Warrior [Deluxe Edition] [Clean]

by Kesha

Overview

There were two paths Ke$ha could've followed on her second album, Warrior. She could've tried a respectable street, sticking a pen in her heart so her feelings would pour onto the page, or she could have not changed a note, replicating the glitter-bomb of Animal. Cannily, she decided to split the difference between these two routes, remaining defiant in her tastelessness but flashing just enough depth to show she's not a passing fad. Of course, Ke$ha is savvy, knowing which trends to exploit and which to abandon, never compromising her position of the queen of the white-trash outcasts. Her gleeful embrace of low-rent taste separates her from her peers, every one of them containing some sort of aspiration of high-thread-count sophistication, something the ever-calculating pop star could possibly care less about. Throughout Warrior, Ke$ha raises a glass to the classless masses, the girls who only live for good times, never thinking about the consequences of their actions. She's smart enough to know there's a morning after, but unlike Lady Gaga, who happily embraced her status of queen of the Little Monsters, Ke$ha wants to get into the thick of it, writing rallying cries, not anthems. She may be writing songs for her burgeoning cult, but there is no separation from her audience, she is part of them, leading them into battle wearing ripped tights, heavy mascara, and piles of hair. Taste never enters into Ke$ha's equation: she's gleefully vulgar, embracing the magic in a dude's pants, copping a rapper's growl, tossing out profanity, encouraging the shock and awe of any listener with a lick of sense. Ke$ha may play dumb but she isn't stupid: she knows a good hook, whether it's in the rhythm, chorus, lyric, or melody, she knows how far to take it to the edge, knows how to be tacky without being gross. At her best, she is deliriously trashy: she ropes Iggy Pop in for a duet on the filthy "Dirty Love," "C'Mon" surges on the intoxication of a one-night stand, "Only Wanna Dance with You" is a riotous piss-take on the Strokes that pushes them toward the bubblegum where they belong, and on the deluxe edition, she writes the greatest Joan Jett song ever in "Gold Trans Am." Her stabs at sincerity, so casual they could almost be dismissed, benefit by her light touch, particularly the neo-country crawl "Wonderland." Moments like this reveal the precision in her pop machine, but Warrior works because Ke$ha never seems to be trying too hard yet she isn't coasting: she's created a statement of purpose where the highs aren't as high as those on Animal -- nothing digs in like "Tik Tok" or "Take It Off" -- but there are no lows. It's a wall-to-wall party for the freaks, burnouts, outcasts, and misfits and if you don't get it that's your fault, not hers. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	12/04/2012
Label:	Rca
UPC:	0887654143020

Tracks

1. Warrior
2. Die Young
3. C'mon
4. Thinking of You
5. Crazy Kids
6. Wherever You Are
7. Dirty Love
8. Wonderland
9. Only Wanna Dance with You
10. Supernatural
11. All That Matters (The Beautiful Life)
12. Love into the Light
13. Last Goodbye
14. Gold Trans Am
15. Out Alive
16. Past Lives

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Kesha   Primary Artist
Fabrizio Moretti   Drums
Max Martin   Keyboards
David Angell   Strings
Wiz Khalifa   Featured Artist
Bonnie McKee   Vocals
Greg Kurstin   Bass,Guitar,Keyboards
Ava James   Vocals
Pebe Sebert   Vocals
Koool Kojak   Vocals
Tomas Ljung   Handclapping
Patrick Carney   Drums
Kristin Wilkinson   Strings
John P. Bowersock   Guitar
David Davidson   Strings
Ben Folds   Conductor
Michael Rojas   Organ,Keyboards
Wayne Coyne   Vocals (Background)
Juicy J   Featured Artist
Becky G   Vocals,Featured Artist
Alexander Castillo Vasquez   Vocals
Chasin Raefin   Vocals
Monica Cornia   Vocals
Gabrizio Moretti   Drums
Lagan Sebert   Vocals
Don Omelio   Vocals
Becky G. Lagan Sebert   Vocals
Henry Walter   Vocals
Iggy Pop   Featured Artist
Sari Reist   Strings
Shellback   Guitar,Keyboards
Benjamin Levin   Vocals
Emily Wright   Vocals
Dr. Luke   Vocals
Rani Hancock   Vocals
Ilya Toshinskiy   Banjo,Bouzouki,Mandolin
Clint Gibbs   Vocals
Lukasz Gottwald   Vocals
Dan Omelio   Vocals
Ammar Malik   Vocals
Katie Mitzell   Vocals
Cirkut   Vocals

Technical Credits

Matt Squire   Programming,Instrumentation,Composer,Engineer,Musician,Producer
Julian Casablancas   Musician,Programming,Instrumentation
Max Martin   Composer,Producer
Nik Kershaw   Composer
Alana Da Fonseca   Engineer
Lowell Reynolds   Assistant
Leslie Richter   Assistant
Steven Wolf   Arranger,Flute Arrangement,Additional Production
Mike Caffrey   Engineer
Allen Ditto   Engineer
Bonnie McKee   Composer
Klas Ahlund   Composer
Joe Costa   Engineer,String Engineer
Benny Blanco   Musician,Producer,Programming,Instrumentation
Greg Kurstin   Composer,Engineer,Producer,Programming
Dr. Luke   Producer,Programming,Instrumentation,Executive Producer,Musician
Pebe Sebert   Composer
Peter Savic   Hair Stylist
Billboard   Musician,Producer,Programming,Instrumentation
Jeremy "J Boogs" Levin   Production Coordination
David Levy   Assistant
Koool Kojak   Musician,Producer,Programming,Instrumentation
Sam Holland   Engineer
Alana de Fonseca   Engineer
Rob Cohen   Assistant
Lukas Hilbert   Composer
Francesca Tolot   Make-Up
Chris Dalston   Booking
Padraic Kerin   Engineer
Hart Gunther   Engineer
John McBride   Engineer
Phil Seaford   Assistant Engineer
Nate Ruess   Composer
Irene Richter   Production Coordination
Jesse Shatkin   Engineer
Andrew Luftman   Assistant,Production Coordination
Skin   Additional Production
Yu Tsai   Photography
Rani Hancock   A&R
Serban Ghenea   Mixing
The Flaming Lips   Producer
Kesha   Composer
Matt Beckley   Engineer
Larry Goetz   Assistant
Ben Folds   Composer,String Arrangements
John Hanes   Mixing Engineer
Michael Ilbert   Engineer
Cirkut   Instrumentation,Musician,Producer,Programming
William Adams   Composer
David Silberstein   Production Coordination
Scott "Yarmov" Yarmovsky   Assistant,Production Coordination
Jon Sher   Assistant
Rachael Findlen   Assistant
Matt Brownlie   Assistant
Mack Hawkins   Engineer
Darren Craig   Design,Art Direction
Daniel Zaidenstadt   Assistant
Nick Brown   Assistant
Allen Grigg   Engineer
Amar Malik   Composer
Ammo   Musician,Producer,Programming,Instrumentation
Mathieu Jomphe Lepine   Composer
Henry Walter   Composer
Iggy Pop   Composer
Eric Eylands   Assistant
Justin Merrill   Assistant
Savan Kotecha   Composer
Shellback   Composer,Producer,Programming
Matt Romano   Drum Technician
Ghazi Hourani   Assistant
Alexander Kronlund   Composer
Benjamin Levin   Composer
Emily Wright   Engineer,Vocal Producer
Kesha Sebert   Composer
Stardeath and White Dwarfs   Producer
Joshua Coleman   Composer
Zaldy   Stylist
David Kutch   Mastering
Erwin Gorostiza   Creative Director
Dustin Capulong   Assistant
Artie Smith   Drum Technician,Guitar Technician
Rick Roskin   Booking
Allan Grigg   Composer,Engineer
Clint Gibbs   Engineer
Lukasz Gottwald   Composer
Dan Omelio   Composer
Ammar Malik   Composer,Musician,Programming,Instrumentation
Katie Mitzell   Production Coordination