4X4: One Dance vs. Don't Let Me Down vs. This Is What You Came For vs. Dangerous Woman

Spark_Of_Life That's right, for my first REAL music review, I'm talking about FOUR songs! And all of them have O's in them and they're all in the top 20, so I guess that's the theme. This is my first review, so don't be too hard if you think I did a bad job.

One Dance is the most mellow of all of them, and certainly Drake's most mellow so far. The lyrics speak of two people in the club who like each other, but their time is running out, so they must have a "one dance". I personally think the "a" is gratuitous, but maybe that's just me. It's a fine, albeit not terribly exciting piece. The soft piano rift and Kyla's soothing vocals are great, but Drake's delivery is a little too loud and in-your-face given the relaxed vibe of the song. WizKid provides almost nothing - it's easy to forget he's in there. Plus, the AK-47 shots right before the last chorus are unexpected and seem very out of place. It's give this a strong 7.5/10. Not as good as the infectious Hotline Bling, but a huge improvement over the boring "Hold On, We're Going Home" and the hilariously bad "Started From the Bottom".

Don't Let Me Down is my favorite of the four. Daya is really proving herself as a powerhouse of a vocalist on both ends of the scale, from the softer Hideaway to this, in which her voice soars like a bird. The Chainsmokers have really turned themselves around in my eyes, going from the atrocious "#Selfie" to the breathtaking "Roses" (which I, admittedly, like just a bit better than this - don't know why) to this. The horns, synths, and the drop all fit Daya's vocals, and you can tell a lot of thought and effort went into this song. I'd give it strong 10/10.

This Is What You Came For, Calvin Harris' 4th top 10 single in the US (and Rihanna's 27th), is a puzzling case. On one hand, I like it for Harris dabbling in tropical sounds, for Rihanna taking a break from rap (Work is infectious, Needed Me is lackluster, in my opinion), and for the attempt to make EDM music sound peaceful and subdued. On the other hand, it's extremely repetitive, Harris' choices can clash with each other, and Rihanna sounds interesting but soulless. The lyrics are your cliché love song. If you twisted my arm, I'd give it a passable 6.5/10. It's nice to see these two dabbling in new areas, but this song could have been great, and it's just OK.

Dangerous Woman, Arianna Grande's best song to date, still manages to be emotionless and fake (but it succeeds in these areas better than the terribly crowded and frankly, disgusting, Focus). It's nice to see her trying to mature, and the guitars and drums make it sound like a James Bond theme song (make it happen, Eon Productions!), but, as stated above, Arianna Grande tries, but fails to sound sexy. I guess we're still not over her Nick days. I like the way this one sounds, but the lyrics NEED work. "Bad girls underneath like that"? "The way we're movin' like introducin'"? This needed a few rewrites. I'd give it a weak 7/10. If this song was sung by Beyoncé, Shakira, or even Britney Spears (if this was 2004, that is) it would probably be higher.

Hope you liked my first review!

Comments

One Dance: 1/5
Don't Let Me Down: 4/5
TIWYCF: 3/5
Dangerous Woman: 2.5/5

Great review. - WonkeyDude98

I don't get why you hate One Dank so much. It's mediocre-ish. - 51im_Ro55_2002

You have good taste... - ProPanda

One Dance: 3/5
Don't Let Me Down: 3/5
This Is What You Came For 3/5
Dangerous Woman 5/5 - MistyMay113

One Dance: 3/10
Don't Let Me Down: 5/10
This is What You Came For: 1/10
Dangerous Woman: 4/10 - visitor

One Dance: workworkworkworkworkwork/5
Don't Let Me Down: 5/5
This is what you came for: 2.5/5
Dangerous Woman: 5/5 - Hotheart123

One Dance: 3/5
Don't Let Me Down: 4.5/5
TIWYCF: 4/5
Dangerous Woman: deez nuts/5 - AlphaQ

You liked Hotline Bling? I kinda think Hotline Bling sucks. Good review though. - AlphaQ