Perry raises her voice on "Roar"

As far as pop music goes, you can’t do much better than Katy Perry has with “Roar.” The first single from her forthcoming studio album “Prism.” It’s easily her strongest song to date. It’s so easy to overproduce a song in today’s computer-dominated music world, but co-producers Dr. Luke, Max Martin and Cirkut nail the nuances with an ease that would put a smile on Brian Wilson’s face.

But as catchy and bubbly as the production is, the real star of “Roar” is Perry’s powerful, dominating presence. She literally roars on the chorus, emphatically driving its massive hook home. Daft Punk really did get lucky, because if Perry had dropped this single in July it would have skyrocketed past their song to become the hit of the summer.