Avril Lavigne's Best Damn Thing Also Her Fun Thing

With the release of her third album, "The Best Damn Thing" slated for April 17^th, and her new video "Girlfriend" creating waves both online at YouTube and on MTV's TRL, Avril Lavigne is creating a lot of buzz.

"The Best Damn Thing" is already available for pre-order. The album is described as "brimming with gutsy guitar riffs, instantaneously catchy sing-along party-starting choruses, power pop punk, and rebellious rock 'n' roll attitude." Avril notes that her goal in creating "The Best Damn Thing" was to make it fun. And make it fun she did.

The first release, "Girlfriend," has a fun high school cheerleader feel to it, without being sickeningly sweet or sappy. Avril retains the tough punk sound her fans love her for, while diving whole-heartedly into a bit lighter fare.

The video for "Girlfriend" is just as fun as the lyrics, with Avril playing both the dark-haired "bad girl" who wants to be the girlfriend and the uptight red-headed "good girl" who is the girlfriend. The video is littered with fun shots of things every girl wishes she could do, such as hitting the girlfriend of the guy she has a crush on in the head with a golf ball, knocking her out of the way, so she can swoop in and steal the guy. By the end of the video, you find yourself wanting to wave and smile at Avril, as if she could see you.

Another song on the album, "Keep Holding On," has already been made popular by the fantasy-adventure movie Eragon. "Keep Holding On" is a slight departure for Avril, with its more mainstream sound and lyrics, but it's still a great song and provides a change of pace from the other songs on the album. "Keep Holding On" has also been rapidly appearing as background music for a number of fan videos on YouTube, including picture montages of Avril's recent wedding.

Former bandmate Evan Taubenfield co-wrote four of the songs on the album, and Avril received production assistance from her husband, Deryck Whibley of Sum 41, but Avril was personally involved every step of the way in creating "The Best Damn Thing." She explained that she knew exactly how she wanted it to sound, from beginning to end. Even through the hard work, Avril kept her eye, and ear, on the goal of keeping the album fun. "I didn't know making a record could be so fun," Avril said.

Avril's previous albums include "Let Go" and "Under My Skin." At last count, "Under My Skin" had sold more than eight million copies.