saying the music “pays off in songs with crisp beats, teen-seeking choruses and cheerfully obvious lyrics", and that while the album “couldn’t be more calculated, that doesn’t prevent it from being catchy, too.” Digital Spy said it was "easily the best album made by a Simpson sister". Many reviews compared Simpson's music to that of Gwen Stefani. Jill Menze of Billboard praised the album's fun bubblegum sound, but also noted while Bittersweet World "is a party worth attending...not much is missed if your invite got lost in the mail." Negative reviews said Simpson's dabbling in different musical genres resulted in a lack of cohesiveness, and that Simpson was merely imitating other artists. Elysa Gardner of USA Today called Bittersweet World "a collection of bouncy, banal homages to the '80s" and wrote Simpson, "aided by Timbaland, The Neptunes' Chad Hugo and others, channels Debbie Harry, Madonna and Toni Basil about as well as any girl who could afford the help." Others claimed Simpson lacked the vocal depth to pull off the songs, with Rashod Ollison of The Baltimore Sun writing, "Simpson's colorless voice adds absolutely nothing to the admittedly catchy tracks, which recycle just about every trend heard on mainstream pop radio." In a one-star rating, Andy Gill of The Independent wrote,"[Simpson's] voice is all attitude and no emotion, a textbook case of style over substance – and given the paucity of style, that's as insubstantial as it gets." Commercial performance Bittersweet World debuted at number four on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling about 47,000 copies in its first week. This was a much weaker debut than those enjoyed by Autobiography (398,000 copies) and I Am Me (220,000 copies), both of which debuted at number one. The album went on to sell 126,000 copies by 2009, her least successful effort to date. Track listing Notes signifies a vocal producer signifies an additional producer signifies a co-producer "Little Miss Obsessive" features guest vocals from Tom Higginson of the Plain White T's. "Murder" features a rap from Izza Kizza. Charts References External links 2008 albums Albums produced by Chad Hugo Albums produced by Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon Albums produced by Kenna Albums produced by Timbaland Ashlee Simpson albums Geffen Records albums