After eight years of silence, original teen queen Hilary Duff has announced her plans to release a fifth studio album for Summer 2015! Duff was the ultimate idol to those of us who grew up in the early 2000s, conquering TV with Lizzie McGuire, staring in tons of feature films, and of course putting out a string of chart topping pop albums that every girl had spinning in her portable CD player.
In anticipation of her next album Duff has released three singles. The most recent of which is titled “Sparks”, a bouncy love anthem, featuring fun, sexy lyrics and a whistling motif that prevents it from sounding too much like a generic radio single. If the full album is anything like “Sparks” then I could totally see Hilary reclaiming her place as a pop princess and dominating the airwaves this summer! In honor of this comeback here are all of Hilary’s previous releases ranked in order from least to greatest!
6. Santa Claus Lane
The best part of Duff’s first studio release is definitely the album cover. Her large buckled belt and low rise jeans are the total image of nostalgia, but I doubt that cropped turtle neck sweater is doing much to keep her warm up at the North Pole! The CD itself isn’t too noteworthy, including only 8 sweet covers of classic Christmas songs like “Jingle Bell Rock” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”
5. Most Wanted
Most Wanted was basically a Greatest Hits compilation of remixes and rereleases from Duff’s other albums and films, but it did feature two new singles: “Wake Up” and “Beat of My Heart”. “Wake Up” deals with Duff’s jet setting superstar lifestyle while “Beat of My Heart” is a more personal anthem, with strong, verses but a chorus that can get a bit overly repetitive.
4. Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis was one of the first CDS I ever bought for myself, and I still vividly remember clutching my allowance money and digging through all the shelves at Target in order to find it. The songs here did not disappoint ten year-old me and still hold up surprisingly well years later. Hits like “So Yesterday” and “Sweet Sixteen” convey the carefree attitude of being a teenager while ballads like “Metamorphosis” and “Come Clean” add some more depth. Who still remembers that dramatic image from the music video of Hilary staring wistfully out the window at the pouring rain?
3. The Lizzie McGuire Movie Soundtrack
While not technically an actual Duff album, Hilary does sing three of the songs on this soundtrack to the film of her mega successful Disney Channel show Lizzie McGuire. While “Why Not” is an incredibly catchy, feel-good dance song , the real highlight of the album is “What Dreams are Made Of”, the duet Duff sings with her Italian pop star alter ego during the dramatic confrontation at the end of the film.
2. Dignity
With her last album, released in 2007, Hilary seemed to be trying to shed her child star image; even dying her signature blonde locks a more mature chocolate brown. The album’s songs are more mature as well, incorporating elements of electronica, thumping synth tracks, and Indian inspired dance music. The songs themselves also take a much more adult turn, including songs addressing stalkers (“Dreamer”), creepy older men (“Danger”), Duff’s breakup with ex-boyfriend Joel Madden of Good Charlotte, and fame. No longer trying to be bubbly and sweet, Duff doesn’t hold back in dissing her ex in “Stranger” asking “Where’s your dignity? I think you lost it in the Hollywood Hills”.
1. Hilary Duff
Coming out at the peak of Duff’s worldwide popularity in 2004, this self-titled album is packed with pop-rock jams with honest, relatable lyrics like “Who’s That Girl? “ and “The Getaway”. It also takes a turn towards the serious in particular with the song “Someone’s Watching Over Me”, a beautiful song about the loss of a loved one that was featured in one of Duff’s lesser known indie films, Raise Your Voice.
Clearly this former teen star has tackled a huge number of different projects and genres during her time on the music scene and judging by the 13 million albums she’s already sold, this next CD should prove to be a huge success as well!