Teenage Dream- Sweet and sickly, but an adventure of love as a young woman

Music Review- Katy Perry- Teenage Dream (2010)

Katy Perry's best and most unabashedly pop album. Teenage Dream is the candy floss bubblegum pop that Perry is known for and does so well. It is fun and easy listening and surprisingly the type of song you don't really hear anymore, for some reason this kind of pop is considered low brow and dirty for modern artists in 2020, but it has certainly got a place in our hearts. Sometimes you just want to switch off and have fun without being judged and this is the perfect album for that.

Occasionally, the tracks feel hollow as they can be captured in a word: dream, party, summer, empower, sex, rage, sad, edge, etc etc. When paired with the fact that Perry genre hops so much, bubblegum pop, pop punk, synth pop, pop ballad, rock etc, it just feels like she is trying to do everything for one second to appeal to as many people. She hasn't got a clear distinct sound but tries everything, a feeling or a genre, like a new dress and immediately takes it off again. It means everyone will find a track they love and the album is never boring, but it is a bit all over the place and hollow. This is clearly a pop album engineered for success not artistic merit. This means there aren't any risky tracks that will make you recoil in disgust as for the most part this is a very safe record. And, with that it means a lot of the lyrics are vague and dull. There are very few interesting images or metaphors that don't rely on over used cliches. But, when Perry's lyrics match an airy and fun production then pop magic occurs. She is the master at perfect bubblegum pop songs that are catchy and fun, and that is certainly a skill that not many artist have.

One could argue that Perry is narratively exploring the many stages/layers of finding and exploring a relationship and concludes how it is extremely complicated. To look at the album with that narrative adds some poetic weight to the tracks as you watch a girlish dream of love develop through the confusing and difficult sides as well as the darker and sexier sides for her to come out as a woman on the other side. It is an adventure through the highs and lows of trying to find love. So, it is the perfect album for any teen or young adult to project on to as they explore with her. But, one might counter that to give the album that much narrative respect means you do more work then Perry intended.

It is a fun feel good album that has a lot to love and perfectly encapsulates the 2010s. If you are a fan of pop music, then this will be the perfect album for you. But, if you are the type of music listener that wants something more from your music than easy listening, then you should look elsewhere.

Album Review: 6.5

Track By Track Breakdown:

Teenage Dream- The perfect pop song. Perry's whispering vocals over the verses that perfectly blend into the euphoric and victorious chorus, the track perfectly captures the dream like and delicate state of young love. The airy production is gloriously glossy and further adds to this dreamed up perfection. Yes the lyrics are simple, but young love often is and we all dream that the real world was as easy as it felt while we were younger. Also, they are just so so very catchy that you want to sing from the top of your lungs while driving with the roof down because you don't care who hears you. It is one of those tracks you just cannot dislike as it is just so infectiously happy without a care in the world. (9)

Last Friday Night- Whereas the opening track had this cool breezy hard to hate vibe, this one is harder to love because of its tightly restrictive delivery and production. The verses have this monotonous delivery from Perry that even though she is singing about being free and rebellious she sounds restricted and bland. Not every line needs to have its last word emphasised Ms Perry! Admittedly the chorus bursts into the fun and bright sense of freedom, but where is this sense of joy in the rest of the track. It's not helped by the really uninspiring production that needs a squealing saxophone solo to give it some life. The only joy the saxophone gives is that it calls the end of the repetitive bridge chanting T.G.I.F. like some cult mantra. Perry is hoping to make an anthem for party goers, but riffing cliche's of a wild evening just makes her sound dated rather than cool. The only saving grace is if you try really really hard not to think about the track, then you may get lost in its mind-numbing cutsey vibe. (4)

Calfornia Gurls- It's summery and fun, but that's about it. The guitar riff over the chorus is infectious as hell and the bright and bouncy production is fun capitalised, even if a little dated after ten years. Katy sounds seductive and playful as she bounces between innuendos and summer iconography while bigging up her home state. There are enough cutsey giggles and Snoop Dogg creeping in the background to make this track lean on the sickly side after many listens, but like all bubble gum pop it is good old fashioned fun for one or two listens. It is a feel good anthem that perfectly captures as summers day and makes you want to go to California on holiday. It's just really not that interesting for anything other than a summer party mix. (6)

Firework- The lyrics bring endless laughter for how cheesy and bad they are ("Do you ever feel like a plastic bag?" no Katy, no I have not), but when you are feeling down a good giggle and a feel good anthem is all you want. Some times you just want a random millionaire pop icon who doesn't know who you are to tell you you are okay. When you are down you don't want complicated imagery and deep lyrics, you just want a pick me up even if it is hollow. And, Katy is the princess of feel good pop anthems and this is her magnum opus. The pulsating synths that build and build into the chorus that just explodes into this bright gooey love fest that makes you feel all soft and loved. It's the perfect little firework of joy to brighten a day. Yes, the bridge and outro take the firework metaphor a little far repeating "boom boom boom" like a person knows/wants to boom boom boom what ever that might mean. But, the endless joy is perfect and lots of fun. (8)

Peacock- There are some pop songs I'm gobsmacked to find out what the lyrics were when I look on with my older less innocent eyes, but even as a little ten year old gay teen I knew exactly what I was singing about with this track. Perry does very little to mask what she wants, and to be honest it works better for it. There are some pop songs that think they're so clever with their metaphors, but its so obvious that you wonder why they bothered. Perry does not bother, instead she revels in her fun provocation. You cannot listen with a straight face as she claps along "I wanna see your peacock-cock-cock". It will certainly make you giggle, if not out of awkwardness but the audacity. Admittedly, it is composed out of one idea and so is incredibly repetitive and under baked in the lyrical area. But, again it is a guilty pleasure track that needs little thought. (6)

Circle The Drain- The biggest change on the track list as Perry swaps the synths for electric guitar and makes her best track by doing so. Demonstrating her frustration with a lover for constantly choosing the drugs over her, it is a gritty and ferocious beast that makes you wonder why Perry wraps herself in this bubblegum clean veneer when her raspy vocals have some edge to them. She is at the end of her tether as she has tried and tried again, but he isn't putting anything into the relationship; her blunt and ruthless exchange with her partner makes you feel her frustration and the extremity of the situation. Its a track with an edgy bite that really isn't seen on any other Perry track, its unexpected and delightfully unique for Perry. Why she didn't make this a single I do not know. (9)

The One That Got Away- With a production that sounds like a ticking clock mixed with the tune of a jewellery box, this is the perfect time capsule of looking to the past. It is a cute track about looking through your history and wondering about that one person you loved so dearly but little things got in the way; how different could life be if they hadn't. It is quaint and tinged with an air of sadness of a lost life and realising that that life is your own. It's just a bit too glossy, like Katy's vocals are the best when they are on the edge with her voice cracks and vulnerable rawness, but on one of her most lyrically raw songs she sounds perfectly sombre. You could suggest that that is because over the years she has gained an emotional distance from her past lover and it is no longer dramatic but a pensive sadness as she thinks about him. But, as a break up anthem a little bit more drama would have made the song hit so much harder. (7)

E.T.- The stomp, stomp, clap production is ripped out of the anthem playbook, but given an alien feel to it with the echo and atmosphere that gives the song a really unique and on edge feeling. It is dark and seductive as it is sexy with the twinge of unexpected danger that gives it life. The lyrics capture a sultry encounter of meeting a man that you don't quite understand or know and that electric feeling of exploring together in this new and exciting scape. It perfectly captures the buzz and trepidation of a one night stand as the hard to describe exhilaration of the unexpected and different. Safe can often be boring and this is certainly not safe. The little electric shot of synths over the chorus keeps you on edge and intrigued. (8)

Who am I living for?- Opening with peculiar sound effect of either sniffing or spraying, it is a peculiar production choice. Perry returns to her rockier vocals, but the production remains muted synth pop. It's definitely a darkly atmospheric track, but never has the moment to properly let go and explode. With enough religious imagery, this is a test of Perry's faith as she goes through an inner battle that is vague enough that it could be about anything. It's a perfectly palatable pop song with enough edge in the production to complement Perry's vocals which are the star of the show. Her conviction and rawness sells the inner turmoil and elevates the track greatly. (7)

Pearl- Feeling suppressed by her man, Perry records the feeling of not achieving her greatness. She has more to give but doesn't feel she can without losing her man. Its completed and nuanced to love a partner but come to terms that it is not the healthiest relationship for yourself to flourish. In parts Katy's vocal delivery sells the track with enough grit and power to believe that she has been repressing herself for so long and now wants to unleash herself. But, then there are also moments when the production falls away and Perry aims for delicate but lands on irritating vocally. It is a nice track but doesn't have the energy or flair to stand out, on an album filled with feel good anthems this feels like tepid filler. (5)

Hummingbird Heartbeat- A cute pop punk track ripped from Perry's earlier albums. The title is probably the most interesting image on the album as it is a mildly unique and interesting description of love. But, it is repeated so much that by the end you will never want to hear it again. This track sounds like something rejected from her earlier albums and doesn't fit the vibe of the album at all. It is the kind of cutsey track that on first listen it is palatable but on repeat its infuriatingly intoxicating and sickly sweet. Like its a love song for teens and nothing more. As one of the last tracks on the album, you know why Katy has hidden it at the back because it is not one to revisit frequently but if you must listen to the whole album then you wont skip it. (4)

Not like the movies- The most lyrically interesting track on the album. The push and pull between wanting the dream man to come and save her and the reality of it being a lot more complicated than that, it perfectly captures the struggles of growing up. Love is hard and messy not like the fairy tales, but we all want the fairy tale that even though we know it will never come that is all we dream of. It is a really beautiful and nuanced song that is really underrated. Admittedly at times, Perry leans too far into musical theatre with her level of over the top drama, but when she remains restrained it is the perfect level of tension and drama. The cliches that usually make her other tracks feel basic actually elevate this track as it is those kinds of cliche that she is breaking down. Like the perfect end track it narratively relates to the first song as she adds nuance to her Teenage Dream and points out explicitly that that is a childish unachievable dream. It suggests a sense of growth through the tracks. (8)