Sophomore albums for some artists can be the downfall in their career.

But not for Ashlee Simpson, who in the past year had her onstage fiascoes like the famous Saturday Night Live lip-synch performance and the performance at the Orange Bowl where she was booed offstage.

Simpson, younger sister to Jessica Simpson, went from being one of her sister’s backup dancers, to acting in shows like “7th Heaven,” to following in Jessica’s footsteps as a singer. She has proved she can do it.

Her new album, I Am Me, which was released Oct. 18, proves she is able to stand up for herself and place all the past events behind her. Simpson uses these past events to help co-write the songs for the album. This follow-up to her first album in 2004 Autobiography shows another side to Simpson.

In her first album, the music was on the punk-rock side with songs like “La La” and “Autobiography;” however, with her new album, she turns to the side of pop rock and less of the hard-core music. When she changed her style of music, she went ahead and changed her hair color, too.

This 11-track album has a variety of songs ranging from piano ballads like “Catch Me When I Fall,” which describes life after the SNL problem, to Gwen Stefani-like “L.O.V.E.” The songs are catchier than her previous album’s were and can become stuck in your head for a long time. They also make you want to dance more.

Simpson enlisted the help of producer John Shanks, who has helped Lindsay Lohan and Hilary Duff with their albums in the past. Shanks and Simpson together wrote all of the tracks on the album. Shanks also helped to produce Simpson’s first album.

When I first heard her first single “Boyfriend,” I instantly started singing the words and found it to be catchier than “Pieces of Me.”

Despite the first single, I found there were several songs on the album to be my favorites. “Coming Back For More,” “L.O.V.E” and “Burnin’ Up” caught my ear immediately, and now I tend to play those songs over and over again on my iPod.

I do have two complaints about the album though. Simpson uses repetition in the words of some of the songs like “In Another Life,” which becomes somewhat redundant. The other complaint is the songs do not flow. All of the great songs tend to be near the beginning of the album, leaving you ignoring the last few songs.

After listening to the album so many times, I have a hunch as to which songs may be single releases in the future. I have a feeling it will be the second (“In Another Life”) and fourth (“L.O.V.E”) songs for sure.

I really enjoyed Simpson’s new album, but it is hard to determine if it is better than her freshman album. That is for the fans to decide.