Ariana Grande - "Dangerous Woman" (Album Review)

Pop songstress Ariana Grande has been making big waves for the past few years. Her vocal chops put her in league with a singer like Christina Aguilera while her musical aesthetic not only caters to the pop world but it has a little more depth to it than a lot of pop music. That's even more evident on Dangerous Woman. Grande's third album has a lot more bite than her previous albums. It's more mature, well thought out, and Grande's very capable voice is backed up by a series of strong instrumentals.

From the very catchy and brooding title track to the upbeat "Greedy" the album has a little something for everyone. I think Grande probably anchors the project. Her vocal ability is displayed nicely on the album. I think it's part of what sets her above her peers quite a bit. One feature comes from Macy Gray who turns in an insanely solid guest spot on one of the album's standout songs, "Leave Me Lonely". It is a pretty stellar, brooding, slow moving, but smoothly paced song. Macy Gray's voice is very different from Grande's, but it compliments her nicely. EDM infused "Everyday" feels like the beat could have been found on Justin Bieber's Purpose. Future sounds really neat on his feature and his style adds a lot. It's one of the better hip hop/rap features on the album, if not the best. "Side To Side" features an almost Reggae-esque element. Nicki Minaj is featured on the song, but it really doesn't add much. Her verse feels pretty lazy and basically seems thrown on for possible single/video potential. The song is pretty good with her part aside. "Let Me Love You" feels about the same way. Lil Wayne is featured and his verse is pretty spotty. His verse feels like Lil Wayne on autopilot. It's probably slightly better than Nicki Minaj's feature, but not by much.

Overall, this is one of the better pop albums I've heard this year. It's not without its' flaws. Most of them don't seem to be the fault of anything Grande is doing performance wise. It's more of a few misguided features. Also depending on the listener the album may be a little too down tempo at times impairing the flow. Dangerous Woman proves Grande deserves to be in the upper echelon of pop stars for this era. I think she has a good vocal range and she can create wonderful melodies. She gives a really solid performance, in my opinion. I still think she has room to improve in a few areas. The flaws don't hurt the listenability of the album much, but they are easy to notice when listening to the album. Nevertheless, I think Dangerous Woman is worth your time. Check it out!