Joel Madden (front) and Good Charlotte.
Good Charlotte have come a long way since they first formed in 1996, but somewhere along the line, the boys lost themselves.
After three albums - one of which went multi-Platinum - the band from Waldorf, Maryland decided to take some time out and rethink their sound.
Three
years after The Chronicles of Life and Death was released, the pop-punk rockers are back with their latest offering, Good Morning Revival.
"It's our fourth album and we've been making albums for a while now. We took a little break and we wanted to come back and reinvent Good Charlotte a bit," explains frontman, Joel Madden.
"Not completely reinvent it but make it a little fresher and sound a little different."
The record, which hits New Zealand stores on Monday, is less angst-ridden than previous efforts, a move Madden says reflects the band personally and where the members are in their lives.
"It's a different vibe. It's still rock music but it's definitely more melodic than the last record and a little bit more feel good.
"I think we're really comfortable with ourselves, and ourselves as a band. I think you can feel it in the music, that we've settled into our skin and we're comfortable with the music we're making."
Guitarist and twin brother Benji agrees. In an episode of GCTV - a series of online mini-docos, which follows the band's movements - he says: "We grew up in a real small town. You go out, cities all over the world, things you've never seen before, you can get a little lost.
"We feel like on this record we found ourselves again."
But the road to self-discovery wasn't an easy one. The band wrote and recorded more than 60 demos before deciding on the final album line up. Struggling to concentrate in LA, where the brothers have both become prime paparazzi targets, producer Don Gilmore decided to take the band up to Vancouver, Canada, where they spent two months focussing solely on the record
"It's hard to go into a studio for 12 hours when you've got your dog to pick up, your this and your that. Your friend that wants to meet you for lunch and a DJ gig at night.
"We needed to get away so we could focus 10-12 hours a day without distraction," says Joel.
By August, the band had completed the album. With the record not set for release until the following March, the boys decided to use the downtime to reconnect with their fans. GCTV is just one example of this.
"We went out on a club tour in the Fall that was strictly for our fans. There was nothing to promote. We released Keep Your Hands Off My Girl on the internet.
"We've been doing things that we've never gotten to do before because we've never had the time," said Joel.
While Joel admits the record is a different sound for Good Charlotte, he says he's not worried about alienating the band's traditional fan base. If anything, he says, the record is more accessible than their earlier work, particularly The Chronicles of Life and Death, which both the Maddens describe as a "selfish" record.
"We were selfish in a way. It was all internal that record. I think this record's a little more ... more people can relate to it. Relationships, love, things like that.
"I think it's something a lot of people can relate to as opposed to just our fans."
The album is certainly more diverse than previous releases. The first single Keep Your Hands Off My Girl, which is currently on New Zealand playlists, is a stomping, electronic track that Joel describes as "a sarcastic take on the whole club scene". While songs like Where Would We Be reveal a softer side to the band.
"It's kind of a new day for everyone," says Joel.
"Where we are in the world, the kind of music we make and the genre that we're in."
* Good Charlotte's fourth album Good Morning Revival hits stores this Monday, March 19. The band today announced they will play Auckland's St James on Friday, April 27.
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