Autobiography (Ashlee Simpson album)

Autobiography
Album by Ashlee Simpson
Released	July 20 2004 (U.S.)
Recorded	Henson Recording Studio, Hollywood, California
Genre	Pop/Rock
Length	44 min 1 sec
Record label	Geffen
Producer	John Shanks
Professional reviews
AMG	3.5 / 5	link
BBC	Mixed	link
Billboard	Favorable	Aug. 7, 2004
Blender	3 / 5	Sept. 2004
E! Online	B-	link
Entertainment Weekly	B-	link
IGN	6.5 / 10	Sept. 17, 2004
People	2.5 / 4	Aug. 2, 2004, page 41
Rolling Stone	2 / 5	Aug. 5, 2004
Ashlee Simpson Chronology
"Pieces of Me" (2004)	Autobiography (2004)	"Shadow" (2004)

Autobiography is the first album by the American singer Ashlee Simpson. It was released in the United States by Geffen Records on July 20, 2004, and debuted at number one in the charts. The album, a mixture of pop and rock, includes "Pieces of Me", a hit single in several countries in mid to late 2004, as well as the follow-up singles "Shadow" and "La La". The process of making the album was highlighted in The Ashlee Simpson Show, an MTV reality series.

About the album

According to Simpson, the album is strongly autobiographical, with lyrics that were inspired by her feelings and experiences. Simpson is credited with co-writing each of the album's twelve songs, and she has described the process as being similar to keeping a diary. Just before the album's U.S. release, she said: "My inspiration came from what I have gone through in the past three years. Every single day I was thinking of what I was going through and would write songs about it." [1] The lyrics primarily deal with love and heartbreak, many inspired by Simpson's breakup with Josh Henderson.

Musically, the album incorporates more rock than pop elements, contrasting with the strongly pop-oriented music of her sister Jessica Simpson. One review noted that, unlike her sister's music, Autobiography "relies on glitzy guitars and big power-pop riffs." [2] Ashlee has emphasized that she did not want her music to be like that of pop singers such as her sister or Hilary Duff; instead, she cites as influences female rock musicians such as Chrissie Hynde and Joan Jett. The music on Autobiography is sometimes compared to that of Avril Lavigne and Pink, in that it is similarly styled rock-flavored pop (or pop-flavored rock) sung by young women who incorporate rebellion or at least independence into their images. Some have suspected that Simpson's more rock-oriented sound and image represent a deliberate marketing attempt to distinguish the sisters.

Ashlee worked closely with a number of experienced songwriters on the album. The album's producer, John Shanks, receives songwriting credit alongside Simpson on all but two songs. Kara DioGuardi also receives songwriting credit, together with Simpson and Shanks, on seven of the songs, including the three singles. Others are credited on three songs—four people, in addition to Simpson, are credited on the song "Unreachable", including Sugar Ray drummer Stan Frazier. (See the track listing.)

Critical reviews of Autobiography have been mixed. Some reviews regarded the album positively: People magazine considered it a "passable debut" and said that it showed Simpson was a "credible talent in her own right" [3], while All Music Guide said it was "an unexpectedly strong debut". [4] Blender magazine said in its review that "there isn't a song on her debut that doesn't paint in huge strokes" [5], and Billboard said that it was "chock-full of catchy songs." [6] The album has also been described as "edgy, soulful and real". [7]

Other reviews have been more negative, however. Rolling Stone called it "mundane...with a predictable script".[8] In its review, the BBC said that "half the album ... feels self indulgent and lacks substance"—but conceded that "in between the formulaic, innocuous songs are a smattering of catchy pop-rock tracks." [9] IGN.com called it "by-the-books, generic (and at times bland) pop/rock". [10]

Tracks

Autobiography opens the album with retro instrumentation and dark chords, the lyrics evoking difficult times ("Got bruises on my heart") moderated with optimism ("Right now I'm solo, but that will be changing eventually"). "Pieces of Me" follows with a simple acoustic guitar accompaniment to a tale of happiness with an understanding lover, while gradually building into full pop instrumentation.

"Shadow" is a slower, soul-tinged tune in which Simpson recounts playing a lesser role to her sister as a child, becoming free to pursue her own dreams as she grew older.[11] A driving beat and bright guitar licks back "La La", a playful song filled with innuendo. The softer "Love Makes the World Go Around" describes the disappointment of an ending relationship, with "I guess promises are better left unsaid."

"Better Off" is a song of ambivalence about a relationship. She describes insecurity ("don't want to lose what I've found"), but on balance she is "better off in every way". The slow rocker "Love Me for Me" is filled with contradictory feelings in a new relationship: "Stay here, get out." The synth-driven "Surrender" follows with Simpson consenting to a breakup. "Don't you know you're only wasting time", she sings; by stalling "you make your misery my company."

"Unreachable" layers a plodding piano line and vintage Chamberlin sounds over regrets in rushing into a relationship. "Nothing New" conveys impatience with stagnation atop a steady beat and effect-layered guitars. The jangling "Giving It All Away" is an encouragement to stand on one's own feet: "open your eyes and find yourself", Simpson urges. The album winds down with "Undiscovered", pondering what might have been in a lost pairing.

Non-U.S. pressings follow with "Harder Everyday", and the United Kingdom edition adds "Sorry". The U.S. Wal-Mart edition of the album also included an access code to download a reduced-quality version of "Sorry" over the Internet.

Sales and chart performance

In the U.S., Autobiography was 2004's biggest debut by a female artist. [12] It quickly went platinum and was certified triple platinum by September. [13] Following its July 20 release, it debuted at number one in sales on the Billboard 200 chart, selling about 398,000 copies. Through its fifth week, it alternated in first place with Now That's What I Call Music! 16, which coincidentally included a cover of "Take My Breath Away" by Simpson's sister Jessica. According to Nielsen Soundscan figures, Autobiography sold a total of 2,576,945 copies in 2004, making it the ninth best-selling album of the year.[14] In Canada, the album sold about 3,000 copies in its first week [15]. The album debuted and peaked at number 31 on the United Kingdom album charts,[16], although it returned to the top 40 in January 2005, rising substantially from number 91 to number 33 in the week ending January 24, following Simpson's promotion of "La La" (the album's second single in the U.K., released on January 24) earlier in the month. The album's sales rose 148% to 6,180, totalling 59,796 since its release. [17] The album reached 36 in Switzerland [18] and 29 in Norway. [19] As of January 2005, it has sold about 3.5 million copies worldwide.

U.S. & Canada chart positions
Week	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
U.S.	1	2	1	1	2	6	8	6	6	9	19	16	19	22	27	34	51	50	34	42	33	40	39	40	55	84
Canada	37	36	30	11	14	14	15	16	17	17	24	29	23	20	30	33	41	46	47	38	24	30	27	11	8	10

Simpson's success in album sales can be compared favorably with that of her sister Jessica, who, despite having several hits since 1999, has never had a number one album (although a special edition of In This Skin debuted in early 2004 at number two). Simpson has said that she never expected Autobiography to do so well: "I just hoped my album charted. I didn't expect it to be number one in the country! It was a huge shock."⁶ "It's unheard of in this business—even for a superstar—to sell this number of records", said Geffen President Jordan Schur. He also emphasized Simpson's relative obscurity until not long before the album's release.⁶ Simpson had, however, received a great deal of exposure in the period immediately prior to the album's release through The Ashlee Simpson Show, which debuted in the U.S. on MTV on June 16.

Simpson described Autobiography as "very true to my emotion" in a September 15, 2004 Capital FM (London) radio interview; "people like to hear when somebody's being real", she said.

In July, Geoff Mayfield, Billboard's director of charts, described the album as the "right thing at the right time" and said: "The MTV show is a huge catalyst, radio jumped all over the song, and her famous sister opened the door. If Jessica never happened, then Ashlee doesn't get her own show and this album doesn't happen." Zena Burns of Teen People wrote: "Ashlee has an amazing promotional machine, and it doesn't hurt to have Jessica and MTV behind you, but she also came out with an insanely catchy pop single."⁷

"This is beyond my wildest dreams," Simpson said in a press release. "I'm so excited for what's happened and what's to come."⁵

Autobiography drew 2.66 million requested streams when it was featured online in the week prior to its release (July 13–20) on MTV.com's "The Leak", breaking a record previously held by Britney Spears' 2003 album In the Zone.⁵

Promotion and publicity

Ashlee Simpson receiving recognition for Autobiograhy going platinum, with Jordan Schur

The album and singles have received considerable promotion in the U.S.—where it has enjoyed the most success—and other countries. Much of this focused on contrasting her with Jessica, as "The Sister Who Rocks". Some have suggested that her corporate backing indicates that her success was manufactured, and that her father and manager, Joe Simpson, uses reality television to achieve success that might not be possible otherwise. [20]

Before The Ashlee Simpson Show debuted, "Pieces of Me" was heavily promoted on radio. In May 2004, the Los Angeles Times noted that it was the most rapidly added song on radio up to that point in the year. [21] European promotion for Autobiography and "Pieces of Me" began in September 2004. According to a Geffen press release, her December 6 AOL Music Live performance "had the biggest 1 week audience ever for AOL with 1.6 million plays." [22] "Shadow" was the album's second single in Australia.

Negative publicity was generated when Simpson's performance on the September 23 edition of Saturday Night Live went awry (see Ashlee Simpson on SNL). She subsequently gave a successful performance of "Autobiography" at the Radio Music Awards on October 25.

Promotion for "La La" began in the U.S. in November 2004. A single, pressed in the U.K., was released on January 25, 2005.

According to a Geffen press release, the December 6 concert streamed on AOL Music Live "had the biggest 1 week audience ever for AOL with 1.6 million plays." [23] Simpson will further promote the album with her first U.S. headlining tour from February to April 2005. [24]

Television appearances

2004
Date	Program	Songs
June 1	Summer Music Mania (Fox)	Pieces of Me
June 16 - August 4	The Ashlee Simpson Show	(see article)
May 24	The Tonight Show	Pieces of Me
July 16	The Late Show with David Letterman	Pieces of Me
July 19	Good Morning America	Pieces of Me
July 20	Total Request Live (U.S.)
July 27	On Air with Ryan Seacrest	Pieces of Me
August 29	MTV Video Music Awards	Pieces of Me
September 10	Total Request Live (Germany)
September 15	Total Request Live (U.K.)	Pieces of Me
September 17	Top of the Pops	Pieces of Me
September 18	CD:UK	Pieces of Me
September 19	Popworld	Pieces of Me
September 20	Total Request Live (US)
September 22	Live with Regis and Kelly	Shadow
September 22	The Tonight Show	Shadow
September 25	Top of the Pops Saturday	Pieces of Me
October 23	Saturday Night Live	Pieces of Me
October 25	Radio Music Awards	Autobiography
November 18	Total Request Live (US)	La La
November 23	Making the Video	La La (video)
December 6	AOL Music Live	Autobiography, Nothing New, Love Me for Me, Shadow, Surrender, Undiscovered, Pieces of Me, Santa Baby/La La
December 17	Jingle Bell Rock	Santa Baby/La La, Pieces of Me
December 17	The Tonight Show	La La
December 31	Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2005 (as co-host)	Autobiography, Pieces of Me, La La
2005
January 4	Orange Bowl	La La
January 7	Top of the Pops	La La
January 8	CD:UK	La La
January 11	Total Request Live (Germany)
January 12	Today with Des and Mel	La La
January 15	Top of the Pops Saturday	La La
January 16	Popworld	La La

Making of the album

Simpson signed with Geffen Records in 2003. In a 2004 interview, she said that at first, when she was seeking a recording contract, record labels would not meet with her. As she described it, "people would be like, 'Oh, she just wants to be like her sister'." For her part, Simpson said that she did not want to meet with Jessica's record label (Columbia): "I wanted to be signed because of my music". She eventually signed with Geffen instead: "You find the people who believe in you—and it works."⁶

File:AS149.jpg

Ashlee Simpson singing "Surrender" in the studio, from The Ashlee Simpson Show

Simpson initially did not want to do the reality show, she has said, but was persuaded by her father when he said that they would make it about her album and the music: "...I thought that was kind of cool. You're actually seeing a deeper look into how this album got made."⁶ She also wanted to distinguish herself from her sister by showing their differences, including their different musical styles and tastes. In episode one of the show, some of the early stages of songwriting are seen, and she is seen working with Steve Fox and Stan Frazier. In episode two, she records some early demos of songs; she is seen having trouble singing one song, "Fly Away", which did not make it onto the album. But Schur did not like the demos and wanted her to work with other people; in episode three she meets with several of them: John Feldmann, Guy Chambers, and the producing team The Matrix. Later in the same episode, she begins to work with John Shanks, who became the producer of her album, and in episode four she is seen working with Kara DioGuardi as well, on "Pieces of Me".

Simpson has said of making the album: "It's a lot of work. From finding the right label to the actual recording, it took about nine months, then it was followed by the publicity work."² In an extensive list of thank-yous in the album's liner notes, Simpson includes Benji and Joel Madden of the band Good Charlotte; she worked with them on a song that did not make it onto the album. [25]

Simpson's photoshoot for the album's cover and liner notes booklet features at the beginning of episode seven of the reality show. Many of the pictures, such as the one used for the front cover of the album, show Simpson in a dark setting, with graffiti-style writing scrawled on the wall behind her. In other pictures from this photoshoot, found inside the CD booklet, Simpson poses standing with a microphone in front of a white background. The album's photography is credited to Mark Liddell, and its design is credited to Soap Design Co.

Track listing

(* singles)

1. "Autobiography" (Simpson, Kara DioGuardi, John Shanks) – 3:34
2. "Pieces of Me"* (Simpson, DioGuardi, Shanks) – 3:37
3. "Shadow"* (Simpson, DioGuardi, Shanks) – 3:57
4. "La La"* (Simpson, DioGuardi, Shanks) – 3:42
5. "Love Makes the World Go Round" (Simpson, Shanks) – 3:45
6. "Better Off" (Simpson, DioGuardi, Shanks) – 3:27
7. "Love Me for Me" (Simpson, Shelly Peiken, Shanks) – 3:27
8. "Surrender" (Simpson, DioGuardi, Shanks) – 3:20
9. "Unreachable" (Simpson, Stan Frazier, Steve Fox, Robbie Nevil, Billy Mann) – 3:53
10. "Nothing New" (Simpson, DioGuardi, Shanks) – 3:06
11. "Giving It All Away" (Simpson, John Feldmann) – 2:56
12. "Undiscovered" (Simpson, Shanks) – 4:56

Bonus tracks

Some editions contain one or more of the following:

• "Harder Everyday"
• "Sorry" (Simpson, Fox, Frazier)
• "Endless Summer" (Simpson, DioGuardi, Shanks)

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 Rothschild – drums (tracks 2, 4, 11 and 12)
• Jamie Muhoberac – piano, organ (track 3)
• Patrick Warren – Chamberlin (tracks 3 and 12)
• Abe Laboriel, Jr. – drums (tracks 6, 7 and 9)
• John Feldmann – original programming (track 11)
• David Campbell – string arrangement (tracks 3 and 12)

Autobiography, recorded and mixed at Henson Recording Studios in Hollywood, California, was produced by John Shanks, recorded by Jeff Rothschild, and mixed by Shanks and Rothschild. Its executive producer was Jordan Schur of Geffen Records. Mark Valentine is credited with additional engineering. The album was mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound in New York City.

References

1. Hayden, Chaunce. Steppin' Out, "Ashlee Simpson Sings Her Way to Number One!" August 4–10, 2004, pages 24–25, 52–53, 62–63. Interview.
2. Tan, Deborah. CLEO (Malaysia), "Ashlee, Ashlee, quite contrary!" December 2004, pages 354–355.
3. Pareles, Jon. The New York Times, "Raunchy or Sweet Reflections of Adolescent Self-Esteem", July 26, 2004.
4. Wood, Mikael. The Village Voice, "The Jig Is Up", November 12, 2004.
5. Geffen press release, "Ashlee Simpson Makes History, Debuting #1 With Autobiography, Her Premiere Geffen Album", July 28, 2004.
6. Brown, Janelle. Seventeen, "Ashlee Simpson", November 2004, pages 86–89.
7. Gundersen, Edna. USA Today, "Ashlee Simpson shows big sister how it's really done", July 28, 2004.
8. Adams, Patty. YM, "The Sister Who Rocks". September 2004, pages 112–117.
9. U.S. and Canada charts compiled by Billboard/Nielsen Soundscan.
10. U.K. charts compiled by the Official UK Charts Company.

External links

• Official Ashlee Simpson site
• Geffen Records