Superficial (album)

Montag first rose to fame as a cast member on the MTV television series The Hills.[1] She gained further notoriety through her relationship with co-star Spencer Pratt, with the two gaining a reputation as "villains" in the media.[2][3][4] With her career on the rise, Montag announced her intentions of recording a pop album.[5][6] She explained her venture into music, stating "I always loved to sing. I was shy about that for a while, but I eventually started to open up about how I wanted to record an album. I knew I needed to start making moves."[7] Prior to her rise to stardom, Montag's manager had begun laying down the groundwork for her to begin working on a pop-rock influenced album, though Montag insisted on a pop album.[8][9] She cited artists such as Britney Spears and Janet Jackson as her main musical influences, claiming they made her want to be a pop star.[8] Pratt, a talent manager who had managed Brody Jenner, was able to get Montag a meeting with Jenner's former step-father David Foster to speak about her potential music career.[7] Following a meeting at Foster's recording studio in Miami, he agreed to work with Montag.[7][10]

Though Montag had Foster's support, she was still an independent artist and funded the album with her own money.[11] The album had a reported production cost that exceeded $2 million.[12][13][14] Montag claimed that she had "gone broke" funding her music career.[15] She and Pratt were responsible for finding and purchasing the majority of the songs on the album.[16] Montag sought after writers and producers that had worked with big-name artists at the time, stating "I really just wanted that right sound, so I set the bar high. I wanted to work with people of that caliber."[7] "One More Drink" was the first song that Montag recorded for the album.[7] She recorded a song titled "Touch Me" soon after, featuring writing credits from Foster and Kara DioGuardi.[17] "Body Language" was the next song Montag recorded for the album.[18] The song featured an un-credited rap verse from Pratt, and was ultimately Montag's first song to leak during the production of Superficial.[19][20] She recorded songs such as "Higher" and "No More" during the early stages of the album's production, both of which would be released as promotional singles in 2008.[21][22] Montag recorded a version of "Fashion", a song that was co-written and also recorded by singer Lady Gaga.[23] She additionally recorded a song titled "Dramatic", which had initially been recorded by Britney Spears for her fifth studio album.[24]

Montag began collaborating with producer Steve Morales[25] and songwriter Cathy Dennis in 2009.[26][27][28] Morales would go on to produce five songs on the album's final track list,[29] serving as the project's executive producer alongside Montag and Pratt.[30] Though not included on the album, Morales also produced the final version of Montag's song "Body Language" (2009), released as a single months prior to the release of Superficial.[31] Dennis has four writing credits on the finished product, including "Look How I'm Doing" and "Turn Ya Head".[32] Montag recorded a track titled "Blackout" for the album that was written by Dennis and Taylor Momsen.[33] Momsen claimed that she had written the song when she was only eight, and Dennis had made changes to the lyrics before allowing Montag to record it.[33][34][35] Montag recorded the Morales produced "More Is More" after finding the demo to be "progressive and edgy", and enlisted Dave Audé to produce a remix of the song for use in night clubs.[36] The song features a writing credit from singer Laura Pergolizzi, better known as LP.[36] Pergolizzi has a total of four writing credits on the album, including "Twisted".[7] Montag claimed that Pergolizzi was initially hesitant to let her record "Twisted", but agreed to let Montag have the song after hearing the completed version.[7]

Superficial is an album primarily containing dance-pop and synth-pop music.[7][37] Pop singers such as Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson were cited as influences on the project.[7] Montag stated throughout the album's production that her goal was to achieve a "fun, empowering mix that you could really dance to."[38] She later told MTV "Not every song is in the same genre. Some are more pop. Some are more ballady. Some are a little more rock. Some are a little bit edgier, but they all go together in some way."[39] Superficial featured songs that spoke on topics such as fame, romance, and self-love.[7] Montag cited her husband, whom she married during the album's production, as her inspiration when selecting the love songs.[7]

The album opens with the Morales produced "Look How I'm Doing", a dance-pop song described as a "kiss-off to a former flame."[40] Montag has also claimed the track speaks on her former friendship with Lauren Conrad.[7] "Turn Ya Head" has been described as "electronic" and "urban-pop", as well as a "club anthem."[7] The song's lyrics reference Montag drawing attention to herself on a dance floor.[7] "Fanatic" is an 80's inspired mid-tempo song that speaks about being a fanatic for a lover.[7] Montag related the song's lyrics to her feelings for Pratt, stating "I always was just such a fanatic for him, and it was just to fun to be able to sing a song that was so relatable to me in my own life."[7] "Superficial" is the album's title track and fourth song, which acknowledges Montag's public image at the time with lyrics stating "They say I'm superficial, but they really don't know me."[41] "More Is More" is a dance track that sees Montag singing about dancing at a club and flirting with men.[7] Similarly, "One More Drink" finds Montag telling a man from the club that she'll be going home with him after she has one more drink.[7]

"Twisted", which was described as having a "rock" sound by Montag, called out someone who she labels as twisted.[7] Montag has said she recorded the song in reference to Conrad.[7] "Hey Boy" is an upbeat song that makes use of electric guitar, with Montag telling a man that he's "not the one" for her.[7] She described the song as "feminist".[7] The next track is "My Parade", a song which features the sounds of a marching band.[7] The song seems to address those who dislike Montag, with her claiming they won't "rain on [her] parade".[7] The song has themes of self-love and being confident.[7] "Blackout" was seen as an ode to Montag's husband Spencer Pratt.[42] "I'll Do It" has been labeled the "raciest" song on Superficial, with lyrics such as "come eat my panties off of me."[43] Montag described the song, which speaks of fulfilling her lover's deepest fantasies, as empowering to women.[7] The album closes with "Love It or Leave It", a mid-tempo song that has been described as having a "dark" beat.[7] Having similar themes as "My Parade", this song sees Montag telling the listener they can "love it or leave it".[7]

While still in production, numerous songs from the finished track list of Superficial were released as promotional singles.[44] In 2008, a rough cut of "One More Drink" leaked online; the finished version had additional production work.[44] "Look How I'm Doing" was released as a promotional single on April 1, 2009.[45] It was released alongside the song "Your Love Found Me", which was ultimately not included on the album.[46] "More Is More" had a promotional remix album released to nightclubs on April 3, 2009.[47] The album featured remixes from Ralphi Rosario and Dave Audé.[47] The song became Montag's first Billboard chart entry when it debuted at number fifty on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart; it would go on to reach a peak of twenty-seven on the chart.[48][49] Montag released the promotional Wherever I Am extended play on April 28, featuring the three promotional singles alongside the songs "Turn Ya Head" and "Party Is Wherever I Am".[50] The version of "Look How I'm Doing" present on the album featured an additional verse from a rapper credited as Machine Gun Kelly, not to be confused with another rapper of the same name.[51][52]

"Blackout" was released as a promotional single on May 19.[53] While on their honeymoon, Montag and Pratt filmed a homemade music video for the song that featured Montag in a hot tub and hammock.[54] She released a second promotional extended play titled Here She Is... on August 4, 2009.[55] The release compiled a number of Montag's promotional singles that had been released to that point.[56] She next released a finished version of "Body Language" as a single on August 14.[57] The song was initially intended to be included on Superficial, but was left off the finished product due to issues with the song sampling "Situation" (1982) by Yazoo.[58][59] The album's title track, "Superficial", served as the album's final promotional single before its eventual release.[60] The song was released on November 23, 2009.[60] Montag and Pratt made a video for the song featuring footage from their life the past few years, releasing it in April 2010.[61] Superficial was released to digital retailers through Pratt Productions and the Warner Music Group on January 11, 2010.[62][63] The album is available in both a clean and explicit version, due to the song "More Is More".[62]

Throughout the recording process, Superficial underwent a number of working titles. The project was initially intended to be self-titled, while titles such as The One and Independent were also announced online. Montag later confirmed the album's final title as Superficial, inspired by "the world [she lives] in" and her public perception.[64] Montag revealed the album's original cover in November 2009, shot by Liz Ciganovich.[65] The photo saw the singer in a polka-dot leotard posing in front of a wall of cassette tapes.[65] The image, which drew inspiration from the music video for "Physical" (1981) by Olivia Newton-John, paid homage to the music scene of the 1980s "when you just had to run out to the record store and get your favorite album", according to Montag.[66] Prior to the album's release, Montag changed the album's cover to an image of her in a short black dress posing in front of a camera lens.[67] Ciganovich photographed the updated album cover as well.[67]

Upon its release, Superficial was met with a negative reaction from music critics. The Pitt News commented that the album was "chock full of poorly produced, synthesized, and — worst of all — instantly forgettable tracks that are mildly irritating at best, but are usually insufferable."[68] The Channel Magazine also gave the album a negative review, more specifically the lyrical content, writing "Montag sings about these ideas: how hard it is to handle the paparazzi, how she turns heads everywhere she goes, and how she ignores those that rain on her parade."[69] Grace Carroll of Gigwise gave the album a negative review in 2013, comparing Montag to a "low budget Britney Spears wannabe" and commenting "Heidi's empty, dead-behind-the-eyes vocals manage to stick the pin into every inflated balloon of a track."[70] MacKenzie Reagan of Medium also criticized the album, stating "What better way to try and overstay one's welcome than with an album of auto-tuned synth-pop songs perfect for a strip club at 10 a.m. on a Wednesday?"[71] She did go on to praise "Twisted", calling it a "bright spot".[71]

LimeLife did call some songs on the album "catchy", but said the project "sounds so manufactured, I have no idea what Heidi would sound like without all this technology behind her."[72] Hollywood Life also gave the album a mixed review; while praising "My Parade" and "I'll Do It", they wrote "Superficial is just as over-produced as you'd expect a Heidi album to be. In fact, there are some points when you can barely hear Heidi's breathy words over busy beats and sporadic whooshing sounds."[41] In a more positive review, LGBT themed website Homorazzi praised "Fanatic", the title track, and "More Is More" as standout songs on the album.[73] Bradley Stern with MuuMuse described the album as "fun", and listed several songs from the project as "guilty pleasures."[15]

Since its release, Superficial has gone on to develop somewhat of a cult following.[74][75][76] Independent pop artist Slayyyter cited the album as an influence to her own music, claiming "There's a whole SoundCloud circuit of artists that are just like me and worship [Superficial] and take our influence from there."[77] Sam Lansky of Idolator wrote an article in 2012 "in defense" of the album, claiming it was "good in the way that the best trash-pop always is, the songs that you dance to in the darkened cloisters of a nightclub not knowing who's singing".[78] An article in Life & Style in 2018 called it the "most underrated album of all time", and argued that Montag's public image at the time eclipsed the album.[7] Montag's husband has cited Montag's controversial decision to undergo ten cosmetic surgeries just prior to the album's release as a potential reason the album did not perform well with critics or listeners.[7]

Superficial was reported to have sold just over 1,000 copies in its first week of release.[79][80] It debuted at number forty-one on the Top Heatseekers album chart in the United States, marking its only chart appearance.[81] There were a total of 6,000 paid downloads of the album's tracks during the first week of release.[82] Montag has since attributed the album's commercial performance to a lack of promotion on her part during its release period,[83][84] and would later claim that MTV had refused to promote her music career due to her role on The Hills.[7]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Superficial.