base talk Looking back: Thoughts on Witness & Smile?

[Mikeymoonshine]

They are both bad. They both have a few good songs on them but overall they aren't good albums. Katy's only half decent albums are TD and Prism and even they aren't great they're just ok, she's never made a good album. It doesn't look like she ever will either. 

[CBC]

I've always enjoyed like half of Witness a lot and think the hate is very forced. The production is futuristic and very interesting in a lot of songs. Smile was just bad, the singles were immaculate but then the rest didn't match and was very bland generic pop. Not as bad as 35 but it was on its way...

[CBC]

also as an album i think witness is katy's 2nd best. the highs aren't as high as TD/PRISM/Smile but the album is way more cohesive 

[Domination]

Witness is interesting. Calling it good feels a bit much but she took risks for once in her career and sometimes they failed and others they paid off and ultimately it's actually interesting to listen to despite it's shortcomings.

 

Smile is good in that it's a Prism redux. NRO and HIH were amazing, Smile and Daisies (despite being HAC fodder) are cute, and it has plenty of album tracks that are interesting and worth listening to.

 

Both are light years ahead of 143. Smile could have been a great comeback had it not been mired in the pandemic, her seemingly not being interested in releasing an album, and her pregnancy.

[dumbsparce]

Witness was a great album and showed artistic growth. I can't believe people let the shenanigans surrounding its release alter their opinion on the music itself.

 

Smile was a cute feel-good album too. Daisies, Tucked and the title track are among her best songs ever.

[aotwbys]

Some people might disagree but imo this album is way better than both Witness and Smile lol

[BlahBlahBlah]

Both albums were crippled by their art direction, they're not horrible but they're not necessarily good either. 

 

Her best album to me still is OOTB. Writing was sharp and the guitar suited her (let's just ignore Ur So Gay)

[Homebrand]

8 hours ago, Mordecai said:

Witness is a great album that is tarnished by horrible optics. 

Honestly. The narrative that Witness is a bad album is so tired. It showed great growth (something Prism didnt) and objectively has some of the greatest songs of her career on the record.

 

Smile (outside of NRO) was abysmal, redundant and lacked any character & personality compared to her previous pop albums though. 143 is obviously a way stronger album than Smile imo. 

[gustavothehuman]

Witness and Smile are not good good, but the overall listening experience is enjoyable. Tsunami, Never Really Over and Harleys in Hawaii are some of her best songs ever. 143 just feels boring, I already forgot how most of it sounds.

 

Edited September 21 by gustavothehuman

[UrMom]

Witness was a fun experiment. I think if it had a different singles run and she didn't cut her hair, it would have been successful. "Witness" and "Roulette" were sitting right there.

 

Smile was a great album. If it came earlier in her career, it would have been a success. The roll-out was really messy. If she actually had the album ready and "Never Really Over" was the proper lead with "Harleys in Hawaii" was the second single, it would have done better.

[The7thStranger]

Witness reminds me so much of Bionic: a pop star really wants to stretch their creative muscle but either doesn't have the chops to pull it off or is afraid of alientating the fan base that's already there. Witness, in particular, a confused, poorly produced mess.

 

Smile, I think, found Katy really shooting for that sweet spot, and she almost made it. It has some well-made and well-performed pop songs for adults, and I really appreciate that. It's the only Katy I think is worth owning. I wish she had followed that path rather than... well, you know.