Lavigne Avril - LET GO - [CD]

Alanis Morissette, what have you wrought? Even a dewy-eyed innocent like Avril Lavigne can't escape the big guitar angst of Morissette's Jagged Little Pill, the influence of which is all over the young singer's debut like cinnamon on a bun. Opening track "Losing Grip" and "Unwanted" are two of the more obvious clones, while first single "Complicated"--as undeniably catchy as it is--borrows the finger-poppin' groove of "Hand in My Pocket." Oh well, for an artist not yet out of her teens, Let Go is quite an accomplishment. Besides the obvious Alanis-isms, the disc also offers a slick pop-punk revenge fantasy in "Sk8er Boi" that will make just about any spurned teenager cheer as the heroine heads into the recording studio "singing the song we wrote / about the girl you used to know." (Older listeners--that is, anyone of drinking age--will cringe mightily.) And kudos to Lavigne for giving props to her small Ontario hometown in "My World," where she sings "Grew up in a 5000 population town / Made my money by cutting grass / Got fired by a Fried Chicken ass! / All in a small town / Napanee." At this rate, she'll never have to fill another bucket of the Colonel's greasy product again. --Shawn ConnerProduct DescriptionLavigne, Avril