Bittersweet World - Critical Response

Critical Response

The album received mixed reviews. Rolling Stone gave Bittersweet World three out of five stars in its review, saying that Simpson had "skillfully shift her crunchy, guitar-driven pop to Eighties-influenced electro-rock with the help of Timbaland and the Neptunes' Chad Hugo." People gave the album a very positive review, with three and a half out of four stars; it described Bittersweet World as "shockingly good" and as "sweet revenge on all critics", and it noted the album's "dance-pop direction". Entertainment Weekly compared Simpson's "latest incarnation" to Gwen Stefani, but it gave the album a positive review and a "B" rating, saying that the album was filled with "polished hooks and pretty melodies" and had a "giddy neon energy". Billboard said that on Bittersweet World, Simpson "just wants to have a good time", and, in an ambivalent appraisal, said that the album "is a party worth attending, but not much is missed if your invite got lost in the mail." According to The New York Times, the album features "songs with crisp beats, teen-seeking choruses and cheerfully obvious lyrics", and is both "calculated" and "catchy". The Houston Chronicle gave the album a positive review and three out of four stars, emphasizing its '80s influence and saying that, "at its best, Bittersweet World plays like the solo record Gwen Stefani has been trying to make for years.". The Dallas Morning News gave the album a B rating, describing it as "seductively inauthentic" but also saying that Simpson was "more listenable than ever". Digital Spy called the album "Easily the best album made by a Simpson sister".

According to Newsday, which gave the album a grade of C-, "Ashlee Simpson takes odd, anachronistic musical parts and makes a big mess." Rashod Ollison of The Baltimore Sun wrote, "Simpson's colorless voice adds absolutely nothing to the admittedly catchy tracks, which recycle just about every trend heard on mainstream pop radio." Evan Davies of Now Magazine wrote, "Bittersweet is another testament to the fact that Simpson has little to offer, this time taking the form of an edgeless, forgettable pop rock that desperately tries to hit the mark but almost always falls short." Allison Stewart of The Washington Post wrote that "Bittersweet World feels reactive and very, very empty, as if it swung at every passing trend and missed." Dan Gennoe of Dotmusic wrote that "she's got an album which for all its sing-along moments is neither catchy nor extreme enough to be exceptional." Elysa Gardner of USA Today, giving the album two out of four stars, called it "a collection of bouncy, banal homages to the '80s" and wrote that 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." IGN wrote that Simpson seemed "confused, awry, and decidedly astray in terms of discovering her own unique personality and sound. Until she's able to establish her own distinct entity, Ashlee is destined to be another forgotten footnote on the fickle pop front." Andy Gill of The Independent only gave the album one star and wrote, "Her 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." Blender critic Ryan Dombal wrote, "in the quest to make overly bronzed twentysomethings sweat, this endearing pseudo–rebel loses much of the little–sister angst that made her so appealing in the first place." Tom Young of Orange United Kingdom described Simpson as an "enigma for the UK audience" and that Bittersweet World "does nothing to clear up her purpose."