Yours Truly

Let me just say it first: Ariana Grande is the package deal. I have loved her for a few years now since she first appeared on VICTORIOUS as "Cat" in mid-2011. She stole my heart as the ditzy, red-velvet haired girl with a booming, beautiful voice and I was hooked from the get-go. Needless to say, I was very happy to hear her coming out with this first album and looked forward anxiously for the album's arrival. Though a little late, I am preparing for her sophomore record, MY EVERYTHING, by reviewing YOURS TRULY as well as I can.HONEYMOON AVENUE: This song is a wonderful opener to the album. Ariana delivers heart-felt vocals with clarity, though at times the lyrics are a little hard to understand. I do think though that the lyrical delivery is something of a stylistic choice. When she sings in her lower voice, she produces a huskier vocal, which, though unclear, is quite beautiful. One of my favorites off the album. 9.5/10BABY I: When I first heard this song I was a little befuddled - I thought, "She is capable of so much more." But, this really is an amazing song. After a few listens, I thought that this really was throw-back R&B at its finest. The opening vamp is so diva-ish, it just makes you go "Woah!" 9/10RIGHT THERE: Besides having heard of Big Sean through Naya Rivera's freshman single "Sorry" and learning of the two's romantic partnership in mid-2013, I really was first introduced to Big Sean through this single. I was not a fan, but really I am hooked on his music now. I used to hate rap, but I tolerate some rappers now (Kendrick Lamar, Big Sean, Macklemore, etc.) as long as the material has some substantial meaning. Though this really doesn't, Ariana delivers as a follow-up to "Baby I". 7/10TATTOOED HEART: Hands down one of the best songs on the album. This song is pure blue-eyed soul, and Ariana just knows how to give it up. Her emotion mixed with her rich, lush vocal ability makes for a genuine tune that I can play over and over and over again. 9.5/10LOVIN' IT: This song, if nobody has noticed already, heavily samples "Real Love" by the one-and-only Ms. Mary J. Blige. I used to love this song. It's bubblegum pop mixed with some R&B vocals and is nice, sure, but to me...I don't know, it just isn't my favorite for sure. 7/10PIANO: I thing this song is really just a filler. Catchy, but not memorable, plain and simple. 5/10DAYDREAMIN': This song is really an okay song. It is in the vein of "Tattooed Heart", but not of the emotional quality I expect from Ari. 7/10THE WAY: Catchy, I love this song. It gets a little repetitive though and I get tired of hearing it. Wasn't the best lead single to me. There were plenty of other better choices. 8/10YOU'LL NEVER KNOW: This song is a real grower. I now love this song, though it used to be the only one I wanted to skip when I used to listen to this album. I appreciate it more, now. It is a true-to-form throwback. I love it! 10/10ALMOST IS NEVER ENOUGH: W.O.W. is all I can say. Wow. I love this song, and I love that it is longer than the COB version, which saddened me at only 3 minutes long. I knew there was more!!! And who knew that somebody from THE WANTED of all bands could sing so well! Probably my favorite off the album. A real classic. 10/10POPULAR SONG: As much as I think this song shouldn't be on the album, it is really a cool, true backstabbing song. Great vocal performance, though I appreciate Priscilla's version as well. Ariana is much more marketable and really shines on this song. 7/10BETTER LEFT UNSAID: Like "You'll Never Know", this song was a grower. First I hated it, now I love it and am sad when it ends because that end is the end of the album. I was remorseful that this album did not have a deluxe edition. Amazing, as always! 9/10In all, this album was amazing, and I can't wait for the new one! 8.25.2014, here we come!!!With love,Kennan Lukacs

Ariana is an amazing talent and it is SO easy to compare her to Mariah Carey with her four octave range and a smooth style that combines pop and r&b and a debut album release at 20 years old, the same age as Mariah's. But comparing the two is not fair because Ariana has a style that is quite unique. She proves on this album that she can sing every style of music from Jazz to Broadway to Pop to Hip Hop and R&B. Yours Truly shows all that she is capable of.Of course the music industry is very different now than in 1990 when the album Mariah Carey debuted. The competition has grown immense from numerous alternate sources ranging from pros to homegrown artists on the web. Now with the instant gratification on line, fans are not as patient as before willing to wait for an artist to grow, mature and experiment. So thanks to a team which includes co- producers Scooter Braun and Harmony Samuels and co-writers, Samuels, Babyface(!) and even Jordin Sparks on "The Way," with Yours Truly we get the mature sound and a wonderful showcase of her bag of tricks.What is so impressive about Ariana on this album is how everything fits together so well as she morphs from old fashioned R&B (Honeymoon Avenue, Tatooed Heart) to contemporary Hip Hop (Right There, The Way) to Pop (Baby I, Almost is Never Enough) to Dance (Better Left Unsaid) and even Broadway (Popular Song). Her executive producer credit proves how involved she was in creating this consistency."Popular Song" is really more pop than show tune, a reworking of Popular from the show Wicked complete with auto tune vocals and synth programming. But throughout it all we never lose Ariana's smooth style. And like the rest of the disc, she never loses her sense of pure enjoyment of the music. Most of the tracks showcase her pure vocals with no audible auto tuning and many jazz influences such as finger snaps.Interestingly while her debut single from Yours Truly "The Way" is a Hip Hop track, that groove is not the most ideal for her artistry. The track with Mac Miller still works very well because it sounds like a collaboration. The vocals sound like they are coming from the same studio and the romantic text is consistent between her vocals and his rap. On "Right There" Big Sean sounds like he is literally phoning it in as a guest artist and the song could still succeed without him. Not surprising considering how many sung/ rap collaborations have the rap taken out for certain radio formats.Her best collaboration on the disc is Almost is Never Enough with Nathan Sykes formerly of the Wanted which was originally released on the Mortal Instruments soundtrack. Their harmonies blend so well it is as if they were an actual act and not just separate artists coming together on one song. Perhaps their harmonious blend translated into more when they became a couple. With this song and the 11 others, Ariana has your attention, brings you in and then never lets you go. Her vocal artistry makes her very easy to enjoy and has me looking forward to her next release later this year.

every song is a hit!

I love it!

Man oh man oh man. Ariana Grande. I love saying that name now. Just a week ago, I didn't really care much for her. But last week, on January 29, I listened to Ariana's debut album for the first time. I'm honestly sorry that I had not listened to it sooner (her single The Way didn't really catch my attention and her character Cat Valentine threw me off too (how can Cat sing?)), because as soon as Honeymoon Avenue was wrapping up, I KNEW that what was up ahead (11 other tracks) was going to be SHEER genius. I was not disappointed at all! I have underestimated this girl's musical talent. SHE IS TRULY THE REAL DEAL. People, give this album a listen. I guarantee you that you won't be disappointed.All of the songs are FAN-tastic (Right There music video - I love it).She definitely deserved to win the best new artist award at the AMA's last year. Her killer performance of Tattooed Heart....goosies...Seriously, if Ariana was on American Idol, she would wipe the floor with all the contestants. You wouldn't be able to tell her nothing.That voice is just stellar. One of the best voices I have ever heard coming from someone who's only 20 years old. Ariana has so much control, so much character, so much tone...I can tell it's her singing (even though thousands of people say she sounds like Mariah Carey)...Mmmh mmmh mmmh....I just can go on and on and on about how great Ariana Grande is.This past week has just been Ariana overload. I can't get enough of her.And she's just too cute and seems like she has a really great personality.I'm definitely an ARIANATOR now.BUY THIS ALBUM!