6/10 Shut Up

6.5/10 34+35

7.5/10 Motive

6.5/10 Just Like Magic

5.5/10 Off The Table

5/10 Six Thirty

7.5/10 Safety Net

7.5/10 My Hair

6.5/10 Nasty

4/10 West Side

7/10 Love Language

8.5/10 Positions

7/10 Obvious

8.5/10 POV

= 6.7/10

 

01 POV

02 Positions

03 My Hair

04 Motive

05 Safety Net

06 Love Language

07 Obvious

08 Just Like Magic

09 34+35

10 Nasty

11 Shut Up

12 Off The Table

13 Six Thirty

14 West Side

 

I will not dull this thread with negativity for much longer than this quick post but I really will only be taking away the top 6 with any interest. So much of it just seemed to roll into one without much hook, but POV was a superb ending to actually let her vocals shine (My Hair also, those whistle LINES, get it girl). It's not a total pass but I am disappointed.

This is her most cohesive album to date! Like every track flows so well from the next one so well. I don’t at all get the Bieber comparisons this really is like a full body of work it’s possibly her least pop album to date but I’m not too bothered by that. I was nervous at the reviews but it’s a really strong album now I’ve heard it :wub:

 

 

My first listen highlights were safety net, my hair and pov but overall the theme / vibe of this is strong.

As expected what a huge disappointment

Does anyone know if she worked with Tinashe on 'west side'? It's reminding me so much of her music in places!

Just Like Magic is so lush :wub: Mess at me (+ others) thinking it was 'middle finger to my bum' and not 'thumb' I think I'm gonna love this album oop, as mentioned not as much as her last three but that is a BAR.

 

 

‘just like magic’ is so pretty lyrically <3 that manifestation anthem!

This is underwhelming on first listen, which is a shame but what I expected after 'positions' was the lead single. I am sure that it will grow on me and I'll be loving it in a few weeks but so far I agree with the comments that there aren't many peaks and valleys. It's just "nice" with no outstanding moments.

To me this her most cohesive album everything just flows and fits together nicely . I’m tempted to say it’s one of my favourite albums by her but I’m going to give more listens before I say that . It’s a really strong album though for me !

Edited October 30, 20204 yr by troylovesmusic

This has already grew on my loads on second listen. The tracks I originally ranked neat the bottom already sounded so much smoother. :wub: I have no idea how I’d rank them now :lol:

Does anyone know if she worked with Tinashe on 'west side'? It's reminding me so much of her music in places!

She's not listed on the credits on Spotify. So I imagine it was just inspiration at most!

 

Listening through now for the first time and 'positions' really set me up for exactly what I expected (first listen rate incoming)

I really don’t know id rate this yet! But it’s really strong as a whole album. It’s cohesive and there’s nothing on here what I’d say I disliked.

 

I thought my first listen of this might’ve been like when I first heard ANTI by Rihanna and I wasn’t keen but over time it all fell into place and grew after repeated listens. This was pretty instant for me all the way through. I read to much into the reviews which tbh I shouldn’t have took notice of as the Ariana this site stans isn’t necessarily what I like the most from her :lol: you can tell that this was recorded with the intention of making an album than just putting out singles as well.

 

I’m impressed. I’d say the second half of the album (like from safety net onwards) is where it really excels though it kinda gets better as it goes on. pov is gorgeous :wub: :wub: the songs being short is my only nag like a few songs on here would’ve sounded even better with like an extra chorus or verse or so but and if you want them to be longer then it must mean that the songs themselves are strong it’s better than having an album full of 5/6 minute long songs where they all drag.

 

Yeah I’m happy! I can kinda see why pop Ariana lovers might not be as sold on this but i’m liking this natural like sound it has to it. I’ll do a ranking at some point on Sunday / Monday when the tracks become more familiar. On a final note I think positions the song sounds way better in context of the album. I can definitely now see why it as chosen as the lead single.

First listen through:

 

06.5 shut up

06.5 34+35

07.5 Motive

06.0 Just Like Magic

07.0 Off The Table

06.5 Six Thirty

07.5 Safety Net

07.0 My Hair

06.0 Nasty

06.0 West Side

07.5 Love Language

07.0 Positions

06.0 Obvious

08.5 POV

 

It's a nice album, but that's it for me, too. :( I will definitely listen to it all again a few times to get an overall opinion on it, but for me, it's like she's said "imma take 'sweetener', remove all the highlights/fan favourites from that album, and make a load more 'Pete Davison' type full length tracks instead". I have to try and find motivation to actually want to bother listening to it again, though. </3

 

POV is gorgeous! A beautiful closer. Hopefully some growers (I feel the same about 'positions' now as I did when I first heard it - after expecting it to grow a little) so we shall see!

 

I can't decide whether it's "cohesive" or just "samey". I was thinking the songs seemed short when looking at the track lengths, but thankfully if they were any longer, this album would have dragged a lot more.

The only one I'm not feeling at all is "Off The Table", which just goes nowhere and doesn't hold a candle to their last collab :( Otherwise I'm a fan.

I am officially OBSESSED with safety net! What kinda 11/10 SONG :heart:

It's certainly a very cohesive album, which normally is a big plus for me, but in this instance it all pretty much sounds like one long song. And that song, isn't very good.

 

Only the title track really stands out to me after first listen. A lot of people were saying that song sounds like "Ariana Grande on autopilot" which I really disagreed with, but funnily enough that's exactly how I would describe the rest of the album lol.

Kinda echoing a lot of what others have said..

 

Nothing is bad by any means but I've just listened through the album and I could honestly not tell you which song was which if you asked (aside the title track obviously)

It's going to take a few more listens to be able to properly distinguish the tracks from one another, but I think the album is lot better than I was expecting it to be. You can see why 'positions' was chosen as the lead single, but it did give the impression that it would be very Ariana-on-autopilot, yet the album is very classic, Mariah-esque R&B, as if this was the album Ariana always wanted to make.

The album is amazing her most R&B album

This isn’t the kinda R&B I like, this is 2010s hipster alternative R&B. I’d be hoping for an album more like Chloe x Halle’s Ungodly Hour if I had to choose a recent R&B album. Mariah’s albums were much more diverse. Ariana is basically the female Drake lol

 

There are very few positives about this album... west side is good for the Aaliyah sample and the vocals are very Brandy-inspired, positions is better now I know it’s the only moderately uptempo song on the album, pov is alright but the ventilator noises are a turn-off and lyrically it could be better

Edited October 30, 20204 yr by No Sleeep

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