Customer Reviews

Teenage Dream

5 star:		(110)
4 star:		(44)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(31)

 

 

I doubt if Katy's main objective with this release is to stimulate our cerebral muscles but she might want to stimulate you in other ways. She's very naughty here (a shout out to new hubby Russell Brand perhaps?), veering into territory more frequently inhabited by the likes of Ke$ha, Britney, Rihanna and Shakira with such trashy anthems as "Teenage Dream", "Peacock" (hey, Toni Basil!), and another of my particular favorites "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" in which the narrator drinks too much, breaks some laws, has a three-way and indulges in other hedonistic activities. I make no apologies- this song makes me feel young again.

Other highlights include the divine bubblegum dance pop hit "California Gurls" in which Snoop Dogg's little bits are a welcome addition. "Firework" really surprised me. I first heard it on the radio and thought it sounded like Katy but at the same time there was something different about it. Probably my favorite song on a very consistent album, the music is all joyous strings with Katy belting out this beautiful anthem of empowerment like it's the last song she'll ever sing. I love the way she goes right from the sublime to the ridiculous in the following "Peacock", a funky and hilarious ode to a man's `architecture' and back again to the heartache of "Circle The Drain", a song about drug addiction. I can't help but wonder how much of this CD's material is based on reality and how much is fiction which adds to its allure for me. "Hummingbird Heartbeat" is my final favorite, a kind of sister song to "Teenage Dream". This record is fun, humorous and at times even touching. It even smells good! Like the sweets adorning our Ms. Perry in the album artwork, this is a pure confection of guilty pleasure.

Katy puts out a fun upbeat pop album. But unless you want to explain to your kids or young teens about wanting to see a guys "peacock" and threesomes, I'd leave it out of your kids library.

I wasn't really sure how to rate this album because it really feels like two different albums in one. Half of the tracks I can't stand, and the other half I love and play on repeat. Here's my breakdown:

1. "Teenage Dream" - 7/10
It's a hit for a reason - it's very catchy but misses the mark with me for value.

2. "Last Friday Night" - 6/10
The song sounds okay, but the lyrics make this one worth skipping.

3. "California Gurls" - 7/10
Once again, catchy but no real value to me.

4. "Firework" - 10/10
Great song. This is probably what made me buy the album! Not only is this tune unforgettable in sound, but the lyrics are inspirational, about realizing there is something amazing in you even when you are down for the count.

5. "Peacock" - 1/10
SKIP - about a man's manhood.... ugh

6. "Circle the Drain" - 10/10
Here was another of my favorites. This one, while being catchy like most of Perry's album, deals with drug addiction, but from the point of view of a partner who doesn't want to see her S.O. go down deeper and deeper. This message is a tough sell - "I'm leaving because I don't want to deal with your addiction" - when most people want to hear a message of help and support, but this is a song about looking out for your own best interests, more like "Who am I living for?" (#9).

7. "The One That Got Away" - 10/10
Very touching song. Most of us, I think, have been there, and it's hard not to like this one.

8. "E.T." - 10/10
This track is so cleverly written and composed, it's hard not to take to it. The metaphor is unique (
kind of reminds me of Britney Spears' "Toxic" though) and this album version doesn't feel nearly as cheap and campy as the remix with the ridiculous rap lyrics.

9. "Who Am I Living For?" - 10/10
"I can see the writing on the wall/I can't ignore this war/At the end of it all/Who am I living for?" This song can be taken a lot of ways - I see it as an antiwar song from the point of view of a soldier, but I also interpret it as the anthem for anyone fighting for what they believe in but being faced with other people's overbearing views. To me, it says, "You want me to do it your way, but this is my life, and I have to do what I believe in." I group this with "Firework" and "Circle the Drain" for sure.

10. "Pearl" - 10/10
A great song with a strong message. If you know a woman who was fierce and strong before her current relationship, but her current partner dims her or subjects her, then this song will make you tear up.

11. "Hummingbird Heartbeat" - 5/10
I'm no prude, but I found this song embarrassing. I didn't like the metaphor, and I could hardly listen to it. I would group this with "Peacock."

12. "Not Like the Movies" - 9/10
A good song about not settling and holding out for "the one" and not simply "the one who wants you."

13. "California Gurls" Remix
I didn't care for the original, so not real comment about this one.

14. "Teenage Dream" Remix
See #13.

So, overall, it was hard to rate this album given that it's half juvenile, snickering, I-made-a-sex-reference tracks or superficial, meaningless lyrics and the other half strong messages of value. I think most of Perry's fans will be buying this for the radio "hits" that I happened not to like much, and that's a shame because there are quite a few gems in here: "Firework," "Circle the Drain," "The One That Got Away," "E.T.," "Pearl," "Not Like the Movies," and "Who Am I Living For?"

Hope this review helps.

This album obliterated my expectations. I originally bought it for my girlfriend, but after listening through the album a few times during car rides, I often request it and even borrow it for lonesome car rides. The album is done extremely well in all aspects. Production, Engineering, Mixing, Writing, even the song order is perfect. A+++ work coming from a person who is always slow to compliment.

The First Katy Perry song I heard was Hot N Cold, and I fell in love with her voice. The first song I head from her second album was Califonria Gurls, and I couldn't stop listening after the first line. She has amazing vocal tallent, and the lyrics are fantastic and catchy in Teenage Dream. Firework is my personal fave in this album, but all the songs are outsanding, and it is hard to pick one just one as a fave.

I won't go into a review of the music as that has been covered by many others under the CD edition. Let me tell you about the absolutely fabulous vinyl edition,,,
TOP QUALITY !!! This edition is one of the best thought out and just plain fun vinyl sets that I have purchased recently. First off it is a double disc set, 180 gram white colored vinyl. Glossy standard weight gate fold jacket with a nice photo on either side of Katy. Full face glossy paper sleeves with candy swirl red and white print. Also included is a separate double sided glossy paper lyric sheet with the same candy theme design. Keeping with the candy theme the jacket has a noticeable smell of cotton candy. The sticker on the plastic wrap does warn of this, however it is not over powering and surely will fade quickly. 12 tracks, just like it's standard CD counterpart are spread across both discs, 3 tracks per side. This could have been put onto a single disc, but by spreading them out the manufacturer has taken a great step in giving plenty of room for the groove. Many times, even with 180 gram vinyl, 6 tracks or more are jammed onto one side which results in "micro grooving" or narrowing of the groove, resulting in loss of sound response and a tendency for the needle to jump the groove or "skip". At under the 20 dollar mark this is very much worth the money. I highly recommend this set! Also, the vinyl set of Katy Perry's other album, One Of The Boys, is also just as noteworthy with the same thought of fun and value. Please see my review for that one if you'd like to know more.
Thanks for reading my review!

I originally heard of Katy Perry while surfing on Youtube. I came across her songs "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot and Cold". Having liked them so much, I checked her first album "One of the Boys" out from the library. While these two songs and a couple of others were great, I was not that impressed with the album as a whole.

Teenage Dream did not disappoint me, though. In fact, I love it. The songs are so melodic and just plain fun to listen to. My mornings are so much better now that I have it to listen to while driving. While I cannot say I recommend it for children (it has a parental advisory sticker for a reason), those who are old enough should love it. The highlights of the album:

-Teenage Dream. This song is a great opener. The heavy guitar riffs during the chorus make the album start off with a bang.

-Last Friday Night. The upbeat rhythm makes it a great party or dance song. Especially since it is about getting wasted and doing scandalous-yet-fun stuff on a Friday night.

-California Gurls. While the music video is incredibly stupid, the song itself is great. It features rapper Snoop Dogg on guest vocals.

-Firework. It rules. That is really all I can say. She hits the high notes with her voice; proving she can actually sing.

-Peacock. I get a guilty pleasure from listening to this song. Do a google search on the lyrics and see what I mean. The lyrics are so adult, yet the song is so catchy.

The rest of the album is good, too, but the above are hands-down the height of Perry's second album. Some artists have the sophomore slumps, but miss Perry is not one of them. It is so nice seeing good artists after all that garbage the music industry has been putting out this past decade.

The first five tracks on this album are standard fare, a lot like One of the Boys; upbeat, catchy, silly, colorful pop music with sexual connotations. But after that, the music shifts to a more serious, mature and dark place; songs like "Circle The Drain", "E.T.", "Who Am I Living For" being a lot more mellow and heavy-hitting. In my opinion, they're a pleasant surprise, proving that Perry can do more than radio-friendly sugary laced pop songs for pre-sexual teenagers giggling about penis metaphors. "Circle The Drain" is my favourite, it's like a sledgehammer of honesty about a former boyfriend with a heavy drug addiction, both the intro and outro are surprising, and the chorus is great. "E.T." is also a great thumping club-track, sensual but with great powerful vocals, far removed from "I Kissed A Girl". "Pearl" is more of a power-ballad about the many disempowered and abused women of the world - not exactly the most original topic or special melody. "Hummingbird Heartbeat" kind of merges the two; the chorus is upbeat but there's a little bit more of a pop-rock sound to it. Catchy chorus, but again, it's all sexual metaphors (will her next album be called "Arrival of the Stork"?). Finally wrapping it up is "Not Like The Movies", a ballad that proves that Katy Perry can actually sing when she puts her mind to it. A decent way to wrap up a very surprising album, that could've been fantastic if she dared to take the leap to a darker place, but that might disappoint the preteen/early teenage audience.

Katy Perry did go a little too mainstream sounding on this album, compared to her 2008 album "One of the Boys" (which I love), but she still delivers an amazing album. I got the day it came out and since have listened to it about 20-30 times (I don't listen to it much anymore since I've been getting so much more albums over time, but I would have listened to it even more).

1. Teenage Dream- 9.5/10- The song is overplayed, but I'll still give it a 9.5. It's a nice way to begin the album.

2. Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)- 10/10- I heard the first 2 seconds of the song, and I instantly loved it. It does sound a bit like a mixture of California Gurls and "Teenage Dream", but it's just sooo amazing! The chorus is the best part.

3. Califoria Gurls- 10/10- This song is overplaed also, but I just feel like giving it a 10. If you havent noticed, it has basically the same melody as "Tik Tok" by Ke$ha, but this song is way better. (The music video is great, also!)

4. Firework- 9/10- Maybe this song is also getting a little too much radio time, but I absolutely love the lyrics, and the beat is still good.

5. Peacock- 10/10- This song is immature, but I love it so much! It's a song you could do a cheer routine to.

6. Circle the Drain- 10/10- Katy Perry sounds mad in this song. It's very rock and it's a great song about her ex-boyfriend. I love the lyrics and especially the chorus.

7. The One That Got Away- 10/10- It's a very sad and upbeat-ballad and it fits perfectly on this album.

8. E.T.- 10/10- Katy never does Europop songs like this, and that's why this song is unique. I like it a lot.

9. Who Am I Living For?- 10/10- I didn't really like the song at first, but now I love it. It has a soft electronic beat and it's a great highlight of the album.

10. Pearl- 10/10- This song is a great electro-ballad with amazing lyrics. It's one of my favorites.

11. Hummingbird Heartbeat- 10/10- This is the only song that really reminds me of "One of the Boys". The beat is great and although it's not my favorite, it's still great.

12. Not Like the Movies- 10/10- A great way to end this album (it doesn't really end the album, becuase there are 2 hidden remixes, but whatever). It has great lyrics, like the rest of the album, with a very slow and soft beat, and it's my favorite next to "Last Friday Night"


The two hidden remixes, California Gurls (Passion Pit Remix) and Teenage Dream (Kaskade Remix) are also extremely catchy.
To any pop fan, I recommend you buy "Teenage Dream" or at least her debut, cuz Katy Perry is great.

My top 3 favorites:
1. Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)
2. Not Like the Movies
3. Peacock

I bought the 2-cd set of Teenage Dream,wich I recommend.
Well,it smells good when you open it,just like candy!
The songs have a fun vibe to it,Katy is having fun here,my only complaint is that her vocals are little annoying,other than that,its all good.
I like all the songs alot,the 2 cd,Dream On: has some really good song and the remixes are way awesome too!
Good sophmore cd for Katy,I do believe her 3rd cd will be even more succesful than this one.
Katy also co-writes her songs here so she does display a little bit talent.
Good albumn!