Good Charlotte- The Young and the Hopeless

The Young And The Hopeless is Good Charlotte's second album. It was released in 2002 and shot the band to international pop success.

Kicking things off is A New Beginning, an overblown self-indulgent instrumental. Actually, it's quite a good start (well, except for the terrible recording quality).

Lifestyles Of The Rich & Famous is a bouncy, infectious little number. A particular highlight for me is the pre-chorus. Unfortunately, the novelty soon wears off though. With few new ideas to inject new life into the song, by the end it's flogging a dead horse.

Recording quality? Compressed to within an inch of its life and further blighted by various tacky distractions. Yuk.

Girls & Boys is similar, with a super catchy chorus and verses which... err... sufficiently fill the gaps between choruses. It's simply over-polished, lighthearted pop. So that's a thumbs up from me.

However, between the singles on the album, things are pretty barren. The ballads only highlight how whiney the vocals are, and songs like Riot Girl and The Day I Die are awfully superficial and brainless, both lyrically and musically. My Bloody Valentine has some potential thanks to an injection of some musical variety. Unfortunately, though, the chorus lacks the impact needed to tie it all together.

The quintessential teen angst song, The Anthem, has its moments. The lyrics, despite their whiney delivery, hit the spot perfectly. Also, the bridge and ending are pop-punk perfection. The highlight of the song for me is the pre-chorus. It's a common theme for this album, since Good Charlotte have nailed the art of ramping up the energy and driving up towards the chorus. In many of their other songs, I find the chorus itself to be a letdown, but The Anthem is a nice exception. The Young & The Hopeless is similar punk-pop perfection.

Favourite songs

The Anthem, Girls & Boys, The Young & The Hopeless

Worthwhile?

While it was fun at the time, there's no lasting appeal to this album. For me, this album is no more than its headline singles, and even these wear thin after a few listens.

This album had me thinking that maybe pop-punk in general is a disposable novelty, but then thankfully many efforts of Greenday, Millencolin and Bodyjar would suggest otherwise.