Teenage Dream (Katy Perry album)

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.

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.