'Hey hey, you yeah, I don't like your girlfriend!' blares out of the speakers and already I want to die, but I persevere with a faint glimmer of hope that the new Avril Lavigne album might actually get better. After all, her first two offerings to the world weren't all that bad.

'I Can Do Better', Avril proclaims defiantly in the next song - and with a strong start, I believe her. Until the chorus, that is, in which the vocal melody sounds like it was written by a five year old child. Oh, and what's this? Another Gwen Stefani-style rap? Oh, Avril. Where did all that punk attitude go? Ah. It's in the background screaming in a strangled voice during said rap. It's almost a half-decent song, but really, that was just taking it too far.

'Runaway', on the other hand, impresses me with its catchy and well-structured pop melodies and even relatively decent lyrics. In fact, while there are some absolute travesties ('I Don't Have To Try' and the title track for starters), there are a handful of gems. 'When You're Gone' and 'Innocence' are slower, more beautiful songs, contrasting with the infectious 'One Of Those Girls' and 'Contagious', both of which hold an upbeat sound that would have felt at home on one of Avril's previous albums.

I'm not quite sure what's happened. 'Let Go' showed us the young, innocent 16-year-old Avril Lavigne, before she matured greatly for 'Under My Skin'. Now, to be quite frank, she's acting like a spoilt, arrogant child - with the notable exception of 'Innocence' and 'Runaway'.

It's one of those albums that's hard to pinpoint. It's very pop, yet some songs could be classed primarily as pop-punk. There are heavier rock influences, yet Avril insists on breaking the atmosphere with those darned raps. It has its hooks, but the songwriting that made up her previous two efforts is clearly lacking on this album. The best damn thing, indeed...