Dignity (album) - Critical Response

Critical Response

The critical response to Dignity was generally positive. Metacritic gave the album a Metascore—a weighted average based on the impressions of a select 13 critical reviews—of 61, signifying generally favorable reviews. Rolling Stone gave a positive review of the album, feeling that Duff's attempt to make an adult-oriented dance-pop album was successful. About.com called Duff "as likeable as ever" and praised the songwriting and production contributions of Richard Vission and will.i.am. Allmusic noted that the album was firmly based on "sturdy, hooky, and memorable" songwriting. The review claimed similarities between Dignity and Justin Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds (2006), noting that Duff was musically fashionable but not a trendsetter. At the same time, the review criticized Duff's thin vocals, calling them "not at all like a woman". Billboard called Duff's decision to make a dance-pop album daring, considering the unpopularity of the genre at the time. The review continued, "It's practically something straight out of the United Kingdom for all of its poppy goodness." Entertainment Weekly noted that Duff's break-up with Madden brought out her personality, which the magazine felt was lacking in her previous work. "She's never sounded less eager to please or more messily human," the review claimed.

The Guardian praised Duff's decision to opt for a more electronic dance sound as opposed to the teen pop of her previous work, despite the questionable marketability. They argued that some of the album's strongest tracks rivaled some by Kylie Minogue. Sputnikmusic's review noted various flaws of the album, such as what they felt were a lackluster guitar solo on the song "I Wish" and Duff's childish, uncharacterized vocals throughout. However, they continued, "For all its inadequacies, Dignity is a solid, cleverly-constructed pop album. Like all albums of the genre not written solely by the performer, it's never quite clear which parts, if any, are Duff's words and which represent the feelings of the under-appreciated co-writer, but in Dignity we at least have an album where it's worthwhile listening to the lyrics." They praised the songwriting of every track except "Play with Fire", which they felt was a poor choice for a lead single.

IGN gave a more mixed review of Dignity. They praised what they felt was Duff's more mature image, but ultimately claimed, "Duff is still Duff and her music is still running the standard pop line." PopMatters noted that the synthesizers used on the album's tracks failed to disguise Duff's speak-singing. The website believed her vocals were not on the level of her pop music peers such as Kelly Clarkson and Mandy Moore. "Nevertheless," they added, "thanks to the miracle of processing, reverb effects, and multi-tracking tricks to beef up her vocals, Duff's voice is still sweetly candy-coated enough to make the medicine go down." Slant Magazine said, "Duff is mostly just an anonymous voice for an assemblage of producers and songwriters. Which is perfectly acceptable for a self-proclaimed dance album, but Duff's voice is nondescript and her delivery is blank; the impish, quirky, or coolly disaffected vocal characteristics and sex appeal that make other dance-pop divas viable performers is nonexistent." The website's review claimed that the album was not very adventurous, and noted that the pop rock "Outside of You", which they felt was the catchiest song on Dignity, was not a dance song like the others.