Good Charlotte – Good Charlotte

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Flash back to the year 2000, and a group of awkward young 20-ish-year-olds were looking for their own voice in a crowded punk field. What made Good Charlotte so charming was their ability to speak to the misfit youth of America by connecting directly to the underdogs of the world. They made this clear on their first radio single, “Little Things” with the spoken introduction of, “This song is dedicated / To every kid who ever got picked last in gym class / To every kid who never had a date to no school dance.” The band made it clear that they were making this type of music for the outcasts of the world, and they had the musical chops to back up what they wanted to accomplish. It never came across as a “gimmick” or an act, and their authenticity is what led to a lot of their future success.

Being a Marylander myself, hearing about this new pop-punk band called Good Charlotte was nearly unavoidable. From the success the band found early on from our local radio stations such as HFS and DC101, to their grassroots approach of winning over new fans one by one through key tours with similar bands such as New Found Glory and MxPx, Good Charlotte seemed poised for finding success at some point in their career. As great as their debut record is, it didn’t garner as much attention as their label (Epic Records) had initially expected or had hoped for, and the band came extremely close to being released from their recording contract. Can you imagine not allowing this band to record their most successful record to date in The Young and The Hopeless? It would have been a pop-punk tragedy of the grandest proportions, as their sophomore record would go on to sell over 5 million records worldwide. Their self-titled record left the blueprint of where they would take their sound next.

Much like the material found on the album opener, Good Charlotte were comfortable singing about what was near and dear to them. The second track, “Waldorfworldwide” is one of many love letters of sorts, that they wrote about their hometown in a small city of Southern Maryland. The band always had lofty expectations for themselves in their music and possible foresight as they sung on the bridge, “We’ll be self-made millionaires / These lives we’ll lead without a care, oh yeah / And we’ll see what we’ll be.” By being care-free and writing honest songs about their upbringing and lives, it was fairly easy for others to connect with what they were singing about. This continues on other songs such as “East Coast Anthem” and “Festival Song” that were directly written about their experiences growing up on the east coast. On the latter track, they recorded the music video for that song at the HFStival (sponsored by the DC-based HFS radio station) and the band was really gaining momentum by taking their own unique brand of pop-punk to bigger and bigger crowds.

The second single released from this record, “Motivation Proclamation” started to make minor waves of video airplay on MTV2 and allowed for the band to get paired up MxPx as an opening act on their tour. While on tour with the punk veterans, their self-titled record began to sell steadily in more markets, and allowed for Epic Records to reconsider their position on retaining Good Charlotte. Other songs on the first half of the record included the biographical track about Benji and Joel Madden’s dad called, “Complicated.” It was here that the Madden brothers began to dive more into their own story about what made them who they are today.

One of my favorite tracks from the record is an underrated song called, “Seasons.” Joel Madden begins the song by cautiously singing about what the changing of seasons triggers in his own head, and the song feels different than most of the other material found on their debut. The pace picks up dramatically on the one-two punch of the bouncy “Don’t Wanna Stop,” and another ode to the days of growing up while blocking out the outside noise in “I Heard You.” Listening back to these songs as well as “Walk By” really brought up vivid memories of the first time I saw Good Charlotte live. I went to an album release party at a Tower Records in Rockville, Maryland with my younger brother, and the band played passionately to the packed crowd as Joel Madden swayed from the magazine racks in the periodical section of the store. It made for a really cool moment to hear these songs come to life with the Maryland crowd backing their every word.

Other songs on the latter half of the LP included some slow-burners such as “Screamer” and their bonus track “Thank You Mom,” made for a tender moment to close out their debut album. When someone looks to a quintessential Good Charlotte record, most fans will name their most successful record, The Young and the Hopeless as their trademark record. However, their self-titled will be the album I most closely associate with this band since it brings back so many great memories, and still contains the same hopeful charm that it delivered to me 20 years ago. 2000 was a great year for pop-punk records, and this debut from Good Charlotte still belongs strongly in that conversation.

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