‘Teenage Dream’ a terrible nightmare

Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" should have been a dream she kept to herself.

This is the third album by the mainstream female songwriter.

The cover art for the CD shows Perry lying naked on a cloud that has the consistency of cotton candy. The dated, cheesy cover matches the cheesy and gimmicky tracks found on the album itself.

Paying attention to the album, listeners can see why the song "California Gurls," featuring the rapper Snoop Dogg, was chosen to be the single played over the radio. The single seemed to be the summer anthem for 2010. The song was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks. The collaboration between the two artists was a breath of fresh air over the radio at the time.

The other songs, although equally sassy and feminine, are not as memorable or half as enjoyable. The instrumentals in each track are lost behind the baffling yet repetitive lines. In retrospect, the music is not very original or interesting to begin with.

Perry's contralto vocal range is wasted in this album. Something about having the deepest classical female singing voice and using it in a pop-oriented manner does not sound very good.

The margin of the songs contains noticeably suggestive lyrics. The best example that can be given is her song entitled "Peacock." The name itself is off-color, to say the least. The lyrics are not very thought-provoking and can sound a bit bizarre to people who have not heard Perry's previous material on her 2008 album "One of the Boys."

There are a total of 12 songs in the album. The length of the album is a little under 47 minutes. Buying the two-disc deluxe edition of "Teenage Dream" gives the consumer five extra tracks, the majority of them being remixes of songs from the first disc.

Unfortunately, Perry's new release cannot be called compelling or original, as there have been similar albums from various female artists within the last two years. It is just another raunchy pop album that seems catchy to most at first, but will soon become either completely obnoxious or forgotten.

You should not feel the need to make a list of pros and cons to determine whether or not to purchase "Teenage Dream." The best way to go about it is not doing so.

Contact Faythe Del Rosario at frosario.advocate@gmail.com.