Good Charlotte albums ranked from worst to best by Joel and Benji Madden

Back in 2018, we hopped on a plane to Los Angeles and sat down with our old buddies in Good Charlotte, where we chatted about latest album Generation Rx and were treated to unprecedented access to Benji and Joel Madden's MDDN headquarters.

As a way of thanks, we figured we'd put the twins on the spot and ask them to pick their favourite Good Charlotte releases and work backwards. That was fun. It always is. Below, you will find what they had to say for themselves and why they decided on the order that they did.

Enjoy…

Benji: “This album was like getting back to bat and finding out if we could still hit the ball.”

Joel: “We came into this business as poor kids from nowhere, and we walked away for a while with a couple of broken legs, but we came back and we started finding our swing. It was a lot of fun, there were some jams and it let us play live again, but it wasn’t written from the same place of honesty as [follow-up] Generation Rx.”

Benji: “That was us at our brightest and most innocent, when we were just wanting to make a really good record and be in a big band. When you hear the effort on there… We weren’t really a great band yet, but we were on our way. We had a few tours, and pretty much zero experience, but I look back on that time now with a lot of love.”

Joel: “We were so starry-eyed back then, man.”

Benji: “There’s something special about that record and I don’t know what it is yet, but I know it’s going to be revealed to us later in life. It was an important record for us.”

Joel: “Everything changed. The entire business had changed and we were left out there on our own. I was proud of how we handled ourselves on that record.”

Benji: “There was so much humility on that record. I’m grateful for that.”

Joel: “We were trying to push the boundaries at a time when everyone just wanted The Anthem or another Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous.”

Benji: “We said, ‘No, we aren’t just going to rehash something for success, we’re going to try to dig deeper.’ And we ended up having some moments on that record I’m really proud of. I Just Wanna Live is still one of my favourites.”

Joel: “I feel like when everybody wanted us to do another record like the one we’d just done, we found a way to make a record we’d never made.”

Benji: “There was something that happened there where we became a little bulletproof as people. That record was really criticised [at the time]. We really had to stick to our guns when it came out.”

Benji: “I know every band say it about their latest one, but I genuinely believe this is the best record we’ve ever made. It’s the most cohesive body of work.”

Joel: “We’re more us than we’ve ever been. We’re stronger and more focused. We’ve found a way back to those kids who made The Young And The Hopeless and to integrate those kids with the grown men we are today. We found a way that they can help and teach each other.”

Benji: “I would have to put this first because of what we became. If not for that record and that moment, we would not be here today. So I give it a lot of credit for all the things we went on to.”

Joel: “When you listen to every other pop-punk record at the time, we put a lot of effort into the different sounds and it felt like it broke some boundaries. I take a lot of pride in the craftsmanship.”

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