Ariana Grande - AG4 (2018 album)

Yeah this is really good. surprised that they didn't go more anthemic on the chorus, like a usual single would - it's mostly just her lead vocal instead of the usual barrage of fuller synths, harder drums, and backing vocals - but the change is really refreshing

I almost love this but her diction is noticeably poor in the verses. I wouldn't say this sounds wildly different to what was in the UK top ten a few years ago but it suits her.

The part in the video where she takes her face off is really creepy!

this is absolutely :)

i don't fucking care she is on fire

I think the DnB beat is reminiscent of early 00s pop, something that's almost completely gone now. JF, maybe this is part of why it reminds you of Toxic?

Not a huge fan of the video. Kind of lazy references to Blade Runner and Inception. I liked the bit with the umbrellas, though.

yeah the video's a bit off, especially the weirdly lax lip syncing.

FUCK OFF

when she's caught in that starry spider's web it's like some Skyrim thing i'm on it

this song is fantastic

I don’t hear anything particularly like « Toxic » but it does have a Britney something at times.
Also the does sound a bit understated. It could bang a bit more. And have some stronger eurodance synth pads.
That said it’s a pretty good track !

The beat does sound understated

my onnnnnly issue is her vocal production on the chorus, otherwise it's beautiful!

I think it reminds me more of Britney’s « Break the ice » actually ! Still such a brilliant track btw...

umm break the ice is the closest pop equivalent to Mozart i've heard in a long time btw

never forget.

“we’re on another mentality”

Just played it 3 times on the bounce on teh bus. Amazing

It’s a full-length song that almost feels too short (in a good way, leaves you wanting more). Feels like it could keep rolling several more minutes as it builds and then suddenly stops.

Kind of a false ending but that's another one of its multiple virtues

i dig it. reminds me a little of 1 thing by amerie but in a lower register

this one's going to be about the remixes imo

it's going to be a huge club anthem

^^^^

one of her best songs so far. agreed re: its remix potential

this is really cool. her last few lead singles have been very broad/obvious, and this one goes to some unexpected places

I specifically said above that it doesn't sound like "Toxic" at all, but that it calls "Toxic" to mind in that it's a really ambitious and left field approach to what will ostensibly be a hit to some degree. iow we are now officially in the Ariana empirical phase.

Stupid phone. *imperial

Actually I think it sounds like a (very good) demo !
There’s something unfinished about it.

Empirical was fun though : I like the idea !

yeah, JF's phone owns
great song

This is great and deserves to be huge.

glad 2 be back home so i can loop this again

it's kind of more of a slowed-down 2 Step than a D'n'B rhythm

ctrl+F "Rudimental"

I thought two-step, too. And it sounds surprisingly refreshing.

She apparently made a surprise appearance at Coachella last night – performed this song and Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing.”

still wonder if the chorus could be "developed" just a lil more (don't ask me how) but it's grown on me, and it's really all worth it for the synths kicking in the post-chorus/second verse

The more I hear it, the more I love it (probably b/c I’m experiencing it as a whole now and not breaking it down in my head). I’m in that mode where I don’t really want to listen to anything else, but also don’t want to “wear it out” too fast...

In some ways this feels to me a bit like a song that might have turned up on one of the first three Christina Milian albums. Also it's great.

As the only comeback record that's ever been made under these circumstances it would have come across as rote, lazy and just wrong if it had sounded like anything else currently on the radio. And that's even allowing for the gigantic levels of goodwill towards Ariana herself - in the UK at least.

Tonally, the song itself needed to get the balance exactly right, it needed to be absolutely perfectly pitched, and it is.

I haven't followed her career much until now, but the advance tracks from this LP have me intrigued.

Oh hey, this song doesn't sound as oddly structured now that I'm just listening to the audio. I think the video was distorting how A→B it actually is. I still like it tho.

I love the vocal harmonies in the intro (first 20 seconds) of the video, and I'm a little disappointed that the single version doesn't include that part. I guess there's a chance that it will resurface as a segue on the album

Immaculate song

straight fire beautiful song

I paused the video on the shot with the disembodied Ariana faces/masks resting on a few sheets of paper w/handwritten notes... all I could make out for sure was "R.E.M." (several places) and "God Is a Woman." I ran a search on these phrases, and found others are on top of it - http://www.breatheheavy.com/god-is-a-woman-ariana-grande-teases-new-album-tracklist/

The idea of an Ariana track titled "R.E.M." (of all things) seems perfectly conceived to give teenage-me and adult-me something to talk about!

rem could mean REM sleep no?

well, sure... I'm guessing it's not actually a tribute to Athens' crustiest of the crusties ;)

;)

Sometimes I end up on these YT pages where hardcore vocal technique headz are analyzing/critiquing her performances, notes she’s hitting (or not hitting), etc. The comments on this one are somewhat interesting / funny (all based on a :25 clip!): https://youtu.be/7nCbuuj3rXA

New song is “My Favorite Things” with some squeaky rapping 😂

yeah, it seems bad after a pair of listens.

It’s def. a cute “flex,” don’t really know what more to say about it...

this song sucks ass

It’s catchy, but I really thought that the awful Carters album from last year signalled a bit of an end in relevance for songs about tasteless, excessive and wasteful consumption / flexing.

Like, compared to how much I enjoyed the overall message of thank u, next and No Tears Left to Cry, I find the “message” here totally odious in 2019.

Destroy capitalism etc.

http://www.katyjon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Rik-Mayall-Rick-in-The-Young-Ones-428x372.png

well she's certainly doing what she's supposed to be doing

such a nothing-y track, its weird how all over the place her quality has been with these albums

it's going to be a huge hit

i will say one thing i appreciate about her right now is the pace of her releases. like if you're in a position to be releasing hit after hit after hit, as she obviously is, you might as well encourage radio to stop being so fucking slow

I think if she had released it soon after recording it (and the now-famous Tiffany visit), it would have had a fun, throwaway immediacy; a document of a moment in time. But to give it the long build-up treatment... idk, I laughed as soon as I heard her singing the melody. It sort of felt like being punked, or on the receiving end of a good-natured grift.

Ugh “7 rings” is such an annoying single.

And no this is not going to be a huge hit.

Or at least I hope it wont.

Time for new thread? AG5 tweets aplenty.

The first three songs have already been discussed here, and it's all sort of the same "era" (as they say) as Sweetener... but I'm cool w/a new thread if someone wants to start one!

just don't call the thread ag5

lemme stay .... in my bag ... cause i like .... when u mad .... issa mood .... issa vibe .... issa look .... issa match pic.twitter.com/5CVYoEDkcX

— Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) January 24, 2019

it sure will be interesting to watch all of her critical goodwill evaporate in no time flat now that it's increasingly evident that she's fated to be the industry's female post malone!

My daughter watches reruns of her old TV show Sam and Cat and she is an awful, awful actress.

Really? My kids watch that (and Victorious) and I think she's great as Cat

What’s wrong with 7 rings? Not an anthem maybe, but kind of fun.

AG4 won a Grammy!

finally, ariana grande has been recognized by the recording industry.

It’s her first Grammy.

which is surprising! I guess the only people who i'm happy to see a grammy are people who it might help book tours/sell merch and Ariana needs a grammy like she needs a new boyfriend.

Which plucky upstart in the Best Pop Vocal Album category were you rooting for?

Weaves

naw, i meant in the other, untelevised categories. this is cecile mclorin salvant's second grammy!

Just realised that part of why I love Ghostin' so much is because some of the vocal melody reminds me a bit of Open Your Eyes by School Of Seven Bells.

listening to this for the first time, pretty good so far but the chorus of "Bloodline" is an instant yikes

Wrong thread, fam: Ariana Grande - "Thank U, Next" (the album)

This 1-hr. BBC concert/interview from 2018 was recently posted in its entirety* for the first time (at least here in U.S.); the performances are excellent:

*apparently, they held back "Better Off" at her request (you can find that separately)

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