Over half of the album's material was written by Benji and Joel Madden, with the remainder being co-written with Valentine, Goldfinger frontman John Feldmann or guitarist Billy Martin.
The band co-headlined the Noise to the World Tour with Simple Plan in May and June, which coincided with the single release of the album's title-track.
The Chronicles of Life and Death received a generally mixed reception from music critics with some finding the lyrics lacking depth and others praising the instrumentation and darker tone.
"Predictable" and "I Just Wanna Live" appeared on US radio charts and reached the top 40 in Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and the UK.
[1] Three of the album's singles—"Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous", "Girls & Boys", and "The Anthem"—shifted the group from modern rock to mainstream top 40 radio.
The band's members internalised this while they made the album; Joel Madden said they were "ready to move on and make a statement", wanting to do "something grand.
"[3] Their label wanted a more marketable release, however, the band rebelled by going in a dark and moody direction with some sarcastic moments on "I Just Wanna Live".
The resulting album was "a cohesive record" that dealt with the members' thoughts about their "own mortality in the emotional, physical and musical sense.
"[3] A conscious effort was made to focus on mortality, as well as life and death;[3] hope serves as recurring theme throughout the album.
[17] Michael Odell of Blender described The Chronicles of Life and Death as a concept album that "span[s] the outer reaches of [Good Charlotte's] topsy-turvy philosophical world".
[18] Half of the album was written by Benji and Joel Madden, while they co-wrote the remaining tracks with Valentine, Feldmann or guitarist Billy Martin.
[21] The title track opens with the beeping sound of a heart-rate monitor before Joel Madden's vocal begins over a power pop groove[22] in the style of the Kinks.
[25] The dance-rock track "I Just Wanna Live",[26] the album's biggest musical departure from the band's usual style, combines power chords, string samples and disco beats, with Madden rapping over it in the vein of Nelly.
Martin said it shows two sides of the group: "There's a dark, twisted room where we're playing in, where it's thunderstorming... [and then] Joel [Madden] goes outside and the sky is perfectly clear and it's like a nice neighborhood".
[42] Directed by Brett Simon, it features the group performing in a dive bar before the band members return to their day jobs.
[46] In early April 2005, a music video was filmed for "We Believe" with director Sam Erickson[47] at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
The video features the group in an abandoned theatre performing in front of a movie screen showing images of war and people suffering.
[56] Several TV appearances across Europe followed in late September and early October, leading to a performance at AOL Music Live in New York in the same year.
[55] During this show, they debuted material from their forthcoming album with Alkaline Trio drummer Derek Grant temporarily substituting for the band's Chris Wilson who was undergoing therapy.
Grant played with the group for a few more promotional events[57] including an appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and in-store performances.
"[28] Michael Endelman of Entertainment Weekly called the record a "giant leap forward" in terms of "instrumental prowess, and in emotional and melodic scope.
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.
"[69] 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.
"[29] 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.
[14] 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.
"[30] 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.
"[24] The Village Voice said that "[b]eyond some rich-and-famous irony, not a single suburban detail soils an hour of good intentions.
[97][95] "I Just Wanna Live" was one of the songs that Sony BMG, Epic's parent company, paid radio stations to play in the 2005 payola scandal.
[103] "Predictable", "I Just Wanna Live", "The Chronicles of Life and Death" and "We Believe" were included on the band's Greatest Hits (2010) compilation.