After selling 5 million albums and touring the world, edgy, street-smart punk rockers Good Charlotte delayed releasing their fourth album for one year. In an interview with VOA's Larry London, bandleader Joel Madden says the new album "Good Morning Revival" on sale starting March 27th, marks yet another new direction for a band that has surprised fans with a new sound for every album.
"Good Morning Revival's" first single "The River" shows Good Charlotte's new, leaner sound, a return to their punk rock roots. The band waited a year before releasing their fourth album.
Joel Madden, Good Charlotte band founder explains the concept. "We're going to be reintroduced to the world. It's a new band, and it's a new thing. It's fresh and it's different. We needed to be away for a minute and let people take a breather and a break and get ready to hear something new."
Good Charlotte jumped into the top ten list in 2002 with "Lifestyles of Rich and Famous", a single from their second LP, an angry song mocking the media and poking fun at rap music's obsession with crime.
Madden founded the band with his twin brother Benji, says they can't go on being angry young men forever. "When we were first introduced to the world it was with "Young and Hopeless," which is our second record. It was kind of angsty, really catchy. I think, people, when they hear something, they want to hear that again, but recycling your sound is dangerous. You can't get stuck in a sound, and then you'll be done."
"Anthem", another chart topper from the "Young And Hopeless" won the 2003 MTV Audience Award, and helped launch the band's world tour, which took them to Asia and Latin America, where fans surprised band members with their enthusiasm.
“It blows your mind, like, when you are playing in Chile and they're singing your songs louder than you, in perfect English. It's awesome. It shows that music is (a) universal language. And, it's not necessarily only Good Charlotte, but it's the music. Kids become friends all over the world with each other on our website. It's cool. It is just music, man."
Despite the occasional friction that comes from working with his twin brother, Madden says the group works in harmony.
"We fight a lot, but we're best friends. At the end of the day, we do everything together. All our biggest dreams are together. Even if we're fighting, we have to go on the stage and put on a show. We have to get along somehow, we've learned. Even if we fight, we love each other, it's not a big deal. We're best friends."
Good Charlotte's new album is titled "Good Morning Revival", marking the start of a new direction.
"It brings the songs together. It shows where we're at in our career, kind of a new place for us. We've grown a lot. It's a new start, as far as the music and everything about it. It's just fresh."
