Lavigne, a self-professed skater punk and labelmate of Pink, shares her "Take Me As I Am" credo as well. Nonetheless, the song is a knockout radio hit.
But listen carefully and you'll realize that "Complicated"'s sing-song melody borrows just enough from Pink's "Don't Let Me Get Me" to make it familiar and likeable. The phrasing is awkward and sometimes silly: "It's funny when you think it's gonna work out/Till you chose weed over me you're so lame," she sings on "Too Much to Ask." Not surprisingly, the standout track is the first single, "Complicated," a gem of a pop/rock tune with a killer chorus. "Sk8er Boi" has a terrific power pop bounce, but shows her lyrical shortcomings: "He was a punk/She did ballet/What more can I say" - a lot. She handles a variety of styles deftly, but she still has some growing up to do lyrically. Her debut runs the gamut from driving rock numbers like "Losing Grip" - where Lavigne shows off her vocal range, powering into the anger-fueled, explosive rock chorus - to singer/songwriter pop tunes like "My World," where Lavigne fills listeners in on the past 17 years of her life. Luckily for Lavigne, aside from youth, she does have talent.
So if newcomer 17-year-old Avril Lavigne truly wants to be "Anything but Ordinary," as she sings on her debut album, Let Go, she'll have to dig deeper. And as mass-produced teen pop makes its exit and a glut of young singer/songwriters enter, child prodigies no longer have built-in marketing appeal.
Talk about pressure - being under 21 and having a record deal no longer qualifies as extraordinary.