Ironically named album

I knew full well before listening to this album that Hilary's voice is more like talking than actual singing (think Mary-Kate and Ashley in the "Brother for Sale" days). Still, I was really, really hoping she'd be able to put something together that would show more maturity than her previous hits like "So Yesterday" and "Come Clean" (which was probably only a hit because it was the "Laguna Beach" theme song). I mean the girl is 19, after all.

But her fourth album is just as teen-pop and childish as the first three. What makes this one even worse is the lack of improvement in however many years she's been singing.

Listening to Dignity is like breaking out an old Spice Girls album -- it feels like seventh grade and you kind of like the beats -- but you know the music is just plain bad. For one, Duff's range is like that of a 10-year-old's. And if the music itself isn't silly enough, listening to five lines of lyrics will really put you back into the days of grade-school dances.

How about lyrics like "You gotta know yourself to be yourself/ You gotta do it all the way" on "All Work, No Play," which actually included an unnecesary chorus of "la las." Then the song "Dreamer" contains the ever-so-deep lyrics: "Oh, you're such a dreamer/ but I'm not a believer/ in all the things that you dream."

If you've got a sister under 13, she might feel slightly cool listening to this with her girlfriends. Bubbly tracks like "Dreamer" and "Stranger" would probably make for a great teenage dance party.

One bright stop in the album was "Never Stop." Yes, it's still just as cheesy as the rest: "I want you to know/ I want you to know/ I'll never stop loving you" But the beat, remnant of a summer walking through an amusement park, couldn't contain me from having a small dance party in my car on I-65.

Though Hilary probably did make an attempt at sounding mature on this album -- (tracks like "Danger" and "With Love" had more of a modern dance feel) -- she still missed the mark by quite a bit. Whether it was the immature lyrics or the Aaron Carter-like dance beats, the album was just repetitive. After 14 tracks, I had trouble distinguishing between them all. Did I just listen to 14 different songs or one really long child's musical?