Katy Perry achieved phenomenal global success with the release of her 2010 album, Teenage Dream. That particular album put Katy Perry in the global spotlight back in 2010. This follow-up album release, Prism, never achieved the heights of Teenage Dream, although it was a global success, critically and to a lesser extent, commercially. Initially, she had planned on doing a darker music album, given that she had split from Russell Brand in late 2011, and Katy Perry herself contemplated suicide at that time. Not an easy thing to go through. Recorded at numerous locations in California, this album was produced by Katy Perry, Max Martin, Dr. Luke, Cirkut, Klas Ahland, Stargate, Benny Blanco, Bloodshy, Greg Kurstin and Greg Wells. The album itself was released on EMI Capitol Records on 18 October 2013 and runs for over 48 minutes. Let’s jump back in time to 2013 and hear if this album release is any good.

1. Roar begins with some electronic drumbeats and keyboard patches, and launches into a Pop classic tune that sounds very good, majestically powerful. Katy Perry sings nicely, and when the chorus arrives, it does hit one in a unique way. The chorus does make this song what it is, and has been played extensively on the radio for many, many years. One can hear that Katy Perry is singing from quite a dark and sensitive place on this song. Nonetheless, a great song to listen to this very day. A wonderful Pop piece with a somewhat Rock Music structure to the sounds and vibe as well. The buildup and release towards the end is absolutely wonderful. A great song, without a doubt or question. Fantastic music is present, and Katy Perry creates some iconic Pop Music for the masses. Sweet.

2. Legendary Lovers begins with a distorted Sitar styled sound, and has Katy Perry singing from a deep and emotional place. This isn’t the most impressive music, though. One has to cynically bear in mind that this is Pop Music of the 21st century before listening to this album. Nonetheless, the singing and Pop melodies are nicely structured, although this is the sort of music that has been done to death over recent years. Nonetheless, this is a good listening experience throughout. There is a wacky Indian Music styled breakdown in the middle of this song, before it builds up vocals and sonic textures back into the music at hand. A really awesome and fine listen, this music is good for Pop Music. It’s decent. Straightforward and textured Pop Music.

3. Birthday begins with a weird Disco vibe and Fender Stratocasters, launching into a sweet and melodic tune that is great as cheesy Pop Music. A really good listen throughout with some naff but appreciable sounds to listen to, this music is a good, solid slice of Pop. This is not an album designed to last, sadly. It is quite clear from the outset that this is the case. Still, Katy Perry is the queen of trashy early 2010s Pop Music to listen to. This is one for people who want to hear a birthday song from the 21st century. Top music to hear for the purposes of young post-millennial Pop Music.

4. Walking On Air begins with a definite Acid House vibe with cut-up sounds, electric pianos and enters into a good tune that has a good dose of retro nostalgia. Again, this isn’t designed with long-term musical merit in mind, just really to sell records. Still, this upbeat and danceable tune is good for those of you who like to see the 2010s in musical retrospect. A really shiny, exquisite Pop Music piece that makes less sense to listen to today than it did in 2013. Good but definitely not great, although the breakdown in the second half is awesome. This is not music designed to gain critical praise, just to sell units. All the same, this is good but not perfect. Quite disappointing.

5. Unconditionally begins with some typical processed beats throughout. This is likely about dark emotional thoughts and feelings that one has in a dying relationship, which isn’t the best. This song is a devotion to love itself, even if it is not coming from a happy place. Katy Perry does a great job at melodrama, even though it is quite clear by this point that this album is fairly throwaway. Even so, one can appreciate the vocal and production efforts throughout. All in all, this music is movingly beautiful and astonishingly emotional. Even so, this is not the sort of album that will be revered in 10-20 years. Fairly bleak and average to listen to. This is very MOR sounding, and it is lacklustre.

6. Dark Horse features Juicy J and begins with some horrible electronic sounds and launches into a beyond terrible tune that is supposed to be a dancefloor filler when it is quite clearly garbage. This is not at all good to listen to, even though it was a big Pop Music hit at the time. A really interesting but terrible music piece, this is not how you should make a Pop/EDM music hit. Despite all its popularity, this mediocre song sounds shockingly bad, and it is not how you should make music. Juicy J’s appearance is not welcome here, either, and this is proof that Popular Music today is getting very bad indeed. At least it is under four minutes in length. Still, it isn’t very good to listen to.

7. This Is How We Do is much better, and begins with a catchy electronic riff and launches into a glorious Pop Music piece that sounds fine, fresh and fun. This tune has some more effort and a better music side of Katy Perry, although it is quite clear from this album that she is a singles artist, not an album artist. Even so, Katy Perry has a good attitude and a variety of songs that make sense to listen to throughout, if you like Pop Music from some time ago. Even so, this music is not designed to be taken seriously. Katy Perry is very much a hit-and-miss affair, with this being one of the former hits. It fades out at the end prematurely, with Katy Perry demanding to bring the beat back, before this tune concludes nicely. Interesting.

8. International Smile begins with watery and glassy Fender Stratocasters, launching into a rather pathetic tune that won’t be remembered or revered any time soon. This music has nothing particularly worthwhile or interesting about it, and it seriously lacks appeal throughout. The lyrics are fairly cliche as well, and this music is fairly lame to listen to. This is Katy Perry singing about herself, from a third-person perspective. Honestly, why? This is very selfish and self-obsessed as a piece of music. Neither flattering nor decent, the breakdown also has lame flight message-style humour, followed by a solo section that sounds horrid. You may as well stop this album now; you are not missing out on much here.

9. Ghost begins with some more minimal sounds and has Katy Perry singing about the difficulties and troubles that life can bring. Again, this album is fairly ordinary by this point, and it is quite clear that this music is designed to sell, not be critically regarded or to have long-term value. One can kind of appreciate this music, but it is nothing worth listening to throughout. It does sound terrible after some time, and although this feminine Pop Music is indeed popular, this is quite bad, to be fair. A real drag to get through about the death of a relationship. Poor.

10. Love Me sounds ordinary from the start. It has some electronic textures and pounding drums. This is an example of how broken hearts can be put into music and make something different. Even so, Katy Perry is not a great musician, to be fair. Her music and lyrics sound very off throughout. This is cheesy and disappointing listening. It points out that, in this day and age, mainstream music is not of a decent consistency or quality like it used to be. One can probably skip ahead if they wish; this is neither particularly good nor worth your ears. Katy Perry drags out making fake digital music that does not have a genuinely great appeal to it. At this time, it’s time to put on something else. Quite frankly, this forgettable music is disappointing. Not good.

11. This Moment begins with some wannabe New Order EDM sounds, beats and textures. Katy Perry sings well, but this music is definitely worth skipping through. There is nothing quite enjoyable or historically relevant at this point to hear. Katy Perry looks forward to a better moment in her love life and promises the world, even if her own personal life was in turmoil at the time. In any case, this music is sonically advanced, but with some of the most pathetic samples and sound melodies throughout. This music is really only suitable for pre-teen music fans, and nobody else. Sadly, that is who this music is marketed to. Katy Perry delivers a lacklustre song that is okay, but not truly fantastic. The intention is sweet, although this is not a memorable song.

12. Double Rainbow begins with some weird bell-like sounds, and has Katy Perry singing another useless song about finding true love. This is a rather contradictory music statement that does not match the events in her life. All in all, this tune is very forgettable and eye-rolling. One wonders why some artists with commercial potential do not just stick to single releases, rather than entire albums. Enough to send one to sleep, this is not music of a great proportion. It is deeply disappointing to listen to, and has no long-term appeal. Definitely stop the album if you have reached this point. Katy Perry is not good enough to be taken seriously in a musical sense.

13. By The Grace Of God is the final track on this album, and begins with moody piano. It sounds depressing from the start, and sounds like clichéd Pop Music. A forgettable, pathetic tune, this is not what we need or desire to hear from Pop Musicians at this point. It does point out that Katy Perry has a good singing voice, and she delivers in this area, although she has very little creative ingenuity or control over these songs. It is dull, depressing and unimaginative music to listen to on this song. Sadly, this sort of song has been done a million times over in recent memory. A sincerely lacking and unadventurous Pop ballad designed to sway emotions, not critical acclaim. The marching drums and piano throughout are quite nice, though. Katy Perry wraps up the album with some stripped-down instrumentation and predictable music melodies to match. This is okay, but only okay.

This is not the great Pop masterpiece of the 21st century that you are looking for. Aside from Roar, this album falls flat. There just aren’t any good or memorable songs to sink one’s teeth into. The album is very lacking, and therefore, no, this cannot be recommended to anyone, except hardcore Katy Perry fans. It just isn’t worth hearing.

Extremely disappointing.

3/10