Someone Tell Good Charlotte That Goth Is Over

We all know that music is half about the artist's image, but some bands just seem to try too hard. The Stones still pretend to be young, Diddy still pretends to be fresh, and Justin Timberlake still pretends that he can sing. And then there's Good Charlotte, who dropped a new album a couple weeks back called Good Morning Revival. As if enough people didn't hate these guys already, they're playing the tortured souls. Do 13 year old girls even care at this point?

This group has taken a lot of flack since day one. Many thought of them as Green Day junior when they first hit the scene, and that's not too far off. But the rip is, that wasn't really a bad thing. Of all the bands of the time to be compared to, they could have done much worse. And, to top it off, they had a good sound.

The fact now is, they still have a good sound. Their music has evolved over the years, moving to an alt/rock mix that's all their own. And yet the image holds them back. Even gamers, the very people that understand what it's like to be outcasts, don't run with them (and I say that as a proud gamer, so all the haters can lay off). Case in point - Microsoft gave them Artist of the Month status on XBox Live to debut the single Keep Your Hands Off My Girl from the new album, and everybody talked trash about them. Granted, that's not exactly the hottest cut off the new disk, but I don't remember that many people mouthin' off when Jessica Simpson was Artist of the Month. I guess having a nice rack lets you get away with shit...

While it's true that the "tortured loner" feel is all over this album, the tracks are still catchy and easy to groove to. Break Apart Her Heart and Dance Floor Anthem are two definite standouts, so if you're not willing to pony up for the whole album, at least consider dropping a couple bucks for those singles at your download service of choice. And remember, this kind of image crap is all just record company PR bullshit. At the end of the day, you should make your music choices based on the music, and not who's singing it. Of course, that doesn't mean I encourage anyone to go out and listen to Madonna - that bitch is crazy.