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Autobiography (Ashlee Simpson album)

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Autobiography
Autobiography
Album by Ashlee Simpson
Released July 20 2004
Recorded Henson Recording Studio, Hollywood, CA
Genre Pop/Rock
Length 44 min 1 sec
Record label Geffen
Producer John Shanks
Professional reviews
AMG 3.5/5 link
People 2 1/2 out of 4 stars link
Rolling Stone 2 out of 5 stars link

Autobiography is the first album by Ashlee Simpson. It was released in the United States by Geffen Records on July 20, 2004 and debuted at number one in sales. It is a mixture of pop and rock and includes "Pieces of Me", one of the most popular songs in the U.S. in mid-2004, as well as the follow-up single "Shadow". The process of making the album was recorded in Simpson's MTV reality show, The Ashlee Simpson Show.

About the songs

The songs on Autobiography are, as the title suggests, strongly autobiographical in nature: they deal primarily with Simpson's feelings and her experiences in relationships. "Pieces of Me", the first single, was written about her relationship with Ryan Cabrera, her boyfriend at the time. The music video for "Pieces of Me" features Simpson singing in a studio, surrounded by her backing band; clips from the TV show are interspersed throughout the video.

"Shadow", the second single, is about living in the shadow of the dreams and accomplishments of her famous older sister, Jessica Simpson, and finding her own identity. Although the song is noted for having somewhat dark lyrics, especially in comparison to the upbeat "Pieces of Me", it has a positive message, and towards the end of the song Simpson sings that "everything's cool now" and "the past is in the past". In an interview (which was followed by a performance of the song) on Live with Regis and Kelly on September 22, 2004, Simpson described the song's meaning: "Actually, a lot of people think that "Shadow" is about my sister, but it's really about dealing with myself and, uh, dealing with, like, the voice in your head that's like, "Oh, everything has to be so perfect, and I have to be like this," and, uh, basically finding my identity and saying, OK, you know, this is who I am, you know, imperfections and all, and I love myself for me, and here I am!"

The music video for "Shadow" is more elaborate than the video for "Pieces of Me", with Ashlee playing two different versions of herself, blonde and brunette, who live in separate "worlds"; the world of the blonde Ashlee appears perfect, but at the end of the video she reveals she is not as happy as she seems.

The title track, "Autobiography", is an upbeat song that serves to introduce Simpson at the beginning of the album: "Got stains on my t-shirt, and I'm the biggest flirt," she sings. It is also the theme song to Simpson's television show. In October 2004 it was announced that "Autobiography" would be the album's third single, following an internet poll in which fans chose it as the song they wanted to be the next single (it was one of three options; "Better Off" came in second place and "La La" in third). On October 29, however, it was announced on Simpson's official website that "Autobiography" would be replaced as the third single by "La La", the heaviest, most "rock" song on the album, which Simpson has described as a tongue-in-cheek song about sexual fantasies.

"Unreachable", one of the album's melancholy songs, is about Simpson's breakup with her ex-boyfriend, Josh Henderson, which featured in the first episode of The Ashlee Simpson Show.

Simpson is credited with cowriting each of the album's 12 songs. Some versions of the album include bonus tracks; for example, the U.K. version of the album includes the songs "Harder Everyday" and "Sorry". In the U.S., "Sorry" was offered as a free internet download to those who bought the album from Wal-Mart, accessible through a code included in the CD case.

Sales

In the U.S., Autobiography debuted at number one in sales on the Billboard 200 chart for the week of its release, selling about 398,000 copies. It dropped to number two in its second week, displaced by a Now That's What I Call Music! compilation of popular songs, and sold about 269,000 copies. Sales increased in the album's third week, however, with about 286,000 copies sold, returning it to number one. It remained at number one in its fourth week, with about 263,000 copies sold, but dropped back to number two in its fifth week, selling about 164,000 copies, having been again displaced by the Now That's What I Call Music! compilation. In its sixth week, it dropped further to number six, with about 134,000 copies sold, and in its seventh week it fell to number eight, with about 113,000 copies sold. The album returned to number six in its eighth week, despite selling only about 89,000 copies, fewer than in the preceding week. In its ninth week, it remained at number six and sold about 75,000 copies; it fell to number nine in its tenth week, although it still sold about 75,000 copies. The album fell much further in the charts in its 11th week, slipping to number 19, but in its 12th week it moved up to number 16. In its 13th week, it fell back to number 19, however, and in its 14th week it fell further to number 22. It fell further still, to number 27, in its 15th week.

Some have compared Simpson's success in album sales favorably with that of her sister Jessica, who, despite having several hits since 1999, has never had a number one album (the closest she came was with the release of the special edition of In This Skin in early 2004, which debuted at number two).

Promotion

Aside from regular concerts, Simpson has made a number of notable television appearances to promote Autobiography and its singles. In late May, she appeared on The Tonight Show and sang "Pieces of Me", and afterwards sat down for a brief interview with the host, Jay Leno (this Tonight Show appearance featured at the beginning of episode eight of The Ashlee Simpson Show). In the days leading up to her album's release, she also appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman and Good Morning America, and performed "Pieces of Me" on both shows. On July 20, the day of Autobiography's release, she appeared on MTV's music video countdown show Total Request Live, and this appearance also featured in episode eight of her reality show. Subsequently, she appeared on On Air with Ryan Seacrest on July 27 for an interview with Ryan Seacrest and then a performance of "Pieces of Me", and on August 29, she performed "Pieces of Me" at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards.

Promotion for Autobiography and "Pieces of Me" came later in the United Kingdom, where Simpson made a number of television appearances in September 2004, including one on the U.K. version of Total Request Live and a performance of "Pieces of Me" on Top of the Pops Saturday.

On The Ashlee Simpson Show

Some of the album's songs feature prominently in the reality show. For example, the recording of "Pieces of Me" is included in episode four of the show (appropriately, because this episode focuses on her relationship with Cabrera, so the recording of the song ties in to her personal life), and Simpson performs the song in episode seven and twice in episode eight (first on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and then as an acoustic performance at Target House, a home for sick children). The recording of "Shadow" features at the beginning of episode five, followed by a montage of video clips from Simpson's childhood; she later performs the song in episode six (at the conclusion of her first live performance, for which Jessica is present) and records the music video for the song in episode seven.

Aside from being the show's theme song, the title track, "Autobiography", is also the first song she sings during episode six's live performance, and at the end of episode eight (the last episode), she goes on stage to perform the song and it continues to be heard as a montage of clips from throughout the show plays. "La La" is performed live twice: it is the second song during episode six's performance, and she also sings it during a performance at the end of episode seven. The recording of the song "Surrender" features in episode three of the show, in which Simpson works with producer John Shanks.

Simpson's photoshoot for the album's cover and liner notes booklet features at the beginning of episode seven of the show. Many of the pictures, such as those used for the front and back cover of the album, show Simpson in a dark setting, with graffiti-style writing scrawled on the wall behind her, and in two of the pictures used for the album, she is laying on a black couch. In other pictures from this photoshoot, found inside the CD booklet, Simpson poses with a microphone in front of a white background.

Track listing

  1. "Autobiography" (Simpson, Kara DioGuardi, John Shanks) - 3:34
  2. "Pieces of Me" (Simpson, DioGuardi, Shanks) - 3:39
  3. "Shadow" (Simpson, DioGuardi, Shanks) - 3:59
  4. "La La" (Simpson, DioGuardi, Shanks) - 3:44
  5. "Love Makes the World Go Round" (Simpson, Shanks) - 3:45
  6. "Better Off" (Simpson, DioGuardi, Shanks) - 3:28
  7. "Love Me for Me" (Simpson, Shelly Peiken, Shanks) - 3:29
  8. "Surrender" (Simpson, DioGuardi, Shanks) - 3:20
  9. "Unreachable" (Simpson, Stan Frazier, Steve Fox, Robbie Nevil, Billy Mann) - 3:54
  10. "Nothing New" (Simpson, DioGuardi, Shanks) - 3:08
  11. "Giving It All Away" (Simpson, John Feldmann) - 2:58
  12. "Undiscovered" (Simpson, Shanks) - 4:56

Bonus tracks (UK)

  • "Harder Everyday"
  • "Sorry"

Bonus tracks (Japan)

  • "Harder Everyday"
  • "Sorry"
  • "Endless Summer"

Personnel

  • Ashlee Simpson - vocals; background vocals (tracks 1-4, 10 and 12)
  • Kenny Aronoff - drums (tracks 1, 3, 5, 8 and 10)
  • John Shanks - guitars, bass; keyboards (tracks 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 12); background vocals (tracks 1, 5, 7, 8 and 9)
  • Kara DioGuardi - background vocals (tracks 1-4, 6 and 10)
  • Jeff Rothchild - drums (tracks 2, 4, 11 and 12)
  • Jamie Muhoberac - piano, organ (track 3)
  • Patrick Warren - Chamberlain (tracks 3 and 12)
  • Abe Laboriel, Jr. - drums (tracks 6, 7 and 9)
  • John Feldmann - original programming (track 11)
  • David Campbell - string arrangement (track 12)
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