Observer stated that the album's songs "boast a winning combination of innocence and experience, breezy blonde melodies and just-so productions". PopMatters Pierre Hamilton called Anniemal "riveting" for how "it lacks the waxy sheen" that listeners were used to hearing in manufactured pop music. However, a second PopMatters review, written by Rob Horning, criticised the album for using a similar formula to previous generations of electropop, adding that the result was "exquisitely empty…enough to suck the feelings out of its listeners and leave them happily vacant, blank and unburdened." In his review for Billboard magazine, Michael Paoletta described the album as "slinky and sensual, cool and classy, fun and fiery" and labeled it "one of the best debut albums of 2005." Several reviewers drew parallels between mainstream pop acts and Annie. Entertainment Weeklys Raymond Fiore called the album an "addictive" debut where Annie "flaunts whispery Kylie cool and old-school-Madonna cheekiness", but added that "this sugar rush of an album proves…candy is best consumed in moderation." Hua Hsu of Blender magazine made a similar comparison, proclaiming Annie the "Kylie Minogue hipsters don't have to feel guilty about liking". Barry Walters of Rolling Stone touted how the album "comes packed with both instant surface fizz and quirky finesse that sustains repeated listenings", and ending his review, "Goodbye, Britney. Hello, Annie." Pitchfork listed Anniemal at number fifteen on its list of the top fifty albums of 2004, stating that its strength was how "its downtime feels so decidedly personal", and the album appeared at number 167 on Pitchforks list of the top 200 albums of the 2000s. The album was placed on Slant Magazines list of best albums of the 2000s at number twenty-three. Rolling Stone ranked Anniemal number thirty-nine on its "Top 50 Records of 2005" list, exclaiming, "Hail the Norse goddess." Release and commercial performance 679 Recordings first released Anniemal in Norway on 28 September 2004. The album debuted at its peak of number six on the Norwegian Albums Chart. It won in the pop category at the 2005 Alarm Prizes, and Annie won for newcomer of the year. She again won for Newcomer of the Year at Spellemannprisen 2005, where she was invited to present an award. Following the album's Norwegian release, the songs were leaked onto the Internet, and some appeared on year-end best-of lists in other countries. Annie stated that she had not expected North American publications to show