Katy Perry – “143” coming to slay/ "The LIFETIMES Tour"

[Ivy Leegue™]

I'm now convinced that Tracks 2-9, uninterrupted, is Katy's best run of songs on an album. I would die on that hill. ALL of her other albums are marred with skippable to bad songs in between hits. I never want to skip these songs. For me, this is the album. The songs around it could have been relegated to bonus tracks or nothing at all. That said, I recognize now that these are shells of great songs. Production needed to have more bells and whistles. They are there but wayyyy turned down. Crush is one of the best examples of this. It's not quite demo quality. It certainly sounds professional, but it still is missing some special sauce. I can't really put my finger on it. In my universe, it's released and smashes. That said, I'm now 100% on board with I'm His, He's Mine. TikTok needs to grab a hold of it though. As much as I would like radio to play her organically, I just don't really see it at this point. The good news is: there are different ways to get hits in this day and age.

[pnobelysk]

Oct 3, 2024 12:09:42 GMT -5 bat1990 said:

Here's a list of songs where she was the sole writer or only has one co-writer. Co-writer is in parenthesis

Use Your Love (John Spinks)
One of the Boys
Thinking of You
Mannequin
Ur So Gay (Greg Wells)
Lost (Ted Bruner)
I'm Still Breathing (Dave Stewart of Eurythmics)
Fingerprints (Greg Wells)
Not Like The Movies (Greg Wells)
By The Grace of God (Greg Wells)
I Woke Up (Gamal Lewis)

I had a hunch thinking of you was self written. I think it’s really underrated

[SPRΞΞ]

Oct 3, 2024 21:33:33 GMT -5 Ivy Leegue™ said:

I'm now convinced that Tracks 2-9, uninterrupted, is Katy's best run of songs on an album. I would die on that hill. ALL of her other albums are marred with skippable to bad songs in between hits. I never want to skip these songs. For me, this is the album. The songs around it could have been relegated to bonus tracks or nothing at all. That said, I recognize now that these are shells of great songs. Production needed to have more bells and whistles. They are there but wayyyy turned down. Crush is one of the best examples of this. It's not quite demo quality. It certainly sounds professional, but it still is missing some special sauce. I can't really put my finger on it. In my universe, it's released and smashes. That said, I'm now 100% on board with I'm His, He's Mine. TikTok needs to grab a hold of it though. As much as I would like radio to play her organically, I just don't really see it at this point. The good news is: there are different ways to get hits in this day and age.

do you skip Woman's World because of the lyrics? To me, and they're all Dr. Luke songs, it's the most Katy Perry song of them all. Plus it sounds the most layered. I'm curious what you're not hearing, cuz I find it super catchy.

[balletgirlmom]

I am enjoying 143 more and more.  Hope her numbers for week 2 hold up.  Any word yet on the Billboard Top 200 week 2 numbers yet?

[Ty]

It's not going to be great because there is no hit single.

[Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ]

Australia albums chart

#13 Teenage Dream (+11)
#20 143 (-18)

[👑 Eloquent ™]

Oct 3, 2024 21:33:33 GMT -5 Ivy Leegue™ said:

I'm now convinced that Tracks 2-9, uninterrupted, is Katy's best run of songs on an album. I would die on that hill. ALL of her other albums are marred with skippable to bad songs in between hits. I never want to skip these songs. For me, this is the album. The songs around it could have been relegated to bonus tracks or nothing at all. That said, I recognize now that these are shells of great songs. Production needed to have more bells and whistles. They are there but wayyyy turned down. Crush is one of the best examples of this. It's not quite demo quality. It certainly sounds professional, but it still is missing some special sauce. I can't really put my finger on it. In my universe, it's released and smashes. That said, I'm now 100% on board with I'm His, He's Mine. TikTok needs to grab a hold of it though. As much as I would like radio to play her organically, I just don't really see it at this point. The good news is: there are different ways to get hits in this day and age.

You know what's funny? I can't even argue this. I agree completely. Songs 2-9 are indeed the heart and best of the album and collectively are a solid group of songs. Just as you, I feel like the production (and maybe lyrically a few songs and a missing bridge here and there) keep some of them from really hitting the "it factor" level and it's just some of the production elements that even date them to begin with (which was my main complaint). Meanwhile, "Gorgeous" and "I'm His, He's Mine" is perfection, and I am genuinely loving "All The Love", "Artificial", and "Lifetimes" while liking the other 3. I definitely see the potential there as they're all very catchy and solid melodically, just need some retooling. Like, "Lifetimes" could use a bridge and maybe another chorus. With all that said, there is a consistency in 143 that is lacking in all her other albums sans "Teenage Dream". I feel like the same songs with different producers and maybe less fine-tuned, robotic vocals that strip the personality from Katy's voice a bit would've given this album a completely different reception! Meanwhile, I don't know if anyone else has heard the original (demo) version of "Woman's World" but personally I feel even it was melodically so much better and had an actual feeling behind it as opposed to perfectionized, microwaveable pop that was the released version. I genuinely like it. I definitely see what she was going for with this album though and I can see through my initial issues with it and appreciate the vision and songs more now as it's had time to settle.

[bat1990]

"Truth" is the only song I actively want to skip, so I agree with a lot of what everyone is saying. Not only is Dr. Luke a shitty person, but he's a shitty producer and Katy half-baked goods.

[munx 🐒🎯]

Blasphemy!! Truth is a bop! 🤭

[👑 Eloquent ™]

Oct 4, 2024 18:04:32 GMT -5 munx 🐒🎯 said:

Blasphemy!! Truth is a bop! 🤭

"Truth" feels like the it could've been pulled right off Witness to me. Like I could easily hear it played following the title track. The strongest part of the song is its callback pre-chorus to me.

[avamaxstan]

I don’t disagree that this would be a solid top 40 pop album… if it were released in 2010.

[Eqbk]

I wasn't planning on listening to this album since I didn't care for any of the singles but I was a fan back in the day so I thought I'd give it a chance. This album is not good. I can't even rank songs or highlight my favorites because nothing really sticks out. At least not enough that would warrant them to continue pushing this album/era. If Katy and co are smart (and I'm not particularly confident about that), they would turn the "Lifetimes" tour into a greatest hits tour. Maybe just perform the singles from this album and the rest of the setlist needs to be the hits.

This album's main issue is that there were other agendas that took precedent over the actual quality of the music. In general, the songs sound under-developed and not fully fleshed out, which might have been intentional. It felt like these songs were crafted in the hopes that it would trend/go viral (at the cost of quality) but missed the mark. This album felt like it was created in boardroom of people who are aware of trends but don't actually understand them. It's basically "Pokemon Go to the polls" in album form.

Then there's Dr. Luke being all over this album. It's obvious at this point that Katy/her team saw this as not only her potential comeback, but his too, and the album suffered as a result. I talked about this in the "Lifetimes" thread, but why would you utilize Dr. Luke as the main producer for a dance album when it's not his forte? Why not work with actual dance producers? The answer is that they care more about rehabilitating Luke than they do about making a good dance album. And if Luke's inclusion on this album was a foregone conclusion, why exactly would he be motivated to give Katy his best material? If they were insistent on giving him a chance, they could have just notified him that Katy was working on new album and have him submit material. Then if the material is good enough, he would make the album, instead of choosing to just automatically involve him.

I read somewhere that she had wanted to make a dance album and an acoustic album. Since this is her dance album, the acoustic one is presumably next. If she's smart (again, not confident about that), she will not involve Luke. Besides bringing unnecessary drama to herself, Luke is not the type of producer you go to for an acoustic album. Hopefully, at least the label learned their lesson and can tell Katy no if needed.

[wavey.]

"Goregous" is becoming my 2nd go to. Kim slayed her verse. If You Dont...

Also:

[Coco Yu'Kneek- Saint]

Now that i discovered she is really Keisha Perry I'm a fan!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAn3BzwRgh5

[Bhad Bill]

Tell me that ALL THE LOVE into NIRVANA isn’t a Chromatica II into 911 moment…

(Gaga’s is better but DAMN Katy is a good second).

Also finally loving HE’s MINE!!! IM HIS!

[Ty]

Why is "I Woke Up" so catchy. I would swap out "Truth" from the standard edition.

"No Tears for New Year"...should have stayed in the vault.

[ObhiDonna]

Oct 5, 2024 22:05:10 GMT -5 Bhad Bill said:

Tell me that ALL THE LOVE into NIRVANA isn’t a Chromatica II into 911 moment…

(Gaga’s is better but DAMN Katy is a good second).

Also finally loving HE’s MINE!!! IM HIS!

Yassss this take!!

[Dylan :)]

No Tears For New Year has so much potential but falls flat. I don't really care for I Woke Up, but I wouldn't complain if both songs were on the standard edition. It's not like the album was anywhere close to too long

[Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ]

Sabrina's album had 14k pure copies, so I guess 143 is in #51-#70 territory, or at least top 100.

[#LisaRinna]

How's streaming for the new single?

[avamaxstan]

Oct 4, 2024 7:45:03 GMT -5 balletgirlmom said:

I am enjoying 143 more and more.  Hope her numbers for week 2 hold up.  Any word yet on the Billboard Top 200 week 2 numbers yet?

Not balletgirlmom trolling the Katycats like this! ☠️

[Dylan :)]

#76 (-70) on the BB200. A much stronger hold than I expected! Also I think the main reason I don’t like Woman’s World is the intro and outro. The high pitched intro is grating, and the spoken outro is awful. Other than that, it’s not bad. It would have been better around #7 on the tracklist. All The Love should have been the opener

[wjr15]

https://www.instagram.com/p/DA3xNrTSDEp

[jeremyald]

Oct 8, 2024 8:53:01 GMT -5 Dylan :) said:

#76 (-70) on the BB200. A much stronger hold than I expected! Also I think the main reason I don’t like Woman’s World is the intro and outro. The high pitched intro is grating, and the spoken outro is awful. Other than that, it’s not bad. It would have been better around #7 on the tracklist. All The Love should have been the opener

Dropping 70 places is a stronger hold than expected?

[Resident_Evil]

After more than a week into its release I am hooked into each and every song (aside from the trashy first single). Katy has indeed done a great job (aside from the promo which was a complete disaster).

Wonder makes me sad and the lyrics ring so true. And like someone mention all these transitions between songs are cohesive and nicely done.

There are a couple of songs on the album that would have been hits…10 years ago. Sadly as good as the songs are it seems like Katy is in a rut and is incapable of creating a different sound/persona.

I think the album would’ve fared much better with another lead single..but i guess we will never know. Perhaps a re-release? But it might be too late now.

[Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ]

Oct 8, 2024 13:09:23 GMT -5 jeremyald said:

Oct 8, 2024 8:53:01 GMT -5 Dylan :) said:

#76 (-70) on the BB200. A much stronger hold than I expected! Also I think the main reason I don’t like Woman’s World is the intro and outro. The high pitched intro is grating, and the spoken outro is awful. Other than that, it’s not bad. It would have been better around #7 on the tracklist. All The Love should have been the opener

Dropping 70 places is a stronger hold than expected?

well, yes. It's not GREAT, but 143's first two weeks exceeded expectations. Many thought it wouldn't even debut in the top 10, and then it'll drop below Teenage Dream and the top 100 (I thought that too). 

[SPRΞΞ]

I thought it wouldn't even be on the chart at all, lbr.

[munx 🐒🎯]

Slays 🔥

[Ty]

Quite surprised that WW still managed to find an audience somewhere after all the drama.

[Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ]

a timeless hit. I think it'll be eligible for 2X DIAMOND in 2 or 3 months. only two songs achieved that - Uptown Funk and Sunflower.