Katy Perry – Teenage Dream (only the non-singles!) review

So, for review #10, Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream (original 2010 release), albeit only the songs that were not released as official singles. That is six tracks, none of which were produced by the very much in demand producer, Dr. Luke, also known as Łukasz Gottwald. If I were to do the same with the recently released Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection, it would only add one track, as it contains more singles, and different versions of other singles, “E.T.” featuring Kanye West for example.

There is no doubt, one cannot get much more commercial than Katy Perry, but she seems to be talented, underneath the overproduction, as she did work quite hard to get where she is now (so I understand). With this kind of commercial music, infectious hooks and all, it can merit some good points, if being catchy, and a guilty pleasure at the very least. I consider myself fairly good at distinguishing good music from not so good, and Katy Perry seems to have some potential. I thought after “I Kissed a Girl” she could have gone either way as far as being a one hit wonder, depending on what the record label thought, which in the end would have been about selling product.

As a whole, the six non-singles range from throwaway to decent songs. “Peacock” is a silly intentionally semi-explicit number, not too bad, not too great either. “Circle the Drain” (it was a promotional single) is the highlight of the non-singles, as lyrically it “focuses on a former lover’s drug-addiction and the strains it put on both of them.” It is a more serious tone, as one can imagine given the lyrics, and the actual expletives are on this one (which I dig, as it goes against what society of old would expect from women). Despite that, it is fairly up-tempo even while being in a minor key.

“Who am I Living For?” and “Pearl” are not very interesting, while “Hummingbird Heartbeat” really is not great, but kind of catchy, and sounds like it is channeling some 80s retro synth pop energy! And it features live acoustic drums! “Not like the Movies” (the first promotional single apparently!) is one of two (“Pearl” being the other) that only has two songwriters, Katy Perry and Greg Wells. It is a cheesy (for lack of a better word) ballad, so, not too good. Minus the cheesiness, the arrangement has some nice elements (my attempt at being nice?), that aside, another throwaway track.

This version has a couple of remixes as bonus tracks, “California Gurls” featuring Snoop Dogg (Passion Pit Main Mix), and “Teenage Dream” (Kaskade Club Remix). I generally do not care for remixes, and these are no exception! On a positive note, Passion Pit on their own have some good tracks from what I have heard.

Sources used:
Teenage Dream (Katy Perry album) | Wikipedia
Circle the Drain (song) | Wikipedia
Not Like the Movies | Wikipedia