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A lot artists these days don't concentrate on having great lyrics anymore, especially young female artists who often rely on their looks and image created by their marketing company to sell albums rather than on the quality of the songs. The music accompaning those lyrics is great too. Often their albums also contain the same sounding songs throughout the album but Perry has thankfully not followed suit. All songs on the album are actually telling a story and as a bonus for those who don't illegally download or copy her album the lyrics are included in the liner notes as well. I didn't realise how many of the songs on here have been hits until I got this thing home and played it. Hopefully we see Katy Perry around for years to come.
Every generation needs their icons and Katy has the good sense to not fix what isn't broken but instead modernize it and give it her own touch. When 'One of the Boys' was released last year the general consensus among professional music critics was that it was formulaic, and although they weren't wrong, they did not understand that in order to fully embrace it you need to accept that as part of its charm. From her modest, religious upbringing to the kitschy, semi-retro fashion sense, the connection between the two is undeniable. And so what if it's been done before. Even the leftover recording sessions that have shown up in the form of bonus tracks are worth owning. "I Kissed a Girl" made a global impact akin to "Like a Virgin," "If You Can Afford Me" is a cheeky "Material Girl' update, and "Thinking of You" is a poignant teenage ballad anthem not unlike "Crazy for You." Perhaps if more critics had made this Madonna-Katy connection, they could have appreciated the genius of 'One of the Boys.' As Madonna has proven time and time again, an artist's humble beginnings do not necessarily define their potential and Katy Perry is certainly a force to be reckoned with.For anyone hesitating to buy this album, I can assure you there is no bad song out of the bunch and even though a lot of it is contrived, at least Katy draws inspiration from all the right places.
"Waking Up In Vegas" is perhaps the catchiest song of the entire set, building from spoken verses into a loud and explosive crescendo of guitars and percussion in a matter of only three minutes. Katy Perry's career bears a lot of resemblance to Madonna's in her early years. 'One of the Boys' serves as a reminder that the art of melody isn't dead in the new millennium; the generational fist-pumping anthem "Fingerprints," the wide-eyed ballad "Lost," and smoldering sadness of "I'm Still Breathing" are proof of that. The title track brings the attitude and new-wavey bounce of 'Tragic Kingdom'-era No Doubt while "Hot N Cold" and "Mannequin" keep the fun-loving spirit of the Bangles and Cyndi Lauper alive. ".Afford Me" even features a jangly-pop guitar breakdown à la The Cure. This is the kind of album that only comes along once in a blue moon and it has so much to offer.
While this doesn't exactly "break the mold" or "break the stereotype," it certainly shows a lot of promise and it is a good sign that there is still hope out there for pop music aficionados.
This album is better than I expected. I got it thinking it would have one or two songs I liked, but the entire album is really well done, with catchy lyrics and melodies. It has excellent production and musicianship.What impressed me the most was how many of these songs Katy Perry actually wrote herself. Not only is she a great performer, she is a great writer also.Can't wait to hear more from Katy Perry.
Lets face it guys i love lesos, just before i go to bed i like to put on a sticky copy of girls gone wild which gives an 1 hour a half of the sweetest pleasure. but there is something about this leso that totally brings me down is it that she sounds like an eskimo taking it from behind by a polar bear, a choir boy being harrased by a priest or just general bollocks anyway i would like to go over to her house at night and do a massive dumb on her and her girlfriends chest and then burn her house down while i still have time. the moral of the story is check twice before you sign a leso.
When I heard Hot And Cold on the car radio I recalled liking I Kissed A Girl during summer 2008, so I bought the album on the strength of those two songs, on the offchance that I would like some of the rest of it.I must add here that I am a 56-year old male British accountant, with taste firmly rooted in the 60s, and the last album I bought where I unequivocally enjoyed every track was Blue Hotel by Fox in 1977.Well, now there is another one. Every one has a strong melodic hook, and I love melody more than anything. And they are delivered with gusto and good humour in arrangements which are mostly spot on, if occasionally a little anonymous. While I very much like the quality of Katy Perry's voice - she's a husky pop shouter with a delicate breathiness in her upper register (I suspect, from Youtube clips, that she requires some studio assistance to deliver a vocal take with no tuning issues, but that's not a major problem on a record). I don't think any big statement is intended here. - I don't much care for a) the Alanis Morisette-style vocal mannerisms (viz. One Of The Boys joins a very small club - there isn't a track on it which I don't like.Let me get my reservations out of the way first. The lyrics, though sometimes gauche, are funny, witty, and often heartfelt (and, even when not, they still tell an entertaining story - how can you resist an album where the second line is "I can belch the alphabet, just double dog dare me")).
the register-changing yodel), b) the croaking groan at the ends of lines and c) the intakes of breath (stylistic choice, or poor mic technique and/or poor production). I'm also not a big fan of breaking words up ar tificially (if you see what I mean).But I love the songs - each and every one of them. I was delighted to see that Katy had a hand in writing all of them (and two of them solo).I had a quick look at critics - they seem to be centred on ciriticing the fact that these songs are exactly what they are - fun. After some seesawing back and forth, Katy has found the image she was looking for - Fruit, Betty Grable, big eyes, Minnie Mouse bows, and good-humoured theatricality, and this is reflected not only in her visual impact, but also in the material presented.I loved every second of this album, and I can't wait for the next one.
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