On par? I don't know. Even though
1989 is also a "pure pop" record by a super commercial female recording artist, there's a genuine bittersweet undercurrent that flows through many of the tracks.
PRISM feels so hollow and even gimmicky at some points. It's like Katy's songwriting skills evaporated once
OOTB was done. She's much better than what she allows herself to be. It's a shame. Same thing with Kesha, but her circumstance obviously prevents her from reaching her full potential.
In terms of female pop albums, I'd say that
Heartthrob,
Body Music,
True Romance,
Night Time, My Time,
Goddess and
Queen of the Clouds all have more substance than
PRISM and they definitely trump
1989 in a lot of areas as well.
I'm literally gonna die if that's true. It would mean we're not getting new music for like another 3-4 years
Okay 1989 may be a little bit better overall... but then again maybe that's just because it's new. PRISM still feels fresh to me. We'll see what happens by October 2015.