Review Summary: Ariana Grande finally lives up to her potential with the immensely diverse and satisfying "Dangerous Woman".
Since shifting her career focus from acting to music in 2011, Ariana Grande has simultaneously become one of the most intriguing and frustrating artists on the planet. Her vocals are as good as it gets in the current pop climate and she's been responsible for some of the most interesting pop songs of the past few years ("Problem", "Love Me Harder"), but her often lackluster production and inconsistent albums squandered her potential to be a standout artist in the genre. On her third LP, Dangerous Woman, Grande works out just about all of the kinks that dragged down 2013's Yours Truly and 2014's My Everything and finally becomes the force of nature she's shown signs of being in the past.
Calling this record "dangerous" would be a stretch, but Grande does take a number of surprising stylistic risks over the course of the album's 16 tracks. Dangerous Woman sees Grande tackling everything from reggae ("Side to Side") to full-blown dance-pop ("Be Alright") to 60's inspired soul ("Moonlight") with equal success and vibrancy. The near-constant experimentation and genre-swapping naturally leads to a couple of missteps along the way ("Everyday", a failed attempt at pop/trap hybrid which features Future at his most obnoxious and the dull ballad "Leave Me Lonely"), but it's awesome to see her successfully escape the strictly synthpop and piano-ballad formula that defined her previous material and push the boundaries of what she's capable of as an artist.
The one constant among the array of different styles explored on this record is the quality of the choruses. The wide range and staggering power of Grande's vocals gives her the unique ability to pull off just about any style of chorus you could conceive. Whether the song calls for something massive ("Greedy", "Into You"), sultry ("Bad Decisions", "Let Me Love You") or subdued ("Sometimes", the aforementioned "Moonlight"), Grande is able to deliver in a major way and create a hook that successful gets drilled into your head immediately. The success of pop music is largely measured by the strength of its hooks and I can't remember the last time an album featured as many brilliantly-executed and insanely catchy ones as Dangerous Woman does.
Dangerous Woman is an essential modern pop release that considerably raises the bar for every other artist in the genre right now. The Taylor Swift's and Katy Perry's of the world are going to have significantly step their game up if they want to match the level of diversity, consistency and memorability this record achieves. With Dangerous Woman, Grande has officially separated herself from the crowded pack of modern pop artists and if she continues to put out music that matches or exceeds the quality of this record, it will only be a matter of time until she's immortalized alongside Madonna and her spiritual sister Mariah Carey in the annals of pop history.
