Good Charlotte is the debut album by the American rock band Good Charlotte, released on September 26, 2000, through Epic and Daylight Records. Despite receiving favorable reviews, the album undersold expectations, charting at number 185 on the Billboard 200. The album's first single, "Little Things" reached the top 30 on the Mainstream Top 40 and the Alternative Songs charts.

The band formed in 1996 with twin brothers Joel on vocals and Benji Madden on guitar, along with Billy Martin on guitar, Paul Thomas on bass and Aaron Escolopio on drums. A demo of "Little Things" received airplay from two radio stations and by early 2000, Good Charlotte had signed to Epic Records. Recording sessions with producer Don Gilmore for the debut album took place in four studios in California and New York.

"Little Things" was released as a single in July 2000; its music video for started getting airplay in November 2000. "The Motivation Proclamation" was released as the next single in January 2001. Between March and May 2001, the group went on tour with MxPx and appeared at HFStival, where a music video for "Festival Song" was filmed. After this, Escolopio left the group and was replaced by Nate Foutz of Vroom. Foutz remained with the group for six weeks before Dusty Bill replaced him. "Festival Song" was released a single in June 2001. The group participated in Warped Tour between June and August 2001. The album was subsequently certified silver in the UK and gold in the US.

Background

The band Good Charlotte was formed in Waldorf, Maryland, in 1995, after identical twin brothers Joel (vocals) and Benji Madden (guitar) had seen a Beastie Boys show. Following the brothers' graduation in 1997, instead of going to college they worked full-time on the band. Soon afterwards, the brothers recruited their fellow high-school pupil Aaron Escolopio as a drummer

Guitarist Billy Martin went to one of these shows at the insistence of Jimi HaHa of Jimmie's Chicken Shack. Martin became friends with the Madden brothers and let them move in with him after they were evicted from their apartment. and the break up of Martin's band Overflow. They wrote new songs, and recorded and performed demos. The band began building a following by performing at HFStival in 1998, In 1999, Good Charlotte opened for Save Ferris in Philadelphia. After the performance, they left a demo of "Little Things" that soon got airplay on local radio station Y100. Starting in 2000, the band became a full-time touring act, performing support slots for Lit, Goldfinger, Sum 41 and Mest. Following a showcase in New York City, the band met with people in the music industry. Within a week, everyone that saw the performance wanted to sign them. David Massey, executive vice president of A&R at Epic Records, signed the band to the label in May 2000.

Recording and composition

Good Charlotte was recorded mainly at Encore Studios in Los Angeles, California, and was produced by Don Gilmore who also acted as engineer and was assisted by Mauricio Iragorri and engineer Bob Jackson. Additional engineering was done by John Ewing Jr. Drums and bass were recorded at NRG Studios in Los Angeles with assistance from Matt Griffen Guitar and vocals were recorded in June with assistance from Paul Oliveira at Battery Studios in New York City. Joel Madden wrote "Festival Song", which is about attending HFStival, a festival he grew up with.

Release

"Little Things" was released to modern rock radio stations on July 24, 2000. Good Charlotte was released on September 26, 2000, through Epic and Daylight Records. Sales of the album did not meet the label's expectations and the group were nearly dropped from Epic. In October and November 2000, the group embarked on a US tour with Fenix TX, and another with MxPx that lasted until the end of the year. Also in November 2000, the music video for "Little Things" began receiving airplay on MTV. The video was filmed in Canada and was directed by Nigel Dick It depicts the band as troublemakers in high school; Joel Madden breaks into the principal's office and talks into a microphone addressing "Waldorf High School". The clip ends with an impromptu concert in the gym.

In December 2000, Good Charlotte appeared at HFSmas, the winter edition of HFStival. "The Motivation Proclamation" was released to modern rock radio stations on January 29, 2001. On March 1, 2001, "Little Things" was released as a single in Australia. The CD version includes "The Click" and "Thank You Mom" as extra tracks. Despite the lack of success of "Little Things", Epic allowed the band to make a video for "The Motivation Proclamation". The video was directed by Marc Webb; Between March and May 2001, the group supported MxPx on their headlining US tour. In April, the video for "The Motivation Proclamation" received airplay on video outlets. At the end of May, the group performed at HFStival. During their set, a music video for "Festival Song" was filmed; it was directed by Webb. Members of Mest, New Found Glory and Linkin Park appear in the video.

Sometime afterwards, Escolopio left the group to join his brother's band Wakefield. He was replaced by Nate Foutz of Vroom, who left the group after six weeks because Vroom signed a major label deal. Two days before the band went on tour, Dusty Bill was hired to play drums. Between June and August 2001, Good Charlotte appeared on the Warped Tour. Between tour performances, the group performed at Y100 FEZtival.

On August 6, 2001, "The Motivation Proclamation" was released as a single in Australia. Following this, the band supported Blink-182 on their US tour before embarking on a tour of Australia in October. The group closed the year with a US headlining tour called the Uniting the States Tour, with support from Mest, the Movielife, and Midtown. In September 2004, the album was reissued as a two-CD package with The Young and the Hopeless (2002). It was reissued again in January 2010 in a box set alongside The Young and the Hopeless, The Chronicles of Life and Death (2004) and Good Morning Revival (2007).

Reception

Critical reception

AllMusic reviewer William Ruhlmann said, "The beats come fast and furious, the simple guitar chords noisily fill the middle range, and the vocals are sung with snotty belligerence". The website said Good Charlotte is "energized with angsty teenage punk, and though the lyrics are cynical, the music is peppy and autobiographical". The Morning Call reviewer Joe Warminsky said the group "spares nothing in its effort" to join its contemporaries "of lame pop-rock bands that populate non-hip-hop radio". He said the album "wears thin quickly" and that most of the songs are "just plain shameless". and Alternative Songs charts. The album charted in Australia at number 61. "The Motivation Proclamation" charted in Australia at number 67.

Two tracks were remixed for inclusion on the band's Greatest Remixes (2008) compilation: "Waldorfworldwide" (retitled "Los Angeles World Wide"; by JNR SNCHZ) and "Little Things" (by Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy). "Little Things", "The Motivation Proclamation" and "Festival Song" were included on the band's Greatest Hits (2010) compilation. Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 46 on their list of the 50 Greatest Pop-Punk Albums. In 2016, Benji Madden said of the album; "We were young and excited kids who were full of dreams and still trying to figure out our musical identity". Later that year, Joel Madden said; "[W]e didn’t over-think the pre-chorus, we didn’t think how we could make the bridge bigger, we wrote the songs until they were done. It’s more raw; the hope, the vibe and the spirit of that hopefulness has returned to the music." Jenna McDougall of Tonight Alive has expressed admiration for the album.

Track listing

All songs written by Benji and Joel Madden. Additional lyrics on "Let Me Go" and "Seasons" by Josh Ian.

Good Charlotte

  • Joel Madden – lead vocals
  • Benji Madden – guitars, backing vocals
  • Billy Martin – guitars, additional vocals <small>(track 1)</small>
  • Paul Thomas – bass guitar, additional vocals <small>(track 1)</small>
  • Aaron Escolopio – drums, percussion, additional vocals <small>(track 1)</small>

Additional musicians

  • Jimi HaHa – additional vocals <small>(track 3)</small>

Production

  • Don Gilmore – producer, recording, engineer, mixing <small>(except tracks 7 and 13)</small>
  • Tom Lord-Alge – mixing <small>(tracks 7 and 13)</small>
  • Bob Jackson – assistant engineer
  • John Ewing Jr. – additional engineer, Pro Tools
  • Matt Griffen – assistant
  • Paul Oliveira – assistant
  • Pete Novack – assistant
  • Mauricio Iragorri – assistant
  • Vlado Meller – mastering <small>(except track 1)</small>
  • Ted Jensen – mastering <small>(track 1)</small>
  • Kid Vicious – art concept
  • Frank Harkins – art direction
  • Julian Peploe – art direction
  • Maja Blazejewska – design
  • Topper – cover tattoo
  • Rafael Fuchs – photography

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|-

! scope="col"| Chart (2000–2004)

! scope="col"| Peak<br />position

|-

! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)

| 85

|-

|-

! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)

| 194

|-

|-

|-

|}

Year-end charts

{|class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|-

!scope="col"|Chart (2002)

!scope="col"|Position

|-

!scope="row"|Canadian Alternative Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)

|align=center|185

|}

Certifications

References

Citations

Sources

<!-- This is a licensed stream for the album, which is allowed under Wikipedia polices -->

  • Good Charlotte on Spotify (streamed copy where licensed)
  • Retrospective at Louder