Well, hello there! I’m Sam Lansky — writer, pop music enthusiast, and professional plastic bag drifting through the wind. It’s Thursday, and you know what that means: It’s time for another round of Pop Think!
This week, I'll be discussing the legacy of Katy Perry's record-smashing, wig-snatching album, Teenage Dream, which might just amass its sixth (!) No. 1 single if "The One That Got Away" tops the charts as her last five singles have.
Is your heart racing in your skintight jeans yet? Good! Now clean up that melted Popsicle and let your colors burst, because after more than a year, this teenage dream is still going strong.
Has one album been more dominant on radio in the last year than Katy Perry's Teenage Dream? Since its release in August 2010, Katy's sophomore album has spawned a spectacular five consecutive No. 1 singles -- "California Gurls," "Teenage Dream," "Firework," "E.T.," and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)." It comes as no surprise, given that the album is an undeniable monster, crafted with the industry's top producers -- Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Stargate, Tricky Stewart. It's also devastatingly infectious, with a solid-gold collection of pop smashes.
Katy was already well-established as a radio-slaying act after her 2008 debut One of the Boys went platinum and ushered in megahits like "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot N Cold." But there must be some special magic in an album like Teenage Dream, which, if new single "The One That Got Away" tops the Hot 100, would break the record she currently shares with Michael Jackson for the artist with the most consecutive No. 1 hits from one album. Even if über-producer Dr. Luke is the closest thing to a surefire hit machine that exists in today's music industry -- even he isn't entirely immune to the fickle conditions of the pop market -- an album needs more than just catchy hooks to achieve the kind of success that Katy has with Teenage Dream. Something has to strike a singular chord with the listening public to reach that pinnacle of unparalleled achievement.
And clearly it has, even though Teenage Dream is a curious record, thematically. Sonically, it’s consistent -- furiously hook-driven pop-rock with a thunderous dance influence -- but lyrically, these singles cover a lot of ground. There's the wistful jubilance of the title track, the heartrending nostalgia of "The One That Got Away," the frivolous fun of "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" and "California Gurls," the uncanny lust of "E.T.," and the "it gets better" self-empowerment message of "Firework" -- a more diverse collection of ideas than is represented in many pop albums, to be sure. One thing is certain, though -- if there's a unifying theme represented on Teenage Dream, it's right there in the title. This is an album about youth: its joys, its miseries and its tragic brevity.
+ Read more about Katy Perry's teenage dreams after the jump.
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Tags Dr. Luke, Katy Perry, Pop Think
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