8. Avril Lavigne & Chad Kroeger - 'Let Me Go'
Avril Lavigne never seems to age. Tthat much was evident judging by her musical choices and career in 2013 when, a good ten years after 'Complicated' made her the angry emo-rock avatar for countless youths across the globe, she brought forth an album full of rock-pop that celebrated youth and placed Avril in the role of rebellious teen. One of the songs that much less positively received than lead singles 'Here's To Never Growing Up' and 'Rock & Roll' was her duet with now-husband Chad Kroeger (the frontman of Nickelback) which was compared unfavourably to Avril's earlier attempts at balladry such as the iconic 'I'm With You', with critics citing it as a bad choice for a single and a cash ploy for the recent marriage between Lavigne and Kroeger. However, once you listen to the song objectively, it's definitely got its merits at its heart, 'Let Me Go' is a big rock ballad with some solid production from Mr Kroeger giving it a dramatic feel reminiscent of early 2000s rock. In fact, the song feels plucked from the era and actually makes sense as a sonic and lyrical statement even the title is a sly nod to Lavigne's first album 'Let Go'. Kroeger and Lavigne are both rock-pop stalwarts whose careers began in the early Noughties and so to have them both address their pasts in a way that acknowledges their past glories and sends him looking forward to future ones. It might be a cheap marketing tactic, using their marriage as a way to sell the single, but the entire song feels like a knowing consideration of the sounds that made them famous, and that deserves praise if nothing else. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqajUg85Ax4