Album Review: Katy Perry- Prism

What am I even doing listening to Katy Perry?

As indicated numerous times on this blog, sometimes I listen to music that I probably have no business reviewing. But, listening to music I have no business reviewing has opened some doors for me, and has allowed me to fully embrace pop music, unironically, in 2013.

Alright, so let’s just get this out of the way.

Can we all admit that “Roar” by Katy Perry is an incredible pop song? I mean, it’s already been a banner year for pop music—what with your “Not a Bad Thing”s (or your “Mirrors”) and your “Maybe You're Right”s (or your “Wrecking Ball”s.) “Roar” is so incredibly triumphant—like almost too triumphant for its own good. It’s an anthem to end anthems. It’s big. It’s fun. When the refrain hits you want to shout along with it. Is it a break-up song about Perry’s short-lived marriage to comedian Russell Brand? Yeah probably not. Is it a song about empowering women? 

Maybe, but that’s a stretch.

More than likely, it’s just a bunch of short, catchy, and positive phrases strung together to an infection beat. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

But what about the rest of Katy Perry’s new album, Prism?

Well, it’s not nearly as impressive. And that’s the often disappointing thing about pop music—it’s almost too tough to stretch out the idea over the course of a whole album, so you end up with one really amazing song, three or four okay songs, and then a bunch of filler that you will easily forget about.

(a glowing review from an amazon user)

Prism is Perry’s fourth proper album, and her third as “Katy Perry.” Her compelling backstory is pretty well-known at this point, so here’s the condensed version: a Christian singer turned sexed-up pop star, she arrived in 2008 with the polarizing single “I Kissed a Girl,” and no, it was not a cover of the Jill Sobule song from the 90s.

Over the last five years, Perry has become less of a person and more of a character, or caricature, as it were. Her live shows are over the top—colorful outfits, back up dancers, a person in a giant purple cat costume, et. al. Perry is incredible self-aware of her role as a pop star, and plays up the camp and humor. However, camp and humor do not always translate well to recorded music.

(as an artist, perry takes herself seriously all the time.)

There are some awful moments on Prism—“Legendary Lovers,” “This is How We Do,” and “International Smile,” are all pretty cringe worthy lyric-wise. But were you expecting something incredibly profound from Katy Perry? She mixes metaphors about food, holidays, and sex on the disco-leaning “Birthday,” (yeah, it’s as bad as it sounds.) And in an attempt at street cred, rapper Juicy J shows up and stays trippy on “Dark Horse.” It’s a huge sounding song during the chorus, but surprisingly restrained during the verses. Certainly not one of the worst songs on the album, Juicy J’s guest spot is however unnecessary and unfortunate—specifically when he makes a Jeffery Dahmer reference. Yikes.

But there are some pretty excellent moments too—the text message break-up of “Ghost,”  a song that while relatively simple, is surprisingly powerful, giving off a strong 80s vibe musically, and I can’t help but hear some Haim-esq vibes from track that follows, “Love Me,” as well as on “This Moment.”

Structurally, Prism gets a lot more tolerable—enjoyable, even—after the halfway point. The pacing slows down, and similarly to Bangerz, the strengths in this record arrive in the form of slightly somber ballads. It’s an odd choice to split up the album so specifically like that—frontloading it with up tempo, “fun” songs, before switching it up, and while cohesion isn’t exactly something a pop star is going for, it does make the record a little uneven. But, with that being said, the listenability of the second half is somewhat of a reward for making it through the insipid crap that comes before it.

Prism isn’t the kind of album that’s going to change your life. No pop star ever goes into the studio with that mindset. Like many pop albums of 2013—it’s expensive sounding, overpowering at times, and it relies on spectacle rather than substance. There’s a time and a place for music like Katy Perry, just like there’s a time and a place for big dumb action movies. Prism is like a big dumb action movie; only it’s a pop record.

Prism is available today via Capitol Records.