Good Charlotte
A History of Cardiology
Good Charlotte tries to recapture the innocence of its first two albums

By Andy Argyrakis

Anyone who’s quick to write off modern rockers Good Charlotte as either a musical flash in the pan or simply a paparazzi band should hear the back story to its fifth studio disc, Cardiology. Instead of just rushing to release the follow-up to 2007’s Good Morning Revival (the dance/pop album responsible for the multi-million selling monster smash “Dance Floor Anthem”), the five guys hunkered down in the studio with super producer Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance, Daughtry) and then scrapped the entire session because of bad creative vibes.
         
“We were a fan of a lot of his records, but it just didn’t feel good,” confirms lead guitarist Billy Martin. “His methods were different than we were used to, though at first we were wondering if it was because we hadn’t done this for a while or if we weren’t bringing good enough stuff to the table. He kept telling us to trust him and that in the end we’d love the record, but we heard the mix of three songs, and it didn’t sound like we thought it should. There was more soul and energy in the demos than the final recordings, and we couldn’t go on for the next two years talking about and playing songs we weren’t proud of.”
         
Even though the band blew a ton of time, energy, and money, the choice to start from scratch proved to be the only viable option and the guys quickly phoned up frequent collaborator Don Gilmore (Linkin Park, Avril Lavigne). He not only helped the group find its muse again, but he also helped it deliver an album that seems to draw from the most enjoyable aspects of all the previous Good Charlotte projects.

“We wanted to get back to a little bit more of the innocence from the first two records,” explains Martin. “When we put out our first record, we were crushed with some of the reviews and it didn’t take off, but we toured our assess off for the next two years and built things up. We made the second one with no expectations and it did really well. On the third, there was a lot of pressure, but we tried not to over analyze and did a little experimenting and then went with a totally different direction on Good Morning Revival. This record has the elements we loved from all of those records and we made sure to capture that innocence of making music for the sake of music, not what something’s supposed to sound like.”
         
The lengthy hiatus also afforded some of the players to get married and have kids, which also allowed them to a glean fresh songwriting inspiration and a new hunger for their craft in general. Of course, the non-musical press was quick to pay extra close attention to front man Joel Madden tying the knot with Nicole Richie, which eventually started skewing their coverage of Good Charlotte.
         
“I think it helps a lot of the time and hurts some of the time,” he notes of the celebrity culture that now trails the band. “When we sit in an interview and get asked about our personal life, it takes away from us talking about the band. And a lot of the times, album reviews talk more about personal life than the music, which is a real bummer, but at the same time, more people know the name Good Charlotte that might not have known about us before. Joel has a great family and we are very happy for him; why would we ever be mad about that? The gossip magazines are a new thing in our life, but it doesn’t make us think any differently about moving forward as a band. Music is clearly why we’re here.”
         
To further drive that point home, the band is loading up its tour buses for a headlining tour, playing many of the clubs it did back in the day in hopes of reconnecting with fans following a series of package tours and an arena outing supporting Justin Timberlake.

“We’ve been playing amphitheatres or big festivals and this is a chance to get back to the beginning,” promises Martin. “We’re excited about the new songs, playing long sets and putting lots of energy into hot, sweaty shows. It’s easy to get jaded, especially after ten years together, but we feel like it’s the first time since we’ve been gone for so long. These shows are like a warm up tour, and even if we’re not hitting a particular city this time out, it’s just the beginning.”