By the time Katy Perry releases Teenage Dream in august 2010 the album had already given us the summer of “California Gurls” and the title track was well on its way to no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Expectations were very high – and critics were quick to say they were not met. The AV Clubown review described most of the album as “ho-hum ballads and loud radio fodder”, which was friendly compared to the Chicago TribuneIt takes: “With music as rigid a formula as this, it’s no wonder teenagers want to party in their songs until they’m empty.” But the album also made teenagers listen to her songs wants to party – and apparently other age groups as well Teenage Dream would go on to become one of the most successful releases ever.
However Teenage Dream is technically her third studio album, in many ways it was Katy Perry’s debut so well known today. It was the culmination of a transformation that began when Christian rock singer Katy Hudson released a self-titled album in 2001, coinciding with the release of the 2008 pop rock. One of the boys. Although there was a seven-year gap between albums, her transition from Christian messages to decidedly secular (and crippling) lyrics such as “I hope you hang out with your H&M scarf” and “You’re so gay, and you do not ‘t even like boys’ actually started shortly after the release of Katy Hudson. “I’ve been working on my record since I was 18,” said Perry (no longer Hudson, due to the popularity of actor Kate Hudson) Prefix a few months before she released ‘I Kissed A Girl’, which would become her first No.1 hit. ‘I’ve passed two record companies and written between sixty-five and seventy songs, and now it’s ready to come out. It’s been a long journey. I’ve had a lot of money, lost a lot of money, but the record is here and it’s the good one. “
One of the boys Perry earned two Grammy nominations, a spot on Warped Tour, and two additional top-10 singles (“Hot N Cold” and “Waking Up In Vegas”). But she was just at the beginning. One year after release Boys, Perry went back into the studio to start working on what would become Teenage Dream. She united with them Boys producers (and pop music kingpins) Dr Luke, Max Martin, Greg Wells, and Benny Blanco, and rounded out their team with the masterminds behind recent hits for Beyoncé, Rihanna, Kesha, and Kelly Clarkson. While working on the album, Perry said Rolling stone that she would “certainly keep” the doll from “alienating” her fan base, although fans of her rock influences may disagree with the success of her ultimate goal.
Perry sent producers a mixtape of ABBA and The Cardigans songs as an example of the atmosphere they sought to evoke Teenage Dream, which was fixed over a period of six months. ‘When I went on tour, no matter what I liked about all the interludes, I felt like I was missing some things that made people jump up and down. I really like that feeling when people all jump in unison, ”she said HitFix in April 2010. Just a month later, she released “California Gurls”, which debuted at the top of the US Billboard Digital Songs card and on no. 2 on the Hot 100. Posted as a West Coast response to JAY-Z and Alicia Keys ” Empire State Of Mind ”, the song presented a verse from Snoop Dogg and Perry’s signature cheeky pun, but traded Boys‘grungy guitar for an infectiously catchy disco-pop vibe. It was so infectious, in fact, that many said that co-producer Dr had Luke also used it on Kesha’s “Tik Tok.” (Years later, Perry would be fired as part of The damages of Dr. Luke vs. Kesha following the Tik Tok singer’s allegations of sexual assault against him.)
Compared to Kesha aside, “California Gurls” was a driving summer celebration, a retro mood that continued two months later with the release of Teenage Dreamthe title track. In many ways, “Teenage Dream” is a typical mid-tempo pop song, but sprinkled with unexpected chords and syncopated vocals. The song had a relatively slower rise to the top of the charts, and debuted at no. 20, but reached the top of the Hot 100 in an impressive six weeks.
After delivering a party track and a love song, Perry shifted gears to one source she would return to in the coming years: the power of empowerment. As one critic put it, “Fireworks” was a “straight up self-titled song that was in a Coldplay-on-poppers clubbanger.” The song became her third consecutive chart-topper, with a fourth coming in the pipeline in her Kanye West collaboration, the dubstep-influenced “ET,” followed by a fifth with her debauched dance-pop party “Last Friday Night” (TGIF). ”Perry released her sixth and final Teenage Dream single 17 months after “California Gurls”: pop ballad “The One That Got Away”, which no. 3 came on the map. (It should be noted that Perry released the 1980s rock-inspired “Hummingbird Heartbeat” as a single in Australia almost another year letter.)
Simplicity based on descriptions, Perry’s six (as seven) Teenage Dream singles run the gamut, but the magic of the album is that it remains cohesive, and all but two of the 12 tracks were released as at least promotional singles. Even if you keep in mind the surprisingly charged cheer-song “Peacock” and ballad “The One That Got Away”, the heightened emotions of teen love, lust, and self-discovery remain a constant. Perry credited much of her own hummingbird heartbeat with the release of the album to cabaret artist and actor Russell Brand, who became her fiancé in a few months Teenage Dream recording sessions. Brand would continue to influence Perry’s music after her 14-month marriage ended in December 2011: Perry released Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection in March 2012. The deluxe reissue included remixes and three brand new songs, including break-up track “Part Of Me”, which many assumed was about Brand, but was actually written years before its split, and power ballad “Wide Awake, “Perry said was inspired by” major life changes “- including her divorce.
In total, the singles from the original album brought a record 69 weeks in the Billboard Hot 100’s top 10. Teenage Dream is associated with Michael Jackson’s Min for most No.1 singles from a single album (a Perry record best if you record “Part Of Me”). But above all the impressive statistics – which also spent more than 200 weeks on the Billboard Hot 200 and eight times platinum certified in the US—Teenage Dream Perry’s fan base solidified and graduated to stadium tours, million-dollar endorsement offers, and, finally, American idol judge. She has sold millions of copies of two consecutive albums, Prism en Witness, en Laugh is due later this week. But ask any casual fan for their favorite Katy Perry song and they’ll probably grab a picture of their Candy Land costumes and offer a now-decades-old song from Teenage Dream. Perry can never defend the success of her 2010 album – but as her album coverage predicted, Perry is doing just fine under the clouds.
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