Мен – Менмін (Men – Menmin)

I Am Me is the second studio album by American recording artist Ashlee Simpson. It was released in the United States on October 18, 2005 (see 2005 in music) and debuted at number one in sales. The album produced two top 25 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, "Boyfriend" and "L. O. V. E." Simpson worked with John Shanks and Kara DioGuardi on this album, as she did on her first album, 2004's Autobiography. Shanks produced the album, and Simpson co wrote all the songs with Shanks and DioGuardi. On December 15, I Am Me was certified Platinum by the RIAA for its shipments of over one million copies in the U. S. (as of April 2008, it had sold 987,000 copies). A new single from Simpson, "Invisible", was reportedly going to be included on a re release of I Am Me in mid 2006, but was canceled. The song was later included as an international bonus track on Simpson's next album, Bittersweet World.

I Am Me was released about fifteen months after Autobiography, which was released in July 2004. According to Simpson, following her concert tour from February to April 2005, she was supposed to take a month off, but began working on the album early; as she said, "I got home and got bored, so I called John Shanks and was like, 'Can I come in the studio? Let's get a head start so the record company's not asking for the record right away or anything." She also said that she wanted to "get the pre jitters or anything that was going wrong out of my system. And when I went in everything started going smooth. It was fun." According to Simpson, she felt less pressure when recording I Am Me than she did when recording Autobiography. and Simpson herself has said that she wanted it to be "familiar" to Autobiography. and Simpson herself said "I just love '80s music" and "It's just so light and fun, and that was a lot of what I wanted to do on this record." Prior to recording I Am Me, Simpson had said she wanted to incorporate more of the feel of 17th century music into her next album, as some of her favorite music is from that time. I Am Me has been called more musically "aggressive" than Autobiography Simpson has mentioned how she tried "new sounds" when working on the album, citing in particular the song "Burnin Up", which was described by one reviewer as "a fairly credible stab at Clash style dub". This song is not a cover of the early Madonna song ("Burning Up") that Simpson covered live during her February–April 2005 tour. Lyrically, the album reflects Simpson's different life experiences since her last album; Simpson has said of the album: "The record is dark meets light in a sense. I feel everyone has a dark side. This album is about finding the positive, finding the lighter side as well." Simpson has also mentioned how the lyrics on the album reflect her different feelings at different times, the ups and downs she experienced: "We all get sad sometimes, and we all want to dance and party, too. "); "L. O. V. E." is about girls going out and having fun without needing any guys; "Eyes Wide Open" is a "spooky song" about Simpson's feeling that there was a ghost living in her house. In 2009, Miley Cyrus covered the international bonus track "Kicking and Screaming" for her The Time of Our Lives EP. Although Simpson co wrote the song with Shanks and DioGuardi, Simpson was not credited for her writing contribution on Cyrus' EP.

Initially, the first single was planned to be "L. O. V. E.", and the album was going to be titled In Another Life. Soon after these things were announced, however, the first single was changed to "Boyfriend" and the album title to I Am Me. rose greatly the next week to number 24, and eventually reached a Hot 100 peak of number 19, making it Simpson's second most successful song on the Hot 100 to date. The song's music video premiered on MTV's Making the Video on September 12. "L. O. V. E." was the second single, as Simpson first said in an MSN Internet chat on October 26. Prior to its release as a single, "L. O. V. E." debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 78 in late October, and re entered at number 76 in December; it subsequently reached its peak at number 22. "Catch Me When I Fall" charted on the Billboard Pop 100 at number 93 to promote I Am Me and its singles. On the album's release date, October 18, Simpson performed "Boyfriend" and "Coming Back For More" on Good Morning America, and she appeared for an interview on Live with Regis and Kelly, although she did not perform. Later in the day she appeared on Total Request Live, where she performed "Boyfriend". She also sang "Boyfriend" on the October 21 episode of The Tonight Show and was on the October 22 episode of Larry King Live (guest hosted by Ryan Seacrest) for an interview, along with her father/manager Joe. on November 1 she was in Canada to promote the album and appeared on MuchMusic's MuchOnDemand for an interview. On December 6, she sang "L. O. V. E." as part of a performance with Pretty Ricky at the Billboard Music Awards. Simpson sang "L. O. V. E." on the first episode of CD USA, which aired on January 21, 2006, and was also interviewed on the show. Simpson went to the UK to promote I Am Me and "Boyfriend" in late January 2006; on February 5 she performed "Boyfriend" on Top of the Pops Reloaded. Later in February, in the U. S., Simpson was awarded with a "Bounce Back Award" at the TRL Awards, which aired on February 25, and performed "L. O. V. E." on the occasion. Simpson hosted the MTV Australia Video Music Awards on April 12, 2006, and performed both "Boyfriend" and "L. O. V. E."

Simpson performed the songs "Boyfriend", "L. O. V. E." and "I Am Me" for Sessions@AOL on the Internet prior to the album's release. The album was available for listening on MTV. com's "The Leak" in the week prior to its release, beginning October 11. Wal Mart released an exclusive package which includes the I Am Me CD and a DVD. According to a rumor initially reported in March 2006, there would be a re release of I Am Me with at least one new song. It was subsequently stated in an article in the June/July 2006 issue of Teen People that there would be a re release of the album with the new song "Invisible"; Simpson also said this in interviews, but as of January 2007, no release date for the re release had been announced and therefore the re release plans were presumably dropped. Simpson filmed the music video for "Invisible" in May, and it premiered on June 19.

To promote the album and single, Simpson began touring on September 21 in Portland, Oregon, with another stage of the tour starting on November 9 in Portland, Maine with opening act October Fall. During 2006 she performed on several dates in the spring; in early May she performed at SunFest in West Palm Beach, Florida. Subsequently, she embarked on a major summer tour, the L. O. V. E. Tour (with "L. O. V. E." being expanded to stand for "Love Others Value Everyday"), which began on June 5 in Santa Barbara, California and at its outset was scheduled to run for 32 shows, concluding on July 29 in Clarkston, Michigan. Ashley Parker Angel was an opening act for Simpson; The Veronicas also opened on the first few shows of the tour, but had to cancel their participation in the tour due to a problem with the vocal cords of one of the singers, Lisa Origliasso. During the concerts of this tour, Simpson had a number of costume changes, including a "risque" outfit for "La La", and performed a cover of the Eurythmics song "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)". She also performed a cover of "Why Don't You Do Right? ".

Initial critical response to I Am Me was mixed to negative. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 43, based on 13 reviews. A BBC review of the album was positive, calling it "confident yet searching" and saying that it "flirts with 80s production throughout and produces a more mature, tighter sound than some of her peers." Rolling Stone gave it a negative review, rating it slightly lower than it had previously rated Autobiography: I Am Me received one and a half stars, while Autobiography received two (out of five). The Rolling Stone review called the album "a collection of eleven soulless tunes that fail to even qualify as guilty pleasures" and said that "in venturing to offer something for everyone, Simpson offers nothing for anyone." Blender said that, in comparison to Autobiography, "the songs are soggier, the sentiments more banal", and calls I Am Me a "sophomore slump", giving it two out of five stars. Another review called the album "solid but unspectacular", crediting Simpson with going "in directions that Avril Lavigne has never thought of" but wishing that Simpson displayed more "obnoxious grit" on the album. sales for the album declined 67% in its second week, when it sold about 73,000 copies and fell to number six on the Billboard 200. In its third week, the album sold about 54,000 copies, a sales drop of 25%, and it fell on the chart to number ten. Rolling Stone magazine grouped it among the numerous "heavily anticipated albums" of the season whose sales had "fizzled", such as Alicia Keys' Unplugged and Rod Stewart's Thanks for the Memory: The Great American Songbook 4, which had been released the same week as I Am Me. As of April 2008, I Am Me has sold 944,000 copies in the U. S., according to Nielsen SoundScan. also, the album climbed to #50 in the UK in mid February 2006.

Adapted from the I Am Me liner notes.

+ Release dates and formats for I Am Me Region Date Format Label Ref. (Reference) Canada October 18, 2005 CD Universal United States Geffen Japan October 19, 2005 Universal Australia October 30, 2005 United Kingdom October 31, 2005 Germany April 21, 2006 Japan September 27, 2006