Yours Truly is the debut name from newcomer Ariana Grande. She is a talented young artist that is taking the music industry by storm. If you read my previous post about her from a few weeks ago, you know how excited I was for this album release.
I bought the CD on Tuesday when it was released so I have had a few days to listen and gather my thought about the tracks.
Let's start with the singles: "Baby I", "The Way" and "Almost Is Never Enough". These are the only singles that I have heard on the radio or that have music videos. She did release several songs before the whole album was released but I will get to those later. I really like all three of these songs. This trio of singles is a really solid start for her career. They're all catchy, her vocals are impeccable on all of them and they stay true to her age range. Again, I like that she doesn't try to sound too grown but she also doesn't play up her Disney role and tap into the kiddie, innocent act. She really finds a relatable happy medium.
Lets get this out of the way now: Don't like "Popular Song" at alllllll. Deleted it from my iTunes as soon as I imported the album. I realize this is a song Ariana is featured on so she doesn't take a real responsibility for the song. It just isn't my idea of what I want to hear from her. Hopefully she can avoid fatal collaborations like this in the future but I definitely didn't hold it against her.
Songs that I think are listenable but not my favorites are "Tattooed Heart", "Better Left Unsaid", "Piano" and "Daydreamin'".
Ariana could really sing the dictionary front to back and I would still find it listenable, her voice is super appealing. I don't dislike these songs and I don't necessarily skip them when I'm listening to the album, they just aren't my faves. Plain and simple.
My favorite songs are "You'll Never Know", "Right Here", "Honeymoon Avenue" and "Lovin' It"
On first listen, "Honeymoon Avenue" was just okay to me but that damn line about "my heart is stuck in bum buh da bum bum traffic" gets me every time! I sang it in my head all day in class today. It's super catchy and it grew on me.
I love "Right Here" with Big Sean. She released this one weeks before the album but I don't know if it's a single. Love Big Sean, (saw him in concert this weekend, look for a post on him soon) and it's a really good song with a good beat. Can't complain.
I like "Lovin' It" because again it's super upbeat, it's catchy and her voice just really puts every other pop artist to shame at this point.
My favorite song on the album by far is "You'll Never Know", which she also debuted a few days before the album release. I am not really sure what about this song makes it my favorite but when I start the CD in my iPod I always start with this one. I push restart on this song when I listen to the CD in my car. I am definitely drawn to it. It has a good beat, good lyrics and a catchy hook/chorus but a lot of her songs possess this as well. Hmm I actually really want to pinpoint what it is that I love so much about this song besides a short intro, gotta love when a song gets right into it.
I wish the album was longer, not because there aren't enough good songs but because I want more good ones! I'm kind of annoyed that a lot of albums this year are in the 10-14 song range. I prefer 15-20 if they are quality songs. Oh well, I will take what I can get. As long as most of the 12 songs are quality I can live with that!
Overall, I am really excited about her as an artist. She seems really sure of her style and what she wants to sing and I hope she stays consistent with the pop/R&B sound because it's killing the game right now!
