前言:On her fourth album, the pop superstar finds a more unifying soundbut struggles to come up with lyrics that aren't plain cringe-worthy. 在她的第四张专辑中,这位流行巨星找到了一种更加统一的声音,但却很难找到不那么令人难堪的歌词(内容上相对统一,但是歌词太差了)。
第一段:Six years ago, when Teenage Dream tied the chart record set byMichael Jackson’s Bad with five No. 1 hits off one album, Katy Perry became themodern paragon of the singles artist. Armed with Max Martin and Dr. Luke’scalculated approach to ear-wormery, Perry dominated pop radio more than anyoneelse for the first few years of the decade. Since then, the format wars have shiftedtowards streaming, and with it, more pop superstars have tried to make theshift to album artist. Prism, Perry’s 2013 album, was a small step in thisdirection, but it suffered from classic Pop Album Syndrome: trend-hoppingaround genres and tempos with nary a thought of cohesion. But as cloying as thepiano line in “Roar” has become, the big singles saved Prism from flop status.Besides, as Luke himself once said of Perry’s first two albums, “If you canmake huge first and second records, if you have a third record that sucks, youcan still do a fourth record, no problem.” 六年前,当《春梦》(Teenage Dream)与迈克尔·杰克逊(MichaelJackson)的专辑《Bad》(一专五冠)齐名时,凯蒂·佩里(Katy Perry)成了单曲艺人的现代典范。有了马克斯·马丁(Max Martin)和卢克博士(Dr. Luke)精心设计的听起来十分抓耳的制作,阿果在这个十年的头几年比任何人都更能主宰流行电台。但从那时起,音乐之间的竞争已经转向流媒体,与此同时,越来越多的流行巨星也试图转向专辑艺人。阿果2013年的专辑《Prism》是朝着这个方向迈出的一小步,但却遭遇了经典的流行专辑通病:在流派和节奏之间跳来跳去,丝毫没有能将专辑统一在一起的凝聚力,。不过,尽管《Roar》中的钢琴声令人生厌,但几首热单挽救了Prism,使其摆脱了失败的境地。此外,正如卢克自己在谈到佩里的前两张专辑时说的那样,“如果你能制作出成功的第一张和第二张唱片,即使你的第三张唱片很烂,你仍然可以制作第四张唱片,没有问题。”