Brooke_the_Phoenix
she/her, time-zone AEDT
Ariana Grande- Yours Truly album review
Sorry this is so late, I got really overwhelmed by assignments, but I'm finally on holidays now... for only two weeks. Without further ado, here is my review of Yours Truly, nearly a month late.
Yours Truly is the debut studio album by Ariana Grande, former Nickelodeon star with a very large vocal range. It was released in 2013 and is a mix of R&B and pop. It had a total of twelve producers working on it, including Grande herself, The Rascals, and Scooter Braun.
I didn't know what to expect, but the first time I listened to Yours Truly, I really loved the album. I initially rated it a 9/10 on my Twitter page, and said that the production and vocals were great. However, on repeated listens, that score has dropped a bit. Don't get me wrong, this is still an enjoyable album that I have no qualms about listening to again, I just noticed more problems with the album the more I listened to it, mainly to do with one of the aspects I initially praised, but more on that later. For now, let's have a look at the lyrical content.
LYRICS
I initially considered the lyrics to be the weakness of the album, and yeah, the lyrics aren't masterpieces of writing. For the most part, there isn't really anything wrong with the lyrics, they are just very simplistic, usually with choruses consisting of one word or phrase repeated over and over again ('Baby I', 'Tattooed Heart', 'Lovin' It', 'The Way'). I don't really consider this to be a drawback now, as it seems more like the album is about the music and the vocals than the lyrics, and there really isn't anything wrong with keeping it simple, but there weren't really any lyrics that stood out in a good way. Although, I did really like how 'Honeymoon Avenue' used the concept of driving as a metaphor for a relationship that's going downhill (no pun intended).
While most of the lyrics were just decent, there were a few lyrics that stood out in negative ways. The song 'Baby I' opens with the lyrics "Baby I got love for thee/So deep inside of me", which, considering Grande uses modern language in her songs 99.9% of the time, really screams "We couldn't think of a better rhyme!" The other instance of bad writing comes in 'Right There' featuring Big Sean, which is a love song (of course) about how Big Sean is devoted and loyal to Ariana Grande (I know, that seems likely). Surprisingly, Big Sean manages to stay on topic for the majority of the song... until he says this: "You know I have some girls missionary (oh)/My black book of numbers thicker than the dictionary". A) Gross, no one wants to hear about your sex life on an Ariana Grande album... or ever. B) I thought you only wanted Ariana, now you're bragging about all the hoes you get?
Also, since we're talking about guest rapper's lyrics, I just want to say that I find it hilarious that they picked Mac Miller to feature in 'The Way'. Don't get me wrong, I do like that song, but Ariana Grande is singing about a "bad boy", and I can tell solely based on this song that Mac Miller is the opposite of bad. Neville Longbottom would be more convincing as a bad boy than Mac Miller. From the innocent tone in his rapping, calling a cell phone a "celly" and saying things like "Picking petals off the flowers like/Do she love me, do she love me not," he comes off like a little kid trying to be cool. He actually reminds me a lot of Mike Posner in 'Cooler than Me', trying to act cool whilst being blissfully unaware that he is a total dork.
VOCALS
This is really what makes Yours Truly so enjoyable to listen to. Even on the weaker songs on this album, Grande's vocals are consistently great, and she makes good use of her range in this album. She doesn't over-do it with the belting and the high notes, and she keeps it restrained when it's necessary, but she still gets to show off her pipes in songs such as 'Tattooed Heart' and 'Almost is Never Enough', and it fits in with those songs and doesn't feel like it's just there to show that she can sing really high. Nathan Sykes from The Wanted also appears on 'Almost is Never Enough' and gives a surprisingly good performance, though Grande blows him out of the water.
Perhaps the weakest song on this album in terms of vocal performances is MIKA's 'Popular Song'. This is a pretty fun song, and definitely not the weakest song overall, but it is definitely the most "pop" song on this album, and as a result her voice does sound a lot more artificial than her other, more R&B songs.
PRODUCTION
Like I said earlier, I initially thought the production on this album was one of the best aspects of it... however, the more I listened to it, the more issues I started to have with it. My major gripe with the production is that the majority of the songs have this trap drum beat that doesn't really fit with any of these songs, and often stand out way too much. The most unfortunate case of this is 'Honeymoon Avenue', which could have been the best song on the album if the producers had known what to do with the accompaniment. The trap beats stood out too much, and for some reason the song ended with this jarring pitch shift which didn't fit the tone at all. This is a song about a good relationship that gradually loses its spark; if there was going to be a pitch shift (though it wasn't needed at all in the first place), it should have begun gradually instead of just suddenly and awkwardly starting at the end.
Another song that could've been great with a better drum pattern is 'Daydreamin''. The drumming comes in at the chorus, and sticks out like a sore thumb with a beat that could never fit in with a song like 'Daydreamin'', which has a rather laid-back feel. The drum beat may have fit in a really fast-paced song, but none of the songs on this album are fast-paced, so it really has no business being anywhere on this album. There were a lot of other very odd production choices throughout this album, such as this sound that's used repeatedly in 'Baby I' that sounds exactly like 'Deep Note', which, for those who don't know, is that sound that you hear when the THX logo appears before movies. I don't know if they meant to sample 'Deep Note', but I just found it really strange. Also, the final song, 'Better Left Unsaid', starts out with a fantastic verse and minimal accompaniment, sounding like it would be a nice ballad about regret and broken hearts, and then in the chorus it devolves into an EDM track with this annoying, high-pitched synth sound and some guy shouting "If you want to party put your hands up!" It isn't consistent with the verse at all, and it was pretty disappointing to hear this weird electronic chorus after listening to a beautiful, mournful verse.
While there were a lot of ill-fitting production choices in the album, there were still some well-produced songs on here. While Big Sean ruins 'Right There' for me, it has a nice synth pattern underneath the vocals, and the drumming is a little more restrained than it is most of the other songs. While MIKA's 'Popular Song' doesn't bring out the best vocals in Ariana, it is a pretty damn catchy song, and its sample of 'Popular' from Wicked, while kind of silly, actually did work.
The best songs in the album by far are 'Tattooed Heart', 'Piano' and 'Almost is Never Enough'. 'Tattooed Heart' starts off only using piano, clicking and female backing vocals to accompany Ariana, before adding restrained drums in the second chorus, all to keep the focus on her breath-taking, soaring vocals. 'Honeymoon Avenue' revealed more flaws with each listen, but 'Tattooed Heart' got better with each listen. 'Piano' also has a restrained drum pattern, clicking and (of course) a piano. This, along with the joyful-sounding vocal melody, creates a relaxed, peaceful vibe, complementing the lyrics, which are about choosing to focus on the great things about love rather than the heartbreak. I mentioned earlier that 'Almost is Never Enough' has great vocal performances, which is why I like that the piano is the only instrument used to accompany the vocals, as that is literally the only thing this song needed! The minimal accompaniment helps add to the somber mood and shines the spotlight on Grande and Sykes' vocals. These three songs show exactly what good production can do, and I really wish the rest of the songs were as well-produced as these three.
OVERALL
Overall, this is a pretty enjoyable album, with great vocals, catchy tunes and some beautiful melodies. The lyrics are, for the most part, decent, and the production at its best is pretty damn great. Unfortunately, a lot of the songs don't have production that's "at its best", and really suffers from some very odd choices by the producers and trap beats where trap beats shouldn't go. I will most likely listen to this album again and enjoy it, but when I listen to it critically it's impossible not to notice that there are some obvious flaws in the album.
Score: 7.5/10
My Ranking of the Songs
1. Tattooed Heart
2. Almost is Never Enough
3. Piano
4. Honeymoon Avenue
5. Popular Song
6. Lovin' It
7. Daydreamin'
8. The Way
9. You'll Never Know
10. Baby I
11. Right There
12. Better Left Unsaid
