New songs such as "On the Mountains" and "Falling Away" feature a slower, heavier rock sound, while "We Believe" is a piano-based pop number. "It sounds like something Billy Joel or Elton John would sing," says Madden. "And it's more grown-up. We're singing about what's going on in the world. When we wrote it, I was watching a lot of CNN, I guess."

Although the album is still in its infant stage, the band has some ambitious plans. "We'd like to bring in a choir on a track or two," says Madden, who is also working up a Christmas-themed track and a possible hip-hop collaboration on a song called "I Just Want to Live."

If this sounds problematic for fans of Good Charlotte's harder side, Madden is sympathetic. "There's a lot of stuff on here that has our classic sound," he says. "And [guitarist] Benji's been listening to the Clash a lot recently, and all of his guitar lines are starting to sound like that. I had to tell him to stop doing that, because Joe Strummer was the only person who could sing over those types of guitar lines."

Good Charlotte hope to have the record done before they begin their stint on the Warped Tour June 25th in Houston. "It's really early on in the recording process," says Madden. "I hope it turns out all right, and people will have an open mind when they listen to it. We've been really lucky with people giving us a chance so far."