Cardiology is the fifth studio album by American rock band Good Charlotte. Within a year of releasing Good Morning Revival, Benji and Joel Madden had begun working on new material in early 2008. Pre-production started in early 2009 and tracking commenced in August with producer Howard Benson. Problems arose during this period; Benji Madden hesitated to work with Benson. Having completed the majority of the recording, Madden felt uncomfortable and realized the band was working with the wrong person after Benson removed two crucial verses from a track. After hearing rough mixes, Madden preferred the demo versions. Discussing this with producer Don Gilmore, he suggested the band start over in Vancouver, Canada. Following a meeting with the rest of the band, they relocated to Vancouver at the start of 2010. Recording sessions took place at the Armoury and Warehouse Studios before moving to Studio Can Am in Tarzana, California. Recording concluding in April 2010.

Following recording, the group spent two months stint on the Bamboozle Road Show 2010 tour. After announcing it had signed to Capitol Records in July, the band toured Europe supporting Pink. "Like It's Her Birthday" was released as a single in August and was followed by a lyric video and a music video in September. 'Cardiology was released in November; a Like It's Her Birthday remix EP was released shortly afterwards. The track "Sex on the Radio" was released as a single in early 2011, after which the band headlined the Kerrang! Tour in the UK in February. At the tour's conclusion, "Late Night" was released as a single. A North-American headlining tour began in March and was promoted with a music video for "Late Night". It was followed-up in June with a co-headlining U.S. tour with Yellowcard. A music video for "1979" was released at the end of July and the song was released as a single at the start of August.

Cardiology returns to the pop punk sound of Good Charlotte's earlier releases while retaining some of its predecessor Good Morning Revival's electronic aspects. Most of the music was written by the Madden brothers while most of the lyrics were written by Benji Madden. Cardiology received a generally mixed reception from critics, garnering comments about the group's return-to-roots approach. It debuted at number 31 on the Billboard 200 and charted within the top 30 on five additional Billboard charts. As of September 2011, album sales stood at 52,000 copies. The album was successful in Australia, peaking at number three and later being certified gold. "Like It's Her Birthday", "Sex on the Radio" and "Last Night" all charted within the top 40, and were certified platinum in Australia. It charted within the top 30 in New Zealand, Switzerland and Austria, and had minor success in Canada, Germany, the UK and France."Like It's Her Birthday" also had minor success in the US, charting on the Bubbling Under Hot 100, Mainstream Top 40 and Dance Club Songs charts.