By Michael Vaccaro – Entertainment Editor

Katy Perry released her second album, “Teenage Dream” in 2010. Three years later, Perry returns with her brand new album, “Prism”. The album peaked in the top 10 in 25 countries and the lead single, “Roar”, was number one on the charts in eight countries.

Overall, “Prism”, is a fantastic album. Perry has expanded her songwriting ability since the last album with drawing inspiration from Swedish dance music.

The lead song on the album, “Roar” is an upbeat and catchy song that can cheer up anyone who is down. This is expressed in the lyrics, “You held me down/But I got up/ Already brushing off the dust”. Perry does a great job singing in the song, especially near the end when the song gets really slow and Perry starts to build up her voice then exploding into the lyric, “I’ve got the eye of the tiger”.

Another phenomenal song on the album is “Legendary Lovers”. The song sounds like a tribal Indian song with the use of a sitar and many different percussion tracks. The instrumentation is really great and sounds like an old psychedelic song from the 60’s, but Perry puts her own twist on it with her singing.

The song, “Birthday”, is one of the best songs on the album. It sounds like an old disco-pop song that Michael Jackson would sing. The chorus is upbeat and catchy with Perry singing the lyrics, “But when you’re with me/I’ll give you a taste/Make it like your birthday everyday/I know you like it sweet/So you can have your cake/Give you something good to celebrate”.

The song, “Dark Horse”, features Juicy J. who raps on it. Perry works well with the chorus of the song by singing to the beat of the drums that play during it. The song is somewhat dark and mysterious but still remains to be poppy like the song, ”E.T”, from “Teenage Dream”.

Overall, “Prism” is a great pop album and is a big step forward for Perry. “Prism” shows that Perry has gotten better at writing lyrics and songs since her last album. Every song could be a hit with how poppy they sound and they show that Perry had many different inspirations while writing them.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

(Photo courtesy hollywoodreporter.com)