Ashlee Simpson - I Am Me (2005)

For saboteurs of records that sound good because of elements completely unrelated to the artist, Ashlee Simpson's sophomore effort, I Am Me, may well be a dream disc. The production is a tight-wrapped, A-type achievement and, with sounds running from hip-hop (the unstoppably infectious "L.O.V.E.") to vintage '80s (the lusty "Dancing Alone") to Synchronicity-era Sting (the energetic, pulsing "Boyfriend") to airwave-friendly ballads that sister Jessica might have choked her way through ("Catch Me When I Fall"), the music sucks you in more reliably than a bagless Dyson. But instead of Ashlee Simpson, credit for both those things - really, for the way this disc favorably insinuates itself into a listener's head overall - belongs to producer/keyboardist/bassist/guitarist John Shanks. Ardent Ashlee-ites, of course, will beg to differ, and they won't be without their points: In addition to co-writing each of these 11 songs, some of which ("Beautifully Broken," a response to her "Saturday Night Live" lip-synching debacle) are more sophisticated than others ("Burnin' Up," a Madonna-reminiscent, reggae-style romp), she sings in a voice as artfully burnished and appealing as it was on her 2004 debut. She makes you want to la la all over again, and for that, and for finding the right guy to orchestrate this acknowledgment-heavy jewel, you've got to like her. -- Tammy La Gorce