Katy Perry

[itskor 363]

i actually like it... 

[jvcx 3,644]

i do have to admit that cover suits her personality of a clown

[glitch diva 2,914]

The way she served beauty in that ugly cover. I'm excited to see the whole shoot.

[xcxc 913]

Okay but the clown nose is just nope

[Make me your Dream Life 88,149]

the cover's positioning is actually pretty balanced, taken into account the huge and slapped on title. so in that way, it's balanced, but there's just the issue of how unfinished and lacking in effort the red bar's been placed. 

like there's going for a tired effect, but this just looks careless from her team's behalf

[Make me your Dream Life 88,149]

I'm listening to the demo(?) and it's great. I like it. 

[yayoop 4,611]

I honestly love the cover and saw the Alt vinyl cover last night, I stupidly waited to preorder it and it’s already sold out

I’m gonna wait and see if they reprint or at least somewhere else like UO or something sells it, or I’ll just get the normal one. I love them both tbh

 

Excited to see how the playlist plays out, Resilient is a bop. I liked Energy and it’s sound but I’m happy with her scrapping it

[HEARTCORE 18,971]

the cover is actually not that bad. it couldve been a hell of a lot worse, esp considering what we were burdened with for witness

[BlueJeans 2,608]

 

If this really still has to be explained when artists have been doing it for years to count towards album sales...

 

Yes when the songs were... Like... Successful...   
No but kidding aside "Harleys in Hawai", while an interesting approach for her in terms of sound, did nothing for her.  I'm not a fan of "Never Really Over", but that's just me. It had an OK success but I wouldn't put my trust in that song to carry the album sales, that's for sure. 
 

HIH and NRO were only released in 2019, they aren't that old. They are good songs imo so I'm glad she put them on the album.

With that logic, why not include "Never Worn White" or even "Cozy Little Christmas" on the album ? 

I'm not trying to sound rude, I'm just trying to understand the strategy behind that release. The title and album cover all point to a "theme" album, one that I would assume will deal with the difficulty of always trying to seem glad when you're carrying something heavy inside. But sure, let's include HIH, the fans won't mind and it takes up 1 spot, so only 10 to good ! 

NFR had a bunch of singles prior to the album's release but at least all of them had been written with the album in mind. And while the album is a great body of work and wouldn't sound the same without them, I (personal opinion) couldn't help but feel like skipping those songs because I had played them over and over. 

On the other hand, I can admit that music consumption has changed. Streaming has changed the release of singles and albums and EPs, so I'm not stating I'm right.

[Tulips 3,731]

 

 

With that logic, why not include "Never Worn White" or even "Cozy Little Christmas" on the album ? 

 

 

Well I mean Cozy Little Christmas is a Christmas themed song so it not being on this album coming out in August makes sense. For the singles Never Worn White, Small Talk, 325 idk why they didn't make it on maybe they just didn't fit or something.

[BlueJeans 2,608]

Well I mean Cozy Little Christmas is a Christmas themed song so it not being on this album coming out in August makes sense. For the singles Never Worn White, Small Talk, 325 idk why they didn't make it on maybe they just didn't fit or something.

 

 

Right that was my point, I loved all these songs but they were separate releases and that's great the way it is. Why not focus on quality instead of quantity. I mean the songs are already available on all digital streaming platforms, why does her team (or her) feel the need they must be included on the record ? To me, it looks a bit disingenuous to me, like "Alright, please buy my album even though it features songs you already purchased/streamed". 

 

But perhaps I missed something and those songs had always been announced as part of the album of course ! I see on wikipedia that they're featured under the "Smile" so... In which case, it wouldn't be odd at all and I'm rambling for nothing. 

 

But that being said, I do feel like she lost herself as an artist. Everything she releases is different but not in a good way, I've rarely seen that. Of course, artists are free to do whatever they wan, however and whenever they want but take the "Witness album for example. Dark, esoteric, cold cover. Alright, different image, sure let's go with it. What does she put out  (visually) ? 

 

- Chained to the rhythm: love the song and love the music video but we have colors, bubbly, fun with a twist. That's a completely different vibe, isn't it ? (Imo, that should have been the way to promote the album.)

- Bon Appétit: weird single choice but ok. The aesthetic of the music video's final scene fits the record I guess. 

- Swish Swish: fun music video but again, where's the album's visual identity in this ?

- Save as a draft: ...

- Hey Hey Hey: colors, psychedelic, clumsy and way too much of everything. Again: nothing to do with the album's theme or artistic direction.

 

And you can spot that artistic dissonance rearing its head during the "Complete Confection" era and get stronger in the "Prism" era. 

Again, I'm not trying to bash her, I actually think she's very interesting to discuss in terms of image, music, eras, persona... So I hope I didn't often anyone in the process.

[HEARTCORE 18,971]

Well I mean Cozy Little Christmas is a Christmas themed song so it not being on this album coming out in August makes sense. For the singles Never Worn White, Small Talk, 325 idk why they didn't make it on maybe they just didn't fit or something.

365 wasnt her song, it was zedd's

never worn white was released pretty much for her to announce her pregnancy 

idk about small talk

[TrashMagiq 58,697]

small talk can rot im glad she didnt include it

[Vulnicura 2,267]

i like the cover. i was so confused when i saw all the hate lol

[bored 7,938]

Right that was my point, I loved all these songs but they were separate releases and that's great the way it is. Why not focus on quality instead of quantity. I mean the songs are already available on all digital streaming platforms, why does her team (or her) feel the need they must be included on the record ? To me, it looks a bit disingenuous to me, like "Alright, please buy my album even though it features songs you already purchased/streamed"

Never Really Over is the hit, unfortunate but true. It's an amazing song and was a return to form for Katy following on from Witness that didn't get the response from fans and the GP they expected. Therefore they needed a hit to launch the new album.

 

Harley's In Hawaii follows on from Never Really Over as another song about being in love (which seems to be a key theme of Smile). Plus fans loved it, there's also visual connections between the music video and the Never Really Over music video.

 

Daisies, I guess is the official lead single and is a great one (visually it seems a bit random but hey ho). It was a nice reintroduction into the era and one of her better singes.

 

Smile, is classic Katy Perry! The real Teenage Dream / PRISM sound that the GP expect and love from her. Realistically she should've came back with black hair and a pin up aesthetic and she would be smashing the charts (jokes). But I'm glad she remained blonde and is still out there with the visuals.

 

I get your point about having the droplets included but it makes sense, you say it should be quality over quantity? I believe that's what she did. The album is only 37 minutes! Never Really Over and Harley's are some of her best songs in recent years and I'm glad they found a home. I'd of been disappointed if Small Talk and Never Worn White were crammed on to the standard album too! Plus Small Talk doesn't fit the theme of new love etc. They'll make nice bonus tracks.

 

Your point about her music videos (in the Witness era) confused me... Katy has never had cohesive single visuals, rarely tying to the album theme.

 

• California Gurls is the only video from Teenage Dream that clearly links to the album artwork with the whole candy land.

• Teenage Dream was just fun and breezy.

• Firework, well... was fireworks.

• E.T. saw her in space with Kanye West.

• Last Friday Night was a teenage spring break house party.

• The One That Got Away again... random.

• Roar, she was Jane of the jungle.

• Unconditionally she was at some medieval ball.

• Dark Horse was ancient Egypt themed.

• Birthday was just birthday parties.

 

Anyways the list goes on! To me her singles have always felt like individual eras with their own identities. And that's nothing new?

[Danny Milk 2,469]

365 wasnt her song, it was zedd's

never worn white was released pretty much for her to announce her pregnancy 

idk about small talk

 

Small Talk isn't on the album cuz no one liked it 

365 was technically a duet but it was it's own little thing

[HEARTCORE 18,971]

Small Talk isn't on the album cuz no one liked it 

365 was technically a duet but it was it's own little thing

ya it was a duet but it was never meant for her album, it was just a thing she did with zedd

small talk was cute 

[ThisIsRusko 1,521]

the album cover is amazing. Harleys has to be on the album it's too perfect not to be

[White Hot 527]

The cover sucks

[June Gloom 1,787]

found this while putting the album into my end of year list- can't find any higher quality versions though

update: a quick google search finds one that's heavily cropped but might be slightly higher quality?  it doesn't look that much better tho (link)