ariana grande - my everything

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