| Superman | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Barbra Streisand |
| Cover: | Streisand_Superman.jpg |
| Caption: | Cover of CD booklet |
| Released: | June 1977 |
| Recorded: | March – April 1977 |
| Genre: | Pop |
| Label: | Columbia |
| Producer: | Gary Klein, Charles Calello (track 6) |
| Prev Title: | A Star Is Born |
| Prev Year: | 1976 |
| Next Title: | Songbird |
| Next Year: | 1978 |
Superman (1977) is the nineteenth studio album by American singer Barbra Streisand. The lead single "My Heart Belongs to Me" became a hit in 1977, peaking at #4 on the US pop chart. The title track was released as a follow-up but did not chart as highly as its predecessor. The album peaked at number 3 on the Top 200 LP Billboard album chart and on the UK Albums Chart at number 32.[1] It has sold 2 million copies in United States and was certified 2× Platinum.[2] Streisand co-wrote two songs on the album - "Don't Believe What You Read" and "Answer Me". The latter is also featured on her 2023 compilation album Evergreens: Celebrating Six Decades.
The album was released after the success of Streisand's movie A Star Is Born, from 1976. At that time the movie soundtrack was the singer's best-selling album with 4.1 million copies sold worldwide and a platinum certificate in the United States, for more than 1 million copies sold.[3] According to The New York Times, the album brings sounds from what they called "the second transition in Streisand's career", which began with the Stoney End album, in 1970, in which the singer experimented contemporary pop rock sounds and left aside "old‐fashioned" and "theatrical diva" from her early LPs, and that in Superman she confirms as a "a credible interpreter of contemporary songs".[3]
Two songs were written for the movie A Star Is Born but not used in the picture — "Answer Me" by Streisand, Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher; and "Lullaby for Myself" by Rupert Holmes.[4] It also includes cover versions of contemporary singer-songwriters Kim Carnes' "Love Comes from Unexpected Places" from her album Sailin' and Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind" from Turnstiles. According to Joel, Streisand's recording resulted in his mother looking at his career with newfound respect: "Certainly my mom looked at me with fresh eyes--finally, a real singer had picked up on her errant son's efforts."[5]
The album received good reviews from music critics. William Ruhlmann from AllMusic wrote that even though the album "seemed to be an unusually personal album for the singer, reflecting her feelings and viewpoints" it is not one of her best. Dave Marsh of Rolling Stone wrote that the album was Streisand's best effort since her Stoney End (1970) album,[6] and that it's an "ample evidence that Streisand actually can get away with singing whatever she chooses".[6] He also wrote that even though there are some mannerisms, like her phrasing, "the material is chosen skillfully enough to transcend that".[6] In his review for The New York Times, Stephen Holden wrote that Superman "ranks among the finest of Barbra Streisand's 30plus LP's", and that her "voice is in amazing shape today—stronger, more controlled and more confident than ever".[3]
The album repeated the success of the singer's previous album, the movie soundtrack A Star Is Born, and as of November 1977, it had sold 1.6 million copies in the United States, three times more than the two previous studio albums: Butterfly (1974) and Lazy Afternoon (1975).[3] The album peaked at number 3 on the Billboard 200 album chart and on the UK Albums Chart at number 32.[1] On November 14, 1994, it was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for 2 million copies sold in the United States.[7]
| Chart (1977) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[8] | 11 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[9] | 44 |
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