Katy Perry - TEENAGE DREAM (REVIEW)

She was born and raised by Christian pastor parents, grew up listening and singing to only gospel music, started her career as a gospel singer under her birth name Katy Hudson and released her self-titled debut gospel-rock album. Then in 2008 she released her second studio album and first mainstream pop album One of the Boys under her stage name and a new label which spawned hits like "I Kissed a Girl", "Hot N Cold", "Thinking of You" and "Waking Up in Vegas". Fast-forward to 2010: after her big engagement to comedian Russell Brand, Katy Perry releases her much-anticipated third album Teenage Dream.

The album definitely has a pop sound, known through current singles "California Gurls", a Californian beach-inspired electropop ditty (allegedly an answer song to Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind"), and the title track, "Teenage Dream", a quiet, romantic, yet heavily-synthesized electronic ballad inspired from Perry's "mutual fascination with the adolescent state of mind".

Besides the above 2 tracks, there are other standouts (to me, at least). One notable example is "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)", an upbeat song with lyrics describing the aftermath of a typical "Friday-night party" and recalling the events of the night before.

The packaging may seem sweet and all (and literally, too; the album cover smells like cherry-flavoured bubblegum when it's supposed to be cotton candy), but the content is quite the contrary. In "Peacock", Perry makes use of suggestive puns and lyrics like"Come on baby, let me see/What you hiding underneath" (now you know what she's referring to). The electro-rock number "Circle the Drain" criticizes ex-boyfriend and Gym Class Heroes frontman Travis McCoy, with lyrics like "You fall asleep during foreplay/'Cause the pills you take are more your forte" and "Wanna be your lover, not your f**king mother".

OK, now to the more tamer songs. "Firework", the confirmed third single off the album after "Teenage Dream", is a violin-plus-house number inspired by Jack Kerouac's classic book On the Road. In the song, Perry motivates and inspires listeners to not be common to excel, like the fireworks that go "boom, boom, boom" in the sky. "Who I Am Living For?" is a electropop song that expresses spirituality and faith, with the Biblical character Esther as inspiration. "Hummingbird Heartbeat" and "E.T." were inspired by Perry's fiance, British comedian Russell Brand.

The tamest song on the album is "Not Like the Movies", a slow ballad that uses minimal instrumental, mainly with a piano. The song suggests that in reality, nothing is like how love stories are portrayed in a film, with lyrics like "I didn't feel the fairytale ending, no/Am I a stupid girl for even dreaming that I could?".

The other tracks on the album are "Pearl" and "The One That Got Away".

Overall, I don't think Teenage Dream will spawn many singles like how One of the Boys did, but it is still a great summer/fall album with a fair share of upbeat pop ditties, suggestive novelties and slow, inspirational ballads. Therefore, I give Katy Perry's Teenage Dream:

2.5/5