Dangerous Woman

the take

i kind of clocked out during the dw era, didn’t go to tour, and it was the first ari album that i didn’t memorize every single word of immediately then when sweetener released there developed a sort of fan divide between DW lovers and sweetener lovers and I found myself FIRMLY on the sweetener side— at that time i found myself so much more interested in her vulnerable, experimental songwriting than the more impersonal and thesis-lacking dangerous woman i still love sweetener and that era but over the years i have reconciled with DW as being a truly singular pop album, with so many songs that any other pop girl would be seething wasn’t in their catalogue. of course there are the undeniable hits, and a number of these songs feel experimental in a way that isn’t as vulnerable as sweetener. ariana also famously disowns some of the best songs on this project because they are “boring”… which i think is a reflection of the album’s actual mission. even though my everything was her actual second album, often times the time frame and the subject matter (or lack thereof) makes it feel a little more like a debut part 2/addendum than a separate piece of work. in that sense I do think DW was sort of her sophomore effort, and it has a lot of the hallmarks: a good girl gone bad narrative, a more refined and professional sound, giant industry features and co-signs. this was the first turn on the path that is her career, and it sent her down a much more mature and interesting road than what lay straight ahead. anyway this is probably my longest and most disorganized review on here, which feels somewhat appropriate given my feelings about the project. it took a number of years but i have found myself a DW stan in the end. :) faves: touch it, into you, be alright least faves: thinking bout you im sorry. and step on up unless it’s britney version