Guilty Pleasure (Ashley Tisdale album)

In April 2008, she said that she has recorded a few songs for the album and she would fully focus on the album after filming High School Musical 3.[3] Tisdale has noted that the songs in the album have a message and a story that anyone can relate to,[4] and hoped to reveal her "edgier" side with more mature songs.[5] She also said the album was titled Guilty Pleasure because of her guilty pleasures.[6] Tisdale was involved in every aspect of the album's production.[7] Tisdale's music inspirations for the album include Katy Perry and Pat Benatar.[8] The song "Switch" is also featured in the motion picture Aliens in the Attic, which Tisdale starred in.

I’ve been working on the second album for a year, and it’s something completely different from the first album. Doing the first album is a lot of learning about yourself -- I had to get to know what I like, even though I knew I wanted to do something pop and R&B. I went for more of a rock sound. I’m 23 now, so I’m growing up, and I wanted something more mature and edgier. I’m starting to show a side of myself that people don’t know.[8]

— Ashley Tisdale

Warner Bros. said the first component of the label's album roll out was revealing Tisdale's new look with a relaunch of her web site in March and the cover of Cosmopolitan's April issue. "We wanted to create a conversation and then follow quickly with the music," he said.[9] The album was to be released on June 16, 2009 in North America, but it was pushed back to July 28, 2009, although it[10] was released a month before, on June 12, 2009 in several countries such as Germany, Italy and Spain.[11] The album's release date in the US and Canada was preceded by an exclusive "Countdown to Guilty Pleasure" on iTunes for the U.S. and Canada, on which "Overrated", "What If" and "Acting Out" had promotional releases in each week.[12] The first two songs debuted on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart due to digital downloads at number three and number one, respectively.[13]

The first single, "It's Alright, It's OK", Tisdale said, "is a strong, empowering song that kind of helps you move on" and continued to say: I have definitely on and with someone you really like, if they are cheating on you, you don't want to believe it. But, unfortunately, you either stay in the relationship and keep getting hurt because it keeps happening or you get up and you move on. You don't look back.[14] Tisdale said the song "Hot Mess" is "about hanging out with a motorcycle bad boy that makes life more interesting" and the song "How Do You Love Someone", written by Porcelain Black, is "about a girl who deals with the split of her parents".[15] Tisdale said the song could also be about "when you have been cheated on or you're in a relationship".[14] Black was initially reluctant to let Tisdale record the song, but eventually green-lit the track; however, she also recorded her own version, produced by RedOne.[16] Tisdale co-wrote several songs on the album such as "What If", which was co-written with Kara DioGuardi. Tisdale described "What If" as the most personal song on the album, and said the song "is about when you’re in a relationship and you say 'If I really needed you, would you actually be there?’"[17] "Time's Up" it was first recorded by American pop singer Katy Perry, for her second album One of the Boys (2008), though it was never included for the album and was passed on to Tisdale.

Tisdale performing "It's Alright, It's OK" at Comet Awards in Germany.

Tisdale embarked on a press European promo tour in March 2009, where she visited the United Kingdom, France,[30] Germany,[31] and Italy. Tisdale started a promo radio tour in May 2009 for United States.[32] On April 14, 2009, she was presenting the lead single of the album on On Air with Ryan Seacrest,[33] one month later she performed for first time a few songs from the album at the 2009 KISS Concert on May 17, 2009.[34] The music video of "It's Alright, It's OK" was shown in 6,600 movie theatres in the United States. In early June 2009, she started her second promotional tour for Europe, visiting Germany, Italy and Spain, here performed on several television shows, such as German Wetten, dass..? and Comet Awards, Spanish Fama and Operación Triunfo, and Italian TRL.[35][36][37][38] Her first performance in the American television was on June 16, 2009, performing the first single and "Masquerade" on Good Morning America,[39] later Tisdale and her band promoted the album on several American television shows including Today Show and America's Got Talent.[40][41] Tisdale along with her band performed several free concerts across the United States, including the opening for the first Microsoft Store on Scottsdale, Arizona, on October 22, 2009. Later in the month she performed "It's Alright, It's OK" at the MTV Latin Video Music Awards held in Mexico. She also performed songs from Guilty Pleasure and recorded live performances for AOL Sessions and Walmart Soundcheck, the last being released as a digital Extended Play on August 4, 2009.[42][43]

Notes

• ^{^a} signifies a vocal producer
• ^{^b} signifies a remixer