The Good: The original album isn't all bad/Perry wrote some of her own material
The Bad: Second disc adds nothing substantive, A LOT of repetition, Doesn't include prior bonus tracks.
The Basics: Katy Perry takes two of her biggest hits and loads a c.d. up with remixes of them in order to try to sell more copies of One Of The Boys.
I am usually a pretty strong advocate for the idea that more is better. Much like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry recently reissued her breakout album with a limited amount of bonus material on a second disc. Unlike Lady Gaga's attempt to capitalize on (mostly) the same material she already released, Perry's 2009 re-release of her 2008 album One Of The Boys (reviewed here!) includes a bonus disc comprised only of remixes and it takes an already mediocre album and makes it unbuyable.
The 2009 reissue of One Of The Boys contains the original mainstream pressing on that album with absolutely no changes. The twelve tracks are the exact same ones which appeared the first time, including "Waking Up In Vegas." The only difference is the bonus c.d. and it's one of the lamest incentive discs I have ever heard.
With eight tracks with just over half an hour of music, the bonus disc is simply four remixes each of "I Kissed A Girl" and "Hot N Cold." Perry does not release any additional or new songs and her creative influence over the remixes (she co-wrote both original songs) is minimal as they are simply re-engineered versions of the songs under the hands of other producers and DJs.
The four remixes of "I Kissed A Girl," which include remixes by Dr. Luke & Blanco (who engineered the original album), The Knocks, Norman & Atalla, and Morgain Paige are nothing short of insipid, repetitive remixes that take already mediocre source material and rearrange them in an even more banal way. The Knocks remix the song to have more of a rock emphasis (highlighting electric guitars), the first remix is more dance with a more pounding bassline and emphasis on the synths, and the other two take the ballad and make it into a repetitive dance track which samples itself incessantly.
Unfortunately, while the Morgan Paige remix of "I Kissed A Girl" manages to sound occasionally fresh, the same cannot be said about any of the four versions of "Hot N Cold." Already singsong and repetitive, not one of the producer/DJs - InnerPartySystem, Bimbo Jones, Manhattan Clique, or Yelle - does anything remotely fresh with the song. Instead, they homogeneously pump up the bass, repeat the inane chorus even more times than the original and make an already overbearing dance track more mind-numbingly dull.
The thing is, in doing press for One Of The Boys, Perry claimed to have written about sixty-five songs, which would have made for more than enough material for b-sides and a true bonus disc. None of that original content appears on the reissue, so fans looking for something fresh or actually creative will be disappointed. Even worse, the bonus tracks which appeared on the iTunes and WalMart exclusive versions of One Of The Boys are absent on this pressing.
Shameless.
For other works by and about Katy Perry, be sure to visit:
Why “I Kissed A Girl” Is Utterly Demeaning And Homophobic
Katy Perry Unplugged
Teenage Dream
1/10
For other music reviews, please visit my Music Review Index Page for an organized listing of all the albums and singles I have reviewed!
© 2012, 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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