A winter 'pov' release with an awards show performance for Ariana's vocals to shine is a huge fantasy for me with this era 😍

I'm quite happy with the album, it reminds me of mid/late-90s Mariah in places and I've always had a soft spot for classic laidback R&B. I bought it in Asda on Friday, so it is stocked there at least!

 

My initial top five is:

 

1. pov

2. my hair

3. love language

4. safety net

5. positions

 

But I also like 34+35, shut up, six thirty and motive. A couple of the others have washed over me on the first couple of listens, but on the whole I'm much more pleased with it than I expected!

My CD of the album arrived today :wub:

 

She’s now at #2 on iTunes albums with Sam overtaking her after last nights Strictly results show performance.

 

Wonder what the midweeks are like today for the albums chart.

From the chart eligible songs - 'positions' remains at #1 on Spotify, '34+35' climbs to #6, 'motive' remains at #13.

 

'pov' overtakes 'off the table' as the 4th most popular song :wub:

Any updates on sales in the UK so far?

This album is such a grower. I liked it from first listen, but I now think that it’s a really strong album. The tracks are now all starting to stand out, which helps.

 

Motive and Safety Net HAVE to be singles at some point! I really like Nasty too, that could work with an added feature perhaps?

#1 in the mids - a closer gap between her and Sam than I was expecting, but streaming should be in her favour as the week progresses and copies from her store still need to be added, think she will definitely achieve it. Looks like Cliff wasn't too much of a threat either :lol:

 

'positions' single #1, 34+35 #8, motive #13

I thought she’d have been on 20k or so at this point in the week.

 

Hopefully there’s a large amount of sales to be added what have come from her store and she will add a lot off streams too. But yeah I was expecting more hopefully the gap between her and Sam gets bigger with her out in front. Actually quite nervous now!

I was expecting Sam to be ahead in this update so I think the gap will get bigger as the week goes on now. Especially if the store sales get added soon.

Spotify Day 3

 

1. positions

6. 34+35

13. motive (with Doja Cat)

23. pov

26. off the table (with The Weeknd)

30. just like magic

34. safety net (with Ty Dolla $ign)

35. shut up

38. nasty

39. my hair

50. six thirty

 

56. obvious

58. love language

60. west side

 

I'm disappointed that Love Language is doing so bad. One on the highlights for me. West Side is up there for me too :(

It’s been discussed in the Friday predictions thread that Ariana outsold Sam yesterday so that’s good news!

 

Sam overtook her on iTunes yesterday though but that was after a Strictly performance so to be expected I guess.

 

I wonder how much will get added from her store! What a relief she chose this week though she’d have been #2 last week and if she chose next week she’d have ended up at #3 so this was the best week for her in terms of a UK #1 album.

Ariana is likely to have a significant lead over Sam by Friday! Ariana’s streaming sales are 4x the amount of Sam’s, that massively goes in her favour. As mentioned, her Official Store physicals aren’t included in the mids yet either. She’s got this!

I'm disappointed that Love Language is doing so bad. One on the highlights for me.

Agreed - still my 2nd favourite from the whole album! Tyler, The Creator knows where it's at:

 

@1323126645469970432

love langauge celebrates my 9,000th Ari stream of all time! :wub:

pov

safety net

love language

positions

obvious

my hair

nasty

34+35

off the table

just like magic

motive

west side

six thirty

shut up

 

So I just gave this another full listen. I’d say this is my first ranking of the tracks.

 

I think across her discography this will likely rank as her 4th best overall for me. It’s definitely stronger than her first two albums.

 

Sweetener, thank u, next and Dangerous Woman (in that order) I’d say are likely to remain ahead of it though. But this is a strong album and it’s the most cohesive album she’s done. It’s got a real chill vibe to it though and she sounds so good on it. It’s definitely a grower I wasn’t underwhelmed by any means but it’s clicking further with repeated listens.

 

I’ve said this before but in general the second half of the album is a lot stronger than the first half.

I still have to listen to this but with election night etc etc I think it wouldn't be fair to Ariana to not give my full attention!!!

Not commented fully on this yet but I am slowly but surely getting more and more into it. Being a big fan of 'Sweetener', I can see comparisons to that and it's welcomed, although the difference is the hooks on this aren't as grabbing as that album's for me.

 

Overall, I like the album and it is growing with each listen.

 

'pov' is my favourite I think, what an absolute beauty. Also really liking '34+35', 'off the table', and the title track - the others will take time but will likely get me eventually.

 

It's a nice listen, though it does feel like it's over before it's fully got started as an album, but a piece it's cohesive and solid and i'm liking it.

positions, 34+35 and motive are all stable on Spotify at #1, #6 and #13 again!

 

Still no email from her store yet about the CD and cassette dispatching. Intrigued to see the next mids figure.

Spotify Day 4

 

1. positions

6. 34+35

13. motive (with Doja Cat)

26. pov

28. off the table (with The Weeknd)

30. just like magic

34. safety net (with Ty Dolla $ign)

40. shut up

42. nasty

43. my hair

50. six thirty

 

55. obvious

59. love language

60. west side

Tuesday mids:

 

SINGLES

1 Ariana Grande - positions (24.6k)

8 Ariana Grande - 34+35

14 Ariana Grande & Doja Cat - motive

 

ALBUMS

1 Ariana Grande - positions (16.3k) *

2 Sam Smith - Love Goes (15.8k) *

3 Cliff Richard - Music... The Air That I Breathe (13.0k) *

4 Bruce Springsteen - Letter to You (10.3k)

5 Bring Me the Horizon - POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR (6.2k) *

 

I wish her lead in the album chart was stronger but still feeling cautiously optimistic about her doing the chart double, with her streaming strength and lack of Spotify data. Her store seriously needs to get a move on with the physicals - it's so frustrating having no idea how many copies are actually missing from the total :lol:

 

We'll try and help her out a little bit with a streaming party, so watch out for more info soon ^_^