Katy Perry - One Of The Boys Review

Posted by Mitch Michaels on 06.25.2008

Sexy “I Kissed A Girl” singer makes her shiny pop debut…

My Story
I’m a guy. I love rock. It’s very rare for me to hear a new female singer, on the radio especially, that captivates me. That’s not to say I don’t have lots of favorite female artists. Heck, I can even see the merits of Kelly Clarkson. But still, when it comes to women, I don’t much care for many of them as rockers. I reveal all of that honesty to say this: when I heard Katy Perry the first time, I knew she had something special. “Ur So Gay” was just an incredibly COOL song. And from a girl, no less! Then, when I saw the video for “I Kissed A Girl” (and got past how much I enjoyed seeing so much MORE of Katy), I knew that she was definitely going to be huge. Now, “I Kissed A Girl” is already flirting with the top spot on the Billboard 200. So let’s see if Katy Perry can sustain her magic throughout an entire album.

Her Story
Katy Perry (ne Katy Hudson) was born in California in 1984, the daughter of two pastors. Katy was encouraged to sing at a very young age by her father, who had her singing at church, fairs, restaurants and anywhere else people would listen. Growing up, Katy’s only musical influences were gospel singers, as nothing secular was allowed in her house. However, Katy claims that the whole world opened up to her when she discovered a Queen record at a friend’s slumber party as a teenager.

At the age of 15, Katy made the decision to focus on music full time. Her first stop was Nashville, where she worked with legendary songwriters like Glen Ballard, learning how to write songs. Around that time, she released a Christian album under her real name, Katy Hudson, on indie Red Hill Records. When that album failed to go anywhere, she decided to focus all of her energy on secular pop music.

In 2004, Perry hooked up with production team The Matrix and worked for them as an in-house producer. She worked with Ballard, who had produced the ultra-successful Alanis Morissette album Jagged Little Pill, on a new album which was due for release in 2005. That year, the first Katy Perry track, “Simple”, was released on the Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants soundtrack. Unfortunately, it would be the only song forthcoming, as Katy’s album with The Matrix was shelved indefinitely by Sony Records.

Katy continued to toil away, trying to get noticed. By 2007, she had been working on a music career for five years and she was only 22. That year, she signed with Capitol Records and began work on her debut for the label. An EP, Ur So Gay, was released later that year, generating a lot of online buzz. A lead single from her debut full-length, “I Kissed A Girl”, was a full-on radio hit.

While preparing for the release of her Capitol debut, Perry appeared on TV soap “The Young And The Restless” and also announced that she’d be appearing on every date of the 2008 Warped Tour. With her radio success, as well as a commercial for Too-Faced Cosmetics and appearances in videos by Gym Class Heroes and P.O.D., Katy is quickly becoming music’s IT girl.

For more info, check out Katy’s official site and MySpace.

Media

Katy Perry – “I Kissed A Girl” Video:


Katy Perry – “Ur So Gay” Video:


The Album
On June 17, 2008, Capitol Records released One Of The Boys, the debut album by Katy Perry. The album features the tracks “Ur So Gay” and “Lost” which were previously issued on the 2007 Ur So Gay EP. Retail exclusive bonus tracks include “A Cup Of Coffee” (Wal*Mart) and “I Think I’m Ready” (iTunes).



The Band: 6.0
Katy Perry: vocals, whistles, producer

On One Of The Boys, you don’t have to look very far to figure out where Katy Perry’s influences are. Katy sounds (at times precisely) like Alanis Morissette, if instead of really angry Alanis had been a slut who would do nearly anything to get attention. This sounds like a criticism (if this is Katy’s true character - at times she comes off as plastic as the pink flamingo in the album art), but it’s actually meant only as an observation. Sluts can make good music, too, just look at Steven Tyler.

At something like seven years in the making, Katy’s debut album draws from nearly all of her experiences – her time in Nashville, her work with The Matrix, her relationship with the genre-bending Gym Class Heroes. This bits and pieces recording is never more clear than in the album credits, as no less than TEN producers are listed, ranging from Butch Walker (Pete Yorn, Pink) to Glen Ballard (Alanis) to the Eurhythmics’ Dave Stewart. This gang of makers (and a bevy of co-songwriters) makes One Of The Boys one of the most schizophrenic records to come along in a long time.

Do you like punk-ish Avril LAvigne pop? Got it. Big girl ballads? Check. Rock numbers? Of course. Can she do indie? Of course! I’m surprised Lil Wayne doesn’t make an appearance, actually. Capitol must have been unwilling to spring for him. All of this is enough to hide Katy’s talent behind an array of noise and beats, as she and her team worries more about getting it diverse enough to appeal to literally every American group she can think of.

Well, congratulations are in order, because this album definitely dabbles in nearly every type of modern pop song you can imagine. Does it master any of them? Not really, but there’s enough bad attitude to carry it onto radio anyway.

The Songs: 8.0
1. One Of The Boys
2. I Kissed A Girl
3. Waking Up In Vegas
4. Thinking Of You
5. Mannequin
6. Ur So Gay
7. Hot N Cold
8. If You Can Afford Me
9. Lost
10. Self Inflicted
11. I’m Still Breathing
12. Fingerprints

As questionable as its inclusion of everything under the sun is, One Of The Boys absolutely succeeds in being jam packed with potential hits. The girl power title track kicks things off with an interesting perspective: I don’t want to be one of the boys because I don’t like boy stuff. Has it really taken the feminist movement this many decades to figure that out? It’s an undeniably catchy, fun girl track, and a great intro to the even more female celebrating “I Kissed A Girl”, which takes Jill Sobule’s original idea and injects it with a healthy dose of sex and rock.

And that’s the biggest problem with One Of The Boys. You want to hate it SO much for being so coldly calculated and morally questionable (how do you get from the indie Christian Katy Hudson to “I hope you hang yourself with your H&M scarf/While jacking off listening to Mozart), but you CAN’T because it’s so calculated and morally questionable. “Waking Up In Vegas” is an enjoyable sin city tale, while “If You Can Afford Me” is enough to make Pink throw-up, which makes me smile.

In the end, whether you love Katy Perry or hate her, you might as well get used to hearing her, because this record is ready for the long haul. And Katy seems to be willing to do whatever it takes to make you hear it.

The 411: Katy Perry takes influences like Alanis Morissette, Pink and Gwen Stefani and shows why she’ll never be that talented on her debut, One Of The Boys. Instead, you get an insanely meticulous pop album designed to appeal to the most mass audience possible. “I Kissed A Girl”, “Ur So Gay”, “If You Can Afford Me” – even the titles are designed to draw attention. But, even knowing this, you can’t deny how engaging this record is. Katy’s voice is serviceable enough to slip into balladry, and she takes herself so un-seriously that she can make fun of absolutely every aspect of being a girl while still championing all-powerful femininity. You won’t be able to stop hearing her, and that’s a good thing, because One Of The Boys is a hit machine.

Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]