DioGuardi wrote "Come Clean" with John Shanks as a "personal statement" to herself. she said the type of music was "somewhere in between" pop and "hardcore rock", but that she did not know how to explain it. According to her, there is "a lot of different music" on Metamorphosis that she finds difficult to categorize. The music on the album is "a little different" from her previous music because, according to her, the album "has all the kinds of music I like to listen to". She said that there are many "different sounds" on the album, such as rock and electronic, and "a whole range" of tempos, including "deep, slow" tracks and "high-energy" songs to provide her with a "boost". According to Duff, everyone experiences varied feelings and moods, and they can "feel a bit better" by playing their favorite song. Duff told the Chicago Sun-Times in 2005 she was under the control of the record label during the making of Metamorphosis and her third album, Hilary Duff (2004), and could not incorporate the sound she wanted into her recordings. She said the production "[had<!-- has -->] been mastered and sounds really pretty ... If I could change it, I would, and it would sound [less pop]. My name is Hilary Duff, and I don't know why I don't get to make Hilary Duff music."
Duff said the album represented "kind of a change" because it was "kind of different" from anything she had previously done; as she put it, "We called the album Metamorphosis because it's about changes that everybody experiences". She described it as "definitely stuff that everybody my age can relate to". The second song on the album, and second single, "Come Clean" documents a relationship between a boy and a girl who feel they are "in the dark" about each other; in Duff's words: "they're coming clean, whether it means they're gonna be together or not." "Sweet Sixteen" is a song by Haylie Duff described as being "a really fun song that totally relates to [her] life right now." The album's title track "Metamorphosis" is a song about "getting over a boy." Duff insisted the song was not about fellow singer and ex-boyfriend Aaron Carter, with whom she was rumored to have broken up after a fight. These projects included the high-profile Hollywood films Cheaper by the Dozen (2003) and A Cinderella Story (2004), a clothing and accessories line called Stuff by Hilary Duff, a Lizzie McGuire merchandise line, and a Visa prepaid credit card for children aged six to thirteen. The Associated Press quoted Bob Cavallo, the chairman of Buena Vista Music Group, as saying that "At this point, she's obviously already a franchise". In spite of this split, the profile of Duff and the album was supported by the DVD release of The Lizzie McGuire Movie and reruns of Lizzie McGuire episodes on the Disney Channel for two seasons. Duff herself said that Lizzie McGuire was "a great place to begin my career", but said that "it's exciting to go out on my own" with Metamorphosis. "So Yesterday" was released to US Top 40 radio in mid-July, after which it became the "most added" song on the format. On the internet AOL Music had a marketing relationship with Duff and Metamorphosis: it hosted the premiere of "So Yesterday" and recording a Sessions@AOL broadcast with her, among other content exclusive to AOL members. In late September The WB Television Network aired an hour-long Hilary Duff birthday special, and MTV aired an episode of the documentary series Diary that followed Duff through a day.<!-- Rolling Stone Teenager of the Year : http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2003_Sept_10/ai_107535780 --> A DVD containing music videos, performance and behind-the-scenes footage and bonus features, Hilary Duff: All Access Pass, was released in November.
Duff embarked on a four-week concert tour in the US from November to early December 2003. The song "Anywhere But Here" was included on the soundtrack of the film A Cinderella Story; Duff promoted the film and Metamorphosis with a series of television appearances in July 2004, including one on ABC's Good Morning America. She performed before roughly 7,000 people, breaking a Good Morning America audience record. In the same period she embarked on a US summer tour, during which she performed a one-hour set that included Metamorphosis tracks, covers of The Go-Go's' "Our Lips Are Sealed" and The Who's "My Generation", and previously unheard material from Hilary Duff. Haylie Duff was the opening act on the tour, which ran for thirty-six dates and sold well in major arenas; Pollstar editor-in-chief said that there was "a real positive buzz about ticket sales for Hilary's show". The tour was involved with the charity Kids with a Cause, of which Duff was a charter member in 1999; it sponsored a "Food for a Friend" drive and encouraged attendees to bring canned food to each tour venue, where the cans were collected and distributed across shelters in each city through which Duff toured. By early August 2004, enough food had been amassed to feed more than 12,000 children. and for being one of the "bright spots" in a slow concert season.
Singles
"So Yesterday" was released as the lead single from the album on July 29, 2003. The song, written by Lauren Christy, Scott Spock, Graham Edwards and Charlie Midnight, was produced by production team The Matrix, who were notable at the time for their work with Avril Lavigne. Thus, some similarities arose between the song and the work of Lavigne. "So Yesterday" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at number fifty-three in the thirty-third week of 2003, and peaked at number forty-two in its eleventh week. It spent twenty weeks on the Hot 100. In Australia the song debuted at number thirty-nine, peaked at number eight in its eighth week, and remained on the chart for twenty weeks. It was the forty-ninth best selling single of 2003 in Australia, and was certified platinum in 2004. In Japan, the song reached number 199 on the Oricon weekly charts. In United Kingdom, the song debuted at number nine on the UK Singles Chart. The song peaked in the top ten on the charts in other European countries such as the Netherlands and France. The Chris Applebaum-directed music video for the song premiered on MTV on July 24, 2003. It was later featured on MTV's Making the Video two days after the video's premiere on July 26, 2003. The video shows Duff playing a breakup prank on her aloof boyfriend.
"Come Clean" was released as the second single from the album on January 13, 2004. Duff described the song as being "obviously about a boy and a girl's relationship and it's just talking about how somebody thinks they're in the dark." The song peaked at number thirty five, becoming Duff's first top forty single in the US and also her highest charting single at the time. However, the song failed to match the success of its predecessor "So Yesterday" in many other countries. It reached a peak of number seventeen in Australia and eighteen in the UK, while charting inside top twenty in Canada, Netherlands, Ireland and New Zealand. The accompanying music video, directed by Dave Meyers, premiered on MTV's Total Request Live on January 14, 2004. The video showed Duff inside a house on a rainy day, waiting for her love interest. The video was nominated for Best Pop Video at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards.
"Little Voice" was released as the third and final single from the album on June 15, 2004, only internationally. The song is a cover of the 2000 song "The Little Voice" by Swedish recording artist Sahlene, written by Kara DioGuardi and Patrik Berger. The new version by Duff featured slightly different lyrics and was produced by Chico Bennett and DioGuardi. The song peaked at number twenty-nine in Australia. The music video for the song is a live performance taken from The Girl Can Rock Tour DVD.
Critical reception
Bob Cavallo said he expected the album to sell "a couple of million [copies] ... [i]f the pixie dust flies the right way". Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote the album, "is what teen pop should sound like in 2003... a very good modern bubblegum album"; he said that it was influenced by Avril Lavigne but that Duff "has a sweeter, more appealing voice than Avril, and the rest of the record follows her cheerful charisma, resulting in a charmingly effervescent listen". USA Today named it the tenth worst pop album of 2003, writing "Note to all young, modestly talented singers: Stay in school and you won't wind up on worst-of lists before you're old enough to vote."
Metamorphosis was nominated at the Juno Awards of 2004 for International Album of the Year, but lost to 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin. Duff won in the Best New Artist category at the 2004 World Music Awards and Favorite Female Artist at the 2004 Kids' Choice Awards, on top of that "Come Clean" was nominated for a MTV Video Music Award for Best Pop Video. Duff also won a TMF award for the "Fake ID Award" category.
Commercial performance
The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 (behind Mary J. Blige's Love & Life) with 203,000 copies sold in its first week of release. Despite a 30% sales drop in its second week, during which it sold 131,000 copies, Metamorphosis peaked at number one on the chart for that week. It was certified platinum by the RIAA in three months, and two times platinum by the end of the year. In late November/early December, after Duff had appeared at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and sneak previews of the film Cheaper by the Dozen were held in select cities, Metamorphosis returned to the top five on the albums chart with a 132% sales increase over the previous week with 224,000 copies. In the Christmas shopping week, when the album was at number six on the Billboard 200, it sold 275,000 copies. It was the eighth best selling album of 2003 according to Nielsen SoundScan, selling 2.6 million copies, and it was certified four times platinum in October 2023. By September 2004, the album had sold 3.4 million copies in the United States. In August 2005, the release month of Duff's compilation album, Most Wanted, the album re-entered the Billboard 200.
In Canada, the album reached the top spot in its first week of release. It was certified platinum four months after its release for sales of 100,000, and in December 2004 it was certified quadruple platinum for sales exceeding 500,000 copies. In Australia, the album was certified platinum for sales of 70,000; it was number seventy-four on the ARIA year-end chart. Metamorphosis debuted at number twenty-six in France, and peaked at number twenty-two a week later, remaining on the chart for thirty-nine weeks. As of July 27, 2014, the album has sold 3,961,000 million copies in the United States and more than 5 million copies worldwide.
Legacy
Metamorphosis was credited with helping to significantly raise the industry and corporate profile and marketplace presence of Hollywood Records, which Geoff Mayfield, charts director and senior analyst for Billboard magazine, said "[have] had some top albums before with the Tarzan movie soundtrack in 2000, but not like this Hilary Duff album". The San Fernando Valley Business Journal wrote that the album was "giving Hollywood Records a needed shot in the arm" after a decline in CD sales during the previous two years had forced the label to reduce costs and alter its operation. Hilliard Lyons analyst Jeffrey Thomison said Metamorphosis was a reflection of Disney's ability to develop "great synergy between their cable, film and music segments", particularly after The Lizzie McGuire Movie indicated that Duff's television fanbase could be migrated to film. Geoff Mayfield said on the subject, "All things being equal, if this album were done by anybody else, it would not be a hit". Metamorphosis made Duff the first "breakout artist" for Hollywood Records in its ten-year history, and its success coincided with that of albums by other artists on the label, such as Rascal Flatts and Josh Kelley, and of soundtracks for films such as The Cheetah Girls, Freaky Friday and The Lizzie McGuire Movie. Later, partly as a result of Metamorphosis, Hollywood Records used the Disney Channel to launch brands such as High School Musical and Hannah Montana, and artists such as Aly & AJ, The Cheetah Girls, Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus, Raven-Symoné, Vanessa Hudgens and Jesse McCartney.
Blender magazine wrote that the success of the album consolidated Duff's status as a "tween icon", and estimated that it had earned her US$5,000,000. European and Latin American edition
| title14 = Girl Can Rock
| writer14 =
| extra14 =
| length14 = 3:10
Notes:
- <sup></sup> signifies a remixer.
- The version of "Why Not" included on Metamorphosis is an alternate version with different lyrics in the first verse.
- Some digital releases of Metamorphosis do not include "Why Not".
Credits and personnel
Credits for Metamorphosis adapted from AllMusic.
- Chico Bennett — composer, producer
- Meredith Brooks — producer
- Rob Chiarelli — mixing
- Lauren Christy — composer
- Savina Ciaramella — A&R
- Kara DioGuardi — producer
- Hilary Duff — composer
- Graham Edwards — composer
- Matthew Gerrard — composer
- Martin Häusler — art direction, design
- Jay Landers — executive producer
- Stephen Marcussen — mastering
- Dani Markman — A&R
- Jim Marr — producer
- The Matrix — arranger, engineer, mixing, producer
- Charlie Midnight — composer, producer
- Keith Munyan — photography
- Sheryl Nields — photography
- Wendy Page — composer, producer
- Charlton Pettus — composer
- Andre Recke — executive producer
- Jeff Rothschild — engineer
- John Shanks — producer
- Joel Soyffer — mixing
- Scott Spock — composer
- Steve Sterling — layout design
- Marc Swersky — composer
- Denny Weston Jr. — producer
Metamorphosis Remixes personnel
Credits for Metamorphosis Remixes adapted from liner notes.
- Andre Recke — executive producer
- Charlie Midnight — composer, producer
- Chico Bennett — remix
- Denny Weston, Jr. — producer
- Graham Edwards — composer
- Haylie Duff — composer
- Jay Landers — executive producer
- Joel Soyffer — mixing
- Joe Bermudez — remix
- Lauren Christy — composer
- Matthew Gerrard — composer, producer
- The Matrix — arranger, engineer, mixing, producer
- Meredith Brooks — producer
- Rob Chiarelli — remix
- Scott Spock — composer
- Steve Sterling — album design
- T.L. Rhodes — composer
- Toran Caudell — composer
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2003–04)
! scope="col"| Peak<br/>position
|-
! scope="row"| Argentine Albums (CAPIF)
| 4
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
! scope="row"| Japanese Albums (Oricon)
| style="text-align:center;"|9
|-
|-
|-
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2006)
! scope="col"| Peak<br/>position
|-
|}
Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2003)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)
| 74
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| 51
|-
! scope="row"| Worldwide Albums (IFPI)
| 43
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2004)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)
| 67
|-
! scope="row"| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)
| 84
|-
! scope="row"| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)
| 93
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| 17
|}
Decade-end charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2000–09)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
! scope="row"| US Billboard 200
| 80
|}
Certifications
Release history
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+ Release dates and formats for Metamorphosis
|-
! scope="col"| Region
! scope="col"| Date
! scope="col"| Format
! scope="col"| Label
! scope="col"|
|-
! scope="row"| Canada
| rowspan="2"| August 26, 2003
| rowspan="5"| CD
| Universal
|
|-
! scope="row"| United States
|
|
|-
! scope="row"| Australia
| September 22, 2003
| Festival Mushroom
|
|-
! scope="row"| Japan
| November 6, 2003
| Avex Trax
|
|-
! scope="row"| Germany
| December 1, 2003
| Warner
|
|-
! scope="row" rowspan="2"| Japan
| February 4, 2004
| CD+DVD
| rowspan="2"| Avex Trax
|
|-
| March 28, 2007
| CD
|
|-
! scope="row"| United States
| June 11, 2021
| LP
| Walt Disney
|
|}