GOOD CHARLOTTE

When it comes to a genre as stylistically specific as pop-punk, bands generally aren't expected to progress much beyond the standard mix of raging guitars, speedy drumming, and high-pitched melodic vocals singing paeans to teen rebellion. With 2004's THE CHRONICLES OF LIFE AND DEATH, however, Good Charlotte confounds expectations by delivering a sprawling concept album that borrows from a variety of distinctly non-punk music. Opening with a spooky, orchestral piece that sounds like a mix of John Williams and Arvo Part, the disc races from Cheap Trick-esque power pop (the title track) to shoegazer-y angst-rock ("In This World [Murder]") to Rufus Wainright-like sensitive piano ballads ("The Truth"). On "I Just Wanna Live," the group even tries its hand at rap, rhyming over a groove that's half Snoop Dogg/half Happy Mondays. For all its seeming incongruity, however, the record never sounds messy, but rather emerges as the work of a band eager to expand the boundaries of both its chosen style and its own musicality. (Note: There are two versions of the album, each containing a different bonus track.)

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