Katy Perry’s PRISM was one of the most anticipated albums of 2013. Last year, I did a track-by-track review of the album, which is no longer available online, due to my removing it from the site where it was posted. However, for purposes of the Underrated Underground, I’m going to use the passage of time to my advantage and give you more of a historical perspective of how the various singles from PRISM have performed.

So, wait… Katy Perry? One of the most successful pop stars of all time and the #1 selling digital songs artist of all time? Underrated? Yes. PRISM is far better than the critics decreed it to be and Katy continues, even with her monumental success, to be under-appreciated and under-respected. But that’s a topic for a whole series of articles. Today, I want to focus on PRISM.

You can trust me when I say the PRISM lives up to the hype it received and it actually was even better than I could have imagined. Many other critics, however, consider it significantly inferior to her second album, “Teenage Dream.” There are a number of reasons for this, and part of that has to do the debut single and the song that launched PRISM, “Roar.”

Today, we’ll be focusing on just how hearing Katy “Roar” actually turned out.

Many critics were underwhelmed with "Roar.” Some went as far to term it a "boring" girl empowerment song. IF you sit there and analyze it, there is a bit more to "Roar" than that.

Pretty much everything you need to know about “Roar” is in the opening lines of the song. The lines "I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath/scared to rock the boat and make a mess" could refer to her early music career when she was trying really hard to stay within the lines of Christian music. But as so many people that grow up in highly strict environments often tell themselves: "So I sat quietly, agreed politely."

What follows is the strongest part of the song, "I guess I forgot I had a choice/I let you push me past the breaking point." This is obviously when Katy realized that she had to break the mold to truly create the music that she really wanted to.  "I stood for nothing/So I fell for everything" is probably the strongest line in the lyrics. During the past several years, it’s been clear that Katy has been searching for an identity. Since “One of the Boys,” Katy has been all over the place with her experiments in fashion, trying to find a way to define herself. As she said in many early interviews regarding both "Roar" and PRISM, only now through the process of writing this record does she feel that she has truly been finding herself. This song is a perfect reflection of that, as she is always sure to point out.

That verse being as strong as it is, the song does become a bit generic after that. "You pushed me down/But I got up/Already brushing off the dust" is a bit too cliché. "You hear that voice, hear that sound/Like thunder gonna shake the ground" is fine, though. The rest of that bridge is okay: "You held me down, but I got up/Get ready ‘cause I’ve had enough/I see it all, I see it now" is still rather clichéd as pop music lyrics go. It’s after this that the song falls apart for a lot of people.

The chorus is the part where most critics have a field day. It flat-out references the Rocky films with things like "eye of the tiger" and "I am a champion," and while "you're gonna hear me roar" is really cute, it has grown tired and stale for a lot of people already. The second verse is a bit disappointing, too, and not a good follow-up to the strength of the first verse. Its very cutesy imagery of "floating like a butterfly" and being able to "sting like a bee, I've earned my stripes" takes away a good deal of momentum from the extremely relatable lyrics from the opening verse. "I went from zero to my own hero," though, is a very quotable line. But after that, the song doesn’t offer anything else.

Katy was going for a powerful lead-off single to kick off PRISM. It was indeed powerful, and did have the popular success she’d hoped for – and more, in fact. However, it didn't pack the punch that many music critics were expecting that it would. To be fair, after Teenage Dream, the expectations were a bit unrealistic, being one of the most commercially successful album cycles of all time. It seems that what Katy wanted was a fun little self-empowerment anthem, to step up and be the very best you that you can be. Unfortunately, many critics see it as a silly girl-power anthem made only for her adoring Katy Cats. But from talking to people about the song and combing the internet for reactions, “Roar” is generally liked by a lot of people. It’s the fact that it was played to death that killed it for a lot of people.

Being the Katy Cat that I am, I love “Roar” to depth. It got me pumped for PRISM, and the album did not disappoint me. Then again, I quickly figured out her purpose in writing the song, and most critics missed the boat on it. Katy takes being a pop star very seriously, and while she doesn’t necessarily write songs only for the charts, she's well aware of what her core audience (the Katy Cats) want and expect from her. There is a good message in “Roar” right in that first verse while the overall tone of the song is extremely upbeat, and the core message very positive and uplifting.

Commercially, “Roar” did fantastically. “Roar” actually was the hit that finally dethroned the so-called Song of the Year “Blurred Lines,” which I was more than happy to see go from that top spot. However, “Roar” didn’t remain at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US for long due to Miley Cyrus’s smash hit "Wrecking Ball" coming out of nowhere – a status which it actually did sort of deserve, honestly. “Roar” has been one Katy’s best-selling singles of all-time and continued to blow away the charts in many other countries, as well as the Billboard genre-based charts into 2014. The dance remixes of “Roar” have also fared extremely well.

As a hardcore Katy Cat, I find myself having to just love this song for what it is despite its obvious shortcomings. It’s not as strong as some other songs on PRISM. “Roar” may be on par with a lot of her other #1 hits, which, besides perhaps “Firework” are not really musical works of art; they’re just catchy enough that you can't get them out of your head. Most of her #1 hits also are upbeat enough to be important parts of one's daily soundtrack, and “Roar” definitely fits that bit. “Roar” is probably a 7.5 for me on pure content alone. But as it’s served as a get-me-out-of-bed and get-me-going tune, it’s been too personally motivational for me to rate any lower than at least an 8.

I gave it an 8.5 back in November for the sheer fact that it was a fantastic tone setter for what is very much Katy’s best album so far. I don’t see myself changing that rating now. I know a lot of people will disagree with it, but there are just as many that will probably beg me to change it to a 9 or a 10. But I’m sorry – Roar’s a nice anthem, but it’s no “Firework.”

Miley Cyrus has become one of the biggest names in music today. Unfortunately, she hasn’t been successful due to her musical talents. She’s become most famous – infamous in some circles – for her antics. Of course, her past as Hannah Montana helped her star rise, but she has gotten away from that persona perhaps as far as you possibly can.

BANGERZ was a bit of a mixed bag as an album. It had the smash #1 hit “Wrecking Ball,” a song that I actually believe deserved its fame. But despite my less-than-impressed feelings about “We Can’t Stop” and a few other tracks on the album that I feel quite skip-worthy, there are some songs here that I personally really like.

That’s right, Miley has underrated tracks. I’m no Smiley (what Miley calls her fans), but I’ve always believed that Miley does actually have some good amount of talent in her. She displays it on a few tracks from BANGERZ.

So here are the Top 5 Underrated Tracks from BANGERZ!

5) Drive

When I first heard this song, as the song started and I heard the background track, I was convinced I wouldn’t like this song. However, Miley's singing on this track is fantastic. Were it not so over-produced, as are many tracks on this record, I’d like this one a lot more. The lyrics are solid, and with real instruments, this could have probably been a big hit. This song is definitely one of the better tracks on BANGERZ and all that's held it back is a few choices in production – for example, the somewhat annoying backing tracks.

4) Adore You

The opening track on BANGERZ, "Adore You" is a very sweet love song. Compared to the rest of the album, it does seem a bit out of place. Miley is at her best in this one. It was selected as the third, and final, single from BANGERZ. It received fairly positive critical reception, as I feel it deserved. The music video, which featured night vision shots of scenes resembling a leaked sex tape, probably didn’t help its cause however. It peaked around #24 on the Hot 100. It’s a shame that this song didn’t do better, and the controversial music video probably hurt this one. The controversy worked for “Wrecking Ball” – but the same trick didn’t work twice. 

3) F.U. (feat. French Montana)

“F.U.” is definitely one of the more unique songs on the record. This is very likely the first time that I’ve ever heard “LOL” used in song lyrics. But it’s not done in an incredibly stupid way. Honestly, by the track title alone, I expected "F.U." would be a lame track, but it turned out to be really clever. Her collaboration with French Montana, who I wasn't familiar with before this track, works well here. It's a different style for Miley, and again, the over-production irks me a bit. However, I can forgive that, due to its cleverness. While it has its share of corny lines like "go give yourself the flu," overall, it's a great song.

2) Maybe You're Right

“Maybe You’re Right” is a culmination of great beat, great lyrics, and great performance - what every pop song should aspire to be. This is a track in which the production actually complements the song rather than distracts from its true potential. I suggested in my track-by-track review of BANGERZ last year that "Maybe You're Right" could be a solid follow-up single to "Wrecking Ball," which sadly it did’t – although Miley didn’t help her cause with “Adore You.”

This song is a bit reminiscent of Miley's older work in the best possible way. It's honest and relatable, unlike a lot of the rest of the record where Miley is so desperate to make herself a “bad girl” and attempting to be stupidly controversial just for the sake of controversy. This is one of the best songs on the record and one not to overlook.

And the #1 underrated track on the record is:

1) Someone Else

Fittingly, “Someone Else” closes out the non-deluxe version of BANGERZ, and she goes out with a proverbial BANG in my opinion. I apologize for the horrible pun, but this one works. Miley was going for a dance-inspired tune with this one, and the production is really good. It's actually a very enjoyable listen and a pretty heart-breaking track. 

The line "He left with my heart / They both walked through that door without me" really got me. What really sets this song apart for me from the rest of BANGERZ is how blatantly honest it is about what happens when the one you love betrays you: the pain causes you to turn into someone else. This was a perfect way to close out this album. It left me with hope that Miley might make more music like this. Perhaps that’s a bit much to ask, but this song exists, and I’m glad that it does.

BANGERZ is certainly not the shining magnum opus that Miley might have been going for, but it certainly brought her into a new stage of her career. Obviously, “Wrecking Ball” was a bigger hit than she could have ever imagined. “We Can’t Stop” was a huge hit as a promo single, and while I despise that song, you have to admit that it did what it was intended to do – be an insidious earworm. I was really thankful that Miley did grace this album with at least 6 decent tracks – these 5 and “Wrecking Ball” – which is not any sort of underrated. 

I wish only the best for you, Miley. Just stop trying to be controversial and just be Miley for a change. Or are those two the same thing?

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Today, we celebrate the day of birth of one of the most amazing human beings to ever walk the face of God's green earth - an individual by the name of Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson. Born to Mary and Keith Hudson on October 25, 1984, little did they know that their little gift from heaven would grow up to be a devil-child. Um, I mean, the Queen of Pop. Who knew at that very beginning that her mamma's little Katy-Bird would grow up to become such a super-star and inspirational force in the lives of so many young people - including myself.

Well, I think her parents and a lot of others around her knew she was talented from a very young age. That much was obvious. But little Katy-Bird up and flew away and went on a long journey to stardom. It was a rough ride and it had some incredible highs during the Teenage Dream era. Some people will always say those were the best moments of Katy's career, but I disagree. Katy still has had a chance to dominate like no other artist has ever done. Unfortunately, PRISM has not had quite the commercial success that Katy had hoped. On the bright side, "Roar" and "Dark Horse" have sold phenomenally, while "Unconditionally" performed underwhelmingly and "Birthday" was a bomb. The Prismatic World Tour has also been a success, despite not having the variety that the California Dreams Tour offered. The pop scene has an absolute disaster for a while, more than it has ever been. But some huge out-of-nowhere successes such as Lorde's "Royals" and Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass" have mitigated that disaster somewhat. Unfortunately, Katy is simply not doing as well commercially as she once did.

Now having turned 30 years old, it's clear that Katy is looking towards her post-music career already. She's very involved in her Kitty Collection with Claire's, her spokespersonship with Cover Girl, her sudden love for the NFL (because she's playing the Super Bowl in February 2015), and of course, her perfume empire. Katy has already dropped plenty of hints that her next album will be an acoustic, stripped-down affair - which I'm definitely looking forward to. Katy's already accomplished a lot. However, I'm not crazy that her current tour has become a sort of pre-packaged product and that she's been basically been a walking promotional machine. But while I'm not crazy about how she seems to be getting more away from the music right now, I understand that she's just setting herself up for the long run.

With all this woman has done for me, the inspiration from her lyrics, her smile and positivity, and everything else she's stood for, I will be a KATY CAT FOREVER!

Happy 30th birthday, Katy!

OK, I have been pretty disgusted with the Top 40 for quite a long time. I'm not a fan of Taylor Swift's new smash hit "Shake It Off" - it does nothing for me. Most of the Top 40 I think is really not worth of my attention. Then I see that this Meghan Trainor comes out of nowhere with this "All About That Bass" song and I'm thinking - OK, what the hell is getting to #1 these days?

So I decided to watch it. I did not expect what I saw.

It was as bass-heavy as advertised. It is very catchy. But not only that. It has a fantastic message, telling girls to love themselves as they are and not worry about being a size 2. It is true, trust me. Most guys do like a "little more booty" yet it seems like society is trying to program girls to be as skinny as possible. Meghan obviously isn't the skinniest girl herself, and she's proud and confident and the right kind of girl to deliver this message.

She has a bit of an unusual voice that took me a bit getting used to listening too, but I think it's just her style. I haven't heard any of her other music yet, but good for her. She deserves this #1 and I hope that message isn't lost on the girls that need to hear it. And guys, yeah, a "little more booty" is good.

But if you're skinny it's okay, too  We all come in different shapes and sizes, and no one should tell you what you should and shouldn't be. Just be you!

And it really is all about that bass.

When I was growing up, country music was all we listened to in my household. Some people might say, wow, you missed out. I really don't think so. I grew up listening to the great and legendary country-rock band Alabama, who have sadly become a bit forgotten nowadays. I listened to the legendary acts of Alan Jackson, George Strait, and Martina McBride on a daily basis.

But besides Brad Paisley and the Zac Brown Band, and the holdovers from the 90's, I stopped listening to country almost exclusively in about 2002. I moved on to Top 40, then alternative rock, then basically listened to anything that suited my fancy - as long as it wasn't new country. I felt that country music had lost its identity and become a Southern "redneck" extension of pop music. It made me sick and it all started to sound the same.

Well, my faith in country music may not have been restored, but there is one artist who is most definitely a country artist, but has gained a lot of respect from me as both a performer and a songwriter. That lady is the young Kacey Musgraves. Not only is her song-writing fantastic and her messages straight-shooting and extremely relevant, but she has a sweet voice to deliver them, too.

Here's what's easily my favorite song by her so far, and perhaps her most famous, Merry-Go-Round:

If you haven't listened to Kacey Musgraves' music, you really should. "Follow Your Arrow," especially, is a poignant tune about being yourself and not having other people point the direction of your life for you. In fact, Kacey originally wrote it with the plan of giving it to none other than her good buddy, Katy Perry. Katy then told her to keep it for herself. Of course, Miss Queen KatyCat most likely would've turned it into a number one hit, but I agree with Katy that Kacey was right to keep it for herself, as it fits her no-nonsense, straight to the point commentaries on the obvious flaws in our everyday society.

Speaking of Katy and Kacey, they did a CMT Crossroads together a few months ago. When you have about 40 minutes to spare, you owe it to yourself to watch it. It is incredible.

CMT Crossroads: Katy Perry and Kacey Musgraves

Although, I don't think anyone can do "Firework" like Katy can, it's pretty awesome seeing Katy singing Kacey's songs and vice versa. I hope Katy does a random country album someday. She does love country music after all.

I'm just glad I have another new artist that I can add to my playlist after a couple of years of really finding no one tickle my fancy. If you're looking for a new country artist and you haven't listened to Kacey yet, you definitely need to check her out.

Don't take my word for it!

Katy Perry combines her love of vintage fashion with some re-imagined versions of some of her past looks from older videos for a sweet and silly concoction that is the "This is How We Do" music video.

I must confess that I am a die-hard KatyCat, and I'm not afraid to admit it. That being said I have not been much of a fan of her videos thus far from Prism. I absolutely adore the album, and while I have some issues with "Dark Horse" mostly due to the guest rap verse, it's probably among my top 5 favorite albums of all time. Even "Teenage Dream" barely makes the top ten, mind you!

"Roar" was cute. I feel that it was a song that had more potential than Katy's producers let it have in the final over-popped product. "Unconditionally" is a gorgeous song that had a very symbolic and artsy video that didn't really go over well with much of Katy's audience - although I appreciate what she put into it. "Dark Horse" was very controversial, and considering that it was never meant to be a single in the first place, the mess of a video was sort of understandable. The "Birthday" video was love it or hate it, and for the most part I hated it. But my feelings about those other videos are each enough for their own pieces.

Today, we talk about my favorite video thus far from Prism, and that is "This is How We Do." It's actually my second-least favorite song on the album. But it's catchy and as Katy has said her self, it's like a "Last Friday Night" part deux. It's basically a song about going out on the town and doing all sorts of stupid stuff, although none of it quite nearly as bad as the shenanigans from Last Friday Night - although spending all of your rent money on bottle service probably is a poor life choice.

But what I love most about this video is the fact that it shows Katy in what I believe is her best light, simply having fun and wearing all kinds of adorable wigs and outfits. Katy loves playing dress-up and she's good at it. There were a couple looks in the video I wasn't incredibly fond of, but for the most part, Katy looked as radiant and gorgeous as ever.

The lyrics honestly don't seem to fit the video when you first look at it from a literal perspective. But the overall message of the song is conveyed perfectly. "This is How We Do" is about going out and living life, even if you make stupid mistakes, or dumb life choices, because that's all part of being human. Katy is shamelessly Katy. I think that it's a great message to go and wear and do what you like and if you screw up, well, that's part of being human.

There are those that argue that the song simply glorifies going out and getting drunk and laid with strangers. People have honestly been doing that forever. Do remember also that Katy wrote this with the intention of it being a summer tune, which it most certainly is. There isn't supposed to be any real depth here, you know. It's a little bit of a fashion show, combining vintage fashion with some remixed looks from Katy's past including homages to the One of the Boys era and of course, California Gurls.

I simply enjoy this video more than the others from the Prism era thus far. "Roar" had its moments, and "Unconditionally" was pretty to look at. The other two require great and robust analyses from yours truly to fully comprehend what went wrong with those productions.

That being said, if you're having a rough day, like I am myself currently, this is a video that's meant to be eye candy and it succeeds quite well.

Enjoy!

Back in 2001, a young girl by the name of Katy Hudson put together a Christian rock record. It wasn’t well received, but many in the industry took notice of her songwriting and vocal skills. She was still raw, but definitely had potential. A few years later, she abandoned Christian music, and went on a seven year journey to become a pop star. It was hard, as no one seemed to know how to market the bubbly, silly Katy. By this time, she’d taken on the stage name Katy Perry (Perry being her mother’s maiden name).

In 2008, everything suddenly clicked for Katy. She had recently signed with Capitol Records who paired her up with pop songwriting legends, Max Martin and Dr. Luke. Out of this collaboration came a little song called “I Kissed a Girl.” It became the song of the summer. Two years later, her sophomore album, “Teenage Dream” again with the help of Martin and Dr. Luke was an even more massive success, with five tracks on it hitting #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Then in 2011 everything sort of fell apart for Katy. Towards the tail end of what had been a rigorous and exhausting tour, husband Russell Brand wanted a divorce. He hadn’t been very supportive during her tour and it was clear that their relationship had been a bit rocky for a while, but Katy always did what she could to hide it. Her recent documentary, “Part of Me,” covered that story, but as it turns out, Katy was a lot worse off than people realized.

While Katy’s video for “Wide Awake” depicted her in a wheelchair at a hospital, which was meant to symbolize just how broken she was by the divorce, there is now new evidence that she actually became suicidal during that time. It was revealed today at the iTunes Festival when she performed the very sullen and solemn “By the Grace of God.” To think that the beautiful and incredible Katy Perry, who is perhaps the most positive person ever, would even THINK about ending her life is almost unthinkable.

An absolute stark contrast to the single she released last night “Walking on Air,” this track, “By the Grace of God” is about how Katy eventually became so monumentally depressed and hurt by Brand’s betrayal of her love and trust that she couldn’t bear to live any more. Fortunately, with the support of her family (namely her sister) and her legions of Katy Cats, she found the strength to continue, declaring that she would not ever let anything in the name of love destroy her.

Apparently, Katy was much closer to suicide than most had ever thought possible. It is truly by the Grace of God that we still have Katy, and perhaps, that we have the phenomenon that is Katy Perry, at all. Katy is an incredibly strong-willed woman, and if even she can be brought to the brink of wanting everything to end, it just shows just how a bad marriage or relationship can ruin anyone.

Although PRISM hasn't performed quite as well commercially as Teenage Dream, I don't think anyone expected that. Besides, her Prismatic World Tour is selling out. Katy continues to bring joy to millions every day with her silly antics and honest, down-to-earth personality. There are so many of us that are glad she stayed.

We love you, Katy! God bless you!