a number of shows before going on a tour of Asia in July. The Canadian leg of the Noise to the World tour followed later in July followed by a series of European festivals in August. In October, the band appeared at the Bridge School Benefit and played a few shows in South America in November and December. Reception Critical response The Chronicles of Life and Death has received generally mixed reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. AllMusic reviewer Johnny Loftus said Madden's "newly developed husky tenor" aids him on the collection's "more introspective" tracks, while he manages to "still belt out the rousing punk-pop choruses" on a few tracks. Billboard writer Keith Caulfield felt the group "takes its proven peppy rock sound to new heights." Michael Endelman of Entertainment Weekly called the record a "giant leap forward" in terms of "instrumental prowess, and in emotional and melodic scope." E! Online also gave it a positive review, saying: "Pulling off the tricky balancing act of aiming for mainstream success while keeping one's street cred intact, songs like 'Ghost of You' and 'Predictable' abandon the band's mall-rat roots in exchange for more mature influences like U2 and Muse." Stylus Magazine contributor Anthony Miccio called the lyricism "near-perfect" with "blessedly literal expressions of emotion and identity" conveyed by the "unabashed and outrageously catchy songcraft." Spin writer Joe Gross said the group stretched the feeling of "Hold On" (from The Young and the Hopeless) and applied it across the entirety of Chronicles, "reducing the band's wide-eyed sadness to overpolished moping." Elizabeth Bromstein of Now viewed the lyrics as "average" and Madden's voice as "still sound[ing] whiny". Jason Heller for Riverfront Times said the band "dressing up its stale pop-punk with strings and reverb is like pouring Magic Shell over a dog turd." IGN's JR bluntly called listening to the album "the most painful thing in the world." The New York Times gave the album a negative review, saying it was "full of ham-fisted ideas." Betty Clarke of The Guardian wrote that the band "delve[s] deeper into their tortured psyche while striving to be taken seriously" as pop punk "rhythms crash into string sections, empathy clashes with loathing." NME also gave a negative review, saying: "Half the time, Good Charlotte sound like Blink-182 after the snip, the other half they sound like the Backstreet Boys without the songs." Q found it "nothing if not