackwriter on Apr 4, 2019 0:23:36 GMT
You could be right but at the same time... seriously? Avril has been in the music industry for over 15 years. I'm not expecting her to know how to handle promo herself and be able to market herself, but she has been in the business and around businesspeople for years, she had to have learned a few things. She has no problem knowing how to market Abbey Dawn or another artist's song when she wants to, but her own music, it's like she suddenly plays dumb. Maybe she is just uncomfortable with the idea of self-promotion, as though she feels like it is bragging or rude. I can see that. She was brought up in an old-school way like that. And yes, she's used to having people do things for her. But I really don't think she is as clueless as you are making it sound like she is. If she was really that clueless, she wouldn't have lasted 15 years in the business. She knows how all this works more than I think her fans think she does. I don't think she's completely incompetent but she appears to just be getting the hang of social media. She did say in a recent one that she just found the hands free button lol. Her trip to UAE and Japan are the most she's posted on social media probably ever. That was something that fans had been wanting for a long time. A way to feel like they were invited into her world. Now they've moved to something else to complain about. I wouldn't really consider abbey dawn posts as proof she has great business acumen. Those are most likely posted by her team and even those were few and far between once the new collection dropped. She hasn't done any real decent promo for it since 2012. If we look at the available evidence Avril doesn't seem to be to tech savvy and is not taking the best advantage of social media because of it. Someone should be helping her along with this stuff but they don't appear to be.
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BogoGog24
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Post by BogoGog24 on Apr 4, 2019 0:50:32 GMT
I'm not just talking about social media posts. In the GL era every chance she got she would bring up AD, even if the interviewer didn't ask about it. It's like she cared more about talking about that than the music.
If Avril needs assistance with social media stuff, then her team is to blame. They are all to blame somewhat at this point. There's still no excuse for the incompetence. Either learn how to do things in 2019 or you get left behind and sell 28,000 copies of an album and open up for a boyband as your touring opportunity.
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BogoGog24
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Post by BogoGog24 on Apr 4, 2019 1:37:44 GMT
I don't blame her at all for not wanting to communicate on social media with some of the crazies that are on there, especially the incessant Melissa comments. I don't blame her at all if that especially bothers her, considering she really did almost die. However, I think she likes engaging on social media, just only once in awhile. Like how she did a Twitter Q&A before the album release and answered a ton of questions. She should/could do stuff like that more often. I get that for her, she didn't grow up with social media so it's all new to her. But nowadays that is kind of what artists have to do if they want to keep their fans interested. Taylor and Ariana do it, for example.
If she is to do a tour, I would seriously love the idea of an acoustic tour, similar to the Roxy Theater show. Just a stripped down set with her and the band, sitting on a stool, in small venues. It would work really well if her energy levels are low and they don't have much of a budget to do a big production. She could also easily sell out those size venues. And if she insists on singing lots of old singles, at least we'd get to hear them in a different capacity than we have been for the last decade. If she were to do an acoustic show, I'd go for sure. But if it's going to be the same old same old with a few new tunes thrown in, I'm not sure.
I think she'll always have fans that support her. The majority of her fans don't necessarily pay attention to everything she does and when she asks for requests they'll legit ask for Sk8er Boi and other stupid shit like that. They are happy with this kind of thing, I guess. So we may be in the minority as far as our disappointment goes. But on the other hand, maybe not. Only album sales and demand for a tour can really tell. Her album sold even less than AL, so the chances for a tour look slim unless she plays small venues. If she attempts to go on an arena tour and sales are low, that will be a clear indicator that she needs to change something. I don't think she'll truly get it until something drastic happens like the arena is nearly empty or shows have to be cancelled due to low sales.
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goodbye
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Post by goodbye on Apr 4, 2019 4:40:53 GMT
I don’t think she will lose fans. It's natural that you don't support every little thing an artist does and discuss these things. Taylor did no promo for her latest album too and she still has fans. It's natural that you have a flop album/era or more. Katy lost some casual fans but not her hard core fans.
These issues should be adressed. At least her label should say something about it. If something is going on with her, her fans should know that to avoid disappointment and losing them.
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heaven
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Post by heaven on Apr 4, 2019 10:37:01 GMT
Well, everyone was exceited when she changed the label.. Everyone thought that things could change, but things got even worse than before. The labels weren't the ones to blame on, fans tend to forget that she always was ''forced'' to do something even during he eariler eras, but she was so great back then. What changed? What happened? 2009 was the define year of her life personally and musically, do you remember the summer on Saint Tropez when she was a little bit crazy? This was before she got divorced from Deryck and ever since that fact, Avril was NEVER EVER EVER EVER the one we used to know. She really died, i'm not talking about the stupid Melissa thing, i'm really serious, she never recovered from that divorce so she wasn't strong enough to put RCA in its place and make her own thing for Goodbye Lullaby. And things got worse year by year, she said she was aphatic after the GL era, so the self-titled was what it was, niether a new love did something for her, the tour was a disaster, but one thing was great from that era: the Rock N Roll music video, i really like it. Then Lyme happened and destroyed everything.
It's time to accept that Avril Lavigne we used to know will never go back again and a new strong version will never appear because it's too late, 10 years are a lot! She made a good album that could have been really great if she hadn't waited so long and kept on changing it.. Some songs sound so forced like Souvenir and Bigger Wow, and like Bogo said in the other thread it really misses something, to me there should have been 3 more song about Lyme and the story would have been more clear and defined.
I tend to compare this album to reputation, the 2 tell a similiar story: going from a dark moment to a bright one.. but reputation is more complete: there are songs about the media, about the Kimye gate, about her reboud Tom Hiddleston and of course songs about finding a new love and the fear of losing it because of your 'reputation'. I can't imagine this album without any song because each one fits to the story and adds a content. I can't say the same about Head Above Water, before I Fell In Love With The Devil there should have been another song of her battle, Souvenir is cute but it's unnecessery tbh,don't even get me started with Bigger Wow...so...
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goodbye
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Post by goodbye on Apr 4, 2019 13:52:16 GMT
Well, everyone was exceited when she changed the label.. Everyone thought that things could change, but things got even worse than before. The labels weren't the ones to blame on, fans tend to forget that she always was ''forced'' to do something even during he eariler eras, but she was so great back then. What changed? What happened? 2009 was the define year of her life personally and musically, do you remember the summer on Saint Tropez when she was a little bit crazy? This was before she got divorced from Deryck and ever since that fact, Avril was NEVER EVER EVER EVER the one we used to know. She really died, i'm not talking about the stupid Melissa thing, i'm really serious, she never recovered from that divorce so she wasn't strong enough to put RCA in its place and make her own thing for Goodbye Lullaby. And things got worse year by year, she said she was aphatic after the GL era, so the self-titled was what it was, niether a new love did something for her, the tour was a disaster, but one thing was great from that era: the Rock N Roll music video, i really like it. Then Lyme happened and destroyed everything. It's time to accept that Avril Lavigne we used to know will never go back again and a new strong version will never appear because it's too late, 10 years are a lot! She made a good album that could have been really great if she hadn't waited so long and kept on changing it.. Some songs sound so forced like Souvenir and Bigger Wow, and like Bogo said in the other thread it really misses something, to me there should have been 3 more song about Lyme and the story would have been more clear and defined. I tend to compare this album to reputation, the 2 tell a similiar story: going from a dark moment to a bright one.. but reputation is more complete: there are songs about the media, about the Kimye gate, about her reboud Tom Hiddleston and of course songs about finding a new love and the fear of losing it because of your 'reputation'. I can't imagine this album without any song because each one fits to the story and adds a content. I can't say the same about Head Above Water, before I Fell In Love With The Devil there should have been another song of her battle, Souvenir is cute but it's unnecessery tbh,don't even get me started with Bigger Wow...so... what happened in 2009? Why was she aphatic after the GL era?
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heaven
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Post by heaven on Apr 4, 2019 17:44:17 GMT
Well, everyone was exceited when she changed the label.. Everyone thought that things could change, but things got even worse than before. The labels weren't the ones to blame on, fans tend to forget that she always was ''forced'' to do something even during he eariler eras, but she was so great back then. What changed? What happened? 2009 was the define year of her life personally and musically, do you remember the summer on Saint Tropez when she was a little bit crazy? This was before she got divorced from Deryck and ever since that fact, Avril was NEVER EVER EVER EVER the one we used to know. She really died, i'm not talking about the stupid Melissa thing, i'm really serious, she never recovered from that divorce so she wasn't strong enough to put RCA in its place and make her own thing for Goodbye Lullaby. And things got worse year by year, she said she was aphatic after the GL era, so the self-titled was what it was, niether a new love did something for her, the tour was a disaster, but one thing was great from that era: the Rock N Roll music video, i really like it. Then Lyme happened and destroyed everything. It's time to accept that Avril Lavigne we used to know will never go back again and a new strong version will never appear because it's too late, 10 years are a lot! She made a good album that could have been really great if she hadn't waited so long and kept on changing it.. Some songs sound so forced like Souvenir and Bigger Wow, and like Bogo said in the other thread it really misses something, to me there should have been 3 more song about Lyme and the story would have been more clear and defined. I tend to compare this album to reputation, the 2 tell a similiar story: going from a dark moment to a bright one.. but reputation is more complete: there are songs about the media, about the Kimye gate, about her reboud Tom Hiddleston and of course songs about finding a new love and the fear of losing it because of your 'reputation'. I can't imagine this album without any song because each one fits to the story and adds a content. I can't say the same about Head Above Water, before I Fell In Love With The Devil there should have been another song of her battle, Souvenir is cute but it's unnecessery tbh,don't even get me started with Bigger Wow...so... what happened in 2009? Why was she aphatic after the GL era? In summer 2009 she went on a vaction in South of France with her friends and she partied a lot, drank too much.. I remember than fans were so shocked and worried about that, even because she didn't wear the wedding ring so there were many speculation etc etc Here are some pics: i0.wp.com/www.gossippando.it/wp-content//2009/08/avril-lavigne-st-tropez13.jpgmedia.gettyimages.com/photos/singer-avril-lavigne-and-her-girl-friend-attend-the-dj-martin-solveig-picture-id89567306?k=6&m=89567306&s=612x612&w=0&h=ULUrPW9JcvysK1wgyS9EPPx2fLUfhUhzZ0bfgCV4Cjw=3.bp.blogspot.com/_7QWYe6P3j3U/Smu1udDk1-I/AAAAAAAAAC4/z7P5dlDqOK4/s400/0286016B.jpgI don't know why she was aphatic, i remember she said that on a interview waaaay before the self-titled was released.
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biggerwow
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Post by biggerwow on Apr 4, 2019 21:25:54 GMT
Apparently she lost various fans with the release of TBDT. The whole look and sound shocked them or something and they left. And Bandaids is not as popular because this is a reboot from the original that was deleted. I think some never signed up to this new one. I actually created mine and never used it until last summer when there were rumblings of a single release. So no I don't think this is the end of her fans. Maybe Bandaids...but the rest of the fanbase is just keeping tabs on social media 💁♀️. Everyone on her social media is pretty chill with the occasional troll but I mostly see "yes queen I love you 😍". I expect bandaids to be a bit deserted once the era officially ends.
Btw I think the era will just drag on with many slow days/months. Which sucks. This is not what I was expecting from her return considering this is her 2nd try. It's pretty dissapointing. She doesn't owe us anything but I still feel a huge disconnect between her and the fans.
Unpopular opinion and heading another direction here but I think she is one of those celebs that should have stayed off social media. Living that mysterious life 😎 considering she never shares anything new with the fans anyways.
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TamyXD
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Post by TamyXD on Apr 4, 2019 23:30:40 GMT
I personally can't imagine not being an Avril fan (unless there'll be some drastic negative changes in her music and/or personality, which I doubt). I grew up with her and she's helped me through so much. She'll always have a very special place in my heart. But I feel like I'm slowly ceasing to be a hardcore fan and becoming more of a "normal" fan, at least regarding her music. I used to listen to her songs daily over many years, especially new songs. Yet HAW has been out for just about 6 weeks now and while I still really like it, I only listened to it once in the past 2 weeks or so. When my other favourite artists release new music or when I simply feel like listening to / focusing on one of those artists again, I can easily enjoy that music for 2 entire months without once feeling like it's time to return to some other stuff. I haven't had that feeling with Avril in ages. I thought it might come back with HAW. But I was wrong. I think the biggest reason for that is simply that my taste in music has changed a lot since AL. I started listening to more and more rock music, meanwhile leaving pop more and more behind. More than 5 years later Avril finally returned with a new album. But by that time I'd spent 5 years listening to almost nothing but rock music, including screams, unpredictability, loud guitars, heavy drums, theatricality, and lyrics that deal with so much more than just "relationship issues" or "falling in love". I'm not used to pop music anymore, not even Avril's signature pop/rock. It's not that I totally dislike this genre now, I still enjoy listening to it every now and then, but I'm not a fan of it anymore. So that's the biggest issue for me at the moment, the biggest issue why I can't enjoy HAW (and all of Avril's other records too, tbh) as much as I'd like to, even though I think it is, as objectively speaking as possible, a very good record: my musical taste has changed too much. Regarding this era, there's also the aspect of promo. I really thought things would finally work out again with BMG. They've always made a very good impression on me. I've never heard other BMG artists having trouble with that label. Yet here we are again, Avril is with BMG, yet promo sucks. Again. Singles don't get sent to the radio for weeks. DB didn't even get a music video. Avril's only performed one single so far (I don't count that low-quality performance of TMIO, nor that horribly edited Honda performance of DB). She keeps saying how excited she is to perform HAW, how excited she is to perform in general, but I just can't feel it when I watch those videos. She's never been the biggest performer out there, but imo the best performances of this era are only okay compared to good performances of her previous eras. It's the same with her music videos. Since AL era she came across as almost dispassionate in them, despite her saying the opposite in interviews. It's even worse now. I really find this confusing. Does she lie in those interviews? Or is she really as passionate and energetic as she says but just has real trouble bringing it across? I feel like if all this was better - better promo and better / more energetic performances - I might still be interested enough in this album to listen to it more often than once a fortnight. I also feel like there isn't much growth in her music, rather the opposite. Her sound has changed, that's for sure, but apart from a few songs, HAW (album) doesn't really sound like something someone who's been in this business for 17 years now would release. It's almost like she's afraid to dig deeper, so she just keeps writing about the same things over and over again. Other artists have spoken before about how they make a record, how you might never know if for whatever reason this might indeed be your last record ever, so you want to make sure it's the best thing ever, and you pour your entire heart and soul into it until you're drained and fucking exhausted, but then the result is something to be really damn proud of. I feel like Avril doesn't do that anymore. To me it feels like she starts with the intention of making the best record ever, but then halfway through she loses interest or it gets too exhausting or too scary, so she'll just throw in a couple of easy songs, a simple love song, or a filler or something. I don't think she's not passionate about her music anymore, but I do think she has quite a problem staying focused and no one to help her with it (is that the management's fault?). All this leads to chaos and her seeming immature and naive. I'm 13 years younger than her, yet I feel like I've outgrown her... I also get more and more annoyed by how she ALWAYS acts in her Instagram stories, stroking her hair, making weird "cute" faces and all this "YAAAASSSSS" bullshit (it wasn't ever that funny to begin with imo). This kind of public image makes it almost embarrassing for me to tell people I'm an Avril fan. And it somehow underlines that seeming lack of growth in her music. I just wish she would give us something else every now and then, maybe something music related, like her playing the guitar or the piano or showing us some handwritten lyrics from HAW album? That'd be so much more interesting than the newest snapchat filter or another round of "YAAAASSSSS". Okay, now I wrote more than I intended to, so to summarize it all: I'm not as big a fan as I used to be, mainly because my taste in music has changed since AL. Regarding this era, I'm also disappointed in lack of decent promo, lack of enthusiasm / lack of ability to show enthusiasm, and (to some extent) lack of growth musically. I highly doubt I'll ever stop being a fan or stop using BA regularly, though. There are too many good memories.
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BogoGog24
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Post by BogoGog24 on Apr 5, 2019 0:48:48 GMT
I pretty much feel the same. As I've been saying, I think it says a lot that quite a few of her longtime fans are feeling this way. I think Avril genuinely feels a connection with this new music and that she worked very hard on it, but her idea of what is "deep" and all that I think differs a lot from other people's idea of it. (I remember she actually thought the stuff on GL was deep...) Part of it could just be that she is very limited in her experiences. She had a very conservative upbringing where she wasn't allowed to listen to that much secular music and I think that always hindered her abilities as a writer and hence why she was never that educated on some of the great music because she wasn't able to listen to it. However, it's very nice to see that as she's grown older she's expanded her music tastes and listens to jazz and stuff. The other thing is that she dropped out of high school and was never into learning that much before that. I think this really hindered her writing and why she never writes super eloquent lyrics or writes about other topics. I will say though that I remember on UMS she wanted to include a song about a serial killer that was featured on the news but the label deemed it "too political" and didn't include it. So we have no idea what kinds of songs she's written that will never see the light of day. To some extent, she's always been marketed as a pop product meant to appeal to the masses and over the years that may have warped her perception of what good music really is and what it should be.
I always felt like this might have happened since GL. Her first 3 records are what the majority of her fans deem her golden era. They are musically unique and really have something to say. It's what made Avril Avril. But since GL, she started getting told by a label that her music wasn't good enough and she was paired with Max Martin to write these formulaic pop songs that sound like a hollow version of her former self. The cycle continued with AL. Songs like 17, GYWYL, and Hello Heartache hinted at Avril wanting to explore new sounds, but she was yet again forced to write generic pop hits. I do think labels and past experiences can be partially to blame for stunting Avril's musical growth and maturity. Think about it. She wrote a song like Darlin when she was only 15, but she couldn't write a song like that now. I fear she has been influenced too much by labels and generic hitmakers to really know what a good song is anymore - I mean a true, original, musically unique song. I think that's why her new stuff kind of doesn't sound like herself really. It's like she kind of lost her musical identity after TBDT. Her first 3 records have that signature Avril stamp, but post-GL not so much.
Lately Taylor Swift has been my go-to. Her lyrics are intelligent and poetic. Her shows are incredible and visually captivating. She speaks so eloquently in interviews and gives thoughtful answers to why she writes songs and how she comes up with the ideas. She's so creative with everything she does. I feel like she just meets my current tastes and expectations more than Avril has in the last several years. I feel like what's happened is Avril helped shape me as a kid and Taylor is now shaping me as a young woman. They are both special artists to me and both mean different things to me. They've both influenced me a lot and I admire both of them. But Taylor I feel like suits my current musical tastes and what I want to hear, not just with the music, but it's refreshing to hear someone be able to really speak thoughtfully about their own music and be able to say why they wrote it without going, "So um like this song is about like living the rockstar life and stuff like YAAASSSS RAWESOME KAWAII ABBEY DAWN!!!1!1!1" I said it before - I think most of us who grew up with Avril are beginning to realize she didn't grow with us. It's like mentally she is still stuck in a teen phase and her IG stories and interviews show it. I think sadly a lot of us have just outgrown her maybe.
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BogoGog24
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Post by BogoGog24 on Apr 5, 2019 0:55:43 GMT
I'll add one more thing by saying that I listened to Kacey Musgraves's album Golden Hour (which won this year's Grammy for Album of the Year) and even the songs on there touched me emotionally more than pretty much anything from HAW. "Space Cowboy" made me want to cry the first time I heard and especially another song she has called "Rainbow." And several people have said this, that Rainbow makes them cry. There is something about her delivery of the song that makes it so emotional. I just have quite honestly never felt that kind of emotional connection with Avril's music before - none of her songs have ever made me want to cry. And especially these songs that are supposed to be emotional and about her journey like HAW and Warrior - they just don't impact me that way. I enjoy listening to Warrior but in terms of emotion, it falls a bit flat IMO.
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