Teenage Dream
For her second album, Katy Perry took her new star status as a cue to explode outwards in every direction at once. Everything is day-glo bright and pin-sharp, even in the moments of pained introspection (“Who Am I Living For?”) amid the sloppy party anthems (“Last Friday Night”), silly sexiness (“Peacock”), and nostalgic trips back into teenage heartbreak (“The One That Got Away,” “Teenage Dream”). So rather than tone down her eccentricity, she adds even more sparkle, color, and complexity to that cartoonish persona.
Each Sunday, Pitchfork takes an in-depth look at a significant album from the past, and any record not in our archives is eligible. Today we revisit Katy Perry’s second album, a sugary pop juggernaut with big misses and even bigger hits.
Katy Perry seemingly has everything it takes to be today’s biggest female pop star. Her voice can carry huge choruses, she’s willing to have her image remolded, her label has ponied up for pricey hitmakers, and she has a classically cute face attached to a double-take body. Too bad for Perry, then, that Lady Gaga is…
Working hard is Katy Perry’s stock in trade: whether she’s cavorting in the Californian sun or heaving her cleavage, she always lets you see her sweat, an effect that undercuts her status as a curvy Teenage Dream, the ideal she puts forth on her 2010 sophomore set.
Katy Perry seems more cheeky than transgressive in her new album 'Teenage Dream'. Rating: * * *