base talk I am genuinely surprised people are hating on 143 this much. Her most ''underrated''?

[M!X]

First of all, I am probably someone who ATRL would classify as a Katy Perry hater, most of my downvoted posts are me expressing my opinion on how songs like Roar and Firework are crimes against humanity, how Teenage Dream is overrated - a 26-year-old woman singing songs like Peacock or having lines like ''you make me feel like I am losing my virginity'' is borderline iditoic let along cringe, and her Prism-Smile discography is lets face it extremely bad. Even back when I listened to her music a lot more I was able to pick up apart these issues, let alone now in 2024.

 

However, I would say 143 is actually kinda just inoffensive and faceless, when it comes to Katy's music is a good thing. The reason I think most of her music is bad is that the lyrics are always just super in your face and cliche/terrible. At the same time, the vocals are just so draining to listen to (she should never record chorus belting songs like Firework or Unconditionally in her life ever again). The combination of those 2 makes a lot of music unbearable.

 

On 143, I found songs like Crush or Nirvana actually fun and the rest even though the lyrics are questionable are kind of just there because the production even though is basic is not ruined by Katy screaming outside of her vocal possibilities, this is probably the record where I have the least issues with her voice. 

 

It's such a quick and easy listen because the overall sound is just breezy, I listened to it yesterday all day while working or playing video games in the background and I would say it works perfect like that. I for the life of me could not do that with albums like Witness because you would just notice her singing some cringe line like Chinese water torture or whatever and Prism was filled with those boring ballads in the 2nd half. Speaking of Prism I feel like this album is so Walking On Air coded, I thought that's what people wanted from her?

 

Anyway I understand people are criticizing this record trough the lens of post Kesha/Dr. Luke situation, however as an album of its own I personally don't think  I enjoyed her past 3 albums as much as this one on the first listen.

[Katamari]

Idk some songs are good but overall  It's not even like the good generic dance pop music albums from the early 2010s 

 

smile is way better overall as an album

[A-V-XYZ]

Katy's music IS bad. That's why she always gets bad reviews and has never won a Grammy. Lmao. Haha. Lol.

[burninredhot]

There's zero stand out tracks. Yeah songs like all the love and nirvana are cute to listen to in the background but it's cringe when you focus on the lyrics (just like rest of the album)

Edited September 21 by burninredhot

[Apolonio ₃₄]

The music sucks.

[RatGod]

I mean it's not hard to see why

- The Dr. Luke stuff - it should be celebrated that this man has such a visceral reaction from the GP after what he did to Kesha

- The record sounded dated on arrival and lacked any sort of personality that would make it a Katy record. Sounds like she picked from a menu for cookie cutter songs.

- I'm not the biggest fan of her earlier work, but you can't deny the work she was doing on her first 3 records has much more thought, character, and identity than this

- She's on a flop streak and it's hard to not point and laugh at someone who was on top for her early career and became very arrogant and cocky about it fall to such low lows

- Katy Cats also being very confident that she is still a relevant act and attempting to drag every other artist if they didn't absolutely smash out of the gate only for Katy to be pulling lower than Kim petras numbers is just very funny.

[mylicious]

no soul

[truthteller]

it's still overrated. this should not score over 10/100

[Gelato]

I think Smile was overhated - most of the songs on that album are decent to good. It's the perfect example of an inoffensive, faceless album for me.

 

But most songs on 143 have generic melodies, dated production, terrible lyrics, and sound either unfinished or like straight up scraps from other artists. It's her worst album by far purely in terms of quality, before you even factor in the Dr Luke mess.

[americanlife]

It's absolutely a bad album. Both Smile and Witness, though not amazing, were great albums and they were authentically Katy. 143 doesn't compare.

[Broken]

I was surprised to see the mixed reception for this one... and then I wasn't.

 

Further proof of a deep generational chasm that divides ATRL into two camps; the twentysomething pop sophisticates with 15 to 20 years of top-shelf pop consumption to their name, and an unruly kid crew with Wednesday avatars and tributes to Sabrina Carpenter in their signatures. It's not that the latter generation is a lost cause entirely, but they've clearly never heard a "Katy" — that is, they've never encountered a voice quite as distinctive as Katy's. "But I know Katy! Witness was the first album I bought!" First off, ask for a refund. And no, you don't know Katyy, you know a very stilted and subdued version of the iconic performer.

 

The Katy of "143" is Katy as Katy is intended to sound. She very skillfully vacillates between a range of tones; she nasally, then guttural, then grainy, then nasally again, then delicate. (And yes, that's how she's supposed to do it.) She's sultry. She's goofy. She's sounds slightly absurd. She's fully engaged. She's expressive in ways that "technically superior" vocalists just aren't. She is brilliant. You have no idea how brilliant she is.

 

This is the probably purest attempt Katy has made to harness some of that ineffable charm that made her early work so irresistible. I adore it.

Edited September 21 by Broken

[Sugar-Rush]

When someone releases an album that sounds incredibly dated, has boring lyrics, and almost seems AI generated, they're going to face backlash. Like, if I didn't know any better I'd say that Dr. Luke just gave Katy a bunch of scrapped instrumentals that he had saved on his laptop for 10 years.

Edited September 21 by Sugar-Rush

[DonnaSpring]

you just said its great music to have in the background whilst playing video games, IE its not worth listening to.

 

Music should be the main event

[DougAF]

Was really bad compared to the year of good music we've had so far, so that's why it's getting ripped into harder. Lmao. Haha. Lol.

[ChooseyLover]

Your review sounds very 35/100 to me.

[MasterExpose]

It's bellow mid, almost the score I was expecting (around 40/100) but not the worst of the worst. Some songs bring the whole project down, add to that her stubornness to accept her wrong doings in planet unbothered the reception won't be good. 

 

If you don't pay ANY attention to the lyrics it's fun albeit repetitive/dated

[aotwbys]

I've actually seen a few critiques claiming the album is "lifeless" and "soulless" but I couldn't disagree more. I mean, have they heard crush and truth? Those go hard lol

 

The album's production is really really on point. I know Dr. Luke is present but there are at least 3-4 other producers involved too. This is a legitimate pop album with all the bells and whistles. I can tell a lot of time and energy was poured into it.

 

And having listened to the whole album, I totally get why everyone who listened to it months ago was pumped for it. Such a shame this project flopped imo. Maybe in a different timeline this album got praised and didn't crash and burn.

[Disconnect]

[PiperHalliwell]

NIRVANA & CRUSH are cute

 

I'M HIS, HE'S MINE is a bop

[Thin White Duke]

Her most underrated is Witness tbh

This one is just that bad, most of the production on 95% of this sounds like ringtones you've had on your first phone, and not even the cute ones.

Edited September 21 by Thin White Duke

[swissman]

It's partially the hate train that people like to get on, partially because it IS NOT great, which combined creates people hating on the album just for the sake of it.

 

I think a lot of the reviews are really telling on themselves because they're joining in on this, but at the same time it's not good enough to warrant good reviews. She knows how to make better music than this, even at its most superficial, and at this point in her career (both her age and what she needs) she should have better conceptualized what her comeback looks and sounds like, more than just a collection of bops with no real purpose. She could have made something more serious to earn her respect from the public and critics alike who never really took her all that seriously and surely won't by just releasing more of the same, ten years later. And I don't think serious necessarily means "not fun". Robyn's Call Your Girlfriend is the perfect example of what she could have aimed for.

 

The critical rating is lower than it should be but to say it's underrated is kind of pushing it. It's moreso that it's rated on a curve.

[antiafx]

Well, let's start by saying that the hate Katy receives feels extremely forced. I've rarely seen anyone be attacked this hard for so many years! Creating catchy, generic pop songs has always been her thing, and she's amazing at it. I get that times have changed for pop music, and listeners now prefer when artists step out of their comfort zones, so it might seem like Katy's been in the same place since 2008. But 143 is completely her, and it's exactly what I expected. The hate, though? It's terrible. It feels like gays are forcing themselves to dislike a female artist just because critics gave her bad reviews. They refuse to let themselves have fun or feel any positive emotions towards her.

[itshyolee]

[Dula Peep]

This album reminds me of Britney's Britney Jean or Madonna's MDNA

[qurl]

no and if anything this very brand of reaction (the "it's not that bad/is it really that bad or is everyone being a hater" thing) is the kind of post-Trump $h!t where everyone loves to be a contrarian or live in their own constructed reality separate from the one most people are living in

 

it's a bad album. that doesn't mean you or anyone else CAN'T enjoy it .. but whereas her previous music, as you accurately described, was kind of a faceless representation of her being this amorphous pop star that could fit the shape of any container and that's what made it relatable to the masses, this is really just glorified elevator music or the kind of stuff you hear transitioning between scenes on Selling Sunset / real housewives