Spyke
It's quite an accomplishment to hit #1 on the Hot 100 but very few acts have managed the feat with several tracks from the same album. In the past few years we've had a couple of artists perform rather successfully: The Black Eyed Peas spent a staggering 27 weeks at #1 with their singles from 'The E.N.D.' with Boom Boom Pow, I Gotta Feeling and Imma Be. Rihanna has managed to get three #1s from both 'Good Girl Gone Bad (Deluxe)' and 'Loud' but very few artists have managed more. If you venture back further back into Pop history then you'll see that Usher got four #1s from his Confessions album - led by Yeah! A decade prior to this Mariah Carey began her domination of the US charts in the nineties (where she had at least one #1 every year for the duration) with her first four singles from her self-titled debut 'Mariah Carey' album.
So why is five such an accomplishment for Katy Perry? Well because it has been done once before EVER by the late King of Pop Michael Jackson. The phenomenal album 'Bad' laid host its first five releases topping the Hot 100: I Just Can't Stop Loving You, Bad, The Way You Make Me Feel, Man In The Mirror then Dirty Diana. Having just come off the back of what would be a campaign for the biggest selling album of all time Michael was on a mission to try and better himself - and what an effort. 'Bad' has gone on to sell over 30 million copies globally and is ranked as another of the biggest albums ever. And his legacy continues to live on.
So it seems slightly bizarre that Katy Perry should be one challenging for this accolade; from an album which has global sales just under 4 million. With fierce competition from Rihanna and Lady Gaga it would seem that Katy Perry isn't even the sole entrant to be the current Princess of Pop. In (almost any) ranking I think it would be clear that the new Mrs Brand would have to settle for Bronze position. So how come it is Katy that seems to be the one up for this achievement? Well I think it comes from the fact that people are only just now beginning to believe in her as an actual artist rather than a one hit wonder. I expressed my opinion on this following the release of I Kissed A Girl; and here we are three years later and fans are still taking her on a single by single basis (and to some extent they still do with Rihanna as she suffers from the occasional bombing single) but Katy Perry does seem to be delivering very consistently. With the first four singles from the album having over 4 million downloads each in the US alone she is very much a force to be reckoned with and as a result she hasn't left the Hot 100 top ten since the California Gurls was number one there last June.
So congratulations Katy Perry; the next question is what will she do now? There are rumours of a re-release on the cards which would surely guarantee a 6th chart topper but is that bending the rules to take the lead - officially no but it would feel more of an accomplishment done from the album in its original context. So what options are there left as potential singles? Peacock seems the most likely and shows off Katy's fun side with a very well produced (if not a little vulgar) track but whether it'd have the same impact with airplay I'm not sure. My personal choice would be The One That Got Away to demostrate a softer tone and for the irony if it didn't hit #1. With the opportunity to go for a 6th I'm sure we'll see another effort with another 'just slightly above average' track (see Cali Gurls, ET or Last Friday Night) and get another rent-a-rapper to see it hit #1.
Check out our reviews of her #1s here:
California Gurls
Teenage Dream
Firework
ET
Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)
No comments:
Post a Comment