No matter how many years have gone by, Avril Lavigne hasn’t lost her spark. She has knocked out rowdy pop-punk anthems, made left turns, and bagged Grammy nominations, all while remaining true to the teenager who paraded around in her father’s neckties. Her ability to bear all is what’s made her reign as one of pop-punk’s greatest vocalists. As she kicks off her Greatest Hits tour tonight, and with an accompanying album coming later this June, we asked our readers to vote on the best Avril Lavigne albums of all time. Their answers were a total nostalgia trip, and these are their top picks, ranked accordingly below.
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5. Love Sux
Regardless of era, our readers will forever love Lavigne. That’s why they voted her most recent release, 2022’s Love Sux, as one of her top albums. Produced by blink-182’s Travis Barker, the record aligned perfectly with pop punk’s comeback that has dominated the past few years, reminding people of her lasting title as the genre’s princess. What’s more, Love Sux shares a lot of DNA with The Best Damn Thing, touching on similar topics with a far more mature perspective and finding ways to reach the next generation through collaborations with Machine Gun Kelly, YUNGBLUD, and blackbear.
4. Goodbye Lullaby
Goodbye Lullaby turned out to be a major pivot for Lavigne, as she had made her name with riotous, irresistible pop rock that exploded across her first three albums. Instead of leaning into a winning formula, she slowed down and got more melodic. Lavigne was dealing with a breakup, and it showed, turning toward acoustics and letting her voice take the spotlight as she unraveled some of her most personal songs yet. It worked well, even when she deviated from that vision with massive radio anthems like “What The Hell,” “Smile,” and “Wish You Were Here.”
3. The Best Damn Thing
The Best Damn Thing’s bright cover reflects the music perfectly. Whereas Under My Skin got darker and heavier, her third record embraced a bubblegum pop sound that made every song ideal for radio. “Girlfriend,” whose indestructible chorus spilled out of her within a couple of minutes, is destined to live on for decades. The evocative ballad “Keep Holding On” highlighted how much her songwriting skills had grown, and “Runaway” featured some of her finest vocals yet. The album was a slam dunk that showed a newer, breezier side to Lavigne.
2. Let Go
This is the one that started it all. Lavigne made quite the impression with Let Go, released when she was only 17, and proved that she had a lot to say. Through a series of fiery singles — “Sk8er Boi,” “Complicated,” and “I’m With You” — that are still bonafide jams, she captured teenage life in a way that demanded the attention of her elders, conjuring the anger of Alanis Morissette, Fiona Apple, and Courtney Love. More than 20 years old, the record went on to go platinum seven times, which speaks to the power of Hot Topic rebellion and 2000s nostalgia.
1. Under My Skin
The sophomore slump was nowhere in sight. With Under My Skin, Lavigne approached a darker, grungier sound and ended up with a collection of songs that informed a generation — which is why it was voted overwhelmingly as her greatest album. Lavigne’s maturity and ambition were crystal clear, as evinced in tracks like “Fall to Pieces,” “My Happy Ending,” and “Nobody’s Home.” Clearly, she had a lot to live up to after putting out Let Go in 2002, but Under My Skin proved just how much talent she had stored up — and its influence can be felt in Gen Z megastars like Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish.
