Released: Oct 27, 2010
Genre: Pop punk, alternative rock
Label: Capitol
Number Of Tracks: 15
It's safe to announce, Good Charlotte aren't reinventing themselves and destroying any last drops of credibility they have left.
CardiologyFeatured review by: UG Team, on november 05, 2010 0 of 3 people found this review helpful
Sound: It's hard to believe the term "pop punk" was once associated with artists like Simple Plan and Good Charlotte. The early periods of the 2000s' featured television sets dominated by artists like these but when compared to today's definition of the genre, it's blatantly weird to imagine offspring like Metro Station and Forever The Sickest Kids stemmed from songs like "The Anthem". The reason why Good Charlotte's latest release isn't injected with pathetic wails about girls with model looks is because Cardiology borrows genes from the Maryland act's debut releases.
Instead of popping eyes with a venture into dark, menacing tones or indie wonderland, the group keep it simple, tying the chemistry of the Madden brothers around simple pop riffs and hooks. There are advances into sweet sixteen birthday-party anthems ("Like It's Her Birthday", "Sex On The Radio"), but they, like most of the album, fall in line with The Young And The Hopeless, coming mature and not too "synthy". Even the serious attempts at ballads placed in the middle of the fifth studio release refrain from being too lovesick. "Harlow's Song (Can't Dream Without You)" and it's gloomy sincerity along with the alt pop track "Standing Ovation" impeccably set up the rest of the album that plays with hints of electronica and acoustic melodies. The direction barely tosses on an experimental shirt, but in this case, playing it safe works for a band like Good Charlotte. // 7
Lyrics and Singing: One of the most difficult things to do as a pop punk artist is to not sound like a heartsick 15-year-old who's songwriting is intended directly for members of the opposite sex. Good Charlotte accomplish this somewhat. The radio-friendly singles don't fall into the shameless clique thanks to Joel Madden and his lazed punk voices, but a few particular songwriting bits do inflict peer-pressure. "All that I remember, is that you had me at hello / I knew right when I met her is that I wouldn't take it slow," pleads Madden on "Last Night", a pop punk track disguised as a dance anthem.
Add in other songs with predictable lyrics ("Right Where I Belong") and Cardiology seems like it's headed for disaster, but put the blame on the album's construction. Madden holds his own as a vocalist on numerous tracks but gets overshadowed by numbers that come off as filler. The first 22 minutes flow but the trio of ballads that drop in sound and power-up on honesty question if the material was actually written in the last two years. // 6
Impression: It's safe to announce, Good Charlotte aren't reinventing themselves and destroying any last drops of credibility they have left. Before the physical release, the group stated Cardiology was a more mature version of their self-titled entry into music, which is indeed crystal-clear. The album doesn't try to be a dance chart-topper. It doesn't pretend to be a hybrid of pop rock. It doesn't even flirt with modern pop punk. What it does is tap into the band's roots, drawing from the heart and speaking in a simple tongue that can satisfy any listener who once called themselves a Good Charlotte fan. // 7
Cardiology
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on november 17, 2010 1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Sound: The sound on this album seems to be lacking. There is a lot of song variety, like nearly all GC albums. It's definitely a change from Good Morning Revival (which is dead to me). The objective of the album is a reflection on the band's roots, so the sound is accordingly nostalgic. There are mellow songs like "Harlow's Song" and "Right Where I Belong"; there are also some creative and high-energy songs like "Silver Screen Romance." I hesitate to say "high-energy," however, because it seems like Good Charlotte has lost the urgency that it once had on its second and third albums. Overall, there are a few high points, but most songs seem flat, lacking, and *gulp* boring. The musicianship from Chronicles makes a few cameo appearances, but never takes the reigns like it did in the past. // 5
Lyrics and Singing: When I heard the title of the upcoming album, "Cardiology," I feared that the lyrics may suffer from the typical "hackneyed teen angst" theme that modern pop punk bands embrace. I was right. Benji said before the album's debut that the songs were all "connected to the heart." That's true, but it's not a good thing. Just skimming through the lyric book, nearly every song is predictable and has mention of a girl. It's quite a disappointment to me when I consider the masterfully written songs that they've done in the past that have real meaning, like "Mountain," "The Day That I Die," or "Motivation Proclaimation" for example (and many others). I used to love this band because I felt like its members understood me. I felt like Joel and Benji would sit there with me in my basement and have a deep talk about life with me. I don't get that feeling from the last two albums, not to mention the remix thing that I didn't even bother with. I don't know if the well has run dry for these guys, if they're trying to appeal to a different audience, or if they've actually changed, but the shallow lyrics are killing what I have left of them. The only songs that I consider (read:) tolerable with regard to lyrics on this album are the first four, "1979," and "Cardiology." That being said, they still don't compare to earlier music. Even "All Black" and "The River" from the last album were better. I'd say that the lyrics are equally as bland as the music on this album.
With all that being said, Joel still sounds good like he usually does, and the harmonies between the twins are spot on. The actual vocals aren't the problem here. // 3
Impression: "Cardiology" doesn't live up to Good Charlotte's past standards. Other bands from the same generation have stayed relevant through change, but the opposite has occured with GC. Music these days seems to be obsessed with image (I'm glaring at you, Screamo), and I fear that GC has bought into it. Now more than ever, bands try to ride the demographic that listens to their music because it's "different," in other words crappier and more meaningless but defendable by condescendingly crying that "you don't understand." In my opinion, the bands that care the most about the fans are the ones that don't give a damn what the fans think and just make music. I'm not saying that GC has never been about image up until now, but it used to be minimal and also negligible because the music was still good. If these guys have actually been changed by their success, then they should call it quits now. But if there's any urgency left in them, any desire to make music like they used to, then I would beg them to revive it. I'll keep buying GC CDs until the band quits because I'm optimistic like that, but I sincerely hope that they can ditch the image and start making real music again. // 4
Cardiology
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on march 28, 2011 0 of 0 people found this review helpful
Sound: This album is purely and simply a Good Charlotte album. Staright from the start you are introduced to joel maddens coll crooning vocals in "introduction to cardiology" this album sweeps from guitar friendly tracks such as "let the music play" to anthemic rock songs with unforgetable choruses such as "last night" and "there she goes" they even have room for a light-hearted acoustic track "1979" which describes a time which you would imgaing to be in the madden twins youth. With this record Good Charlotte have made, in my opinion, their best album yet. // 9
Lyrics and Singing: In many ways the lyrics remain the same essential "love songs" that Good Charlotte always seem to do, they do this because they are good at it, very good at it. Joel maddens vocals bring a lot to the album and there is no doubt he is a very talented singer. He portrayes the emotion in "standing ovation" perfectly and it fits the mood of the song. He also manages to sing a high pitched scale in the bridge of "there she goes" which would be beyond many singers. // 8
Impression: Good Charlotte can be compared to artists such as green day with this album and they deserve huge credit for it, they have defintely grew up with this recored are sing more about real issues and real problems in life, instead of immature teenage songs. The thing I love most love about this album is the anthemic and unforgettable choruses which make this album great. This has got to be one of my favourite ablums of the year. // 9
Feel like whoever wrote "It's safe to announce, Good Charlotte aren't reinventing themselves and destroying any last drops of credibility they have left." needs to brush up on their grammar
Feel like whoever wrote "It's safe to announce, Good Charlotte aren't reinventing themselves and destroying any last drops of credibility they have left." needs to brush up on their grammar - Amen!!! Break out the books and put away the Good Charlotte!
its sad to see bands like Good Charlotte and simple plan come out with records thinking they would get every fan they had back. Isee these kind of bands as a phase in the 90's they were huge. Now that music has changed everyone has gone a different direction with the music they listen to. The only band that is still relevant would have to be blink182 and im starting to suspect the new album wont live up to expectation
Ranmanbassist18 wrote:The only band that is still relevant would have to be blink182 and im starting to suspect the new album wont live up to expectation
Ranmanbassist18 wrote:The only band that is still relevant would have to be blink182 and im starting to suspect the new album wont live up to expectation
Ranmanbassist18 wrote:The only band that is still relevant would have to be blink182 and im starting to suspect the new album wont live up to expectation
They were never relevant to begin with.
Like them or not blink 182 was probably the most influential rock band of that generation. Also, they're drawing bigger crowds now than ever.
Decent album and a lot better than Good Morning Revival but nothing special compared to The Young And The Hopeless. This album starts off well but then takes a turn for the worse at Like It's Her Birthday and doesn't pick up again until 1979.
The best pop punk bands are Sum 41, The Ataris, Blink 182, Yellowcard and New Found Glory and all of them have something in common. They evolved and changed up their style. So a word of advice would be to never try to force an old style, like Good Charlotte did, because that usually never works out well for any band of any genre(Death Magnetic and Korn III anyone?)
The best pop punk bands are Sum 41, The Ataris, Blink 182, Yellowcard and New Found Glory and all of them have something in common. They evolved and changed up their style. So a word of advice would be to never try to force an old style, like Good Charlotte did, because that usually never works out well for any band of any genre(Death Magnetic and Korn III anyone?)
I agree with you on a band needs to evolve and I personally like the bands you mentioned, however, this also leads to the fans who don't like the band changes. Blink lost lots of fans when their last album came out. Same with Sum 41 when they lost Brown Sound. New Found Glory had an album that wasn't as good as their old ones and lost fans, Yellowcard broke up and recently got back together. So either way the bands lost fans over time and missed their old style and didn't like the changes. Good Charlotte should be the example people on this website should use when people bitch about a band ditching their roots...I was never a huge Good Charlotte fan back in the day when they were relevant.
its their best album up to now, i dont agree with anyone here i am a fan of them since the chronicles of life and death. good morning revival was the worst but Cardiology is a great mix of their albums. I like it. GC till the end
I was never a fan of this sort of music. I just personally never found it to be examples of skillful musicianship but rather oriented to ensure its suitability to be played on the radio. Nonetheless, GC did do well around the 2000s with the Young and the Hopeless and even Chronicles. Though most pop punk bands experience a heyday and then cannot match it.
GC was good with the 1st 2 albums. decent with Chronicles, awful with Revival. Now their back to decent. any band could go through a rough patch in their career.
I'm trying to work out why you aren't commenting here then?
Also i hadn't listened to GC in ages when i bought this album and i like it. it's not as good Young and the hopeless but i think thats like saying Death Magnetic wasn't as good as Master of Puppets or A Thousand Suns wasn't as good as Hybrid Theory.
Every popular band produces one album that their fans love and can never beat it.
Wow, is UG really this bad at writing? Just look at the headline.
"It's safe to announce, Good Charlotte aren't reinventing themselves and destroying any last drops of credibility they have left."
I understand perfectly. They aren't doing what they did on GMR.
It's still phrased horribly.
Not that it matters. The UG team has virtually no credibility when it comes to reviews. The robotic ambivalence towards music, coupled with terrible grammar, hasn't really helped their case.
I'm trying to work out why you aren't commenting here then?
Also i hadn't listened to GC in ages when i bought this album and i like it. it's not as good Young and the hopeless but i think thats like saying Death Magnetic wasn't as good as Master of Puppets or A Thousand Suns wasn't as good as Hybrid Theory.
Every popular band produces one album that their fans love and can never beat it.
Sorry for the double post, but I think this has a lot to do with the issue of lesser known bands crossing into the mainstream.
Once they get that critical and commercial breakthrough, they allow it to define themselves as a band and as musicians. With that, you get a handful of horrid efforts that try to reach that peak point they set for themselves.
Either that, or the band just gets lazy and complacent, releasing albums solely for money. And they'll make that money if the happen to be a name b[r]and.
Apply this to any number of bands, and you'll be surprised by how the pattern rarely fails (although it really shouldn't surprise anyone).
there are a few spots here where i don't know what the heck this guy is saying, so i agree with savage animal
Savage Animal wrote:
Feel like whoever wrote "It's safe to announce, Good Charlotte aren't reinventing themselves and destroying any last drops of credibility they have left." needs to brush up on their grammar
brush up on the grammer for sure. But i feel pretty much the same way about this album. It's definitely playing it safe. All in all, great review.
I loved every single album Good Charlotte released up until this one. It seemed like they would reinvent their sound on every album. This one just feels like a lazy rehash of old music.
Blink-182 never relevant? Listen to Anthem Part 2, and tell me they were never relevant. Listen to the whole Take Off album, and tell me that they were never relevant to anything or anybody.
This is bullcrap. I love their new album, and I think it's really good. This is a horrible review. I think they've done better than they did before. Good Morning Revival was okay. It was just like. ehhhhh....
there are a few spots here where i don't know what the heck this guy is saying, so i agree with savage animal Savage Animal wrote:
Feel like whoever wrote "It's safe to announce, Good Charlotte aren't reinventing themselves and destroying any last drops of credibility they have left." needs to brush up on their grammar
brush up on the grammer for sure. But i feel pretty much the same way about this album. It's definitely playing it safe. All in all, great review.
this is grammatically correct, though slightly ambiguous, i don't see why everyone thinks its wrong.
Wow, is UG really this bad at writing? Just look at the headline.
"It's safe to announce, Good Charlotte aren't reinventing themselves and destroying any last drops of credibility they have left."
I understand perfectly. They aren't doing what they did on GMR.
It should be "It's safe to say that Good Charlotte isn't reinventing itself with their last release, and many would say it has lost whatever credibility it still retained."
The way the author of this review phrased that sentence would have meant that GC is more than one band, and they are not destroying their credibility, etc.
Ranmanbassist18 wrote:The only band that is still relevant would have to be blink182 and im starting to suspect the new album wont live up to expectation
Makes me sad. The young and the hopeless was one of my very first albums ever and acted as a gateway to everything I love now. Still listen to that album with loving ears.
I couldn't have fun past the first two tracks (introduction track included). By the fourth track, I couldn't care listening. It was so un-interesting. By the fifth, it was simply not happening and I stopped.
its sad to see bands like Good Charlotte and simple plan come out with records thinking they would get every fan they had back. Isee these kind of bands as a phase in the 90's they were huge. Now that music has changed everyone has gone a different direction with the music they listen to.
I guess you might be wrong.
I still listen to Simple Plan (the band that changed) and I still listen to Linkin Park (the band that changed drastically).
It's not about music taste, to me really. Anything that sounds amazing and is well worked on- I'm up for it, be it traditional rock, or a blend of techno, hiphop and rock.
It's sad to see people so disillusioned by bands like Good Charlotte. Let me point out that pop-punk was once a great genre. Blink 182 and Green Day were brilliant. Then everyone else caught on and ultimately killed it, the sad story of many other genres (grunge comes to mind).
woah woah woah, Good Charlotte is a great band. Why does what genre or credibility matter? As long as they produce a sound that people like, or a sound that I like, they're good in my eyes.
Ok, honestly I don't understand why people are criticizing GMR. I thought that album was awesome, but for being five years later Cardiology did not live up to expectations, whatsoever. It's not a horrible album, but it's not close to being great either.
Thinks its retarded when people read a review just for an ego boost in pointing out a flaw in the author's grammar. Good Charlotte are a great band but they will never top The River again.
Good Charlotte was and never will be "punk", but they still have some good music regardless in my opinion. but this album, you can definetly tell they've been hanging out with Kill Hannah, a lot of these songs remind me of something Mat Devine would write.
Good Charlotte was the first band I ever fell in love with as a kid, so I'll admit that I'm probably biased and would be called a "fan-boy" by some people. Now that I got that out of the way, I kind of like this album! It's not on the level of the self-titled (their best imo) or Young and the Hopeless, but I didn't expect it to top the material from their peak. That being said, it could've been better, as I don't see it as much of an improvement from Good Morning Revival. In short, I am still on the fence about this one, but I will always have a soft spot for GC. 7/10 I guess.
I enjoy this album, its nothing special and the lyrics are predictable but that isn't a bad thing, i knew what to sing the first time i listened to it if you understand what i mean. It's kind of a hangover album, some tracks to listen to with a bad head and you dont want to think hard. I feel that 'Right Where I Belong' could be a very influencial song.
i am a fan of them since the chronicles of life and death. good morning revival was the worst but Cardiology is a great mix of their albums. I like it. GC till the end