Capitol
Pop, 2013

Katy Perry isn’t rocking her formula with Prism, her fourth effort, and despite bringing in some new blood to play along with her usual producers and co-writers, the whole thing feels like a stale retread.

There is the usual mix of female empowerment tune meant to make ugly and fat girls feel good (Roar), corny attempts at raunchy songs using hamfisted puns and double entendre (Birthday), some no-nonsense feel-good song that just wants everyone to raise their hands and shake their heads like crazy (Walking on Air), and such.

The thing is, the songs here all lack the catchy hooks of better past efforts like Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F) or they feel like retreads, such as Roar which is patterned after the formula that made Firework a success.

There is nothing multifaceted in Prism, just boring personality-free songs that remind me of better tracks by this lady in the past.