I’ll never strip like Britney or Christina: Avril

Pop star Avril Lavigne has revealed that despite the fame she always wanted to keep her modesty intact by not stripping for anyone. Sassy songs like Complicated and Sk8er Boi saw her portrayed as ‘the anti-Britney’ and a smart, independent young female artist who kept her clothes on.

“In the beginning some people expected me to be like Britney (Spears) and Christina (Aguilera) and take my clothes off, but I was never going to strip for anyone,” Lavigne told the Daily Mail.

“When you’re in the limelight, people judge you and everything you do sends a message out to your fans. I’ve never conformed to what people think a female pop star should be. I had my own look going on,’ she said.

“The guy who signed me (LA Reid) knew I would never wear pink. I’ve grown out of the tomboy look now and happily wear heels, tight jeans and dresses. I’d never have done that ten years ago,” she added.

Lavigne also revealed that she grew up in the town of Napanee, south of Ottawa, and was dedicated to the idea of becoming a singer.

“I was very driven, even then,” she recalled.

“I always wanted to be a singer. That was my goal and everything was dedicated to that,” she added.

The 26-year-old Sober singer, who also revealed her culinary expertise, said that she is a bit laconic.

“I’m not that talkative really. People expect me to be brash and loud and vivacious – they expect me to be a wild character and I’m not. I’m that person on stage and in my songs, but not away from it,” she added.

Avril Lavigne: 'Goodbye Lullaby'

Much has been said about Avril Lavigne's fourth studio album Goodbye Lullaby - the four-year wait, the "cold" reception from her label, and her own admission that she wasn't exactly enthusiastic about its lead single, the bratty, bubblegummy 'What The Hell'. However, we were recently assured by the lady herself that the rest of the album is "raw, deeper and more emotional". So how does it shape up?

Easing us into proceedings is the intro 'Black Star' - a title that also happens to be the name of her perfume - and clocking in at 1m34s, it seems to serve as a rather shameless advertisement for it. "Be whatever you can be" she says wistfully, which, given the subject of track two - the trailer single - includes people who aspire to fool around with men and generally put it about - if that's not girl power folks then what, may we ask, is?

First impressions aside, what follows sounds a lot more plausible from the 26-year old divorcee. "I can be tough, I can be strong/ But with you it's not like that at all," she admits on 'Wish You Were Here'. The frank and unashamed honesty continues throughout the lion's share of the LP - from the simply titled 'I Love You' to the raw acoustics of 'Darlin''. In fact, 'What The Hell' appears to be the only 'gimmicky' song to have made the final cut.

Production-wise, Goodbye is another straight-up pop-rock affair. It's a formula that shows little progression from her 2002 debut, and as such starts to wane towards the back-end of the album, particularly on cuts 'Not Enough' and '4 Real'. That said, the strings, drums and acoustics remain slick, polished and thoughtfully assembled throughout.

Possible future singles? We'd put money on any of the following: 'Wish You Were Here', 'Smile', 'Stop Standing There' and 'Remember When' - though truth be told, we wouldn't cock a snook at eight of the album's 11 remaining tracks.

Avril may have taken the 'if it ain't broke...' approach to Goodbye Lullaby, but the result remains a solid collection of tunes that neatly ties together the sounds of her last three records: the angst of Let Go, the raw emotion of Under My Skin and the pop hooks of The Best Damn Thing are all seamlessly interwoven here. It might make for an album that breaks little ground stylistically, but continues to keep Avril at the forefront of the brat-pop movement.

Credit : Digital Spy