In 2004, the singer leaned into a messier, more rebellious sound than her sister and pop peers — and turned out an album that still holds up.
was primarily known as a little sister. By the time she began working on her debut album, her older sisterhad skyrocketed from a young, Southern, blond pop princess to a bona fide A-lister, thanks to the hit reality showAs a teen, Ashlee was famous by proxy. She toured with her sister and started to act on TV shows like.
It was because of this opportunity that Ashlee got her first record deal. She spent 2003 recording what would become, which chronicled the album process and also became a hit). With new jet-black hair and thick black eyeliner, Ashlee set herself apart not only from her sister but from many of the other pop girls that the the industry probably intended for her to compete with at the time.
What worked for Ashlee was leaning into a messier, less pristinely built image than her sister’s had during the early peak of her pop career. Her voice had a distinctly edgy rasp that she yelped out those scream-along lyrics with. On the chorus of title track “Autobiography,” she celebrates her stained t-shirt and the flirty side of recovering from a heartbreak. Meanwhile, power ballad “Shadow” addresses the anxiety of sharing the same ambitions as an already-famous sibling.
It’s the album’s lead single, however, that most perfectly executes Ashlee’s mix of early twenties chaos with her specific brand of karaoke-ready, catchy, rock-tinged cuts. “Pieces of Me” is a love song written about her then-boyfriend Ryan Cabrera, where Ashlee fesses up to her flaws to a person who already loves all of them. It’s adult-contemporary,-core with a twist; the song is sensitive and earnest with that hint of rebellion that Ashlee carried so well.
The backlash wave put a wrench in people’s idea of her authenticity, but that didn’t stop Ashlee from releasing a streak of excellent songs over her next several albums. Singles like “Boyfriend” and “Outta My Head” proved she could be as much a pop princess as her sister and peers — but she never had to lose her edge. And for the young listeners who lovedand Ashlee in spite of the public’s disapproval, the album has continued to remain one of the most prescient and raw releases from that era.
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