Ariana Grande - Sweetener (August 17, 2018) Album • Page 10

Listening to this record now and this was my exact thought. In fact I found myself texting a friend saying, "I don't want Pharrell producing artists I like anymore"

 

Of course. But I feel like a lot of Pharrell’s production on here isn’t hit-worthy, but also isn’t really that interesting generally. Not every song has to be a hit (even on a mainstream pop album) but if it’s not aiming for that it should be interesting or memorable in some other way. Imo a lot of these songs aren’t really sure what lane they want to be in.

 

His production feels kind of thin on these tracks and he seems to rely too much on a funky beat without really writing an actual song to go with it. It feels like Prince without the magic that Prince was capable of producing.

 

ok seems like everyone is agreeing with what I was thinking. It's weird first listen, so much of the album seem... empty and lifeless

 

You think Williams almost has something on "Sweetener" and "Successful" and then "Everytime", "Breathin'" and "No Tears Left to Cry" come on and absolutely crush the Williams' tracks.

 

I also want to say it's not entirely fair just to blame Pharrell, this is Ari's album and she has control over her music. She wanted these songs these ways.

 

I totally agree - she should be able to identify that her and Pharrell might not be the best match. She isn't really known as being a funky vocalist which doesn't help the songs. Pharrell isn't killing it but Grande also isn't the best fit for these tracks either.

 

The production is pulled back so much from her other records. It feels like a much more chill and intimate record. For my money there's WAY too much Pharrell on this. Also hate the track order, record starts really weakly and doesnt really hit its stride until like halfway through. wish the Pharrell tracks (2 3 4 6 7 11 15) were a lot more spaced out rather than basically the first half of the record.

 

Poor Ari, I am seeing widespread disappointment elsewhere on the interwebs

 

I thought this was amazing on first listen

 

God is a woman and Breathin are absolute hits though, we can agree?

 

The standouts on this are really great, hell the little intro is only like 30 seconds but it's amazing

 

You and me fam

 

Yeah... on first listen I was not terribly impressed. I’ll give it some more time

 

Wow I love this (and I’ve never really been a fan)

I think it drops off a bit after ntltc though

 

This was just okay for me unfortunately

 

what are you all talking about? this is phenomenal, a lot of the tracks dont feel as high stakes as most of her disco but she runs with it so well and are full of really neat sounds. my only complaint is that sometimes the sequencing is a little weird, like going from some of the more low key tracks at the start to the more elaborate ones like god is a woman was a little jarring, but ultimately both types of songs work really well so its hard to complain much about it.

 

liking this more on my second listen. the title track is p dope. still not big on R.E.M. or borderline.

 

After one listen I thought this was pretty underwhelming. Some of the music is fun but by and large I was a bit bored. GIAW and NTLTC far and away the best tracks.

 

Giving this a spin now. I really really liked Blazed.

 

really did not expect to see the reaction im seeing

 

everytime -> breathin -> no tears is such an unreal stretch of songs, i just want those on repeat.

 

This album is just terribly boring to me, and i've listened to it a few times. It's a really odd direction for her and she doesn't pull it off very well at all. There's nothing on this record that I find very interesting. I think the features make it even worse. And I really like her music in general.

This honestly feels like some kind of middle ground, not-so-convinced effort, or at the very least - some sort of transitional, "in flux" album for her.

 

Building up with the bombastic strength of tears and god is a woman, listening to this album just putters along, it's not a big album, it's really held back and weird

 

I get it to some degree because it’s not bop after bop, but surprised at how negative the reception has been