Ariana Grande

Dangerous Woman

While pop stars often atone for transgressions through song—just ask Justin Bieber—Grande wants to test the limits, not apologize. And that’s the best, baddest thing about Dangerous Woman.

Track by track, Dangerous Woman has sly, subtle distinctions -- a little bit of torch gives way to some heavy hip only to have frothy pop surface again -- and while some of these cuts work better than others, the range is impressive, as is Grande's measured, assured performance.

Dangerous Woman is a refinement of her sound, shifting from the low-slung groove of the title track and Moonlight’s jazzy refrain, to the throbbing electro of new single Into You and the pulsating, Future-assisted Everyday.

As Minaj says on “Side to Side,” “young Ariana run pop.” This is indeed evident on Dangerous Woman, even if the results are uneven at times.

Dangerous Woman is an effortless leap forward on which Grande comes into her own as a vocalist and performer.

Dangerous Woman shouldn’t be taken particularly seriously as any kind of “maturation,” but ... it still has some pretty good songs on it.

Dangerous Woman still feels unshakably safe. She appears to be in the right place creatively, but she just needs to take her own advice and break free.

Grande may not have settled on a sound, but she's still an outsized, dangerous talent.

In between, her edges are softened and her weird intensity diminished, and she becomes someone’s idea of something better than a diva: another hardworking professional.

Dangerous Woman, her third studio album and the follow-up to 2014's successful My Everything, is the sound of Grande proving her versatility.

The pop star is putting out fine records, but it’s hard to escape the feeling that her ludicrous potential remains unfulfilled.