The Chronicles Of Life And Death
- Good Charlotte
- Band Name: Good Charlotte
- Record Label: Sony
- Release Date: Oct 5, 2004
- Critic Score
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A giant leap forward--in instrumental prowess, and in emotional and melodic scope. [8 Oct 2004, p.113]
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75Pulling off the tricky balancing act of aiming for mainstream success while keeping one's street cred intact, songs like "Ghost of You" and "Predictable" abandon the band's mall-rat roots in exchange for more mature influences like U2 and Muse.
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For all their well-crafted ambition on Chronicles, "I Just Wanna Live" feels like Good Charlotte's centerpiece, since it's spiked with rock power, but gets its soul from the pop life they lead.
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70The band takes its proven peppy rock sound to new heights.
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67It's hard to know if Madden's complaints seem so tame because the band's music is less zippy, or whether he's just taking the easiest path to the teen masses. [Nov 2004, p.109]
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The band never quite escapes its proven pop formula or simple tales of angst. [10 Oct 2004]
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Their musical gifts haven’t left them... and their overwrought yet empathetic lyrics signify that their bandwagon jumping is misguided rather than crass.
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60Welcome to tonight's Very Special Episode of pop-punk. [Nov 2004, p.130]
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Good Charlotte have obviously put a lot of effort and imagination into Chronicles, and if it comes off as slightly awkward in parts, well, isn't that part of growing up? [Nov 2004, p.135]
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Good Charlotte have hooks for days and the fun, gloomy Life and Death sounds like a moody missing link between Fountains of Wayne and Thrice.
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Beyond some rich-and-famous irony, not a single suburban detail soils an hour of good intentions. And you know the music overreaches too.
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40It's nothing if not ambitious... [but] they simply don't have the depth, or the authority, to pull it off. [Dec 2004, p.143]
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They falter by attempting to stray from the formula they've mastered. [28 Oct 2004, p.100]
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40Good Charlotte's confessionals are typical teenage moans, and their music second-hand Green Day.
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The disc is full of ham-fisted experiments. [11 Oct 2004]
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Half the time, Good Charlotte sound like Blink-182 after the snip, the other half they sound like the Backstreet Boys without the songs. [16 Oct 2004, p.48]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 58 out of 87
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Mixed: 5 out of 87
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Negative: 24 out of 87
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Andrea5The record has bad songs, I could save only three-four tracks. Not the best by this band, only a commercial product.