So, we talked to Avril...she says hi...

Ten years ago a perky little Canadian teenager burst onto the International pop scene with a song about a ‘complicated’ boy and a video showing her and her chums crashing a shopping mall. Yes, folks, we’ve watched Avril Lavigne blossom from a skateboarding teenager to an actress and savvy businesswoman with her Black Star fragrance and Abbey Dawn clothing line. And somehow she’s found time to become the perfect pouting pop princess along the way.

In honour of Avril Lavigne’s ten years in pop, we thought we’d take a look at her Top 10 best songs from across her career. In true Unreality fashion, we’ve used scientific methods, record sales data, YouTube views and a heavy dose of “we don’t care, we’ll include this song anyway” to come up with this ULTIMATE Top 10 list! Enjoy!

10. Wish You Were Here

Our countdown starts with a recent Avril single, and one of our favourite tracks from the Goodbye Lullaby album. It’s a mid-tempo ballad, and while it doesn’t have the same level of angst in songs further up our chart, Wish You Were Here is simply a sweet, romantic track and one of her best.

The video’s a tiny bit freaky – it kind of looks like Avril’s been kidnapped and locked in a room with only a negligee to wear. Which gives the “damn, damn, damn, I wish you were here a sinster new angle”, right? You’ll never look at that video the same way again…

9. My Happy Ending

We had to include this one – it starts out as a sentimental ballad but bursts into a raging rock chorus. If you ever wondered what Avril Lavigne would look like betrayed, hurt and angry, this is the tune for you. The tune’s summed up best in the lyrics “all this time you were pretending/so much for my happy ending”.

8. Sk8er Boi

For any long-term Avril Lavigne fan, Sk8er Boi should hold a special place in your heart. When Avril broke through with Complicated in 2002, it could’ve easily been a one-off. Sk8er Boi was the single that proved this girl had longevity and a ton of great tracks up her sleeves. Okay, she wore mostly vest tops at the time, which don’t technically have sleeves, but you get the picture…

7. Hot

Hell, Hot does exactly what the title promises. It’s Avril in full-on raunch mode, rocking a top-hat and those now-familiar pink highlights. She purrs that she wants to lock us up in her closet and put our hands in her pocket, inspiring teenage boys’ heads to explode across the internet. Hot makes Shania Twain’s very similar video for Man, I Feel Like A Woman look positively chaste by comparison. This was the natural progression for Avril and her Girlfriend-era corsets and fishnets – breaking with the much more clean-cut image she began with.

6. When You’re Gone

What could be a simple breakup song becomes a total tearjerker with a video that features different types of loss – a soldier going off to Iraq or Afghanistan, leaving behind a pregnant wife and an old man mourning his wife. If you’ve got heartstrings, When You’re Gone will pull on them. Grab a tissue, here’s the video:

5. Keep Holding On

This classic power ballad has all the Lavigne hallmarks, but it’s taken up a couple of levels of intensity with the addition of sweeping orchestral accompaniment. The reason for this is that the Keep Holding On was written for the Eragon soundtrack. Still, it’s undeniably a fan favourite, and we think the orchestration makes the tune even more emotional and inspiring.

4. I’m With You

The last ballad on our list, but arguably Avril’s best romantic song. Having brought the pop-punk anthems with her first two singles, Lavigne followed up with this incredible ballad which shows her wailing her little Canadian heart out. Showing a raw, angsty side, as well as her skills as a powerful rock vocalist, Lavigne also came across as vulnerable in the video, showing a totally different side to what we’d already seen with Complicated and Sk8er Boi.

3. Complicated

Aha! The track you’ve been waiting for. Complicated was the track that launched Avril into the rock stratosphere, with the memorable mall-rat video of her trying out ridiculous clothes with her bandmates and being pushed in a shopping cart while a security guard chased her. And despite being 10 years old, Complicated remains as fresh today as when it first came out.

2. What The Hell

As you’re about to see, Bratty Avril is phenomenally popular with the kids – What The Hell and its spiritual predecessor Girlfriend both show that bratty side of Avril. Taunting, chanted cheerleader style choruses and complete abandon are what we see. But the good people of YouTube love it, because these are Avril’s most popular videos. What The Hell has the special significance of being Avril’s post-breakup single after splitting from Deryck Whibley, and it sounds like a strong declaration of her independence.

1. Girlfriend

Possibly one of the best damned songs ever, let alone in Avril Lavigne’s catalog. It’s childish, totally immature, but addictive like musical crack. Once that chorus gets into your head, it’ll take months of rehab to wean you off it. And as for Avril playing multiple roles in the video, from bitchy girlfriend to hot temptress in fishnets… well, let’s just say it could take the pervy boffins of the Internet years to decide whether Girlfriend or Hot is Avril’s sexiest video ever. Fight among yourselves, gentlemen.

So…we’ve shown you ours, now show us yours…top 10 Avril Lavigne songs, that is! Leave us a comment telling us what your favourite Avril songs of all time are!