Ariana Grande – Dangerous Woman (2016)

Towards the end of the 2010s, Ariana Grande was a popular and well-loved RnB star who was getting noticed around the world as an up-and-coming talent. She was well equipped with a beautiful and excellent voice and pioneered a very good form of music. This album, Dangerous Woman, her third album is the beginning of the surge in popularity for Ariana Grande. Let’s take a listen to this album and hear if it is up to scratch today.

Moonlight was the original title of this album. It begins with some toybox style sounds before Ariana Grande sings beautifully and from a deeply emotional place. Before long, the songs kicks in with beats and melodies that are really great. This is extraordinary sounding and is about being in love from a female perspective. In any case, an awesome tune with some career-defining singing from Ariana. This is a really brilliant start to this album, and the track has some unique violin and string plucking towards the end. A very lovely sort of tune, this is the female Frank Sinatra of the 21st century.

Dangerous Woman begins with some strange and different guitar parts, some organ sounds in the background and Ariana Grande sings beautifully on top of it all. A really awesome piece of music, it sounds borderline K-Pop on this song. It is Ariana Grande showing the world one of the best voices in the music industry today. This is a dark and somewhat gritty piece and makes sense to listen to if you are feeling courageous. There are some different sounding guitar parts in the solo section of this song. A really powerful, different and unique statement that is unforgettable. Nice job here, this sounds fantastic. A really awesome and epic song.

Be Alright begins with some strange wooden xylophone sounds before Ariana sings about conflict in relationships. This quickly goes into a 4/4 beat piece that is actually quite good, once again. This is a really decent and pure sounding piece of postmodern music, and the effort on this tune is undeniably great. A very cool effort, with some interesting electronics and sounds, abound. A really excellent tune, this is good listening from start to finish.

Into You comes next, with more 4/4 beats and textures. Although this is an EDM based piece, it is a bit of an unusual fit for Ariana Grande. This is a good track nonetheless, although this sounds like a very Poppy piece of music. It is a nice, imaginative and well-structured piece of music that sounds really decent and listenable. A great and melodic piece of music based on female sexual desire, this is for the postmodern lady who like being promiscuous. It is very good for what it is, referring to the theme of being dangerous, once again. A good tune and once again, worth your time. Decent music.

Side To Side is a strange mixture of wah-wah guitar and has Nicki Minaj as guest. This is a really nice piece, inspired by Reggae/Dub. A very good and upbeat piece of music, the combinations of the musical elements and Ariana’s singing are fantastic. Very interesting music, it is a combination of several different types of music and just is a good listen. Nicki Minaj’s appearance is a bit of mystery on this tune, and it doesn’t fit as well as it could do. A nice effort, although this is more an exercise in musical textures than songwriting. Still, a good effort.

Let Me Love You begins with keyboard sounds that are interesting, followed by more electronic textures and Ariana Grande delivering a quite quick performance. It is a deep and lovely song about missing one’s presence as a lover. It has some simple and catchy Rap style beats, along with some cut-up vocals. A very tranquil and enjoyable listen throughout, it is deeply romantic. Totally different to the mood of later Ariana Grande, it seems our star here was deeply in love. The guest this time is Lil Wayne, who actually puts in a really good effort. It’s a good effort all around and keeps the consistency of the album going. A very good piece of music.

Greedy is next, and has a nice multitracked vocal intro, before launching into a sleazy funk style piece with an awesome bass guitar. A lively, fun and energetic piece with disco music style horns, this is a great and danceable piece of music. The music, singing and lyricism all match each other wonderfully, Ariana Grande sings from an honest place and the whole tune is really fun and enjoyable. In the second half, Ariana hums the melody and sings about being greedy emotionally (as opposed to being greedy financially), before a key change enters. A really wonderful effort, Ariana Grande is a really amazing singer here. Nice work.

Leave Me Lonely begins with some dramatic strings and this time, Macy Gray is the guest on this song. Her sort of style is a bit different to Ariana Grande’s, but still, this is a nice effort. Some pretty piano and direct lyricism about being rejected in one’s life is present. This is a rather sad song about the loneliness and despair that one can experience being alone. In any case, this is a good piece and fairly emotional sounding as well. A good tearjerker breakup song, this is excellent listening. The reference to being dangerous is in this song, too. A very sad sounding tune.

Everyday begins with some strangely distorted guitar style sounds before Ariana Grande gets singing excellently in amongst some rather cyber psychedelic sounds. This piece is about having sex on a daily basis. It is interesting that Ariana Grande has such an explicit song here. Rapper Future is the guest on this track, and he does quite a good job on this piece. It is a great and powerful piece that sounds really fantastic all the same. A great effort to listen to. The outro has some very nice electronic trickery present. A very strong effort.

Sometimes begins with acoustic guitar strumming and a male singing harmonies, followed by Ariana Grande singing her heart out. A very typical sounding piece from the 2010s, but Ariana Grande soars with her gorgeous voice. A really cool and awesome piece of music, this sounds pretty and driven as a piece of music. There are a bunch of pseudo-Coldplay textures in the chorus, and this tune is majestic. Ariana Grande does a wonderful job as a New Age romantic. This is a really refreshing and awesome song, it just sounds truly awesome. Nice music to listen to. It ends very much the way that it started.

I Don’t Care begins with some violining of violins (a strange sound in itself), before Ariana Grande gets into a very pretty ballad here. She has a beautiful and awesome vocal delivery on this song. There are guitars and horns aplenty on this song, and this song just really sounds lively and majestic. With a more laidback and smoother delivery, this is a good song for lovemaking (or presumedly so). The guitars towards the end are really amazing, fading out well.

Bad Decisions begins with some weird electronics before Ariana quickly launches herself into the music at hand. A really upbeat and pounding sort of piece, it is a tremendous representation of the music that Ariana Grande makes to this day. Although this album is very much one of Ariana Grande’s best albums, the music has barely varied over the years from Ariana herself. Still, this is one of her shining moments as an artist. In the second half, a breakdown occurs and Ariana sings about sexual deeds, before going straight back into an RnB style chorus. A great effort overall. Great diva idol Pop music here.

Touch It begins with some electronically treated piano, and Ariana Grande sings from a very personal place in her love life. Some cut up beats signal the beginning of this track. This song launches into the stratosphere and Ariana does a really excellent song that sounds really top. A great piece, Ariana Grande could have been an opera singer if she wished, but she has achieved something far better on this album. This song is no different, and nobody can really compete with Ariana with her vocals. In the second half are some distorted vocals, before this song launches straight back into the fury. Great piece of music about love/sex companionship. Great song, and consistent, like much of the rest of the album.

Knew Better / Forever Boy begins with cut-up electronic samples, some basic percussion and Ariana singing very well, as per usual. This song is about relationship issues with seeing the insincerity of a partner. This is music for those who enjoy the 21st century a lot. After some time some Acid sounds enter, along with some rather trippy electronic backwards sounds. This section continues for a bit before Ariana Grande gets singing again. A really very pretty and good tune to listen to, this sounds very good to this day. Singing beautifully, this song is a great journey through sound and singing. The main melody of the song continues right to the end, with some heavily edited vocals. The repeated line at the end, “You’re mine, forever, boy,” reassures listeners that love is eternal, granted of course if you can find it.

Thinking Bout You begins with some muffled sounds, including piano and kick drum beat. Ariana gets singing away well in a style of desperation and distress which really adds some flavour to this song. In any case, this song is a really incredibly powerful and passionate listen from Ariana Grande. The chorus is infectious, and this is a real girl power sort of music. A good listening experience, this sounds lovely and harmonious. Great job Ariana Grande and crew. It ends abruptly.

Step On Up begins with some weird cut-up beats, bass melodies and chanting, whilst Ariana does her thing. This is a short piece at around three minutes long, and it sounds strange but insanely catchy. It is definitely different from what one would expect of an artist such as Ariana Grande, but she pulls this off very well. There are more disco styled horns in this piece and some multitracked vocals in the second half. Very much a Glitch EDM sort of piece with Ariana’s vocals on top. Different, yet great.

Jason’s Song (Gave It Away) is a love song for an ex-partner of Ariana Grande’s. It begins with some catchy and riff styled piano, before launching into an interesting Pop piece of music. There are many different elements of music: singing; piano; guitars; violins and other juicy electronic treatments. This is a great way to finish a superb album by Ariana Grande, this is pointing towards the future of music away from the world of Rock music. Ariana Grande sings really excellently, followed by a quirky piano solo that sounds rather Bluesy, in fact. There is a musical climax here with all involved putting in well over 100%. The song finishes with some great singing nicely over some old school sounds. Excellent work.

This is a tremendously great album that still sounds as wonderful and fresh today as it did on its release back in 2016. It’s also likely Ariana Grande’s best album. The only very minor flaw is that the RnB here isn’t easy for everyone to get into musically. Nonetheless, Ariana Grande put her heart and soul into this album recording and she blew all the competition away. Keep it up Ariana, let’s hope that your future remains bright. It’s a little odd that the cover of the album has Ariana Grande looking like a Playboy bunny, however.

Excellence in emotional music.

9/10