Today we’re exploring Ariana Grande’s debut album “Yours Truly” released in 2013. We’re going to review each of the tracks of the album, discuss the songs that stand out most as well as explore the overall theme and style of the album.
We already covered Ariana Grande’s career overview in our previous post, you can read it here in case you missed it. Also, make sure to check out our Ariana Grande’s shop page where we have lots of gems!
"Yours Truly" (2013)
“Yours Truly” came out on August 30, 2013 as Ariana Grande’s debut album. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 albums chart, with 138,000 copies sold in the very first week. So let’s take a deeper look into it.
Let’s start by zooming into the year of “Yours Truly” release. Ariana Grade was 20 years old at that time. It’s been 6 years since she first arrived in Los Angeles, California to meet with her managers and expressed her wish to record an R&B album. Her idea was rejected at the time, because “Who is going to buy a 14-year-old’s R&B album?!'”. So for the next 6 years Ariana Grande has to set her dream aside and look for other ways of self expression.
She’s been working on the television show “Victorious” for 4 years. Yet she’s been consistently grasping every opportunity to make a music performance, appearing on the “Victorious” soundtracks and doing covers of songs by Adele, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey and uploading them on YouTube.
Ariana started working on her debut album in 2010, so the album release in 2013 was really a result of 3 years of hard work behind the scenes, chasing the inner dream and fighting the frustration of being rejected as “too young”. Also, we can’t forget that at the same time Ariana Grande had to deal with the fame and the teen idol status that came from millions of “Victorious” (later followed by “Sam & Cat”) fans.
Themes and Sound
The album is packed with youthful energy and drive. Each track is focused on relationships and stages of love – in the album Ariana Grande explores the topics of falling deeply in love with someone, dating, drifting apart in a relationship, rejection and broken heart. However, the overall mood of the album is bright and upbeat. It truly comes as an explosion of built up energy that’s been put into the making of it.
The music style of the album can be characterized as R&B with some tunes showing really strong influences of doowop, pop, electronic and dance music. Now let’s have a look at each of the album tracks.
"Yours Truly" Album Tracklist
1.”Honeymoon Avenue”
2.”Baby I”
3.”Right There” (feat. Big Sean)
4.”Tattooed Heart”
5.”Lovin’ It”
6.”Piano”
7.”Daydreamin'”
8.”The Way” (feat. Mac Miller)
9.”You’ll Never Know”
10.”Almost Is Never Enough”
11.”Popular Song” (with Mika)
12.”Better Left Unsaid”
Honeymoon Avenue
“<…>Let’s just go back to the way it was When we were on Honeymoon Avenue <…> What happened to the butterflies?<…>.
Ariana Grande’s “Honeymoon Avenue” song speaks about the difficult feeling of drifting apart in a relationship. However, the song has a very positive energy and it just comes out as such a strong R&B hit with vocal harmonies and powerful beat making it feel unique and refreshing.
Baby I
The song “Baby I” puts the feeling out there plain and simple – “<…> All I’m tryna say is you’re my everything, baby <…>” . Youthful teenage hit, full of passionate energy, has a great dance music beat to it that takes you to the high school dance floor just listening to it.
Right There
Ariana Grande’s song “Right There” featuring Big Sean is undoubtedly one of the strongest tracks on the album.
“<…>You know what I need / I know what you like <…> you listen and you care / You’re so different, no one compares / And if you never change, I’m gonna stay right there <…>”
Song is about being young and in love, swearing to be together forever, eagerness to give your heart away to the person you love and just feeling head over heels. A sweet youthful track with a great R&B beat and hip-hop elements in it.
Tattooed Heart
Ariana Grande’s “Tattooed Heart” is the first ballad in the album. It stands out amongst the dance tracks with its piano sound and the triad-based rhythm. The track also has a nostalgic 90s feel to it and the back vocals supplement the lead very well.
The song has a subtle lightness to it. Lyrics speak about being in love with someone and just the dreamy feeling of longing to be in your loved one’s arms again “<…>It doesn’t have to be forever Just as long as I’m the name On your tattooed heart <…>”.
Lovin' It
The song is about falling in love when you don’t expect it to happen. It can be summarized with the lyrics: “falling in love wasn’t part of my plan / Started with a crush, I call you my man? / Thought, would I ever fall in love, ever fall in love again? <…>”.
Track has a great R&B sound to it and an energetic groove matching the overall up-beat theme of the whole album.
Piano
Ariana Grande’s song “Piano” is a dance music track. The harmony is played on piano which adds a nice touch to it. It’s one of the longest tracks on the album (almost 4 minutes).
Daydreamin
Song “Daydreamin” is the 2nd ballad we hear on the album. Very similar to “Tattooed heart”, “Daydreamin” has triad-based rhythm with almost the exact same piano part. This track features a bit more electronics.
Song is about daydreaming about the one you love, impatiently waiting for the date night to hold the lover in your arms again: “<…>I don’t wanna wait for tonight / So I’m daydreamin’ / With my chin in the palm of my hands <…>”.
The Way
Ariana Grande’s song “The Way” featuring Mac Miller is another really strong track on the album. It’s a great combination of energetic beat and the duet of Ariana Grande and Mac Miller that works so well, making it a great R&B hit with hip-hop elements.
“<…> I love the way (I love the way you make me feel)<…>” – the song speaks about falling in love and enjoying the feeling of being overwhelmed with it.
You'll Never Know
Song “You’ll never know” is one of the most unique tracks on the album. It has very unique melodic lines and really lets Ariana Grande’s powerful vocal abilities come to full light. It’s an energetic dance music track but listening it you can hear that a lot of work has been put into it – song has complex structure, it’s vocally challenging, track takes 3:35 minutes and it has your full attention captured throughout it all.
Almost Is Never Enough
This is the 3rd ballad on the album and it’s completely different from “Tattooed heart” and “Daydreamin”.
This song also really stands out it the overall up-beat and light theme of the album as it’s a really soulful track. You can really feel the heartburn listening to this song, which makes you wonder if it was inspired by Ariana Grande’s personal experiences of heartbreak and painful break-up. “<…>sooner or later we’ll wonder why we gave up / The truth is everyone knows / Almost, almost is never enough<…>“. Song is really strong vocally and has a truly beautiful melodic line.
Popular Song
It was an interesting choice to put Mika’s song “Popular Song”. Song is a light pop track, so it stands out from all other R&B tracks in the album. However, the duet of Mika and Ariana Grande works well, it’s a catchy song and a nice addition to this youthful album.
Better Left Unsaid
Song “Better left unsaid” is the last track on the “Yours truly” album. Starting as a ballad, on the chorus it unexpectedly grows into an energetic electronic dance music hit with hip-hop twist, great way to close the album.
Closing Notes
Ariana Grande’s debut album “Yours Truly” really has a lot to offer as a very first album by the artist. The songs on the album are all full of youthful energy, not burdened with complex topics, the lyrics are plain and clear and the overall feeling when listening to it is just butterflies. However, from the very first track you get the feeling that the 20 year old artist is giving her whole heart out with the album and she’s yours truly with every song that comes.
The overall R&B style is beautifully complemented with soulful back vocals and vocal harmonies, and some of the tracks will give you a nostalgic feeling of the 90s. Album really takes you to the highschool days and just makes you want to dance.
Ariana Grande showcases her vocal powers from track 1. Some of the tracks have really complex vocal parts and challenging melodic lines truly complementing the young artist’s skill and leave no room for doubt about her talent for music.
We hope you liked our overview of the album. If you did – stay tuned for more album reviews coming up in our blog soon!
Check out our Ariana Grande shop page where we have lots of gems picked exclusively for Ariana Grande’s style and music fans. Also, make sure to read our deep dive review of Ariana Grande’s music video “we can’t be friends” here.
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Ariana Grande “Yours Truly”: review of the megastar’s debut album
Today we’re exploring Ariana Grande’s debut album “Yours Truly” released in 2013. We’re going to review each of the tracks of the album, discuss the songs that stand out most as well as explore the overall theme and style of the album.
We already covered Ariana Grande’s career overview in our previous post, you can read it here in case you missed it. Also, make sure to check out our Ariana Grande’s shop page where we have lots of gems!
"Yours Truly" (2013)
“Yours Truly” came out on August 30, 2013 as Ariana Grande’s debut album. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 albums chart, with 138,000 copies sold in the very first week. So let’s take a deeper look into it.
Let’s start by zooming into the year of “Yours Truly” release. Ariana Grade was 20 years old at that time. It’s been 6 years since she first arrived in Los Angeles, California to meet with her managers and expressed her wish to record an R&B album. Her idea was rejected at the time, because “Who is going to buy a 14-year-old’s R&B album?!'”. So for the next 6 years Ariana Grande has to set her dream aside and look for other ways of self expression.
She’s been working on the television show “Victorious” for 4 years. Yet she’s been consistently grasping every opportunity to make a music performance, appearing on the “Victorious” soundtracks and doing covers of songs by Adele, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey and uploading them on YouTube.
Ariana started working on her debut album in 2010, so the album release in 2013 was really a result of 3 years of hard work behind the scenes, chasing the inner dream and fighting the frustration of being rejected as “too young”. Also, we can’t forget that at the same time Ariana Grande had to deal with the fame and the teen idol status that came from millions of “Victorious” (later followed by “Sam & Cat”) fans.
Themes and Sound
The album is packed with youthful energy and drive. Each track is focused on relationships and stages of love – in the album Ariana Grande explores the topics of falling deeply in love with someone, dating, drifting apart in a relationship, rejection and broken heart. However, the overall mood of the album is bright and upbeat. It truly comes as an explosion of built up energy that’s been put into the making of it.
The music style of the album can be characterized as R&B with some tunes showing really strong influences of doowop, pop, electronic and dance music. Now let’s have a look at each of the album tracks.
"Yours Truly" Album Tracklist
1.”Honeymoon Avenue”
2.”Baby I”
3.”Right There” (feat. Big Sean)
4.”Tattooed Heart”
5.”Lovin’ It”
6.”Piano”
7.”Daydreamin'”
8.”The Way” (feat. Mac Miller)
9.”You’ll Never Know”
10.”Almost Is Never Enough”
11.”Popular Song” (with Mika)
12.”Better Left Unsaid”
Honeymoon Avenue
“<…>Let’s just go back to the way it was When we were on Honeymoon Avenue <…> What happened to the butterflies?<…>.
Ariana Grande’s “Honeymoon Avenue” song speaks about the difficult feeling of drifting apart in a relationship. However, the song has a very positive energy and it just comes out as such a strong R&B hit with vocal harmonies and powerful beat making it feel unique and refreshing.
Baby I
The song “Baby I” puts the feeling out there plain and simple – “<…> All I’m tryna say is you’re my everything, baby <…>” . Youthful teenage hit, full of passionate energy, has a great dance music beat to it that takes you to the high school dance floor just listening to it.
Right There
Ariana Grande’s song “Right There” featuring Big Sean is undoubtedly one of the strongest tracks on the album.
“<…>You know what I need / I know what you like <…> you listen and you care / You’re so different, no one compares / And if you never change, I’m gonna stay right there <…>”
Song is about being young and in love, swearing to be together forever, eagerness to give your heart away to the person you love and just feeling head over heels. A sweet youthful track with a great R&B beat and hip-hop elements in it.
Tattooed Heart
Ariana Grande’s “Tattooed Heart” is the first ballad in the album. It stands out amongst the dance tracks with its piano sound and the triad-based rhythm. The track also has a nostalgic 90s feel to it and the back vocals supplement the lead very well.
The song has a subtle lightness to it. Lyrics speak about being in love with someone and just the dreamy feeling of longing to be in your loved one’s arms again “<…>It doesn’t have to be forever Just as long as I’m the name On your tattooed heart <…>”.
Lovin' It
The song is about falling in love when you don’t expect it to happen. It can be summarized with the lyrics: “falling in love wasn’t part of my plan / Started with a crush, I call you my man? / Thought, would I ever fall in love, ever fall in love again? <…>”.
Track has a great R&B sound to it and an energetic groove matching the overall up-beat theme of the whole album.
Piano
Ariana Grande’s song “Piano” is a dance music track. The harmony is played on piano which adds a nice touch to it. It’s one of the longest tracks on the album (almost 4 minutes).
Daydreamin
Song “Daydreamin” is the 2nd ballad we hear on the album. Very similar to “Tattooed heart”, “Daydreamin” has triad-based rhythm with almost the exact same piano part. This track features a bit more electronics.
Song is about daydreaming about the one you love, impatiently waiting for the date night to hold the lover in your arms again: “<…>I don’t wanna wait for tonight / So I’m daydreamin’ / With my chin in the palm of my hands <…>”.
The Way
Ariana Grande’s song “The Way” featuring Mac Miller is another really strong track on the album. It’s a great combination of energetic beat and the duet of Ariana Grande and Mac Miller that works so well, making it a great R&B hit with hip-hop elements.
“<…> I love the way (I love the way you make me feel)<…>” – the song speaks about falling in love and enjoying the feeling of being overwhelmed with it.
You'll Never Know
Song “You’ll never know” is one of the most unique tracks on the album. It has very unique melodic lines and really lets Ariana Grande’s powerful vocal abilities come to full light. It’s an energetic dance music track but listening it you can hear that a lot of work has been put into it – song has complex structure, it’s vocally challenging, track takes 3:35 minutes and it has your full attention captured throughout it all.
Almost Is Never Enough
This is the 3rd ballad on the album and it’s completely different from “Tattooed heart” and “Daydreamin”.
This song also really stands out it the overall up-beat and light theme of the album as it’s a really soulful track. You can really feel the heartburn listening to this song, which makes you wonder if it was inspired by Ariana Grande’s personal experiences of heartbreak and painful break-up. “<…>sooner or later we’ll wonder why we gave up / The truth is everyone knows / Almost, almost is never enough<…>“. Song is really strong vocally and has a truly beautiful melodic line.
Popular Song
It was an interesting choice to put Mika’s song “Popular Song”. Song is a light pop track, so it stands out from all other R&B tracks in the album. However, the duet of Mika and Ariana Grande works well, it’s a catchy song and a nice addition to this youthful album.
Better Left Unsaid
Song “Better left unsaid” is the last track on the “Yours truly” album. Starting as a ballad, on the chorus it unexpectedly grows into an energetic electronic dance music hit with hip-hop twist, great way to close the album.
Closing Notes
Ariana Grande’s debut album “Yours Truly” really has a lot to offer as a very first album by the artist. The songs on the album are all full of youthful energy, not burdened with complex topics, the lyrics are plain and clear and the overall feeling when listening to it is just butterflies. However, from the very first track you get the feeling that the 20 year old artist is giving her whole heart out with the album and she’s yours truly with every song that comes.
The overall R&B style is beautifully complemented with soulful back vocals and vocal harmonies, and some of the tracks will give you a nostalgic feeling of the 90s. Album really takes you to the highschool days and just makes you want to dance.
Ariana Grande showcases her vocal powers from track 1. Some of the tracks have really complex vocal parts and challenging melodic lines truly complementing the young artist’s skill and leave no room for doubt about her talent for music.
We hope you liked our overview of the album. If you did – stay tuned for more album reviews coming up in our blog soon!
Check out our Ariana Grande shop page where we have lots of gems picked exclusively for Ariana Grande’s style and music fans. Also, make sure to read our deep dive review of Ariana Grande’s music video “we can’t be friends” here.
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