Prism (album)

After a stunning success with the Teenage Dream album, Katy Perry became one of the biggest and most popular stars in show business, so the public was waiting for her new job. After the end of her world tour, The California Dreams Tour , Perry decided to take a short career break and record decent material for the audience. ^[3] When Russell Brand broke up with her on December 30, 2011, the singer felt devastated and tried to commit suicide. ^[4] In June 2012, Perry gave an interview for Vogue , where she said that she initially planned to record the darkest album of all her works. She stated: “It was inevitable after what I went through. If I had a time machine to return to the past, I would do it. But I cannot, so you will discover another part of me. ” ^[5] In a conversation with Interview, she admitted that she would like to make the sound of the upcoming album more acoustic. ^[6]

Perry also said that her new music will be “real and damn gloomy,” noting that fans will be able to perceive her. In the fall of that year, she told Billboard that she had already revised some plans for her upcoming album. Perry told the publication that at that time the recording of the album had not yet begun, but she had some lyrics for the record. ^[7]

Perry began work on the album at the end of 2011 when she returned from The California Dreams Tour. In parallel, the performer worked on other projects: re-release of the album “Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection”, her own concert film “Katy Perry: Part of Me” and voice acting for the animated film “The Smurfs ”.

The first record for the new album was the song “By the Grace of God”, which Perry wrote in November 2012. For the first time, she performed with this composition at iTunes Festival 2013. In this composition, rather gloomy lines and a deep sense of words.

At the end of December 2011, it became known that Russell Brand decided to file for divorce from Katy Perry. The performer became depressed, because she did not expect such a turn of events and hoped that the situation would improve for the better. Stormy divorce initially formed the basis of the future album. Perry told Billboard that the new record will be "very dark, full of personal experiences."

The performer began working with the Australian singer Sia, which she reported on Twitter. In the company they wrote the song “Double Rainbow”. This song was the first newsletter to be associated with the new studio album.

Such producers and performers as Uahitov Alexander, Dr. were involved in the work on Prism . Luke , Max Martin, Jusi Jay, John Mayer , Klas Eklund, Stargate, Emelie Sande .

Perry made her first single “Roar” at the MTV Video Music Awards 2013. The performance was recognized by critics and journalists who called the performance “landmark in Perry’s career”. The singer took part in the music festivals iHeart Radio Festival and iTunes Festival. At the last song “By The Grace Of God” was performed. Perry performed at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2013 with the single "Unconditionally". With the single “Dark Horse,” Perry performed at the 56th annual Grammy Awards, the 34th annual BRIT Awards 2014.

On July 29, 2013, a large gold truck in Los Angeles revealed the name of the album “Prism” and that it would be released on October 22, 2013. In August 2013, Perry said about the truck: “In fact, the Prism truck was a great way to post a record, and not go directly to Twitter or Facebook or something like that,” said Perry. The truck made stops in US cities, however, on August 9, 2013, the truck was hit by a drunk driver in Pennsylvania ^[8] . Upon hearing this news, Perry tweeted that he would be back. ^[9] A lyric video on Roar was released on YouTube on August 12, 2013.

On August 20, 2013, fans got the opportunity via Twitter to unblock the names of songs, lyrics and fragments from "Prism". Then the fans heard two fragments, and chose the one that they would like to be released in full before the release of the album ^[10] . These two fragments were “Dark Horse”, with the participation of rapper Juicy J and “Walking On Air”. On August 25, 2013, the vote was over and Dark Horse won. After the announcement, Perry sat down for an interview and gave a brief description of each of the songs. ^[11] It will be released via iTunes on September 17, 2013. ^[12]

Singles

The first single from the album was “Roar”. He went on the radio on August 10, 2013 and was released on iTunes and YouTube on August 12. Perry performed Roar for the first time at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards on August 25, 2013. He made his debut in second place on the Billboard Hot 100 ^[13] , reaching No. 1 a week later (becoming the 8th charttopper in the singer’s career) ^[14] . The official music video of the song was released on September 5, 2013 ^[15] .

The second single was Unconditionally . This is a ballad with elements of alternative rock, Christian music and ambient. The song received positive reviews from critics who praised Perry's vocals and sensuality of lyrics. The song took 14th place on the reputable Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming Perry's first single in 5 years, which failed to enter the top 10 chart.

The third single was the song Dark Horse with the participation of Jusi Jay. The song was produced by Uahitov Alexander. She received good reviews from critics. Having neither an official Lyric video nor a video clip, the song reached high places, and later topped the charts of many countries. The single took 1 line in the Billboard Hot 100 (becoming the 9th charttopper in the singer's career), 1 position in the Canadian Hot 100 and the highest 2 line in the national chart of New Zealand. The song became Perry's 13th hit, which made it into the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 and the 10th leader on the Hot Digital Songs chart. ^[sixteen]

The fourth single was the composition Birthday. She was greeted positively by critics. The song tells about birthdays. She finished 17th on the Billboard Hot 100.

The fifth single was This Is How We Do. The premiere of the video video took place on July 24, 2014, and the premiere of the clip on July 31, 2014.

Critical reviews were mostly positive. Many critics noted growing up and vulnerability, other observers considered Prism to be a disappointment compared to the previous material, characterizing the production of songs as stereotyped and easily forgotten. Some observers praised the performer’s sensuality and sincerity, however, in the majority, the praise related to some compositions, and not to the whole album.

Rolling Stone put the album 3 points out of 5 possible, explaining that "she is not always as easy and ironic about the introspection of her stellar nature." The lyrics of the album were compared with the works of Alanis Morissette. Helen Brown, columnist for The Telegraph, rated the album 5 points out of 5. The journalist praised the work, calling it “a compiled album of personal experiences.” At the same time, she noted the quality and variety of album tracks, commenting on them as "beautifully produced, exotic motifs." At the end of the critical review, Brown stated that "she sounds like a woman and an artist who has finally found himself in his music."

The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 286,000 copies sold, which was Perry's best result in her career. 'Prism' has reached the top of the charts in Australia, Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand. 'Prism', being Perry's fastest-selling album ^[29] , ranked second in Australia's annual chart sales ^[30] and second best selling album for women in the United States in 2013. ^{[31] The} International Federation of Phonogram Manufacturers reported that 'Prism' is the sixth album among the best-selling records of 2013 and the best album in 2013 released by the performer, calling Perry “a global phenomenon ”. ^[32]

Prism debuted on the first line of the American Billboard 200 album chart with sales of 286 thousand copies. This is the second album that reached the top of the chart, and the best weekly sales rate for the performer. In the second week, the album sold 92 thousand copies, falling to second place. Analysts said this was the smallest drop in sales in the second week since the release of the Civil Wars album. In the third week, the album sold 61 thousand copies and was placed on the 4th line of the chart. In their fourth week at the Billboard 200 , Prism sold 46,000 copies, remaining in fifth place. In the sixth week, record sales rose 252%, thanks to Black Friday sales. Prism is located on the 5th line of the chart, selling 136 thousand copies. In the seventh week, Prism fell to number 9, selling 51 thousand copies, having spent 6 weeks in the top 10 of the chart. In the eighth week, the album continued to be in the top 10 on line 9 (seventh week in the top ten bestsellers) with 59,000 copies sold. In the ninth week the album climbed to 7th line, in the tenth - to 5th, selling the same number of copies - 99 thousand. As of December 2018, over 3.5 million copies were sold in the United States.

In Australia, Prism debuted at the top of the national album chart, selling 41,620 copies in its debut sales week. This is Perry's second album, which reached the first line in Australia. Currently sold over 140 thousand copies. In New Zealand, the album also hit the top line of the album chart.

In the UK, the record immediately entered the UK Album Chart in the first position, selling 53.827 copies. Sales of Prism in the UK exceeded 450 thousand copies.

As of December 2018, over 9,000,000 copies have been sold worldwide. The album ranks fifth in the list of "Best Selling Albums Among Women" of the current millennium.