Let Go

I will always love this record. It's funny that I didn''t listen to it until 10 years after it was released! I probably would've blown it off then as teenybopper fluff. But now more than ever I appreciate it as a ground breaking and superbly conceived and produced work of art. I believe this is one of those albums that will withstand and perhaps even define the times.

Been meaning to post my thoughts on each album here, so here we go, a list of pros and cons for each album (my opinion only, obviously ):

Pros:
- I love that this album has variety while still sounding like a cohesive album. It doesn't sound "all over the place"
- The production is timeless. I find that when I listen to this album even after over a decade after its release, it still sounds fresh. It never sounds outdated to me
- I've always loved the album artwork and handwritten lyrics. It gives it such a personal touch. I love that the photoshoot feels more candid and less "posed"
- Even though her vocals are clearly overproduced here (more on that in the cons), I love the sound of her voice on this album
- I like that the songs explore different topics and there's something for everyone


Cons:
- As mentioned, her vocals are pretty overproduced on this album and even Avril said she felt that way. There is some clear use of autotune, though it's not Kesha levels, but it's audible
- She wasn't as involved with this album as she ended up being on future albums, with having other writers contributing a lot of the lyrics


Overall this is my favorite album from her and my favorite album of all time. 5/5

Let Go was the perfect album for me at that time. I was 19 and very much clueless about my life. Songs like I'm With You, Tomorrow and even Unwanted gave me comfort either in the positive way or through strength.

Now, as a 35 year old, I rarely listen to this album. It's fine, but I like how her voice has evolved from these early years. Also, I'm not clueless anymore, so the record can't really give me that much anymore... If I listen to songs from this album, they are songs that she has sung on her later tours.

I don't remember exactly and don't remember where I heard it. But I know she said she felt the album was too pop and overproduced.

I really love LG, but I have to admit that a lot of my love for it probably comes from various memories this record brings back to me.

But it's still a great record, regardless of my memories. The production is simply fantastic, and even more so considering this record is from 2002. When I listen to other songs from the same year, I usually find them flat-sounding ... the production is just very outdated. But LG still sounds fresh and vibrant.

The lyrics are probably the best of all of Avril's records, even though we know by now she probably didn't even write that much (which is kinda disappointing - I prefer the artists I listen to to have as much influence in their music, especially the writing, as possible. But oh well...).

But LG isn't without flaws: what I dislike the most is Avril's voice. It sounds pretty weak most of the time tbh. And I also miss a bit more emotion sometimes.

And then there are the songs themselves: they're all good individually and they all fit together to make a good record, but I still miss at least one or two happy, powerful, upbeat songs à la "Sk8er Boi" or "I Don't Give". And I find that a couple of the songs kinda slow the album down... "Mobile", "Things I'll Never Say", especially "Tomorrow" - I do like them, but they're still a bit too filler-ish to me.

Overall, LG is currently my second-favourite album of Avril's. Sometimes it's also my favourite, but at the moment it loses to UMS, mostly because I prefer Avril's voice on UMS a lot more.

I think the Matrix Mix has some echo-ish sound to it and the beats are much more pronounced. The first and second chorus, especially, sound very different from the album version. The guitars are much more in the background while vocals and beats are in the foreground.