I admit I was so biased about Ashlee that I placed her in a pigeonhole long before I got a copy of her album. She is after all the younger sister of reality-TV bride Jessica, who is married to a guy from ‘N Sync. Jessica can sing but you can forget about her ever getting an edge. I really thought that if she had a younger sister, she would be something like one of the Olsen twins. Then there is Ashlee’s background. Although she was one of the youngest students ever admitted to the School of American Ballet, the dancing she had been doing these past few years has been in her sister’s stage show. So you can forget about that. Ashlee is also a TV actress. Her show Seventh Heaven does have dramatic moments but when you think teen-aged girl in a TV series who sings, the first image that comes to mind is Hilary Duff.
Well, Ashlee is no Jessica and no Hilary. This girl rocks hard and she certainly knows how to put the right chops in her album. First off, she has the right producer, John Shanks who has worked with other girls who can rock like Sheryl Crow, Michele Branch, Alanis Morissette and Melissa Etheridge. Then Ashlee has the songs. In fact, she co-wrote every track in the album Shanks dabbling into bits of punk, rock and some pop to produce her own kind of sound. Best of all, I believe she was born a rocker. She made me miss ’80s rocker Pat Benatar, who has the same beautiful dark looks. Remember her with Hit Me with Your Best Shot? Ashlee does not have Benatar’s vocal range and her writing is nowhere near Fiona Apple’s but she has the sexy devil-may-care spirit we have come to expect from true blue girl rockers.
Autobiography is just what the title says. Ashlee’s songs are personal tales about who she is and her experiences. "You think you know me," she chides in the title track and I am one of those she hit on the head with a wonderful surprise. Shadow takes on sibling rivalry, of which she must know a lot about. But that is all behind her now. "Oh, my life is good, and the past is in the past." How can she not put that in the past when sales of her album broke Jessica’s record on its first week of release? There are love songs, Pieces of Me, broken-hearted songs Surrender, sexy songs, La La and getting over songs like Better Off. "Things are finally looking up/my feet are on the ground even though I’m stuck/the sky is falling/and it’s early in the morning/but it’s ok."
Ashlee is okay and Jessica has nothing to worry about. In fact, it is Avril who should worry about the new arrival in the rock scene. Hopefully, Ashlee’s lyrics will mature to join the ranks of a Chrissie Hynde or Fiona Apple. Hopefully she will better understand the intricacies of creating commercial melodies like Sheryl Crow. But all these are what we should expect from her in the future. For the moment, what she serves up is more than enough for her to make the grade. Ashlee Simpson rocks and I am very glad she does.
Best bet for the singles chart is Pieces of Me but La La with its playful sexuality is interesting and not quite like other girl rocker tunes we hear these days.