Katy Perry - 'Smile' Discussion

[jimmytimestep 2,453]

Ok so I MAY have had a couple days to formulate an opinion here (naughty)...

but I like the album! It’s nothing special but it’s refreshing to have a major release that doesn’t feel like the star is trying so hard. She has nothing to prove.

THAT SAID, while these are nice dance songs, the only song that gets close to what made Katy popular (ie; massive, stadium shaking pop hooks like Firework and Roar) is NRO, so I can see what the critics feel it is “safe”. She goes back to form but doesn’t come back to form with guns blazing. That said; I don’t think she really cares and that’s what sets the album apart.

NRO - certified bop, one of her best 10/10

CAIL - fun, if a bit basic 8/10

TE - same 8/10

Daisies - this one grew on me. I do see why it was chosen as a single, it’s catchy and stands out from the rest. but something about it doesn’t add up still...it had potential to be one of her stadium shakers, but doesn’t quite get there. can’t put my finger on it 7/10

Resilient - I like it, I think it would have been improved with a dancier beat. I see why they went in this direction, for variety’s sake, but the song isn’t as successful for that reason. 6/10

NTEOTW - nope, most melodramatic trap beat I’ve ever heard. Feels shoehorned in to appease Dark Horse fans. 4/10

Smile - this also grew on me, the beat is fun and I like the lyrics. but why is there no bridge or feature? It takes me out of it every time I listen. 7/10

Champagne Problems - catchy! Fun! Even less earth shattering than TE and CITL tho, which isn’t saying much. 7/10

Tucked - ok so something about this one is VERY catchy. It feels basic to be a single but the hooks are real ear worms. Most potential for single here, I think. 9/10

HIH - I’ve always loved this one, I like the concept and the sway, and her vocals are on point. 9/10

Only Love - her best lyrics maybe ever? Really gorgeous. Wish chorus was a little bigger, could have been a single. 8/10

What Makes a Woman - maybe one of my favorite Katy ballads. It’s sweet and catchy. 8/10

OVERALL - 7/10

[nodandsmile 9,759]

"Not the End of the World"  "Tucked"   "Champagne Problems"  "Teary Eyes" and NRO >>>>>>>>

[Teletubby 134,562]

10 minutes ago, PersianHunty said:

can't remember the song

Can't Remember to Forget ?

 

[HausOfHarlow 378]

A couple listens in, and I think it's overall a very fun album. I always find Katy's music to be fun - the kind of fun where you can just dance and bop and listen in the car to kinda fun. NRO has always been a standout, Teary Eyes is catchy, NTEOTW is a fun beat and I like the sample, HIH has always been a bop, Only Love is a nice, mature song, and even though High On Your Supply is a bonus track, I think it's a silly but enjoyable song. 

[LastNight 5,678]

I wanted to love it but it falls a little flat for me. NRO and HIH remain the supreme songs on the album. I think Only Love is fantastic, and I really enjoyed What Makes A Woman; I wish she'd given us a record that stuck with the direction of these tracks.

I like Katy a lot and I really, really want her to have a well thought-out, cohesive body of work for an album, and I absolutely think she's capable of it. Smile, however, feels a bit like she's thrown a bunch of generic pop songs in amongst some real gems because she thinks she needs to cover that "dance-pop" genre, but I don't think she does at this point. A massive mega smash isn't on the cards for her at the moment, and I wish she'd use that to her advantage and see it as an opportunity to experiment and create something different.

I kind of want her to have her ANTI moment - it felt like that album arrived at a similarly critical point in Rihanna's career. She'd had a few stand alone singles (45S, BBHMM, AO) that maybe didn't reach the dizzying commercial heights expected of Ri up until then, and so she came back with a project that felt like a real 'f-you, I'm not gonna chase the charts, I'm gonna give you something bold and different from me instead.' Of course Work ended up being a mega smash, but the album wasn't typical for Ri. Up until then her records were mainly the hits surrounded by a bunch of fillers, but ANTI had a direction - it didn't feel like just a collection of songs. That's what I want from Katy, with whatever her version of that is.

[LG2008 2,973]

I really liked the album... 

Cry about it later is my fave 

[sexy 3,135]

Only Love is an absolute bop.

[The Clown 539]

Sorry, but it sounds like Teenage Dream without any of the iconic singles to me 

[Cookie Tookie 10,546]

Let's be real. This is much better than witness.

[Virgin Ryan 1,315]

38 minutes ago, The Clown said:

Sorry, but it sounds like Teenage Dream without any of the iconic singles to me 

Little bit TD + little bit Prism + little bit Witness. 

[President Biden 5,898]

ALL WE GOT

ARE CHAMPAGNE PROBLEMS NOW

[Eddie 2,518]

It's an ok album. Definitely not her best and people are gonna be over it in a month, that's how forgettable this album feels.

It doesn't have any concept and the circus theme is obviously something she put last minute.

The songs are the same of the same...you can pick any song from it and place it on one of her past albums as fillers.

[ConnorFilm 6,975]

 

[Sestri Levante 970]

It's fun and very enjoyable. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Never Really Over, Cry About It Later and Teary Eyes, these are really pop perfection 

[Oyster 2,458]

wow katy... that was underwhelming. if she’s going to stick to the same formula, i would expect it to be as catchy as teenage dream but it’s just forgettable