Katy Perry's Comeback '143' is Worst Album of Her Career

by Tyler Glover

Photo: Capitol Records

In the early 2010s, Katy Perry was one of the biggest names in pop music. In 2008, the release of her sophomore album, One of the Boys, saw lots of success with hits “I Kissed a Girl” and “Hot and Cold.” Overall, the album showed so much promise for a new artist. This made anticipation for her next record extremely high. Fans, critics and the world could not wait to see what Perry had to offer. Perry did not fail to deliver.

In 2010, Katy Perry released Teenage Dream, which is right next to Taylor Swift’s 1989 as an example of pop music perfection. The album was nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammys, received almost universal acclaim and tied Michael Jackson’s record for most No. 1 hits from an album. Those five No. 1s were “California Gurls,” “Teenage Dream,” “Firework,” “E.T.,” and “Last Friday Night.” Teenage Dream was pop music done right. 

That’s what makes the rest of Katy Perry’s career so puzzling. Perry has not matched the success of Teenage Dream and hasn’t even come close. Her third album after finding stardom, Prism, was a solid attempt, Witness received mixed reviews and Smile was considered a flop. After Smile, Perry settled into her role as an “American Idol” judge for seven seasons. Upon announcing her exit from the reality competition show earlier this year, Perry announced she was recording new music.  

Anticipation started to grow for Perry fans. Could she recapture the magic of Teenage Dream? The magic of an album that perfectly gave us bops to dance to (“Last Friday Night”), songs to cry to (“The One That Got Away”), songs that questioned our purpose (“Who Am I Living For?”) and songs that make us realize that the world isn’t always the dream we want it to be (“Wide Awake”). Could Perry recapture that magic with this new album?

That album, 143, was released on September 20th and I can tell you with such sadness that the answer is no. Sadly, it’s Perry’s worst album to date. 

The premise of 143 is “I love you.” For the older generation that remembers when we used numbers on cell phones to get letters to type into text messages, you will know precisely what that means. Perry told critics that this album should not be taken seriously; it should just be a fun dance record. The problem is that the album isn’t fun at all. The album is only 33 minutes long and feels 25 minutes too long. Almost every song on the record is instantaneously forgettable. It is so confusing because Teenage Dream knew what it was doing, and it was a no-skip album.  

The problem, I feel, is that the pop landscape has changed so much in recent years. In 2024, Sabrina Carpenter is topping the charts with songs full of personality, cheeky fun and witty lyricism. Chappell Roan gives us authenticity and a sense of not holding back with her storytelling. Taylor Swift has perfectly matched personality, storytelling, catchy beats and is a master at writing lyrics. It would be a success if Perry were releasing Teenage Dream in 2024. But 143 has no catchy beats, exciting hooks or personality. The worst part is the album feels like it is something A.I. might have created. 

This is difficult for me to write because this is coming from someone who has been a Katy Perry fan for years. I went to see her on her “Witness” tour in 2018 and had an absolute blast. I was someone who was singing a little-known song called “Russian Roulette” and grooving to it while no one else around me seemed even to know what the song was. I always try to find something I like about every piece of art; it is tough to find with this album.

However, the best song on the album is “ALL THE LOVE.” It tells a beautiful story of how Perry had finally settled that love wasn’t for her and that she wasn’t meant to be happy. However, “ALL THE LOVE” comes back to her. The other song that stood out to me was called “WONDER.” Her daughter, Daisy, sings this song with her. The song makes us question when we get older: will we still have that same sense of wonder we had when we were kids? These two songs are the only two I feel are worthwhile on the album.  

This album has had some controversy surrounding it as well. Perry worked with Dr. Luke as a producer on this album. Perry has been an advocate for women and women’s rights and Dr. Luke was sued in 2014 for infliction of emotional distress, sex-based hate crimes and employment discrimination by pop singer Kesha. In June 2023, Kesha and Dr. Luke released a joint statement saying they settled. Perry has claimed that she was contractually obligated to complete another album with Dr. Luke, but there have been reports that she was only contractually obligated to do three albums with him, and that obligation had been fulfilled. So, it appears this was a choice for her, and it doesn’t make her look good.
 
I hope that Katy Perry’s next album is the BIGGEST COMEBACK in pop history. I hope she uses this time to figure out what didn’t work with 143 and use it to fuel an album that will be remembered for generations and generations to come. I’m rooting for her.