Teenage Dream (Katy Perry album)

Teenage Dream is the third studio album by American singer Katy Perry. It was released worldwide on 24 August 2010 by her labels Capitol Records and Virgin Records. The inspiration on the album came from dance, pop and rock artists from the 1980s and 1990s, such as ABBA, Ace of Base, Cyndi Lauper and The Cardigans. Perry worked with many songwriters and producers on her album, including Greg Wells, Dr. Luke, Max Martin, Ryan Tedder, Greg Kurstin, Benny Blanco, Ester Dean, The-Dream and Christopher "Tricky" Stewart. The album mixes pop music with dance, electropop and rock influences. Some of it also includes hip-hop, teen pop, electro rock and Eurodisco elements. Content-wise, the album deals with topics such as love, career, self-confidence and free time.

Critics received the album mainly with mixed expectations, praising the dance anthems in particular, while criticizing the auto-tune effects and computer overproduction. In the United States, the album entered the American Billboard 200 at number 1 immediately one week after its release, with 192,000 units sold. The album was later certified double platinum for over 2,000,000 units sold in the United States. To date, the album has sold approximately 5.5 million copies worldwide. Six singles have been released from the album to date, which have become hits worldwide: California Gurls feat. Snoop Dogg, the title track, Firework, E.T. feat. Kanye West, Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) and The One That Got Away. All songs except the sixth single became number one hits in the United States and became top ten hits in more than twenty countries. The first five singles also became number one hits on the radio and download charts in the United States, making Katy Perry the first artist ever to do so in history.

When the song Last Friday Night became Katy Perry's fifth consecutive number one hit from the album, she became the second artist in the 53-year history of the Billboard Hot 100 to release five number one hits from one album, the first being Michael Jackson in 1987 and 1988 with his album Bad. Teenage Dream is also the only album to have seven number one hits on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. With the singles, Katy Perry remained in the Hot 100 Top Ten for 69 consecutive weeks, no one has managed this before. In total, all singles from the album have sold over 30 million copies worldwide.

At the 2011 Grammy Awards, Teenage Dream was nominated in the Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album categories. California Gurls was nominated in the Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals category and the title track and second single Teenage Dream was nominated in the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance category. At the 2012 Grammy Awards, the third single Firework was nominated in the Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance categories. The album was named International Album of the Year at the 2011 Juno Awards.

In January 2012, it was announced that Teenage Dream would be re-released under the title Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection. The Complete Confection was released on March 27, 2012. Immediately, Part of Me was released as the first single back in February 2012, this song reached #1 in the US and #1 in the UK. The final single released from the album was Wide Awake, which reached #2 in the US.

Composition

The album opens with the eponymous title track, an electro-rock-pop-rock ballad. The song features musically similar elements to California Gurls. The second song on the album and the fifth single, Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.), is a danceable pop song with a catchy hook. The content of the song deals with a rushed party night Katy had in Santa Barbara, California. The third song on the album and the lead single California Gurls is an electropop house song. It was created as a reference to Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys and is a declaration of love for the white beaches and lifestyle in California. The song has been dubbed a "California anthem" and "beach anthem" by many critics and fellow musicians. The song features synthesizer melodies and vocally Perry was technically helped via Auto-Tune. The third single and fourth song on the album Firework is a ballad-like pop dance anthem which was influenced by Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road. Perry said "the song has a beautiful message". The song used violins for instrumentation, which gave the song its fairytale melody. Perry's vocals were described as "inspirational" by MTV's Chris Ryan.

The fifth song on the album is the dance-pop track Peacock, which has been compared to Toni Basil's 1982 number one hit Mickey, as well as Gwen Stefani's 2005 number one hit Hollaback Girl. Circle the Drain details the breakup of Perry and her ex-boyfriend, Gym Class Heroes frontman Travie McCoy. The seventh song and sixth single is The One That Got Away. The song is a pop ballad with dance-pop and teen-pop elements. Perry explained, "...I wrote The One That Got Away about promising someone forever, but not being able to keep your promise in the end. It's a bittersweet story. Hopefully, the listener will learn by hearing the song."

The eighth song is E.T. an electropop and hip-hop ballad about "falling in love with a stranger". On the single release, Katy Perry still briefly hired Kanye West as a guest rapper on the version of the song that Katy released as a single. The ninth song is the electro-rock track Who Am I Living For, which features religious themes. The tenth track, Pearl, is a Eurodisco song that Perry said was inspired by herself. The eleventh song is Hummingbird Heartbeat, an emotional pop-rock ballad with a new wave melody. Many critics praised this song and thought it excellent for release as a single. The twelfth song is Not Like the Movies, a slow, quiet teen pop ballad. Katy Perry didn't finish songwriting Not Like the Movies until after she met Russell Brand. Katy explained that the song was "very special" to her because it dealt with a story that touched her deeply. Later, Perry explained that she tried to emotionally express all of her feelings with her vocals in the song Not Like the Movies.

Katy Perry during a concert in Nottingham, England.

Single Releases

All singles from the album have sold over 30 million copies worldwide, with each single selling an average of 4.7 million copies. California Gurls was released as the first single from Teenage Dream, the single featured American rapper Snoop Dogg. The single had its radio premiere on May 7, 2010 in the United States and was released digitally four days later. The song received high praise from critics and was named one of the album's favorites. Worldwide, the song enjoyed major chart success, becoming a number one hit in the United States and staying at the top for six weeks. Likewise, the song reached number one on the charts in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Ireland and Scotland. By January 2012, the song had sold over 5,137,000 copies in the United States alone, becoming the best-selling song of 2010 after Tik Tok by Kesha. By the end of December 2011, the song had sold over 8.5 million copies worldwide.

Teenage Dream was released as the second single from the album. The song was first played on radio in the United States on July 22, 2010. The song, like the first single, was highly praised by critics. Jocelyn Vena of MTV said, "Teenage Dream picks up where California Gurls left off" and praised the song's strong beat. The song had similar chart success as the first single. In the United States, the song reached #1 again, this time for two weeks. Similarly, the song reached #1 on the charts in New Zealand, Ireland, Scotland, and Slovakia. By the end of December 2011, the song had sold 4,003,000 copies in the United States. Worldwide, the song sold 6 million copies. Firework was released as the third single from the album. The song made its radio premiere in the United States on October 26, 2010. On November 2, 2010, the song was released digitally. The song again became a commercial success and even more successful than the second single. The song reached the top of the charts in many countries, including Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, and again in the United States, where the song spent a total of four weeks at the top in early 2011. With over 5,274,000 units sold in the United States, the song remains her most successful single there to date. Worldwide, the song has sold 7 million copies.

E.T. was released worldwide on February 16, 2011. For its single release, the song was remixed and featured rap verses by Kanye West. The song again became a number one hit on the American Billboard Hot 100, spending five weeks at number one. The song has sold over 5 million copies in the United States to date. Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) was released in the United States on June 6, 2011, as the fifth single from the album. The song became a number one hit in Canada, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the United States, where the song spent two weeks at number one. Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) sold over 2,717,000 copies in the United States. Worldwide, the song sold 3 million copies. Together, all of the first five singles spent 19 weeks at #1 on the American Billboard Hot 100.

The One That Got Away was released as the sixth single from Teenage Dream. The song made its radio premiere in the United States on October 11, 2011. The song reached the top 10 in Belgium, Canada and the United States, where it reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The music video for the song premiered on the Ellen DeGeneres Show on November 11, 2011. A remix and acoustic version of The One That Got Away were also released. To date, the song has sold around 2 million copies worldwide.

Promo Singles

Prior to the release of Teenage Dream, three songs were released as promotional singles. Not Like the Movies was released digitally in the United States on August 3, 2010, and debuted at number 53 on the Billboard Hot 100. Circle the Drain was released digitally as the second promotional single in the United States on August 10, 2010, and entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 58. ET. , the third promotional single, was released digitally in the United States on August 17, 2010, and entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 42.

Other Chart Titles

Peacock reached #64 in Canada and #52 in the Czech Republic, as well as #125 on the UK chart and #1 on the American dance chart. To date, the song has sold over 400,000 in the United States, although it was not released as a single or promotional single.

Katy Perry sings Not Like the Movies during her California Dreams Tour.