The music video for "Pieces of Me" features Simpson singing in a studio while her band plays, with clips of reality footage related to The Ashlee Simpson Show interspersed throughout. Although the song is noted for having somewhat dark and melancholy 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".
The music video for "Shadow" is more elaborate than the video for "Pieces of Me". In the video, which includes considerable symbolism, Simpson plays two different versions of herself, blonde and brunette, who live in separate "worlds" which exist side by side.
The world of the blonde Ashlee appears happy and perfect, while the brunette Ashlee seems to have more negative feelings—at one point she shoves a bowl of cereal prepared by the blonde Ashlee off a kitchen table—but eventually it is revealed that the blonde Ashlee is not as happy as she seems. At the end of the video, shadows are seen symbolically leaving the brunette Ashlee. The third single is "La La", arguably the album's most rock-oriented song, which has been described as "energetic".
The music video for "La La" takes place in a suburban setting; it features Simpson and her friends hanging around town, getting into trouble, and partying through the night. Simpson is seen singing the song, dancing on top of a car, in front of a donut shop, and laying on a couch playing a skateboarding video game. The video continues with a late-night party around a swimming pool, which is broken up by the police, and Simpson and the crowd then head to a laundromat, where the partying continues.
The video thus generally departs from the sexuality of the song's lyrics, but represents the energetic feel of the music. The title track, " Autobiography ", is an upbeat, rock-flavored 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. In October 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.
On October 29, however, it was announced on Simpson's official website that "Autobiography" would be replaced as the third single by "La La".
One review called it "Stevie Nicks-inspired". IGN, in its review of the album, called it a "slow-to-mid-tempo shuffle that actually features some poignant imagery", but "falls victim to the run-of-the-mill production and eventually simplistic lyrics. In a December 6, concert, Simpson described " Love Me for Me "—in which she sings, "Here I am, perfect as I'm ever gonna be"—as being about having a "boyfriend that just didn't understand". The song was described by People magazine as "Joan Jett-esque", but in its review, People also said that Simpson "doesn't quite nail" the song's "tough rocker-chick pose".
Rolling Stone , in its review, said that the song represented the album's "nadir". Blender magazine, referring to the song's lyrics, said that "Love Me for Me" has "so many coy mood swings and head games it could vaporize an emo boy on contact. It is followed by " Surrender ", a rock-oriented, upbeat song in which Simpson sings with light-hearted frustration, "Oh, you drive me crazy". In the December 6 concert mentioned above, she dedicated the song to girls with ex-boyfriends who "just won't give it up.
According to one review, Autobiography "is front loaded with rockers, the more introspective tunes saved for the platter's second half. The subsequent track, " Nothing New ", is about conflict in a relationship and the emotional turmoil that comes with it, but it concludes with Simpson singing that "I'm over the drama of you. At the end, you know I've reached the point where I've had enough of these dramas; I'm finished with him. Sometimes I'll even cry. It's about my ex-boyfriend and telling him 'I miss you.
I wrote the lyrics while I was standing at the microphone. The BBC's generally negative review of the album praised this final track, saying it "has well put-together strings and an emotional sincerity that the rest of the album sadly lacks. Some versions of the album include bonus tracks after "Undiscovered"; for example, the version of the album released in the United Kingdom includes the songs " Harder Everyday " and " Sorry ".
Although the U. In the U. The album has also enjoyed some success in Canada, where it reached number 11 in its fourth week and again in its 24th week. Some have compared Simpson's success in album sales favorably with that of her sister Jessica, who has never had a number one album.
Simpson herself has said that she never expected the album 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. Some observers have viewed Simpson's reality show and association with her sister as more responsible for Autobiography 's success than the music itself. 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. Autobiography drew a record 2. Outside of the U. Autobiography was released in the United Kingdom on October 4, , debuting at number 31 on the albums chart. Autobiography and its singles have received a considerable degree of promotion in the U. Much of the attention Simpson and her music received in focused on contrasting her with Jessica and making her more rock-oriented image primary—article titles dubbed her "The Rock Sister" and "The Sister Who Rocks".
Additionally, Simpson's personal involvement in the writing of her "autobiographical" songs contributed to a perception that she is somewhat more real than many other popular American singers, with more genuine sentiment reflected in her lyrics. The Ashlee Simpson Show displayed these aspects of her image clearly, although some have suggested that the degree of corporate backing for a debut artist—including the unusually high degree of promotion that comes with having the making of an album as the subject of a television show—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.
Even before The Ashlee Simpson Show aired, however, "Pieces of Me" was began picking up significant radio play in May , and it was noted in an article in the Los Angeles Times that it was the most rapidly added song on radio up to that point in the year. Promotion for Autobiography and "Pieces of Me" came later in Europe, primarily beginning in September At this time, Simpson made a number of television appearances there: she appeared on the German and U.
She was unable to perform the second of these songs due to an embarrassing error with a vocal backing track, which she needed because her voice was weak that night due to acid reflux a condition which had also featured on The Ashlee Simpson Show. Despite her illness, Simpson received some poor publicity from this incident, but she subsequently gave a successful performance of "Autobiography" at the Radio Music Awards on October Promotion for "La La" as the third single began in the U.
Simpson appeared on Total Request Live to sing it, and during an interview with Carson Daly she said of "La La" in comparison to her previous two singles: "It's nice because According to a Geffen press release, this show "had the biggest 1 week audience ever for AOL with 1. Simpson further promoted the album with her first U. In a television interview on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn in November , Simpson said that she had been working on her album for about a year before that point, and that the process had been getting more serious for about three months.
As she described it, "people would be like, 'Oh, she just wants to be like her sister'. And that pretty much sums up Autobiography -- it's not perfect, and it's often affected, but it winds up being endearing because of her earnestness. Not only is she trying hard -- and, in the case of "Lala," trying way too hard to be sexy -- but she's succeeding in creating an album that feels like a bubblegum version of Pink 's M!
While the album could have used a few more songs with indelible hooks, it nevertheless is an enjoyably slick, widescreen production that's a whole lot more fun than anything her sister has recorded with the notable exception of "I Think I'm in Love With You" , plus it's varied enough to suggest that Ashlee could make a more interesting record the next time out. All in all, it's an unexpectedly strong debut from an artist who seemed destined to be a footnote to her famous older sister, but just may wind up with a more interesting career.
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