By Giulia Campora
Staff Writer
Ariana Grande’s debut album, “Yours Truly” is ten years old!
The Boca Raton singer concluded the celebrations towards this special anniversary this past Wednesday. Grande posted a video teaser on Instagram on Aug. 25 of her performing her hit “Honeymoon Avenue” from London.
“Happy ten year anniversary to a project that changed my life. thank you from the bottom of my heart for listening and for growing with me every step of the way,” the Instagram caption read. She concluded it with her famous signature, “Love you always. :) I hope you enjoy! Yours truly, Ariana.”
The celebration consisted of a week's worth of releases, including re-recorded live versions of a handful of her most famous hits from the album. The songs included “Honeymoon Avenue,” “Tattooed Heart,” “Daydreaming,” “The Way,” “Baby I” and “Right There.” These were recorded in the studio in London and were magnificent.
In “Honeymoon Avenue,” she hit note riffs in the beginning that weren’t present in the original version, which made me quite happy. In “Daydreaming,” she was able to keep her voice at an up-beat tempo, surprisingly different from the original version.
“Tattooed Heart” was my favorite live performance; it made me really emotional because it was turned into an acoustic version at the beginning, which showed her wonderful vocals. The way she delivered those high notes in the bridge with her new tone of voice gave me quite the chills.
In “The Way,” you can clearly see how she has mastered her voice to a playful and light one, so much softer than the original. The orchestral background at some parts of the song was just the cherry on top.
“Baby I” and “Right There” were very similar to the original versions, but I loved how her whistle notes at the beginning of those songs were so clean and sharp. These re-recordings were something very special to me because “Yours Truly” is an album that has accompanied me through my teenage years, and I will cherish it forever.
Grande has had a very unique career that differentiates her from others in the music industry. She began as a Nickelodeon star in the hit TV show “Victorious” as bubbly Cat Valentine, which took her to stardom. She was then catapulted into the music industry with her first single “Put Your Hearts Up.”
As her career took shape with the pop hit “Problem,” she released her album “My Everything.” In 2016, the album “Dangerous Woman” was released to the public. Between 2018 and 2020, she released the albums “Sweetener”, “thank u, next” and “Positions.” Fans are still waiting eagerly for new music to be released.
Grande’s way of re-recording her songs was an idea that made me the happiest. I am so glad she did something so special for the tenth anniversary of “Yours Truly.” Her voice still remains the same, yet it has grown into a more mature and soft-spoken one as we can hear in these new versions of the songs. Grande has always found a way to showcase her talent as a singer and I believe this album did that flawlessly.
