First off , I'll be honest. Katy Perry has always been a popstar I've had a love/hate relationship with. Yes, she's had phenomenally brilliant pop songs and videos. Indeed , there is much I admire about her. The Teenage Dream campaign was beautifully orchestrated.
An incredible run of hits and the videos were some of the best pop promos of recent years. When Perry first burst onto the scene in summer 2008 with I Kissed A Girl , I was instantly smitten. Reinforced by the excellent Hot n Cold and the still brilliant romp Waking Up In Vegas.
What grated me about Perry though was her voice. Forgive me, but even to this day , it always seems like Perry had something straining in her vocal chords. Watching her sing live on awards shows was somewhat painful. I'm not saying she cant sing. In fact , her voice is distinctive , sounds better to me on ballads and acoustic versions of her big hits. I've never attended a Katy Perry live show , so I can't fully judge her live credentials.
And in a nutshell , I've always found her completely overrated. And I will admit that I would have loved my preferred female artists like Pink and indeed Gaga to have had the chart success the singles from Teenage Dream had.
I admire Perry and her record company for milking that album and giving us some incredible pop videos. Why stop at 4 or 5 singles? Who makes these rules. She saw an opportunity and grabbed it , and I applaud her for it.
And so , after the runaway success of the Teenage Dream era , laid to rest in one of the new promos, Perry now finds herself as a bona fide pop behemoth. Up there with Gaga , Beyonce and Rihanna. Judging by the hype around Roar , she may very well wipe the floor with the lot of them commercially when Prism drops in October.
The much hyped Roar leaked in full on Soundcloud yesterday. And once again , Perry has plucked another worldwide smash and another Billboard chart topper. It's anthemic , empowering pop with a fist in the air chorus.
Theres the Its A Hard Knock Life aping beats , and then the song really comes to life when Perry reaches the " I've got the eye of the tiger " part. And that chorus is irresistible. The song is nothing spectacular , nor is it a disappointment.
Perry plays it safe , in effect Roar is business as usual. The perfect opening salvo for the post -Teenage Dream era.
Expect Roar to top iTunes charts worldwide this week. No doubt , you're gonna hear Katy roar.
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