Just Hear Me Out: Avril Lavigne’s ‘Let Go’ Was One Of The Most Iconic Albums Of The ’00s

Nothing invokes angsty pre-teen nostalgia quite like listening to any of the songs from Avril Lavigne’s iconic 2002 debut album, Let Go.

It has been 18 damn years since that album was released, but in some ways, it feels like just yesterday. OK, well maybe not yesterday, but not nearly TWO DECADES ago.

Looking back, Avril’s Let Go was the start of the transition into my emo teen years. I was in Year 6 when the album was released, and just a year off from the messy teen hormones that would start invading my body. Avril walked, so the ’00s emo wave of bands like My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy could run. It’s true.

Now whether you believe this was Avril’s one and only album before Melissa took over her identity or not, there’s no denying that the impact of Let Go was felt worldwide. Avril was a punky, angsty teen that stood out from her pop peers at the time (the Britneys and Christinas of the world). She wore cargo pants, ties, smudged eyeliner, and had a huge “IDGAF” attitude to go with it all. She was a breath of fresh air.

And then there were the bangers she released in the early ’00s. ‘Complicated’ still speaks to me to this very day about all hetero men. Looking back, ‘Sk8er Boi‘ wasn’t exactly a GOOD song, but you can’t deny it’s an icon in its own right. Then the sheer POWER behind ‘I’m With You’ still gives me shivers. Won’t you take me by the hand, take me somewhere new?

FUCKING MOOD.

Here are just a few of the reasons why Avril Lavigne’s Let Go was a ’00s masterpiece:

1. Avril was a storyteller.

Hello, have you listened to ‘Sk8er Boi’? Obviously in 2020 we don’t love the thought of shaming her high school nemesis for having a baby at a young age then tackling single mum life, but at the time ‘Sk8er Boi’ gave a new strange power to all the weird dudes at your local skate park. Suddenly they were kinda hot.

The story of Avril getting the guy at the end of the song and rocking out on stage with him is a love story for the ages – one solely for her, she can keep sk8er boi in my honest opinion, but there’s no denying the song was catchy AF.

2. The album was angsty as hell.

All you need to do is listen to the opener song ‘Losing Grip’, which is undoubtedly the best song on the album. ‘Losing Grip’ was a hint of what was to come on Avril’s second, moodier album. It was loud, it was raw, and it was perfect to play loudly in your room when your crush ignored you on MSN.

‘Unwanted’ followed a similar vibe. Sure, blaring it out from your CD player while angrily scribbling in your diary may have made your parents question what the hell was going on, but it felt therapeutic at the time.

3. But there were also some absolute pop bangers in amongst the angst.

Just as Avril warms you up with her “I’m an angry teen and no one understands me” attitude, she’ll throw a spanner in the works with something like the upbeat, poppier sounding ‘Mobile.’ I mean, sure, she references wanting to “scream out loud” in the lyrics, but in a happier way… you get me? ‘My World’ followed a similar path… just a girl, her guitar, and a catchy tune about sometimes beating guys up. We stan this versatile queen!

4. ‘I’m With You’ was the rock-pop ballad to end all rock-pop ballads.

You know the part… the song builds up to that big moment where Avril sings about being confused and lost and ends with a big “Yeah YEAH yeah YEAH” x 17 or something. Sure, the message of someone taking her by the hand and leading her somewhere, even if she doesn’t know who they are, is not something we want to preach to our children. But when Avril sang “I’m looking for a place, I’m searching for a face, is anybody here I know?”, who knew that it’d resonate so much with me nearly 20 years later, as I go back to my hometown for Christmas and get lost in the local pub.

5. Avril really did call our het men in 2002.

In ‘Complicated’ Avril sings about what it’s like being on dating apps in 2020. “Why’d you have to go and make things so complicated?” she says. But real talk, singing about a potential flame changing themselves to fit in with the crowd around them is just all too real, especially in this social media world. It’s like she knew… what other secrets did Avril harbour before Melissa replaced her? We may never know.

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In conclusion, I must also state Avril’s second album Under My Skin was nearly just as good. ‘My Happy Ending’ is still a goddamn jam. It was like her slightly gothic era moving on from pure pop-punk and it was a VIBE. She may have lost me along the lines of The Best Damn Thing, but there’s no denying the girl is versatile.

Anyway, BRB I am off to listen to Let Go again for the 752nd time this week. Take that Spotify Wrapped.