Catching up with Avril & Lady Gaga, and meeting Rumer

Goodbye Lullaby by Avril Lavigne. I was ready to put Avril Lavigne in the soon-to-be has-been category three years ago. After all, Sk8er Boi and Complicated have worn off their novelty appeal. She has gotten older and married. And her neither here nor there The Best Damn Thing — was it pop or rock? — lacked the youthful bravado and commercial appeal of her early albums.

But things change and I am so glad they did for Avril. Was it the divorce? Maybe. Whatever. The girl has discovered maturity not only vocally, she sings so much better now, but also as a songwriter. And these new aspects of her music artistry are in full display in her latest CD Goodbye Lullaby.

The title seems meaningful if seen in the way the album has been put together. She is saying goodbye to childish things. She still rocks, What The Hell, but her music is tight and coherent. She uses more live instruments Not Enough, including strings, Black Stars and is a clever enough songwriter who knows the value of pretty melodies, Goodbye and choruses with recall factor, Wish You Were Here.

Do like power rock? She has Alice, that she wrote for the soundtrack of the Tim Burton fantasy Alice In Wonderland. Best of all, her singing is at its most confident and meaningful. Alice, Push, Remember When and Goodbye are excellent examples.

Avril seems to be homing in on Alanis territory. Good. We really need a new girl out there and she could be it. From the way Goodbye Lullaby sounds, she has valuable insights into the human relationship of her own to explore and show off in her music.

What is selling in the local stores is the deluxe Goodbye Lullaby edition so buyers get some bonus tracks, the acoustic versions of What The Hell, Push and Wish You Were Here and a DVD about The Making Of Goodbye Lullaby.

Seasons Of My Soul by Rumer. The lovely and exciting Rumer is a self-taught singer and songwriter who grew up in Pakistan. She sold popcorn, washed pots and lived in a commune while trying to build a career in London. She was discovered during open mike night in a pub and has not looked back since. What she has going for her is her remarkable voice which echoes Karen Carpenter’s deep alto. It is a rare one and Rumer has just this tiny sexy lilt that makes her vocals extraordinary. Think of liquid honey having a voice. That would sound like Rumer.

It might be hard introducing a newcomer to the public these days but I do not see any problem about selling Rumer to the local market. Her album includes a mellow, sexy version of Stephen Bishop’s It Might Be You. We have been suckers for this song for many years and a female version, especially one that sounds like Rumer’s, is most welcome. The first single from the CD Slow, reminds me of Norah Jones’ early hits.

Other tracks included, most of them originals by Rumer, are Am I Forgiven, Come To Me High, Take Me As I Am, Aretha, Saving Grace, Thankful, Healer, Blackbird and On My Way Home. Also nice, well-done covers are Goodbye Girl and Alfie.

The Fame Monster by Lady Gaga. She is hot again with her new single, the ’80s disco inspired Born This Way. That was the song she introduced at the last Grammy Awards by arriving inside and then hatching from an egg. Cool? Gross? I don’t know but it is now available in a special edition CD with four cuts. But before you move on to that one, I thought it might be nice to sort of review the music that made the fearless, innovative Lady Gaga a pop phenomenon.

The egg gimmick proved to be very lucky for Lady Gaga as she went home with the Grammys for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for Bad Romance; Best Pop Vocal Album for The Fame Monster; and Best Short Form Music Video for Bad Romance. And here now is the two-CD Limited Edition Version of The Fame Monster, which is what I recommend to all Lady Gaga fans who want copies of all her hits.

Included in the album are Alejandro, Monster, Speechless, Telephone featuring Beyoncé, Teeth, The Fame. Just Dance, Love Game, Paparazzi, Poker Face, I Like It Rough, Starstruck, Beautiful, Dirty Rich, The Fame, Money Money, Boys Boys Boys, Paper Gangsta, Brown Eyes, Summerboy and others.

A DVD disc with her videos would have been nice but this is nonetheless an impressive output which I hope she will be able to duplicate in her next CD.