Good Charlotte - 'Youth Authority' (Album Review)

John Feldmann should be known as the pop/punk pop/rock whisperer. He's worked his magic across the pop/punk world creating hit album after hit album from Blink-182, All Time Low, and 5 Seconds Of Summer. Now Good Charlotte has teamed up with Feldmann in hopes of finding a little of that magic with their new album Youth Authority. I reviewed a couple of the songs from this album as they trickled out. You can check out my reviews for "Makeshift Love" and "Life Changes". I mostly enjoyed what I had heard. Even the catchy, but underwhelming "40oz Dream" proved to be an ear-worm and got stuck in my head quite a bit, even if it was one of the least appealing of the first few songs released. The Madden brothers co-writing with 5 Seconds Of Summer and guest appearances on All Time Low albums had also produced some solid sounding stuff. Suffice it to say that the lead up to Youth Authority was really promising. In fact, it was shaping up to be their most promising sounding release for me since The Young And The Hopeless.

I have always been more of a fan of the "pop/punk" styling of Good Charlotte. After their first couple albums they deviated to include more emo, dance, and alternative pop/rock styles. Their discography has been hit or miss at times, for me. It's never terrible, but I haven't always been all that enthusiastic for some of their songs. I think Youth Authority captures the band at their highest since, at least, The Chronicles Of Life And Death and honestly I think Youth Authority is a much better album than Chronicles... I think it captures more of the sound that I enjoyed from Good Charlotte while finding the band able to present and balance some moments of maturity. I think some of that maturity comes in the nuances of these songs as well as in some of the lyrics on this album. There is a realization from this band that they've had some miles put on their careers at this point, but they can still see where they started from on this album. I think that vibe of forward thinking, but remembering the past in a way shapes this album to where it could appeal to young listeners and also draw back in old fans and maybe some old listeners that hopped off the train a few albums back.

In a lot of ways it's the exact type of outlook Feldmann used with Blink-182 on their new album California. "The Outfield" is a prime example of this. It shows the band hitting all the right notes. The lyrics throwback to Good Charlotte's sophomore album stating: "we were the young and hopeless...". Some of these songs are what I've been waiting to hear from this band for years and quite honestly this feels like the comeback album I wanted Cardiology to be. A lot of the guitar work on this album has that classic Good Charlotte sound while Joel and Benji sound great vocally. Their voices sound like they haven't aged a day since their Self-Titled album. It helps give the album a very young and fresh vibe.

This album finds Good Charlotte at the highest they've been in a very long time. It finds the band writing really solid songs and Feldmann once again knocks it out of the park with the production. Feldmann was able to help the band find the perfect balance of what made them great while incorporating some of their forward thinking ideas. I think that if you've ever enjoyed Good Charlotte, at any point in their career, then this album is really going to appeal to you. It has great songs; it's well produced and well performed.