Ahhhh okay I must have missed that information. I guess that's cute.

It's a subtle reference to be fair but yeah he had an unreleased song of the same name! <3

It's a subtle reference to be fair but yeah he had an unreleased song of the same name! <3

No way! Thanks for the bit of trivia, that IS cute! :wub:

15. WEST SIDE

AVERAGE SCORE: 6.47

LOVE language: LewisGT (8.5), Jade (8)

NASTY: LMLou (4), Tawdry Hepburn, HausofArgento + Nina West (5)

 

Next out is 'west side' which I think was the ultimate "this is too short!" moment on 'positions' until the wave of deluxe songs hit. It's such a vibe, not too dissimilar to a Tinashe song in execution, but ends abruptly after the flow gets properly going. I did give it an 8 but that score could've been easily pushed up if it was more fully fleshed. It's one of the most laidback moments sonically on the main track list to match the carefree nature of the lyrics. She is following her emotions and doesn't want to overthink her relationship. The most standout lyric to me is "just let me be in your life like that, be your wife like that" as Ari has since got engaged. Aww. So the future is looking sweet but she doesn't totally abandon the past here as "I'll bring the light right back" feels like a casual nod to 'the light is coming' from 'Sweetener'. 'west side' does scrape the top 15 but the averages are still not too great yet - 6.47 is what it managed. Co-mod Lewis awarded it a highest score of 8.5 while LMLou thought it deserved a low of 4. Quite a few of you marked this one as average. Who knows if this would've been boosted with at least another minute of content.

No real losses so far and no surprises yet either, west side would be my favourite of those that have left so far. I'm guessing main thing will probably follow shortly with that also being really short and inessential? Difficult to call what will go out beyond that though.

'west side' deserved better than that </3 but not too surprising to see it finishing quite low ofc. Although I would have expected it to beat at least one of the deluxe tracks.

Really disappointed west side is already out. :(

Big Tinashe fan and that's what it brings me! In fact I recall Tinashe herself naming it her favourite track via Twitter. If it was another 30 seconds longer it probably would have gotten at least another 0.5 score for me.

14. MAIN THING

AVERAGE SCORE: 6.5

LOVE language: George.keh (9.5), MrAndrewMan (9)

NASTY: LMLou (2), HauseofArgento (4)

 

The first of non-interlude deluxe tracks to fall is Main Thing. Even for this album, the deluxe tracks are all pretty measly in length and this is actually a comparative monster of a track running at a monster 2 minutes and 9 seconds! Positions is probably Ariana’s happiest album yet and this feels like a very suitable way for it to conclude. While TUN was all about moving on after a relationship with the title track leaving her in a position where she feels content with herself and BUWYGIB providing a playful bop hinting at fun in the future, Positions is all about the joy of falling back in love and the final lines “You know you're really different baby, You, you might be the main thing baby” sum up the essence of the album perfectly.

 

With only 0.03 separating them, his really just pips ‘west side’ to 14th thanks to some incredibly strong support from George.keh & MrAndrewMan with the two highest ratings we’ve seen so far that almost provided us with our first 10 of the rate.

 

I'm so surprised that 'main thing' escaped the bottom 5! It's definitely the least memorable of the bonus tracks for me although has grown a bit since first listen.

Still marginally my favourite of the 3 proper new deluxe tracks (obviously an unpopular opinion), although 14th is a pretty fair position for it overall.

13. OFF THE TABLE (WITH THE WEEKND)

AVERAGE SCORE: 7.27

LOVE language: HausofArgento + coi (11), Nina West (10)

NASTY: Tawdry Hepburn (2), LMLou (4.5)

 

With a bit of a larger jump in average, next out is the real Marmite track on the album and first collaboration to leave the rate. A slower moment on the album and arguably a somewhat underwhelming collab with frequent and most recent collaborator 'The Weekend', collected a variety of scores including our first 11 and 10 scores, however it also collected scores as low as 2 from Tawdry Hepburn.

 

Slight results spoiler:

Interestingly the track is the ONLY song outside of the TOP 3 to receive multiple 11 scores.

 

...Impressive. So what went wrong?

 

Personally I think it was always going to be tough following up 'Love Me Harder', the track fits the albums vibe very well and their vocals always compliment each other perfectly but somehow it falls a little bit flat (especially instrumentally) however some may argue that the minimal production is intentional. I just don't find myself going back to it very often and have even found myself pressing that skip button. :kink:

 

Despite my mixed opinion of the track, critics loved it and it stands as the 4th most streamed album track from 'positions'. It also cracked the top 40 on album release in the USA, Australia and Canada

 

In the only track on the record to reach or get anywhere near the 4 minute mark, Ariana samples ex boyfriend (RIP) Mac Miller's song '2009' from his 2018 album Swimming, she did the same on 'thank u, next' album track 'ghostin'.

Edited April 25, 20214 yr by Juliannnial

'off the table' is cute and their voices sound great, but nothing special. Are you sure I gave it a 10? :o

'off the table' is cute and their voices sound great, but nothing special. Are you sure I gave it a 10? :o

Oops no you gave it 7, it was Nina West! Sorry fixed!

'off the table' being that low in the results shocked me as I know it has some really big fans :o

 

I must admit that I found it disappointing after the high of 'Love Me Harder', but it's definitely grown a bit and I of course love their 'Save Your Tears' team up now too <3

Off The Table is lush. Proper 90's R&B vibes with them both almost battling each other with the vocal riffs and adlibs.

:mellow:

 

My favourite on the album - what a disaster for it on here!? It's stunning! Coi, let's grab our taste and leave xoxo

Because I listened to it about 10 times whilst deciding what to write, I feel my original score was a little harsh. Dare I say it's grown on me slightly. ;)

Off The Table is lush. Proper 90's R&B vibes with them both almost battling each other with the vocal riffs and adlibs.

Yeah I think this is the biggest draw of the song for me - they sound incredible together.

12. JUST LIKE MAGIC

AVERAGE SCORE: 7.37

LOVE language: MrAndrewMan (9.5), Jade + LewisGT (9)

NASTY: coi (5.5), blacksquare, Tawdry Hepburn + HausofArgento (6)

 

I would not have called this one finishing outside of the top 10! 'just like magic' has emerged as a bit of a fan favourite on social media thanks to the hopeful lyrics. But BuzzJack isn't quite as fond of it. Ari takes inspiration from the Law of Attraction which is a pseudoscience belief that you can attract what you want if you focus on this goal and put out the right energy. It's the power of the mind essentially. 'just like magic' is a manifestation anthem with good vibes only and quite a few appealing Buzzwords to the TikTok generation - manifest, aesthetics, finesse it etc. I do think the lyrics are pretty, especially "take my pen and write some love letters to Heaven". It's an endearing pick-me-up alongside 'Be Alright' from 'Dangerous Woman'. In this song Ari is also celebrating her success but in a less in-your-face way than 'successful' from 'Sweetener'. But she states that she needs to keep a "slim ego for a thick wallet", so she intends on staying humble. It's quite a dreamy song although the production is an interesting switch-up with the immediate bouncy electronic beats. Andrew loved this one the most although myself and Lewis weren't too far behind. coi was the least keen with 5.5 but even that isn't too bad for a lowest score.

I love just like magic - one of my highlights for sure :wub:

 

Shame to see it miss the top 10!