In today’s world of Pop Music, it is Katy Perry, who is overly commercialized. It is her songs that are saleable; her image and her music as the all-in one package in the age where music industries try to cope up with the effects of digital consumerism and piracy. The latest Katy Perry Effort? Teenage Dream can be summarized as pop music consumed. Bottoms up.
The title track Teenage Dream kicks off the album with catchy music while Perry sings the high notes. Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F) involves the singer in an almost-rap mood, belting out the song lyric after lyric. It was so pop with simple lyrics that center around a Friday event which they want to do over and over. California Gurls, the lead single of the album is a testament to Katy Perry’s dedication to pop music. This is the song that the producers have felt will sell, that will have a mass appeal, that can be packaged into a product. Fireworks stands out as a song of empowerment and overcoming depression and fall. It is a powerful pop song with a message.
Moving on, we have Peacock; an overly subtle song with an almost suggestive lyrics. Well, at least Katy Perry made it a point to be subtle. There is a difference when you sing it blatantly and when you sing it and let it play around your listeners’ ears. It reminds me of an old song Mickey, and of Avril Lavigne’s Girlfriend. Circle the Drain sounds like an 80s pop and Eurodance. Best line ever? Wanna be your lover / Not your Fu%^$#n mother.
The One That Got Away is perhaps the best track in the album. It is a bit sad, yes, but it has a lot of heart and it feels like Katy Perry is back as that christian singer she once was. This fragile love song is my favorite track in the album.
E.T sounds like a futuristic love affair, but every bit of that song is enjoyable. Who Am I Living For has powerful vocals. Pearl is another power track – with a message about someone who’s very good in life but suddenly being held down. Hummingbird Heartbeat is carefree track which may have been dedicated to Russel Brand (only that they are now separated.) Not Like The Movies perfectly closes the album on a high note. It was a beautiful love song.
Teenage Dream is a mainstream pop album. Teenagers are its core market (don’t tell me you haven’t realized that yet.) This is the reason most of the songs are almost dedicated to them. California Gurls is about being liberated and having fun. Circle the Drain, which has a line in which the singer sings she doesn’t want to be his boyfriend’s mother, represents the fact that teenagers in their age are still not ready for very big responsibilities. Pearl is telling how life will change the moment you let someone else dominates you. The One That Got Away can be about a person’s first love, or even an eternal one.
Perry wrote / co-wrote all the songs in the album so it is safe to say that every bit of Teenage Dream has a personal touch from the singer herself, making the album so connected to her. Overall, Teenage Dream delivers every bit of Pop that it can offer. It is saleable. It has the songs that will hit. It could set up Katy Perry as one of the most important pop musicians of today,
Well, she already is.
Rating: 3.5 over 5
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