"Positions" is unfocussed and often tedious, says The Fader

[Dex 117]

42 minutes ago, PsychoMaxcara said:

I very much agree with you, even though I think it's not artists intentionally downgrading themselves, but more like artists desperately trying to gain street cred so they can be seen as 'authentic.' For some reason, when you do great pop music you're labeled inauthentic and commercial, whereas if you don't shower and make lazy uninspired songs that all sound like they use the same looped beat for the entire album you're extremely authentic and relatable. I think Ariana felt some kind of pressure to keep up, hence why she fired Max Martin and all the pop producers. Honestly, if I were a musician and loved pop music but someone pressured me into doing something else just so I can be taken more seriously by the urban crowd, I'd serve Barbie Girl type-of-anthems just to troll them. 

I dunno bud, look at Taylor, Beyoncé, Katy and Rihanna, all releasing pretty subpar albums since Reputation (arguable), 4, Teenage Dream and Loud respectively. I honestly think it's some sort of industry tactic.

 

Edit: I almost instantly regretted this, Beyoncé and Unapologetic were good.

[pachinko 9,466]

Its a good album. 

[PsychoMaxcara 814]

56 minutes ago, Dex said:

I dunno bud, look at Taylor, Beyoncé, Katy and Rihanna, all releasing pretty subpar albums since Reputation (arguable), 4, Teenage Dream and Loud respectively. I honestly think it's some sort of industry tactic.

That's exactly right -- I mean, there's no arguing all of our reigning 2010s pop Queens have experienced some form of quality drop in their music... there are reasons tho. Katy stopped collaborating with Dr. Luke (who gave her *ALL* of her hits) for obvious reasons; no matter how much we detest Dr. Luke for what he'd done to Kesha (allegedly), his production skills and sixth sense for catchy melodies & hooks are unrivaled. She also severed her work relationship with Bonnie McKee who co-wrote most of the Teenage Dream & Prism songs. Rihanna had a similar relationship with a Norwegian production duo called StarGate who gave her Rude Boy, S&M, Only Girl, What's My Name, Diamonds... similarly to Katy, some of Rihanna's biggest hits were co-written by a songwriter named Ester Dean (Rude Boy, S&M, What's My Name, Where Have You Been) -- Ester quit songwriting around 2013 and is now a solo artist, as well as an actress. So basically, some great work relationships that often ended up being fruitful came to an end.

Katy has been trying to find a replacement for Luke ever since Witness, but none of the writers/producers she's worked with recently seem to have been able to replicate the same chemistry/magic she had with Luke, Max Martin & Bonnie. Rihanna has switched genres completely and decided to go for a more urban and dark hitting rap inspired direction. Beyoncé, likewise, completely abandoned any pop elements in her work for more rap influenced R&B. I did like her self-titled album and thought it was a great step in the right direction, but Lemonade (which is universally praised as the new Bible) puts me to sleep, tbh.

As for Taylor, I'm not too familiar with her career trajectory, but the last album I remember playing from start to finish was 1989 and since then I just don't really care for her music. I was majorly disappointed when she released Me! which I thought was an atrocious song imo, and I just didn't feel motivated at all to give her new music a try. The new 'folklore' era reminds me of Justin Timberlake's last album -- he's another example of a solid pop artist switching over and rebranding himself as some sort of indie artist. I definitely agree that all of this smells like some sort of business ploy how to turn former radio darlings into more authentic semi-indie artists which often goes hand in hand with more critical acclaim and respect.

I actually really admire the fact Katy still made an unapologetically pop album with Smile, and wasn't trying to switch genres so critics or pretentious fans can approve a more ""mature"" direction. Luke is now working with Doja Cat, so it's interesting to hear how he abandoned some of his own signature sounds for something that's far more in line with the current trends (e.g. his production on Say So).

EDIT: Also, obviously, we must account for the fact that trends change and some artists benefit greatly during a specific period in time and then end up suffering when those trends shift. That's perhaps why a lot of these artists moved on from pop music. 2020 reminds me of the 2004-2007 era in music when most singers had that urban/hip hop sound and dance pop was nowhere to be found.

[RRR 3,996]

Yuck! So negative and subjective. I LOVE the song, and all of you are pretty negative also. It's not fun to live life that way. YUCK

[Gagaplayer315 12,025]

4 hours ago, Bambino said:

Low-effort lyrics, a glut of meaningless vocal tricks, and a sense that Grande is following rather than leading

Me after listening to her last 3 albums  

[Dex 117]

12 minutes ago, Gagaplayer315 said:

Me after listening to her last 3 albums  

lol.

It's a shame. She is clearly one of the leading vocalists of this generation but she is wasted on this hyper-mellow garbage. I don't necessarily want her to be stuck in a "pop" box but honestly hun if you're gonna do R&B do it properly. I want to dance. Especially during this """Pandemic""" where we're not allowed to have fun, do we really need more pretentious stuff like this? No, we need a pick-me-up.

[elijahfan 23,558]

Idk, I quite enjoyed this album and thought it was a pretty cohesive effort. Critics feel so random sometimes...

[StarstruckIllusion 41,966]

19 hours ago, Gagaloo911 said:

I mean it's always been clear that Ariana is a follower of trends and not a leader lol

This album is just the latest evidence for that, as well as that she didn't grow at all and evidently wants to play it safe by doing the same thing and sound again.

Who was she following when she did Sweetener? Legitimately asking. Yeah she’s copied that genre for the past 2 albums but like at the time it felt new. Even compared to her previous work. 

[HausOfAntonio 7,821]

I’ve never been a fan of her music. It always seem incongruous to me how wildly acclaimed she was by critics at time tbh. 
 

She has some great bops though when she goes the dance rather than rnb route. One More Time and Into You are her best songs. 

[Galagala 4,443]

That's why I never like her except some specific singles from her.

[jorja 1,082]

Anyone calling this album unfocused is being delusional, the album feels very cohesive to me.

I'd give it a 7/10 though 

[Sumeet 456]

Another generic piece. 

[coccmatica 50]

Correct.

[Enigma 7,182]

I don’t know how people listen to her, Billie Eilish, and all that jazz. How do you stay awake? 

[BloodyM 1,118]

Boring and monotonous album to say the least