Cardiology (album)

Recording

The band has been frequently giving fans updates about the album on their Twitter accounts. In late July 2009, Joel Madden mentioned that the band was close to track listing the album. On August 9, 2009, Benji Madden mentioned that they have yet to record the songs, but they are written. On August 25, 2009, Benji Madden announced on the official Good Charlotte website that the band were in the final stages of tracking and recording the album. He also gave fans a single line from one of the new songs:

"She liked me better when I [was] different, No one knew me then, back in Maryland"

Benji Madden also said on his Twitter account on August 26 that they are shooting for a March/April release date. "We are shooting for March/April guys. sorry for the wait but we wanna do this one right. Don't worry, you will get some music before then". On September 22, 2009, Joel Madden made a tweet that he was tracking vocals for a song called "There She Goes", and on September 29, 2009, he mentioned he tracked vocals for the song "1979". On October 14, 2009 Benji Madden posted a blog on the official Good Charlotte website describing the album's sound as "a more mature version of our self titled album... really simple production, just all about the songs and the lyrics. There will definitely be some surprises though, wouldn't be a GC record if there weren't right?" He also continues in his blog with lyrics from one of the new songs on the album called "Standing Ovation" with the lines:

"Can't you see the world is on their feet for You and Me, and its alright cause you've got me, even when I'm gone I'll never leave, so go on and get your dreams..."

On January 19, 2010, Benji posted a note on the official Good Charlotte website giving an update to fans about the album. He mentioned that they had finished the album which was produced by Howard Benson. However, the band didn't feel right about the sound of the album because Howard Benson focused on making it a commercial success. Good Charlotte decided to scrap the album, and got back with Don Gilmore, the producer of the band's self-titled debut album and previous album, Good Morning Revival. Benji Madden stated in the note that the band "needed to be in the studio with someone who understood the heart of [the] band. And what that is, it's YOU GUYS".

On August 5, 2010 Benji posted some lyrics on his official Twitter account for the song speculated to be "Let the Music Play".

"There's a song that you can find in every moment of your life, in every tear you've ever cried, in every painful last goodbye. Let the music play."

Artwork

Benji Madden contacted Daniel Martin Diaz asking him if he would like to do the artwork for the album. Diaz accepted Madden's offer and went to listen to rough mixes of the songs to better understand the concept of the album being songs from the heart.

Singles

The first single off the album is "Like It's Her Birthday" which was officially released on August 24, 2010. After the band posted the song online August 5, 2010, they wrote on their website that if the YouTube video of the song receives more than 100,000 views, they will post another song from the album. The video reached 100,000 views on August 15, 2010 and the band released "Counting the Days" as a video on their YouTube channel and announced that it will be the second single from the album. "Like It's Her Birthday" debuted on the ARIA Digital Track Chart at No. 40 on August 30, 2010 and has peaked at No. 7 on the ARIA Charts. The song "Sex On The Radio" is currently charting on the ARIA Charts, peaking at number thirty, so far. In January 2011 Good Charlotte released "Last Night" as the new single for North America and Europe. It will be released on March 7, 2011 on U.S. radio. The single was also released with Tonight Alive as a featured act.

During their June 2011 tour with Yellowcard and Runner Runner, Good Charlotte shot a video for "1979" in Tucson. The video/single was released in early August 2011. Silver Screen Romance was released to Australian radio on November 14, 2011 and was the 9th most added track to Australian radio in its first week.

Reception

Cardiology received mixed reviews scoring an average of 50/100 at Metacritic. The album fared worse at AnyDecentMusic?, scoring an average of 3.5/10. In an advanced review, Nicholas Coren of Virgin Music gave the album 8 stars of 10, concluding: "The quintet restore the sound that their fans grew to love when they started, resulting with a fusion of tracks that sound like they're from the era of both their 2000 self-titled album and 2002's 'The Young and The Hopeless'. Good Charlotte still hold on to that good quality harmony sound that the Madden brothers create so well, as it continues to blend into the guitar driven chorus[es] that appear through the album. It is predominantly clear that the musical chemistry of the band has only grown stronger over the past few years of criticism."

Evan Lucy of Alternative Press praised the album for its return-to-roots musical style and wrote, "Good Charlotte might be multi-platinum superstars, but "Cardiology" might be their best effort yet." Amy Bangs, writing in Rock Sound, was also positive, saying: "Musically, they've ditched their early material's urban (ish) influences, while maintaining the fun parts of pop-punk. So we're left with the Good Charlotte that brought us the brilliantly catchy 'Seasons' or 'Festival Song', without the awkward rapping interludes. And for that we thank them."

One of the most negative reviews came from NME's Matt Wilkinson, who accused the band of unoriginality in their song titles ('There She Goes' and '1979' are well-known songs by The La's and Smashing Pumpkins, respectively), concluding that the album was "monstrously offensive" and "the latest shit-streak from music's laziest sons". Clash was also highly negative. Awarding the album 1/10 and declaring readers to avoid it, it said: "this latest offering is meandering chirpy slobber that sounds more boy band than ever."

Cardiology Tour

On March 3, 2011, Good Charlotte went on tour with This Century and Forever the Sickest Kids throughout North America. The Relay Company replaced Forever The Sickest Kids on the San Francisco date. In June 2011 Good Charlotte embarked on a US tour with Yellowcard and Runner Runner. In Australia Short Stack joined Good Charlotte to tour the states of Australia.

Charts

On the week of its release, the album debuted at No. 3 on the Australian albums chart, No. 22 on the Japanese albums chart, No. 18 on the New Zealand albums chart and No. 63 on the UK albums chart. It also debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 31 as well as on four other Billboard charts including the Alternative Albums chart at No. 6, the Rock Albums chart at No. 7, the Digital Albums chart at No. 13, and the European Albums chart at No. 65. However, the album suffered a major fall in its second week on the Billboard 200, dropping from No. 31 to No. 125. It stayed on the chart for two weeks.

A&R

Art/photography

Vocalist

Instruments

Mixing/engineering

Producing/editing/mastering/management