album "[...] feels like it was designed by committee, with each track sounding like a second generation Xerox of the token girlie rocker hit on the last five Now! compilations[...]" Christian Hoard from Rolling Stone said that "4ever" was the only exceptional song on the album while the rest of it "[...] is overrun with bland, airbrushed introspection like "Mother Mother" and "Nobody Wins." Slant Magazine called the album "[...] so damned slick and irresistible[...] There's a punky sassiness to most of the album[...]" Dan Raper of PopMatters compared their style of music to those of Avril Lavigne and Kelly Clarkson. He complimented their songs "Revolution", "Leave Me Alone", "Mouth Shut" and "Heavily Broken" stating that "[...]half the songs on the record fall into this mould of attractively packaged, unremarkable pop." Craig Mathieson of The Age gave positive reviews for "4ever" and "Revolution" but criticised the rest of the album. The New York Times said the album had "Sugar-sharp songs with a hint of intrigue[...]", and Entertainment Weekly also complimented them stating "Guilty pleasure or not, these girls won't be a Secret for long." Chart performance In Australia, The Secret Life of... made its debut at number seven on the ARIA Top 50 Albums Chart on the issue dated 30 October 2005. After dropping and rising on the charts for up to six months the album eventually went on to peak at number two where it stayed for two weeks. By the end of 2005 the album was certified platinum and by 2006 it was made a further four times platinum with a shipment of 280,000 copies. In New Zealand, the album made its debut and peaked at number five in 2006. The album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand for shipments of 7,500 copies. It made its debut and peaked at number one hundred and thirty-three in the U.S. on the Billboard 200 chart. It spent only two weeks on the chart with sales of 14,556 copies. It also peaked at number three on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart where it spent ten weeks. In Europe, the album peaked at number eleven on the Ultratop 50 albums chart in Belgium. The album spent a total of nineteen non-consecutive weeks on the chart. In the rest of Europe it peaked at number seventy-five on the Dutch MegaCharts and at number sixty-one on the Switzerland album