ariana grande - my everything

brace yourselves

Ariana Grande – My Everything (Tracklisting):

1. “Intro”
2. “Problem” (Feat. Iggy Azalea)
3. “One Last Time”
4. “Why Try”
5. “Break Free” (Feat. Zedd)
6. “Best Mistake” (Feat. Big Sean)
7. “Be My Baby” (Feat. Cashmere Cat)
8. “Break Your Heart Right Back” (Feat. Childish Gambino)
9. “Love Me Harder” (Feat. The Weeknd)
10. “A Little Bit Of Your Heart”
11. “Hands On Me” (Feat. A$AP Ferg)
12. “My Everything”

8. “Break Your Heart Right Back” (Feat. Childish Gambino)

some pretty amazing truth in advertising here

I see she's doubling down on terrible guests.

5 features not including the producer features seems like a bit much, especially with them all right next to each other like that.

These features are not inspiring confidence.

The snippet of the Zedd song did not renew my faith.

I see she's doubling down on terrible guests.

― Herbie Handcock (Murgatroid)

lol my thoughts exactly

Maybe Babyface wrote one of those songs.

gonna repost my opinion on this from the last thread

i would be more apprehensive if we didn't already know that the song written by max martin and featuring iggy azalea that rips off macklemore and jason derulo is a banger

― le goon (J0rdan S.), Monday, April 28, 2014 12:02 PM (2 months ago) Bookmark

"problem" didn't stick with me as much as i thought it would when i first heard it :( i mean it's not horrible but i don't go back to it much, nowhere near the obsessive looping i did with her debut

guests really are awful

"problem" is inescapable here and still thrilling

teh weeknd's gonna pull a reverse terius here and make u all swoon with a sugar sugar candy pop freestyle jam

i can imagine "Problem" being enjoyable if i didn't find the sax and whispering so grating and tacked-on but thrilling really

i love "problem" it's a self-evidently great song

"Problem"'s problem isn't a production problem and anyone who thinks it's good as any of the first album's singles has a problem. Also it has an Iggy Azalea problem and should instead have Problem.

it's definitely as good as "right there"

i think it's clearly one of her best songs and a 10/10 as full as full pop crossovers go

did you hear the actual Problem version of the song? https://soundcloud.com/yngca/youngcalifornia-remix-ariana-grande-problem-feat-problem-iggy-azalea

"problem"s problems, from least to most irritating: the chintzy trumpet, iggy azalea, the unforgivable whispering

7/10 but could've so easily been 9/10

the whispering is great what is wrong with you

it's like a 6/10, I don't care much for the tune tbh, but the beat is great

that's a a sax, not a trumpet

and damn, Problem kinda goes off on that yay

The whispering sort of squanders a great build up. Everything after the second verse and chorus feels like space filler.

yeah i get what they're going for with the dynamics but it feels awkward and stitched together to me. especially when Ariana vamps over the whispering.

someone on twitter heard the instrumental in a radio ad without having heard the song and described the beat as a Macklemore/C+C Music Factory mashup -_______-

i think it's a fun curveball and a bit of a risky maneuver for a song clearly plotted as ariana's world domination

it seemed pretty inevitable and unsurprising to me. i mean "talk dirty" et al are still blanketing the radiowaves.

i still like it though.

"problem" is like roar where i can totally point out all the bits and pieces its taking from different previous hits but by the umpteenth spin who gives a fuck

i also appreciate that none of the hooks from it that get stuck in my head have anything to do with iggy azalea

Yeah except "Roar" is the most garbage-ass garbage on earth

wait did we expel the majority of katy perry's other singles to another planet?

i like "Problem" a lot, there's like nothing at its center but they threw a bunch of ideas in a blender and mixed so fast you don't notice

"Problem," "Fancy," and "Roar" are the Scalia, Thomas, and Alito of current pop -- I hear them and want to drive my car into what's left of the Everglades.

wait do you prefer the reggae lite dudes

"problem" is laaaaame + "roar" is amazing

it seemed pretty inevitable and unsurprising to me. i mean "talk dirty" et al are still blanketing the radiowaves.

― dyl, Monday, June 30, 2014 5:32 PM (51 minutes ago) Bookmark

i was talking about the whisper specifically

i seriously have no idea how you can like ariana grande but hate "problem" ... doesn't compute for me

eh it's not a huge departure from the first album but i think the differences are self-evident

I'd like "Problem" a whole lot more if she got rid of the two guests.

In fact in general her songs are better without guests imo. Weeknd and Childish Gambino on the album :blech:

a few of the best albums of the decade have the weeknd and childish gambino on them, we'll survive

but how many of them will have Iggy Azalea

i have a feeling we'll have about two years to find out

tbh childish gambino's "3005" is pretty dope except for the corny punchlines, and it's about to become huge

http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop-shop/6141123/ariana-grande-my-everything-track-list-the-weeknd-big-sean-aap?utm_source=twitter

"My Everything" is due out Aug. 25, and will feature production from Ryan Tedder, Benny Blanco, Max Martin, Rodney Jerkins, Oak & Pop and Harmony & Tommy Brown. "I never thought I'd be able to say this, but I love this album five times as much as I love 'Yours Truly,'" Grande told Billboard in April. "They're different, but I love this one so much more."

problem's problems are that iggy azalea exists and that ariana secretly doesn't sing it well. it seems like a desperate attempt to blow her up into a massive pop presence instead of a semi-niche presence. which is probably necessary nowadays but still. i'm worried this record is gonna be entirely blaring-production covering her attempts at singing via whisper-shout and then like 3 ballads where she's allowed to show off

She previewed two other tracks that seemed fairly subtle in comparison to Problem's production, but only one of them made the standard tracklist.

if Oak & Pop and Harmony Samuels are involved there should be at least 2 songs i enjoy

rip the rascals

people got to be free

i will never forget

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdZl59kyvkQ

5 features not including the producer features seems like a bit much, especially with them all right next to each other like that.

― Greer, Monday, June 30, 2014 12:56 PM (9 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this seems like a pretty standard ratio for an event album? and as far as selection it has asap ferg where it could've easily had macklemore. her breakout single was with mac miller. the features smack a lot less of label trying too hard to blow her up than i might have expected really

It's not Ferg that's the problem. IDK it's more the idea that Ariana is a big enough star in her own right now, she shouldn't need seven feat.s to get people to buy her album

Pretty sure everybody needs seven feat.s to get people to buy their albums

tbh childish gambino's "3005" is pretty dope except for the corny punchlines, and it's about to become huge

Idk it's very 1st verse Big Sean 2nd verse Chance

features don't really sell albums and haven't in like 10 years. it's more of a psychological thing, artists and labels think that's just how you have to make an album and it becomes an easy talking point.

Pretty sure everybody needs seven feat.s to get people to buy their albums

adele to thread

meanwhile

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jessie-j--ariana-grande--nicki-minaj-bang-bang-world-premiere-july-29-265347111.html

"In what is sure to be the musical event of the year, international superstars Jessie J + Ariana Grande + Nicki Minaj have collaborated for the powerhouse anthem "Bang Bang" out July 29 via Republic Records."

-_________-

maybe ariana grande just likes rappers on her songs

if anything having a rapper on your song would make it harder for you to sell albums to a crossover audience so i don't think that's the strategy

yeah I mean look at what happened to Mariah Carey

ariana grande is definitely, above all else, just a millennial whose idea of good rappers is big sean and mac miller.

i mean, we're talking about someone who memorized every line of "Guap."

wait what do i have to do with this

lol

sarge's guide tape

i once almost listened to more than 30 seconds of "3005" but corny punchlines make up basically the entirety of the lyrical content so i couldn't

http://oi57.tinypic.com/2udxagx.jpg

quite the who's who

wow. the Year of Ma$e continues.

Ryan "Ryghteous" Tedder

oh boy, Childish Gambino on a Biggie beat. i'm guessing "Mo Money Mo Problems"?

guetta :(

Idk it's very 1st verse Big Sean 2nd verse Chance

― The Reverend, Tuesday, July 1, 2014 6:01 AM (9 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

he's totally derivative dont get me wrong.

The intro will probably be the best track.

The Cashmere Cat credit was not expected.

What a random writing credit from Harry Styles.

What worries me about this album is that Yours Truly was great but it wasn't because of Grande herself, rather the personality that was built around Grande from the throwback vibe and 90s Mariahisms. Her Disney background worked for her because the songs were sweet and retro and cute but she doesn't seem a strong or versatile enough performer to sell something like Problem and you only have to look at her in the video to see how awkward she is with it, and the idea of her doing EDM bangers or whatever doesn't inspire me with great hope for this.

I mean, Problem is a great single but when you've sang on Right There, Baby I, Piano, You'll Never Know and The Way, your world-conquering breakthrough should really be better than a tween-friendly take on The Whisper Song.

I'm just sad Babyface won't be on this at all.

our world-conquering breakthrough should really be better than a tween-friendly take on The Whisper Song.

― boxedjoy, Tuesday, July 1, 2014 4:32 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is the most bizarre reading of this single

she sang good on Yours Truly

her whisperiah impression is pretty nasally

What worries me about this album is that Yours Truly was great but it wasn't because of Grande herself, rather the personality that was built around Grande

― boxedjoy, Tuesday, July 1, 2014 4:32 PM (Yesterday)

foh

lol otm

Her next single: http://www.kiisfm.com/articles/featured-472399/premiere-ariana-grande-break-free-12527297/?=38383

Meh.

i like this... it's kinda EDM gone 80s?

:(

the chorus sounds like a prechorus bridge and the production is pretty lifeless... i thought i was fine with her remaining firmly at the center of rhythmic crossover but this is not what i had in mind :/

sounds like rihanna passed on it

:|

dope track

katy b does this better

zedd has still basically written one song

? was thinking how much this doesn't sound like "clarity" and "stay the night"

It wouldn't sound completely out of place next to the stuff he did on Artpop.

actually pity anyone who doesn't fuck with this

this sounds to me like carly rae jepsen's going for broke comeback single

idk man this is pretty lifeless

for the record i pity me too

j0rdan's really pushing the "ariana's time to take over" narrative huh

this isn't even as good as "problem" on one listen

j0rdan's really pushing the "ariana's time to take over" narrative huh

she's put out two obvious pop smashes i'm not pushing anything

yeah this is a dud

chorus is like a dvd commentary set to music

lol sam & cat season 2 special features disc

"I only wanna die alive, never by the hands of a broken heart/ don't wanna hear you lie tonight, now that I've become who I really are" WHAT

The Carly Rae comparison is interesting because this song is trying really hard to perform cathartic release whereas something like Tonight I'm Getting Over You managed to pull it off seemingly effortlessly.

"Tonight I'm Getting Over You" to me is more like nu-Ariana in the sense of 'someone fairly unknown came out of nowhere with something great and refreshing, quick, the industry needs to assimilate them with big thudding Max Martin stuff'

yeah this is w/e

zedd has still basically written one song

― katherine, Wednesday, July 2, 2014 9:45 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the problem w/ this song isn't zedds, it's that this sounds like a less distinct version of 100 pop singles around it

the topline melody, i mean

Extended mix: https://soundcloud.com/josepvinaixa/ariana-grande-break-free

lol @ pitchfork liking this

Wonder how low my expectations for this album will be by the time it's released.

"Tonight I'm Getting Over You" to me is more like nu-Ariana in the sense of 'someone fairly unknown came out of nowhere with something great and refreshing, quick, the industry needs to assimilate them with big thudding Max Martin stuff'

― some dude, Thursday, July 3, 2014 3:15 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

except "tonight" was still a great song that featured the actual existence of carly rae

not to sound hyperbolic but the thing about an album like yours truly is that ariana was pretty much always the best thing about each song, great production and all. it was built around her. in these two songs she's totally buried. there's a difference between becoming a pop star and becoming any pop star.

would either of these songs be any worse if rita ora were performing them?

"Problem" is still very much Ariana's song.

yeah ariana is totally the star on "problem," i don't get that view at all

i like "i will never let you down" more than both of these singles

same

i wouldn't go that far but so far, cher lloyd in 2014 > ariana grande in 2014

i've never been one for rita ora in the past - so flavourless , but somehow she manages to convey an exuberance on that single that is missing from "break free" and most of "problem" (except for the "head in the clouds..." bridge, i guess, which is easily my favourite part of that song). and while we're arbitrarily comparing women in pop then yes, i am of course team cher - imagine if ariana had come back with a single like "i wish"!

Please tell me Cashmere Cat is animated.

I like "Problem" just fine, kind of like a not as good "Crazy In Love." Do think the singer sounds like a guest on her own song, though.

i wouldn't go that far but so far, cher lloyd in 2014 > ariana grande in 2014
--lex pretend

this might be your most absurd opinion ever

yeah lex cher doesn't even have a certified pop banger that is currently a hit in the US, how can she possibly be having a better year based on this literally one criterion, that is certainly more absurd than "all comedy is bad"

neither single is especially good and I guarantee no one would give nearly as much of a shit if it were off the selena gomez or demi lovato or whatever records

totally

'problem' is great and very much an ariana grande single in the mold of her debut

the new one sounds like sub par katy perry

neither single is especially good and I guarantee no one would give nearly as much of a shit if it were off the selena gomez or demi lovato or whatever records
--katherine

you're right that people don't give a shit about these two bcuz they don't make particularly good music

yeah lex cher doesn't even have a certified pop banger that is currently a hit in the US, how can she possibly be having a better year based on this literally one criterion, that is certainly more absurd than "all comedy is bad"
--linda cardellini (zachlyon)

i was not equating success with quality but lex was accusing me of "pushing a narrative" that *is* actually happening

you're right tho that "all comedy is bad" is probably lex's most absurd opinion, though "cooking pasta is impossible" is a strong contender

demi has joints idc idc

both selena and demi have put out songs better than "problem" or whatever this new one is called within their current album cycles

"really don't care" is better than both ariana songs

"Problem" > "Come and Get It" > "Heart Attack"

Come and Get It is such a chore to get through compared to the other two in that comparison.

Selena's album before her most recent, When The Sun Goes Down, is really great. I love it just as much as Yours Truly.

all the 'problem' hate is so weird imo one of the best songs on radio rn

It is, which is a sad state of affairs.

there have been so many better radio songs, even just on pop radio, this year

Testament to either my low standards or the quality of the song itself that "Problem" has so many elements going against it and yet, I still love it.

It's lively, changes a lot, and doesn't sound like a monolithic EDM jock jam. And I bet marching bands are having a blast with it.

i don't hate "problem", it's just not amazing like most of the first album

if the only pop you hear is what's on the radio yeah it's probably one of the best i guess

i don't see what's so absurd about the opinion that cher lloyd's music in 2014 is better than ariana grande's unless you're equating success with quality

Why are we comparing her to Cher Lloyd again?

because no one wants to compare her to Ed Sheeran

"Break Free" is terrible.

it's a shame people keep looking to Zedd to deliver something with the same appeal as "Clarity" when they could just listen to the pretty good Foxes album instead

that'd require people giving a shit about the guest vocalists

The snippet of "Best Mistake" she posted has potential.

you know what, i give up. "break free" legitimately sounds good on the radio.

lyrics are still garbage but ariana barely even enunciates so it doesn't matter

yeah it's been growing on me too. I'd still rather hear her doing Babyface-style songs though.

"Break Free" just a garbage song in general I'm worried for bbg

That thing with Jessie J and Nicki Minaj is just the worst

i've been avoiding that so hard, how the fuck did jessie j manage to get ariana and nicki on a track???

Jessie J just seems like one of those industry charity cases that countless bigger stars and power players seem to be rallying around to keep in the spotlight for some reason. like Tyga or French Montana.

i feel like it's dr. luke calling in favors, and he's prob a good person to have asking for favors

http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=12582

i just mean in general, like Jessie J was the 'house band' at the VMAs well before she had her one previous top ten U.S. hit, it has felt like a whole lot of people have bent over backwards to make her even moderately famous here

you think people are relentlessly foisting her on YOU?? multiply that by a hundred in the uk

and it has to be repeated, not a single pop fan i know has anything but disdain for her

that may be the overall sentiment, but didn't her debut single go to #2 over there? i just mean there was years and years of pushing her here with much more modest results.

like, her debut album is 4x platinum in the UK, didn't go gold in the states

I had to sit through someone's acoustic performance of that "Not About the Money" song or whatever the hell it is once and never have I so strongly wanted to kill myself.

This one ruined Xmas for me, forever

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9WuNniJZs4

it's frustrating that those foisted-on-us acts usually, eventually, find real success after we're all worn down and can't fight anymore. 4 songs in the top 10 is currently inhabited by iggy, sia and jessie j. sia sort of counts right? of course the picture next to "bang bang" is just ariana lol

Perhaps the best thing about Rita Ora's "I Will Never Let You Down" is that it's like Jessie J's "Domino" but not actually by Jessie J.

Not that I feel anything more than indifference toward Rita Ora per se. But it's all relative.

Kind of interested in the second Rita Ora single just to know whether IWNLYD was a fluke or whether she has suddenly grown a personality

IWNLYD isn't really that much superior to the rest of her marginally catchy but ultimately boring discography though? unless there's a remix à la seamus haji's "rip" to elevate it somewhere

i fucking love "i will never let you down" but there is definitely an elevating switch remix lex

there sure is!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86mRsbXab-0

I like this new song a lot, even the Big Sean verse isn't completely awful: http://www.missinfo.tv/index.php/ariana-grande-best-mistake-feat-big-sean/

hmmmmmmmmmmm

this is really shaping up to be a distancing from the first album, not just building on it

this wouldn't have sounded that out of place on the first album tho? and i like it.

'just building on' the previous album (basically rehashing it) would have been pretty disappointing imo

surely there's a middle ground between 'rehashing' and 'sprinting towards a more top 40 sound' that a phrase like 'building on' exists to describe

yeah the links are really very tenuous but she's gonna have a huge debut week so it's hard to fault them imo

i think we're all aware that ariana grande is going to be a huge commercial success but it's possible to fault the music within that, no?

Sort of

sure it's just one of those things where the motive of the critic and the motive of the artist start to clash in a way that is hard to reconcile

that's kind of a dodgy logical route to go down w/r/t critiquing successful pop songs. i think a pop critic can take into account zeitgeist-catching and the commercial impetus without necessarily ending up having to applaud every song in the top 10 just because it succeeded on those terms

Isn't part of the fun applauding/enjoyingf songs purely for those reasons tho

no

"problem" and especially "break free" sure, but i don't see what is zeitgeist-catching about this new song at all

i certainly don't fault ariana and co for wanting to catapult her to a more secure/ubiquitous level of stardom but i definitely fault everyone involved for thinking they need to take this very myopic, narrow view on how to reach that goal, essentially trying to launch her based on name recognition rather than idk prior-music-qualities recognition

it'll work but apparently the price is an anonymous-making EDM turn when that wasn't necessary and detracts from the possible individuality she could be securing in that higher circle of pop singers

(nb i haven't heard the new one maybe this looks a lot wronger than it should)

and tbh i understand the attraction to big pop-culture-ubiquity when the thing in question is new, not terrible, something the monoculture can celebrate and share together because monoculture is fun and affirming, hearkening back to a simpler time when we all danced the macarena and purchased peace frogs merchandise, but some of yall overdo it

here we go

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8eRzOYhLuw

http://johnjayandrich.iheart.com/articles/johnjay-rich-good-bad-and-the-gossip-285155/ariana-grande-fought-max-martin-over-12651483

i'm glad she fought Max Martin on having to sing "become who i really are" but the whole "i only wanna die alive only by the hands of a broken heart" is really even worse

That may be the actual worst music video I've ever seen.

This song has really grown on me but that video, oh dear. If you're going to be a pop star you have to make it look like you're enjoying yourself and having fun and not just afraid that someone will see you from an angle that isn't "that one side of the face."

she posted clips of the pop & oak (and childish gambino) song on IG and it sounds great

http://instagram.com/p/rsYyEOyWcG

http://instagram.com/p/rsZtykyWdh

not to get gassed off two clips but it sounds like one of her best songs

Can listen to four of the tracks here for anyone interested:

http://news.mtv.ca/news/music/mtv-first-ariana-grande-preview-four-tracks-off-grandes-upcoming-album-my-everything/

"be my baby" sounded like a "right there" redux
"just a little bit of your heart" is laughably bad
"why try" is tedder at his most grossly calculated

"love me harder" is kind of magical though

not really feeling the weeknd getting on his mykki ekko shit but god damn that "love me harder" chorus

lemme jump on my whiney shit here and point out that if "love me harder" was a robyn single it would be top 5 on every year end list

YOU GOTTA GOTTA GOTTA GOTTA GOT TO LOVE ME HARDER

the tedder song is bad but i like the other two

"just a little bit of your heart" sounds like a katy perry ballad that is actually good

Harry Styles is adding that to his resume as we speak:

"Like a Katy Perry ballad, but good"--Jordan S.

i like that you can hear her voice in these at least

definitely prefer "just a little bit of your heart" to that mika one from the last album

it's funny, the weeknd seems to be able to write the kind of really fantastic melodies for other artists that he doesn't really do for himself. m.i.a.'s "exodus", now this

with uberweiss on the other songs...we've heard what, half the album now and the bulk of that is fine-at-best and i'm certainly not getting my life from it like i was from almost all of yours truly :(

the a$ap ferg song is goooooooood

i think i'm...pleasantly surprised by this album on the whole although that jessie j bonus track can go die in hell

There's some good stuff here but I'm otherwise left cold to most of it. It's missing something that I can't quite put my finger on. Not a patch on the best songs from her last album. Break Your Heart Right Back feels like such a waste of that sample too.

man they really let donald glover do biggie's flow over the "mo money mo problems" riff huh

love "break your heart right back"

like "one more time"

dislike "love me harder" iunno i mean it sounds cool but the song it threatens to be never really materializes for me and then the weeknd shows up and i'm out

feels transitional

As far as recent songs using the I'm Coming Out sample featuring questionable rappers aping Biggie's flow goes, this>>>>>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHSaEs6KC8Q

extremely taxing to hear both childish gambino and iggy azealea rapping over that sample within the space of an hour

echoing the lukewarm responses :( i feel like this album does a very poor job of framing and supporting her voice - she often seems to have been dropped on top of a backing track with little thought rather than working with it, and a lot of these songs sound like they were written for a smaller voice. i mean i guess most of it is "fine"

the harmony samuels bonus track is one of the best!

I'm surprised by how subdued (and bland a lot of the time) the production is, considering the people who worked on the album. Like, production-wise, the only track that jumps out on first listen is the Darkchild track with A$AP Ferg. It's subdued enough that it makes "Bang Bang" sound good in comparison.

imo im surprised how cohesive sounding the record is, considering the variety of producers and no one to really tie it together (didn't realize max martin only ties together 3 tracks).

not super impressed by the DarkChild production (well any of his shit the last 3 years).

love me harder is the standout for me. agree with le goon about Robyn. have a feeling it will be on a lot of lists anyways. very curious about the involvement of Peter Svennson (from the Cardigans) -- has he been producing other top 40 shit? very strong track. agree with lex about the weeknd - love his sia/greg kurstin collab last year too.

the harry styles track is terrible. is it his first writing credit for another artist?

the trouble with "love me harder" is of course the weeknd himself - he completely kills the momentum (as big sean does on the otherwise-fine "best mistake", he feels like he takes up over half the song)

a$ap ferg is, bizarrely enough, the real revelation of the album. had no idea he could sound as fun as that

ya this is blandsville, not even the hyperreal rictus of the first

pro tip: first quarter is more entertaining when taken as a continuation of her wrestling with the demonic visitations

darkchild arab money vs guile stage number is weird but fun

i like that you can hear her voice in these at least

There's so much sonic gunk on "Problem" that I just assumed she couldn't sing and they were doing the best that they could. But then I sought out a few unadorned clips and was really impressed by her voice. So I'm glad they're letting her show it off instead of drowning it in reverb, cut/paste takes and awkward overdubs.

Wait, were you talking about Break Free? Because that sounds terrible.

"Love Me Harder" sounds the best right now, the only time I've liked The Weeknd on anything tbh.

"Love Me Harder" is basically DWUW Pt II

But on the whole I'm actually enjoying this album - it's obviously no Yours Truly but an EDM Ariana album could have been so much more disastrous.

The instrumental on the Harry Styles one is lovely and it deserves better lyrics than his flavourless syrup.

Yeah, listening now, Love Me Harder sounds OK. Still a little too much artificial mush on her vox for my tastes - obviously she can sing, but the songs I've heard sound like they were recorded one line at a time - but I think I'd prefer this to clean vox paired to a generic piano ballad extreme.

we might as well get comfortable; she's gonna be here awhile

i didn't know there was this whole backstory about "break your heart right back" being about some gay affair or whatever, i think the meta aspect of that song is kinda disappointing in so far as the production of that song could've been so much banging had they not decided to make this blaring meta reference w/ the "i'm coming out" sample from "mo money" which structurally doesn't really work

also agree w/ whoever said that ferg sounds weirdly incredible on "hands on me"

There's a desperation to the choices: the samples, guests, the decision to make Grande's role recessive in these clotted arrangements. The album's not desperate in the mercenary let's-make-a-single-for-every-market sense; it sounds like an album assembled by people who still don't know what their client's strengths are.

It's as if the Christina Aguilera of 1999 made Back to Basics in 1999.

eh i think it's clear that they wanted to move her out of teen pop and the album definitely succeeds at that.

this album kinda reminds me of 'girl gone bad' in that it has no real "sound" and is mostly about shifting the singer's image via a general sense of attitude and a bangers over everything ethos. and like that album i think it's easy to remember and fall in love with the great songs on this record and chalk the mediocre ones up to what happens when you throw things at the wall to see what sticks.

good girl gone bad*

I don't know how one stops sounding like a teen pop artist tbh

hiring Ryan Tedder? I don't know.

and more specifically both albums really consciously untether the singer from a sound that was specific but perhaps limiting in a number of ways

i don't think rihanna has made an album better than 'good girl gone bad' so maybe this analogy portends doom for ariana as an album artist but 'yours truly' is also much better than any rihanna album so maybe her desire to sing over hyper-trendy banging pop songs and her proven ability to put together a great album qua album will congeal on subsequent records

it's also just so depressing to me, "Baby I" flopping and then having 3 anonymous bullshit songs in the top 10 in a row

*it's all just so depressing

I don't know how one stops sounding like a teen pop artist tbh

― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, August 24, 2014 12:43 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark

i dunno like 'yours truly' opens with a doo wop kinda song. at one point she literally says "i wanna say we're going steady like it's 1954". like in many ways it's very chaste.

this album is a pretty obvious veer in the opposite direction

caramanica article kinda spells it all out http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/24/arts/music/ariana-grande-prepares-my-everything.html

the Weeknd, dark lord of erotic shock and dysfunction

erotic shock and/or

In the NYTimes picture she looks like she is 12:

http://static01.nyt.com/images/2014/08/24/arts/24GRANDE1/24JPGRANDE1-blog427.jpg

this is the fart where i sit on the toilet
it's stronger than it's been before
this is the fart where i break wind
cuz i can't resist it no more

just had to put that it in someone else's head for a while

king of erectile shock and disorder

eh i think it's clear that they wanted to move her out of teen pop and the album definitely succeeds at that.

this album kinda reminds me of 'girl gone bad' in that it has no real "sound" and is mostly about shifting the singer's image via a general sense of attitude and a bangers over everything ethos.

Yeaaaaah, but Good Girl Gone Bad had proper bangers for days. This is just Ariana trying on 12 different outfits as a singer and finding only a few that work.

And the praise I've seen for the Zedd track s strange to me since it's pretty much every other Zedd track featuring a female vocalist from the last year but with worse lyrics.

surprised at how much i like the the benny blanco/ryan tedder joint on this

i have to say i'm pretty galled by the fact that i'm in love with "one more time" which was written by david guetta

I'm trying to reconcile how "Break Your Heart Right Back" is quickly becoming one of my favorite tracks on the album with the lyrics, which I find quite abhorrent

(a song Ms. Grande says was inspired by an actual situation).

Yeah, I know, I still find it gross how she's involved with a guy who she found out cheated on her w/ another guy and so he's quite possibly closeted and her first reaction is not of compassion but "omg how can I make u hurt even more", that's how I'm interpreting the lyrics

then again, she's like 20 so w/e, right

(a song Ms. Grande says was inspired by an actual situation).

whew I was beginning to think these were all fictional scenarios.

this album kinda reminds me of 'girl gone bad' in that it has no real "sound" and is mostly about shifting the singer's image via a general sense of attitude and a bangers over everything ethos.

GGGB has a really well-defined "new sound" for rihanna ie 4x4 pop-house - not throughout the album but the first half is pretty coherent, and it's that stretch that really laid the template for her/late 00s pop in general. my everything definitely has fewer club bangers - it's so haphazard that at some points i found myself wishing for a straight-up EDM album - and definitely fewer songs anything like as immediate as GGGB's defining stretch

eh i think it's clear that they wanted to move her out of teen pop and the album definitely succeeds at that.

i feel like if they wanted to do this, what needed to change wasn't her sound so much as her enunciation - that giddy word-slurring fits a lot of this material pretty badly

Have folks heard the "Target exclusive" tracks?

http://rnbxclusive.se/2014/08/ariana-grande-cadillac-song/
http://rnbxclusive.se/2014/08/ariana-grande-close/

The various bonus tracks might be the best on the album.

yeah, i like "too close" a lot. bonus tracks are so often a pleasant surprise after slogging through a disappointing album

Another totally misleading Rolling Stone review: listening to deluxe edition right now---"my baby loves fleas?"---and no way is she a "hyperactive hummingbird" whose Mariah Carey viruosity kicks the ass of every other diva on the charts---she's not even whiny! Not quite: too nerf-monotonous for that. Kind of auto-earnest at most. ASAP Ferg, please call in ASAP Rocky, Rick Perry, grab guests off the street, at gunpoint if necessary. Canned dynamics, but not the good ones.

Okay, "Just A Little Bit of Your Heart" is not bad.

" I heard/A little bit of love is better than none." True, and one good song (so far) is better than none too, thanks A.

Yes yes remixes more A$AP thank you

Close enough to whiny and always earnest enough that sappy ballads should be her go-to, not changes of pace, seriously. She's actually kinda good at 'em.

(A$AP shot the original that sounds like a remix, good) Second good sap is "My Everything," now "Bang Bang" the first up-tempo actually sufficiently bangin', "Only I"--oh I see: yet another deluxe album wrapped around a good EP.

So far, 5 1/2 ("You Think You Know" gave out of gas and kept going a while) possible keepers out of 15. A familiar ratio, but I'll keep listening after belated, by then totally unexpected goodies (the better by contrast, of course).

this is fun: http://conradtao.tumblr.com/post/98033264137/this-time-im-telling-you

i quite like this album. there's been a lot of press in mainstream media here lately about her "diva" behaviour. not sure how much of it is truth and how much is tmz-style spin

ew i clicked on a mashup what year is this

http://www.crushable.com/2014/09/19/entertainment/ariana-grande-denies-telling-fans-to-fucking-die-twitter/

She needs the rumours to be semi interesting lbr.

Album remains impressively consistent at being a workmanlike box-ticking exercise. tries out all tthose different directions and gets 6/10 at all of them. So few genuinely exciting pop-thrill moments...only Problem, really, and the first half of Love Me Harder.

latter is the new single btw

man, I just discovered "love me harder," and just shed a tear around the second gottagottagotta chorus…shit done hit me hard…

great track

Yeah I fucking love "Love Me Harder." Like I have been known to play it repeatedly.

so Max martin wrote it with a cardigans guy and the weeknd…just learned that he's a few months younger than me, 43…I dunno, I tend to think of Lex Luthor/dr doom style masterminds of music as much much older than me…I wonder how a guy like that can truly inhabit a young woman's mindset the way he has repeatedly, like it would fascinating to hear demos of his britney shit…

gottagottagotta chorus

that's a great hook.

very cool

https://instagram.com/p/3ollg0yWZi/?taken-by=arianagrande

*applause*

this popped up on my Facebook:

TRENDING: Ariana Grande: Singer Apologizes After Video Shows Her Licking Doughnut and Saying 'I Hate America'

i love how much of a weirdo she is

I don't care at all about most of her music but Ariana Grande the personality is welcome in my pop culture life 24/7

someone wants her very own "earned it"

Nothing about ILM really surprises me in the grand scheme of things, but I can't find any mention of "Dangerous Woman" which surprises me (it's just great). I've been a fan of her since noticing that she was a comic genius on "Sam and Cat." I might actually watch SNL in real-time for the first time in years tonight.

i didn't really care for this song at all

and i'm really looking forward to enjoying another ariana grande single someday

I'm kind of fascinated by the fact that I like her a lot, and she's simultaneously pretty popular. Very unusual situation. Like I'm probably the only person in the world who hears the new single and thinks about Spectrum during the chorus. Likewise Problem/V-Effect. It's all coincidence, but her stuff crosses some weird lines in a subtle way.

i heard it on the radio and went "who's this? this is really good!" without knowing who it was. glad she's got something different up her sleeve after "Focus" seemed like everything bad about her second album turned all the way up.

the second song she did on SNL tonight sounded great. seems like something that could have been on album 1 but w/ a bit of piano house feel (my guess would be they're trying to nod to tropical house but i guess we'll see what the recorded version sounds like) http://www.gossipcop.com/ariana-grande-snl-be-alright-video-saturday-night-live-watch-performance/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBAHqRnSgRw

This is really great, on a 'Yours Truly' vibe for sure.

Just saw the SNL episode earlier today. Outside of her songs (which were great), super impressed by her just natural ease and charisma in all the sketch work. Rare to see someone killing it like that on all fronts. Crazy talent.

xp yeah "be alright" is a bop but i'm also kind of excited to hear some remixes as i feel like it recycles the same idea 4 times over and doesn't quite become as stratospheric as it could be

i think this is the best of the 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOydselfXHA

it sounds like jeremih

it sure does!

lol

Holy crap, "Into You" is a bop.

Yeah somehow I missed this because of everything else that came out the last day or so but uh, woowwwwww

Adore this

the way the synths go off like laser beams in the middle eight is definitely a ~moment~

it sounds like it was produced by michael mayer

ha it really does! and yeah whoa i was not expecting anything this good from this campaign. i was actually intending to avoid this (i have grown to really hate "dangerous woman", what a clunky song)

FLAMES

that denouement deliquescing into dumblonde delirium damn

So the new album is pretty great, better than My Everything, has more of an influence from the first album

I'm listening to the Japanese version of the album and "Focus" is tacked onto the end and it's sounding a lot better than I remembered to the point that I'm wondering if they changed it for this but I'm not about to watch the video or anything to find out

it's really really good isn't it! i'm kinda shocked, none of the singles grabbed me until "into you" but the album even makes them sound better. feels like the songs are actually tailored for her (surprisingly unversatile) voice this time - unlike the awkward last album this one does a great job of taking the stuff she did so well on the debut and putting it into more varied contexts.

"greedy" really leapt out at first listen, the bonus tracks are all great too.

Loving this.

"thinking bout you" is also incredible

the nicki cod-reggae one is lots of fun

http://www.change.org/p/metacritic-discard-rolling-stone-s-review-of-ariana-grande-s-dangerous-woman

poor whiney

Yesterday I went to a cool bbq and dj'd with friends and discovered a new band I like and met a promising gf candidate and yet by far the highlight of my day was that change dot org petition about whiney's ariana grande review lmao

Look @ how many signatures it has 😂😭

lmaoooooo

finally the future has arrived

http://i.imgur.com/kgv6YAq.png

Great album. Would sign.

gosh that key change in "greedy" is demonic

macy gray's "nina simone pitches to do a bond theme" turn on this album is unexpected

This is exactly why we need Sanders, he'll stand up to these corporate fat cat music critics

this album makes me sooooooo happy & that petition even happier

"utilizing her lower register with superb enunciation"

"Touch it" is a towering achievement

can't think of a recent pop album with better bonus tracks than this one - maybe 1989?

Superb album

yung nicki chim-i-ney delights me

Haven't been struck by her stuff before but "Into You" and "Touch It" and "Thinking Bout You" are so good!

Starting to think that this is a perfect pop album. Hello summer!

can't think of a recent pop album with better bonus tracks than this one - maybe 1989?

idk almost all of the recent pop records i've heard have had bonus tracks orders better than what made the official tracklisting; what makes the ariana bonuses remarkable is that i don't really hate any part of the normal record, and then the cluster of tracks at the end elevate the whole thing considerably, especially "bad decisions" and "touch it"

really psyched to hear a pop record this year that doesn't suffer from overcalculation

i believe whiney
#teamwhogivesashit

It's a four-paragraph review ffs.

Man, "Thinking Bout You"

yung nicki chim-i-ney delights me

― cher guevara (lex pretend), Sunday, 22 May 2016 12:30 Bookmark

WRIST ICICLE RIDE DICK BICYCLE!!!

are people really not here 4 the title track

the guitar tones <3 the heady rush of the pre-chorus <3 the "i wanna savour / save it for later / the taste, the flavour / 'cause i'm a taker / 'cause i'm a giver / it's only nature / i live for dangeeeeer" section <3

my other faves are "thinking bout you" (so intimate & light & warm, mdma vibes 2 me, tryna forget that dr. luke blates ghostproduced it), "everyday" (fucking banger - HEEEE GIVIN ME THA GOOD SHIT; the bananas whistling in final chorus is woah), "into you" (obv), "bad decisions" ("piano"-esque bounce to this), "touch it" (colossal & cinematic & other words), "i don't care" (mmmm). & all the other 1s

It's a four-paragraph review ffs.

― Now I Know How Joan of Arcadia Felt (C. Grisso/McCain), Sunday, May 22, 2016 12:31 PM (2 hours ago)

the problem with the review was apparent before any of the change.org petitioners actually read it -- its score is "too low" and, more importantly, included on metacritic

have not heard this album yet but excited to do so!

This album was reminding me in a good way of Mya's Moodring, and I think the combined sense of largesse and range but lack of over-calculation is a big part of it.

it's super-calculated though, from the styles it encompasses to the guests - it's not a curveball album and it's def tailor-made to today's commercial landscape. it basically has the same aims as the second album, it just executes them so much better (and so much more fitting to her actual voice).

well right I'm not saying it's not precisely calibrated, it just doesn't feel like it's trying to be too many things at once, or trying to be one thing so hard that it becomes lifeless

sure yeah i agree w that, but it's nice and rarer than it should be to hear a pop album that has so obviously been through the major label process, the focus grouping and positioning and so on, and actually works because of it

holy shit thinking bout you is great, knew better/forever boy as well. thinking bout you is like what i wish the last carly rae album could have done but never quite did for me

yeah i guess when i say "not over-calculated" I mean "not hamfistedly calculated".

Like, back in the early-to-mid 00s there were a lot more R&B albums that just worked because, even if they were assembled by committee, that committee had a decent working understanding of current R&B trends in the first place, so it wasn't all these super-obvious duplo-block-sized "and for our next trick let's get The Weeknd to sound morose, and for our next next trick let's get Zedd or one of those guys" box-ticking exercises you can spot from a mile off.

So apart from Moodring the other album I'm reminded of is Christina Milian's second album.

yeah, also britney's in the zone, but what these albums also have in common is that their stylistic range doesn't overwhelm the artist but is in service to their particular strengths - the variety on offer seems to flow from what the singer can do rather than being disparate trends imposed on her. i feel like it's about time and in the zone also benefited from a wider range of sounds and songwriters in the pop mainstream circa 2004 as well - "i can be that woman" and "brave new girl" were highlights of each, perhaps the most eccentric moments, but nothing really to do with trying to get radio play (and indeed neither were ever singles).

they have really cut down on ariana's video budget for this campaign though if a better album is the trade-off i'm not complaining.

super-obvious duplo-block-sized "and for our next trick let's get The Weeknd to sound morose, and for our next next trick let's get Zedd or one of those guys" box-ticking exercises you can spot from a mile off

this read of ariana's last album!

(also the pre-release singles off this apart from "into you" are even more baffling in hindsight. you gave the world "let me love you" and "be alright", which are both fine, but not "greedy" or "touch it"?)

omg yes totally in the zone

I love this album, but in a way I want to see more from her. She's a great actress, funny, amazing voice, and scandal-free as long as she stays away from donuts, etc. I wouldn't mind seeing her become a more-major cultural force, as opposed to just a maker of great pop albums. She might be too smart to go that route, though.

Into You is flat-out fantastic.

still haven't listened to the album but i also have to echo the love for "into you." it oddly reminds me of a specific time in my life, not because of what it sounds like but because of feelings it so vividly depicts and conjures. and yeah, it's a 'bop' too as an added bonus.

late, but add me to the 'into you' vote pile

especially the bits where those chimes kick in

feel like if ariana was little baby mariah on yours truly vis-à-vis early 90s mariah, another obvious comparison here is e=mc2

"bad decisions," "touch it," and "thinking bout you" are like the three best pop songs i heard this year. all bonus tracks

a meaningless distinction at this point in pop but idk i think all of them should've been singles

"touch it" is particularly incredible. that slight distortion on her voice on the big dramatic "it's obviously insane" >>>>>>

none of the bonus tracks scream obvious single to me in a way "greedy" does though

lots of generally baffling singles choices in pop this year, see also britney's "clumsy"

My only issue with Brad's position here is that by omission it implies that "Knew Better / Forever Boy" is ignorable (though obv that is the one bonus track that could never be a single so I get it) whereas I want a billion more examples of chart pop that is structured like Yes circa Close To The Edge.

none of the bonus tracks scream obvious single to me in a way "greedy" does though

true "greedy" sounds like a kpop song from 2011

i didn't like this album that much but my appreciation for "side to side" has grown as it's become more ubiquitous so maybe i should give it another spin

whereas I want a billion more examples of chart pop that is structured like Yes circa Close To The Edge.

Hi

as hymns to busting a nut go i'd have thought side 2 side was the ctte tribute

wrist icicle ride dick bicycle / i get up, i get down

all these bitches flows is my minimoog

Lol the only reason I was scrolling thru this thread was in search for some clue as to why S2S hadnt been nominated for tracks poll yet

"bad decisions," "touch it," and "thinking bout you" are like the three best pop songs i heard this year. all bonus tracks

― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Monday, December 12, 2016 12:29 PM (two years ago) bookmarkflaglink

someone pointed this out to me a few years ago but technically "bad decisions" and "thinking bout you" aren't bonus tracks. "sometimes," "i don't care," and "touch it" are though! (as well as the perfect "knew better/forever boy," tim otm upthread). it's weird. amazing record though, her best and it's not close, wish someone had made an actual thread for it

"Sometimes," "I Don't Care," and "Touch It" are all included on the "North American standard edition" (they're omitted from the "International standard edition").

(Same w "Knew Better / Forever Boy")

so the north american standard edition is the international deluxe? literally none of these distinctions have made any sense wrt to this record. whatever it's a 55 minute pop prog masterpiece

Seems that way -- yeah it's weird. (I have the Target Edition, which adds "Step on Up" and "Jason's Song"; which are both good, but very much feel like "bonus tracks").

and of course "focus" is a bonus track in japan

completely agree with brad that dangerous woman is easily her best album, "into you", "greedy", and then that amazing run at the end of "bad decisions", "touch it", "knew better/forever boy" and "thinking bout you" are all incredible. the only moment i don't really like on the album is that weird "la-la-la" bit at the start of "sometimes"

"be alright" and "let me love you" are two of my fav songs of hers

the transition into "forever boy" and that song is amazing

yeah, I think it’s the best “musically” of all her albums. but it’s also the weakest lyrically – a lot of basic lyrics around the same, one-dimensional bedroom theme (“Greedy” probably worst offender)

i would rank her albums

1. thank u next
2. yours truly
3. my everything
4. dangerous woman
5. sweetener

"Knew Better / Forever Boy" -> “Thinking Bout You” are an astonishingly great album closer pair.

“Thinking Bout You” sounds like the 1980s exploding in the distant past, and the event horizon suddenly washing over 2016 in a beautiful, melancholy rush of incandescent fractals.

dangerous woman
thank u next
yours truly
sweetener
my everything

a lot of basic lyrics around the same, one-dimensional bedroom theme (“Greedy” probably worst offender)

nah i love that this record is extremely horny

It’s not so much the “good girl gets ‘dangerous’” theme in itself (although that does get old) as that the lyrics of those songs are kinda corny, and sound like Max Martin at his Max Martin–est.

Like I love “Bad Decisions,” but the line You've become my favorite sin — it’s distractingly “songwriter-y,” no one talks like that outside a Swedish recording studio.

...of course, the same song also features That Bridge, which perfectly sums up / restates the album’s theme in one killer verse:

Don't you know I ain't fuckin' with them good boys?
Know you love me like ain't nobody could, boy
If you want it, boy, you got it
Ain’t you ever seen a princess be a bad bitch?

(AG has a credit on the track, and I’d love to think she wrote those bridge lyrics herself — it sounds like her “voice” — but that may be too good to be true.)

thank u next
dangerous woman
yours truly
sweetener
my everything