Katy Perry - Smile
- Thread starter jamesmax
- Start date
- Status
She just needs to make a good pop album that isn't so polarizing though I'm sure Witness failing had more to do with everything but the music. I still think that's her best album and I don't quite see why her label needed to "step in". It delivered some good pop songs. A bit bloated and needed to be trimmed, but she has a good enough ear for pop, so I'm not worried.
I disagree. I think the main issue with Witness was that it just wasn't that good. I thought it the first time I heard it. Most people on here had the same reaction. Reviews weren't great. The album didn't do that well. You'd assume someone in her camp or at her label would have felt the same and foreseen this? I don't know. Maybe if you're actually involved in the process of making an album, you're a little blind sighted to the actual quality of what's being produced.
Have you seen the reviews for her albums in general? PRISM being the only album with a metacritic aggregate above 60. But anywho each to their own. I don't see what's so bad about this album compared to her past albums. It had some of my fave pop songs of last year, so she did something right in my eyes and ears.
I listened to Witness again, and it's not really bad at all. The first five tracks are really strong, the middle kind of drags, and the bonus tracks are good. I wish "Roulette" and Witness" were released as singles -- they were the strongest tracks to me. "Bon Appetit" was decent, but missing something and the rap features made it too cluttered.
i think the ‘problem’ with her is her need to dumb down her songs/concept to the absolute lowest common denominator. and that showed a lot on Witness.
as a fan and a pop enthusiast, i understand what she was going for on Witness but it all got lost in translation when the execution started. Pendulum is in my opinion, the strongest song on the record. it’s one of these rare moments when i can take her seriously.
i also feel like she doesn’t known her audience. she’s catering to the Capital FM listeners when in fact, her generational peers like Gaga and Kesha moved on. yes Chained was a hit, but will the kids prefer her over Ariana and Camila? Joanne and Rainbow were (for better or for worse) a great evolution. it was a moment when both artists were like fuck it, i know ‘pop’ dead now so might as well do what i want. Witness doesn’t feel like an ‘adult’ album.
i think she needs to ditch Max Martin & co and give us a concept record. something she can stand behind and who cares if the song doesn’t go #1.
as a fan and a pop enthusiast, i understand what she was going for on Witness but it all got lost in translation when the execution started. Pendulum is in my opinion, the strongest song on the record. it’s one of these rare moments when i can take her seriously.
i also feel like she doesn’t known her audience. she’s catering to the Capital FM listeners when in fact, her generational peers like Gaga and Kesha moved on. yes Chained was a hit, but will the kids prefer her over Ariana and Camila? Joanne and Rainbow were (for better or for worse) a great evolution. it was a moment when both artists were like fuck it, i know ‘pop’ dead now so might as well do what i want. Witness doesn’t feel like an ‘adult’ album.
i think she needs to ditch Max Martin & co and give us a concept record. something she can stand behind and who cares if the song doesn’t go #1.
Last edited:
I only use Swish Swish and Bon Appetit from Witness. Everything else is unlistenable.
But Tsunami
F
Former member 21294
I am judging everyone who uses Swish Swish after the week it got released. The record has several peak moments but Swish Swish is not one of them. Oh at all.
It's over.
I think we'll see more acoustic guitar Alanis style song writing. There'll be hooks and the usual duff lyric here and there but offsetting them with the old cohesive classic production will balance the palette. I think album will lead this campaign rather than the usual collection of singles approach. I think she'll also move away from anything Dance or rnb. I also expect a really great duet with a bloke. A grown up guitar led Frank Ocean song would be fresh. Neons and pastels are out. I think the colours of the visual might be predictably sober and muted.
Honestly, something like this would excite me more than anything at this point.
Witness is still awesome and I’ll never understand the vehement hatred towards it.
The ideas behind the album were nice and it could have been quite brilliant if they’d executed it correctly but as it is it’s just a weird, half baked mess. And I wanted to love it. It’s just...not good.
There are some bones of great songs there but, ‘Bon Appetit’ aside (kii), most of it just fails to hit the mark.
There are some bones of great songs there but, ‘Bon Appetit’ aside (kii), most of it just fails to hit the mark.
- Status