"Roll up, roll up! come and see the picturesque and amiable wonder that is ARIANA GRANDE's ETERNAL SUNSHINE! Marvel at her lyrical prowess! Absorb the beats that wash over you! Be enveloped by this rollercoaster, both of the mind and of the mic! Only $30 for the full experience Ladies and Gentleman! Roll on up!"
Ariana Grande has provided us with many a melodic malady, whether she's weathering situations from her real life or simply venting her frustrations in musical form, and I've got to say: it wasn't quite the beast I'd suspected it to be. Lyrically unified yet musically fractured, we find the doorman, open the door and enter the audible theater that is Ariana Grande. The opening act[End of the World] gives us a synopsis of what's to come; a collection of relationship songs that is shown in every point of view that could possibly be conceived, wrapped up in light synth beats, a violin and lyrically it presents itself in question form.
The first half of the show had a crescendo of upbeat, danceable tones of the club type while Ariana herself painted us multiple pictures, some of those pieces would reflect matters of the heart from a fractured and broken mirror [bye], a work better left to the side and forgotten. As the show progresses, we found ourselves marveling at all of the different audible crafts she cranked out of that organic microphone of hers, especially as it pertained to her two perfectly cut and crisp to the touch diamonds. [Don't wanna break up again] displayed itself as a bouncy and upbeat tune balanced by the melancholy yet amicable break up of a relationship whereas [True Story] tells a similar story but with a more malice-laden beat directed at her haters, highlighting a more hostile tone both vocally and through the use of bass, aggressively pumped out and amped up by a stock RnB beat.
Where the first 30 minutes of the show had us hooked, she seems to have tripped up on herself when trying to deliver us her Girl boss skit [bye], a car crash of a song paired with painfully generic beat that makes this part of the show seem more like an audible warning of what NOT to showcase on the podium of pride in oneself. The only redeeming factor of the tail end would have to be [Imperfect for you] with it's acoustic guitar a'twangin and the two protagonists just hanging out and making memories. Had to recheck the album title three quarters of the way through to make sure I wasn't listening to Taylor Swift's Debut album by mistake.
All in all, this album brought bring joy to most of the Ariana fans that sat in the audience, with their laughter and tears, their cries of relatability to the material she presented and their accompanying audio pieces. I, on the other hand, will depart from the theater of [ETERNAL SUNSHINE] with a word of warning: Ariana isn't the strongest wordsmith in the game, but it is workable due to the mostly excellent tunes that are woven in their tapestry.
