Katy Perry’s new album 143 is the lowest scoring album on a review site in more than a decade.
Stats have shown it to be the lowest scoring on the review aggregation site Metacritic in 13 years, based off 10 reviews in so far.
Metacritic is a site that assigns a numerical value to music, movies, TV shows and other materials, based on weighted scores from professional critics.
Among the savage reviews was this from the Los Angeles Times' review critic, Mikael Wood, who said: “In a year of great pop music, Katy Perry’s latest is pop trash.”
It reads: “The problem for Perry is that these songs are bad, and not even in a fun way. 143 is an oddly cold dance-pop album with boring melodies, utilitarian grooves and vocal performances that feel vaguely AI-derived.”
Another review by All Music critic Fred Thomas, which was included in the Metacritic score, read: “There simply isn’t a lot to like about these songs, and it’s desperately lacking in the kind of light-hearted, sometimes silly, sometimes salacious fun that used to define her stardom.
“143 rings the death knell for Perry for no other reason than it commits pop music’s ultimate sin: it’s boring.”
While the Rolling Stone review by Maura Johnston is headlined: “Katy Perry’s 143 Is a Failed Attempt to Rekindle Her Glory Years.”
At the time of publishing, there were no positive reviews on Metacritic’s site.
Katy Perry released her seventh studio album 143 on September 20.
The singer had been hoping the LP could propel her career back to her early 2010s heights when her second album, Teenage Dream, and its deluxe package spawned eight UK top 20 singles.
But instead, Perry and her team are already facing something of a salvage mission following weeks of bad reviews, poor performance of singles, and criticism over her decisions.
Her label, Capitol, is now up against it on the back of the relative failure of Perry’s sixth album, Smile, which sold a mere 67,000 Stateside – compared with the 3.1 million of Teenage Dream.
Here is a timeline of what has unfolded during one of the most unsuccessful album campaigns of recent times.
July 10 – Working with Dr Luke
On July 10, Perry announced 143 – named after what she considers her “symbolic angel number” – would be released on September 20, one month before her 40th birthday.
She had also said that the first single, a song called Woman’s World, would be released the next day and insiders noticed the scandal-hit producer Dr Luke had a credit.
Dr Luke last year settled a decade-long dispute with US singer Kesha, who had accused him of sexual and physical abuse.
The feminist name of the song was enough to prompt Kesha to take herself to X to post a singular “lol” in response.
July 11 – Release of Woman’s World
“It’s a woman’s world and you’re lucky to be living in it,” goes the chorus of the song which Perry intended to be a feminist rally cry.
Critics were not kind and accused Perry of pandering and being outdated.
Mary Siroky in Consequence of Sound said: “Beyond the pitch-black irony of creating a women empowerment song with someone tied to such disturbing accusations, the song is just plain bad – and the music video is worse.”
David Browne in Rolling Stone wrote: “The backlash to her comeback single shows us that her era of maximalist hits is further away than ever.”
The video came next and made things worse, with a YouTube comment summing up the opinion of many: “This feels like a parody of feminism gone wrong.”
Another added: “I don't understand, the lyrics of the song are clearly designed to promote strong, intelligent, powerful women. Yet the video just shows them reducing themselves to sex objects.”
Perry had already needed to counter criticism of a snippet of the song when some fans, in June, said that it sounded AI generated.
The song reached number 43 in the UK.
August 8 – Reviews of Lifetimes
Unfortunately for Perry, the follow-up single fared little to no better than Woman’s World.
YouTube’s Anthony Fantano said: “What is this? It sounds so plain and dated. The tune is basic, the lyrics are uninspired.
“The vocals are so touched up, so pitched and so airbrushed. Anybody could be singing this with the effects on the back.
“If this is the best the record has to offer, imagine what the rest of it would sound like.”
Lifetimes reached number 89 on the UK chart.
August 14 - the Balearic Islands debacle
Perry had shot the Lifetime video on the Balearic Islands but, according to the local government, she did so without proper authorisation to film.
The Balearic Islands' environment department emphasised that while the filming itself does not constitute a “crime against the environment”, the unauthorised activity is concerning.
The department is now investigating whether any damage was done to the prohibited area, which is marked by rope to prevent intrusion.
September 23
143 is the lowest scoring album on the review aggregation site Metacritic in 13 years, based off 10 reviews.
