On May 25, 2004, Avril Lavigne followed up her successful debut album with a second offering that predated the emo pop boom by several years. Under My Skin debuted at No. 1 in Canada and the U.S., but despite its modern notoriety as a pop-punk classic, it received some mixed reviews at the time.
Critics were hung up on some of Lavigne’s darker, edgier material in comparison to her debut, Let Go. Many found its youthful abandon much more interesting than this Avril Lavigne, now 19 years old and exploring heavier themes. Those who praised the album, however, compared it favorably to Evanescence.
Avril Lavigne’s Darker Second Album Predicted Melodramatic Emo Pop In the Mainstream
Much later, once emo pop exploded in the mainstream and pop-punk became a sure thing, Under My Skin got its due. Now, it’s regarded as an album that anticipated emo pop’s appeal as a genre. Lavigne’s heavier, darker sound and maturing but still emotional lyrics helped predict the popularity of that style. Especially for young women in the genre, of which there were not many.
Under My Skin was a much more personal album for Avril Lavigne, turning darker for more than creative experimentation. Her lyrics dealt with complex relationships, such as her romance with Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley. Additionally, she wrote about losing her grandfather during her first headlining tour.
While Let Go seemed built around a carefree youthful chaos that catapulted Lavigne to pop punk stardom at 17, her second album bared much more of her soul. That vulnerability wasn’t immediately appreciated.
Some critics felt that, while Lavigne was indeed maturing as a musician, she was struggling to find anything interesting to write about beyond being a 17-year-old skate punk tomboy.
But Lavigne’s vulnerable risk-taking on this album helped pave the way for more of that in the mainstream. There was theatrical, intense, maudlin emo music happening underground already in the early 2000s.
Avril Lavigne has not released an album since ‘Love Sux’ in 2022, one of the longest runs between albums of her career
But Avril Lavigne was bringing it out into the light. This got eyes and ears on it and caught the attention of big publications. That was thanks to her explosive debut, which quickly situated her in the spotlight.
Since then, Lavigne has dabbled in melodic, heavier songs here and there. But almost all of her subsequent albums have been firmly rooted in pop punk. Some even dive into a more bubblegum punk sound.
She hasn’t really made an entire album of post-grunge emo since 2004. And that’s alright, really. In the years after Under My Skin, emo pop was thrust into the mainstream, where many of those beloved bands remain.
The post On This Day in 2004, This Young Artist’s Second Album Anticipated the Explosion of Emo Pop Later That Decade appeared first on VICE.
