Stellar in Neverland Presents: Nostalgia-palooza

Hi, I’m Stellar, and I still like misleading people with the endings of my posts. I know I promised a Top 20 Fall Out Boy Songs list, and I did start writing it, but I just wasn’t feeling how it was coming along. Besides, I realized that this is the last post I’ll write before I start my junior year of high school, and that terrifies me. Before I go into my future, I think it would be cool to reflect on my past. This is like your average Buzzfeed post (like this one), but instead of claiming it’s “(however many) Things Every 90s Kid Loved”, these are specific things that are mainly nostalgic to me. I was born in 2002, and my childhood was full of stereotypically girly things, as you’ll see below. I’m going to be breaking it down into categories, choosing five movies, five books, five TV shows, and five toys that I really loved during my childhood. I’ll talk a little about each one and maybe share a funny anecdote if I have one relating to the subject.

Movies

-This specific Disney Princess Sing-Along Songs DVD

One very stereotypically girly thing I loved to death was Disney Princesses. I had Disney Princess birthday parties two years in a row, my room was Disney Princess for a time, and I had dress-up dresses for Belle, Snow White, Aurora, and Cinderella. My favorite princess was Belle at the time (now it’s Mulan because she saved everyone instead of getting saved herself), so I should have chosen Beauty and the Beast, but this specific disc is where my heart lies. It’s not really a movie, it just features a bunch of the classic Disney Princess songs with the lyrics on screen so you can sing along to your heart’s content. I wouldn’t mind watching this DVD to this day, honestly. Despite the fact that the DVD is marketed to a significantly younger audience, it’s basically a compilation of some of the best Disney songs ever and you can rarely go wrong with a Disney song. Some personal favorites are “Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid, “A Whole New World” from Aladdin, and “I Won’t Say I’m in Love” from Hercules (yes, I know Megara from Hercules isn’t technically a Disney Princess, but that song is on there and I LOVE IT).

-High School Musical

I’m pretty sure every girl my age has nostalgia for High School Musical. I was a little too young for a lot of the Disney Channel stuff around the same time (Zack and Cody, That’s So Raven, most of Hannah Montana tbh), but my grandma showed me High School Musical because she’s always loved musicals. Ever since then, it’s had a special place in my heart. I guess I’m specifically singling out the first one because it was the first, but truly, this spot belongs to the entire trilogy. Is it cheesy, melodramatic, and cliche? Yes. Is most of the acting mediocre? Yes (although obviously, Zac Efron has improved a ton since this came out). Do I still love it. DUH. My favorite is the second one, and my favorite song from the series is “Bet On It”.

-Shrek

Ironic how the one non-Disney movie I have is actually a parody of classic Disney. Dreamworks movies can be hit-or-miss, but I think we can all agree Shrek is a great, hilarious movie. It takes all the Disney tropes and completely subverts them. The hero isn’t a handsome prince, it’s an ogre. The princess appears to be beautiful at first, but she’s secretly an ogre once night rolls around. The seemingly beautiful, wholesome kingdom is actually full of oppressed fairy tale characters. It’s sort of the middle finger to Disney movies, and although I adore Disney, I can’t help but love Shrek too. Plus the movie spawned tons of memes and made “All Star” by Smash Mouth the Internet’s favorite song. What a movie.

-Tangled

Unlike most of these things, Tangled came out at a later point in my childhood. Most of these things came out when I was in preschool or kindergarten, but I was in third grade when Tangled came out. It still counts, because it’s too fantastic for me to leave it off. A year ago, I said that this was my favorite movie, and it still is. At first I was turned off because the marketing made it seem like a stupid action buddy comedy sort of thing, but my parents surprised me and took me to see it in theatres. I loved it way more than I expected it to. It’s just an incredibly well-rounded film. It has action, romance, humor, compelling characters, plot twists, stunningly beautiful animation, and above all else, heart. As I’ve said before, this is the type of movie where you can tell everyone involved put their heart and soul into it, trying to make it the best it could be. It’s a movie you can watch over and over again and not get sick of. I loved it as a kid, I love it now, and I’ll always love it to death.

-Enchanted

Similar to Shrek, Enchanted subverts the Disney tropes and does it in a funny, inventive way. It takes a really clever premise of “Hey, what if we take your stereotypical over-the-top fairy tale Disney characters and put them in New York City?” and runs with it. Amy Adams is fantastic as Giselle, bringing light and happiness to every scene she’s in. I also love the drastic difference between Prince Edward from the fantasy world and Robert from the real world. Robert is probably my favorite character because he was the first Disney character to ask why everyone’s singing all the time and say “Is getting married to a man you barely know really a good idea?” I also really like how Giselle and Robert develop and change each other as they get to know each other. Not only does Giselle become more realistic and slightly cynical, Robert also becomes more optimistic. I got this movie as an Easter present as a kid and it was one of my favorites. It still is amazing now, to the point where I wish I put it either as an honorable mention or on my top 10 list proper.

TV Shows

-Hi-5

Wow, this show looks horrifying in this picture. 

This is definitely the most obscure of the five shows I picked, and you’ve probably never heard of it unless you were an avid watcher of Discovery Kids back in the day. I had to bring it up because I was OBSESSED as a kid. It’s been about ten years since I last watched Hi-5 so my memories are a little fuzzy, but I remember it being about these five people (probably teens/young adults) who sang and danced a lot, and there were bright colors and puppets. The thing I really remember is that I was obsessed with asking people what their favorite this or their favorite that was as a kid, and I asked my brother who his favorite was. His response was “Curtis is my favorite...which one’s Curtis?” He was about three at the time, but we still give him crap for it ten years later.

-Blue’s Clues

I’m guessing a lot of people within my age range have nostalgia for Blue’s Clues. This show was about a guy named Steve (later replaced by his cousin Joe because Steve went to college, causing most of our first heartbreaks) who lives in a house with his dog Blue and a bunch of talking appliances. Everyday, Blue leaves paw prints all over the house so Steve, Joe, and the viewers can figure out what her plans are for the day. I liked this show because they do a lot to get the viewer involved and learning, as opposed to a lot of preschool shows which are mainly just entertainment. I also liked a lot of the songs (especially the planet song- sorry for the bad-quality video). One other thing I think is cool is that they subvert color stereotypes by having the blue dog be a girl while the pink one is a boy! Truly progressive.

-Bear in the Big Blue House

Continuing with the blue theme is Bear and the Big Blue House. I actually wasn’t huge on this show when I was a kid (probably because I was afraid of puppets that weren’t from Sesame Street), but I watched it a lot because my parents liked it for some reason. It’s about a bear who lives in a big blue house with his brightly colored puppet friends, as you can guess. We had a few DVDs for this show that I enjoyed watching, a potty training one and a nighttime one, I think. Those DVDs were downloaded onto the family iPad, along with a bunch of other movies, to watch while we take long car trips. A few years ago, we were coming back from Easter and my brother and I were watching the potty one and we thought it was the funniest thing in the world. Clearly I have a sophisticated sense of humor.

-Sesame Street

Okay, I’m not gonna talk much about Sesame Street because what’s the point? Generation after generation of kids grew up watching Sesame Street, and everybody can name at least five characters. Elmo, Cookie Monster, and Big Bird are pretty much cultural icons at this point. I think it’s probably my favorite preschool show now (not that I watch any currently, of course) because it can actually be pretty clever with the cultural references. I remember thinking this cookie monster Hunger Games parody was the funniest thing ever in middle school. The songs are also really good for a kids’ show, from the classics like “C is for Cookie” and “Rubber Duckie” to the new stuff like this song Bruno Mars did that my youngest brother enjoyed. Sesame Street has also always been very inclusive, talking about serious issues like death, racism, and 9/11 and featuring disabled characters. Thanks, Sesame Street, for positively influencing kids to be good people.

-iCarly

I watched iCarly after all the other shows, but it still was important to my childhood so I couldn’t leave it off. I got into iCarly after my best friend told me it was really funny in second grade. I decided to watch it and liked it immediately. The premise is that Carly, Sam, and Freddie are your average teenagers...except they create and star in iCarly, a hugely popular web show. The actual web show looks pretty dumb nowadays, but the adventures that happen outside of the show are wacky enough to keep me hooked. I actually still watch iCarly quite a bit now because TeenNick plays reruns of it all the time. Even though, in my opinion, it got significantly worse once they promoted the character Gibby from comic-relief fan favorite to a starring role, it’s still a consistently good kids show. It was sort of a gateway drug that led to me getting into other non-preschool Nick shows like Victorious, Big Time Rush, Drake and Josh, and SpongeBob Squarepants.

Books

-The Rainbow Magic series by Daisy Meadows

I’ve said before in some other post that Rainbow Magic was the series that got me into reading. I’m not sure if that’s true because I loved reading picture books even when I was very young, but the Rainbow Magic series had a major impact on me as a kid nonetheless. Pretty much all of the books have the same plot, just with a different fairy: Two girls named Rachel and Kirsty find a fairy, try to rescue the fairy’s magic object from Jack Frost and his goblins, and save the day. However, I was young so I didn’t care much about cliches and adored the series. I think I had 34 of the books and I loved pretending I was like Rachel and Kirsty and was friends with fairies. I distinctly remember playing by a vent in my old house, pretending to save a fairy, and my dad yelling at me saying “The fairy should be smart enough to not go into the vent”.

-The American Girl books (All of them) by a bunch of people

As a child, I always wanted the American Girl dolls, but they were really expensive. I got one of the less expensive baby dolls and a Target knockoff one, but I never got the real deal. As sort of a consolation prize, my parents got me a bunch of the American Girl books. I had a bunch of the more modern ones and the self-help ones (like The Care and Keeping of You), but most of my nostalgia is from the historical ones. I have a bunch of these treasuries which had all of the books for each girl, as well as the holiday one pictured above. My dad would read them with me every night. Even though they were essentially tie-ins for toys, they were legitimately good books and were pretty historically accurate. My favorites were Molly, Samantha, and Felicity.

-The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne

I distinctly remember being assigned to read a Magic Tree House book for my reading group in first grade and throwing a tantrum. I think it’s because I was a hipster before I knew what a hipster was, hating the books because they were popular with my class. I ended up really loving the books and I read a ton of them in elementary school. Pretty much all of these books had similar premises: Siblings Jack and Annie go in their tree house, are sent on missions to find something, or complete a task, and have to go back in time to do it. My favorite one was Moonlight on the Magic Flute, where they go meet Mozart. I liked this one because it was about music, which has always been my passion and my favorite thing in the world.

-The Dork Diaries series by Rachel Renee Russell

I could have chosen Diary of a Wimpy Kid, which is very similar to Dork Diaries in premise and was another childhood favorite, but I like Dork Diaries more. It’s essentially the girly version of Wimpy Kid, and being female, I naturally enjoyed it and related to it more. Nikki, the main character, has the most vapid and stereotypical-teenage-girl voice ever, but that’s what makes her so endearing. The way she talks and describes things cracks me up. Naturally, going with the whole music theme, my favorite was Tales from a Not-So-Talented Pop Star, where Nikki enters a talent competition. There have actually been, like, ten books published in this series that I haven’t read, but maybe I should?

-The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan

To this day, the Percy Jackson series, as well as its spinoff series Heroes of Olympus, is still my favorite of all time. It’s better than it has any right to be, not just a good kids’ series but a good series period. Like Tangled, it’s just incredibly well-rounded. It’s mostly action-based, but it’s got hilariously funny moments, romance, suspense, tearjerking moments, plot twists, and some of my favorite characters in all of fiction. Percy is one of the best characters I’ve ever come across in anything, being your archetypal kick-butt hero and the son of a Greek god while still being realistically flawed and emotional. The premise is also very clever, centering on the children of Greek and Roman gods and their dangerous adventures. Rick Riordan is not only a great writer, but a truly good person as well. His books are incredibly diverse, including LGBTQ+ characters, people of color, characters with mental disabilities, what have you. He does this because he knows how powerful it can be for a child to see themselves represented in the media. He wants to be a good ally and inspire his readers to be supportive and accepting of people who are different from they are. I can’t respect him enough for that.

Toys

-Webkinz

I’ve talked about my Webkinz obsession in this specific post, and I kind of just want to copy and paste what I said there but I won’t. Anyways, Webkinz are stuffed toys that come with a special code, and you enter the code onto their website so you are able to play with them online. My brother and I were obsessed with Webkinz, and combined I think we had at least 100. We loved playing on the website, but we played with the stuffed animals just as much, if not more. We created a whole world, giving our Webkinz jobs, families, spouses, and extensive backstories. I also loved watching YouTube videos about them, even though my parents told me I was too young for YouTube at the time. Fun fact: Webkinz were actually how I got into YouTube! Now look where we are.

-Barbies

I don’t know which toy had a bigger impact on me as a kid: Webkinz or Barbies. Both toys defined my childhood in every sense of the word. Barbie was everything to me when I was four or five. Going hand in hand with my Disney Princess obsession, I had a bunch of dolls and I loved pretending they were princesses. I loved dressing them up in fancy gowns and making them go to the ball, even though I only had a few male dolls for them to dance with. I also loved a bunch of the direct-to-DVD Barbie movies, specifically 12 Dancing Princesses (which the doll I have pictured is from!), and Diamond Castle. There’s been a recent meme of Bibble, the blue sidekick from Barbie Fairytopia, singing (examples here) and it makes me super nostalgic because I almost completely forgot about Bibble! One last thing about Barbie I have to mention is that Barbie got me into the Internet. I loved borrowing my dad’s laptop to play on the Barbie website and I fully admit that’s how my Internet obsession was born. Ten years later, I’m still addicted to the Internet and I even write a blog on it! Also, shout out to GameKidGame, this website I found that has a ton of my old favorite Barbie games. GameKidGame, you da real MVP.

-Calico Critters

There’s this one toy store I used to go to a lot as a kid, and they mostly had educational stuff for younger kids. We went there one time and I found Calico Critters, these cute little animal figurines. I wanted them so badly and I was obsessed. Eventually, my parents caved and bought me some, and five-year-old me was ecstatic. I think they still sell these, because I’ve seen commercials for them on Nickelodeon. Every time I see those commercials, it’s a huge nostalgia bomb.

-Razor scooter

The Razor scooter is, in my humble opinion, the flyest mode of transportation out there. I kid, I kid. But seriously, I loved my Razor. I think I got it for my birthday one year, and at first I was like, “HMM, WHAT IS THIS?” Once I figured out how to use it, I was obsessed. One of my neighbors had an electric version, which I got to use a few times and loved riding. I really don’t have much to say about my scooter. It’s just that...a scooter.

-Littlest Pet Shop

I’m now starting to realize that little Stellar really loved her cute animal toys, what with Webkinz, Calico Critters, and now Littlest Pet Shops. Littlest Pet Shops are basically plastic animal bobbleheads are shaped like cute animals. Similar to Webkinz, both me and my brother were pretty into these. We had like, an iguana and a turtle that he particularly loved. We named them all and made them have adventures. I had a few Littlest Pet Shop books, too. Finally, I’d like to single out this specific Hideaway Haven game I have pictured. I had this game, and I’m pretty sure it was like a Memory sort of thing. I played it with my family all the time.

Wow, writing this post really took me back. This is basically a crash-course in my childhood, highlighting most of the basics. I’d like to make a sequel at some point, maybe focusing on other shows and especially songs from my childhood. I like writing pretty much all of my posts, but I must say, this was a particularly fun one to write. I’m not sure what I have in store next week. I start school next Tuesday (I cry), so I’m thinking it might be a breakdown of everything that happened. However, my track record of revealing my posts a week prior is kind of horrible, as you can tell. So who really knows what I have in store? All I know is that you can tune in on Wednesday to read it! I’m Stellar in Neverland, and I’ll see you then. Peace!

Stellar

Happy Birthday, Stellar in Neverland!

Hi, I'm Stellar, and I'm posting on a Thursday instead of a Wednesday! That's so weird! Well, I had to, because today, August 23 marks the one-year anniversary of me creating this blog. I used to write a blog with my friends in middle school, but after around a year and a half of missing it, I decided to create Stellar in Neverland on a whim. Since then, it's been a constant source of happiness in my life. I know I don't get that many readers, but I still love putting my voice out there on the Internet. One thing that's very important to me is self-expression. If I'm feeling something, I can't just keep it bottled up, I need to share it. While I don't share my deepest, darkest secrets on here, it is a great way to get my thoughts about music and pop culture out. This blog is me talking to myself, essentially, and not caring who reads it. I don't care how many readers I get, I will always be proud of this blog. One thing I was considering doing for the one-year anniversary was a compilation of every single mistake or stupid thing I have ever said on here. But then I realized that it's my one-year anniversary, and I should be focusing on the good things. So instead, I'm going to highlight a few posts I've made that I'm particularly proud of. I try to take pride in what I do and I'd never post something on here that I wasn't proud of, but these are just a few that I've always been really fond of.
-My Top Ten Favorite Movies
Although if I were making this today, I wouldn't have put The Outsiders on the list, added Enchanted somewhere, and maybe put Mulan in the proper top 10, I'm still really proud of this one. It was the first real post I ever made, and this blog pretty much exists solely to remake the one I made on my old blog. And despite those errors and the sentence "plus he's the hottest animated character ever, in my opinion" making me cringe, I still think I did a really good job.
-The Holy Trinity of First Impressions
The "Holy Trinity" refers to First Impressions #1- Songs I Don't Know The Names Of (Apparently?), First Impressions #3- More Songs I Don't Know The Name Of, and First Impressions #5- Songs That Deserve More Recognition...Or Do They?. I think of these posts as a trilogy, because they're all pretty much the same concept. These posts are special to me because they're really fun for me to do. I get to talk about and discover a bunch of songs I usually haven't heard of, and sometimes I discover some gems. There are more than a few songs I love that I would have never found without doing these posts.
-Holiday Special: Jake Paul's Litmas EP (Album Review #3.5, if you must)
I just think this one is really funny. Jake Paul is such an easy target, but he deserves it because his music, videos, and personality are as bad as people say they are. The actual music I reviewed was, of course, garbage, but I made some jokes I'm pretty proud of. Negative posts are fun to write, especially when your hatred of what you're writing about is truly primal. I just try to limit them because too much negativity gets boring.
-Favorite Book Covers *ft. my friend Nike*
The first (and so far only) collab I've done on here. I like this one because it's a change of pace from what I normally do. I normally talk about music, but this shows that I'm more than that. It was also really fun to collaborate with Nike, who is one of my best friends. Everything just came together so well in the end, and she did a really nice job talking about her picks. She's so much better at writing than I am, guys.
-Songs That Are 10 Years Old Now!
Writing this one was a trip down memory lane. I talked about 32 songs that were popular in 2008, and it was cool to see how different music was back then. A lot of these songs are still popular, such as "Single Ladies" and "Love Story", but I liked talking about some of the more forgotten ones like "Shake It" (that song particularly brought me back) and "American Boy" as well. I'd love to do more posts on older music like this.
-Every Fall Out Boy Single Ranked From Worst to Best
I feel like this one is probably really fun to read because I just sound so jovial about what I'm talking about. You can tell I know what I'm talking about and I'm passionate about it. I sound a little geeky detailing the specific histories of some of these songs, but that adds to its charm, honestly. Plus I got to show two sides of the spectrum: lambasting songs I hate and raving about songs I adore. Next week, I'm talking about more Fall Out Boy, and it should be pretty similar. Minus the lambasting, of course.
-Stellar's Summer Jams 2018!
I do a ton of "my current favorite songs" playlists, but this one was fun because it just had a bunch of songs I genuinely love. Writing about happy songs makes me happy. My favorite posts to write (and also read) are the ones where I'm talking about things I'm passionately in love with, and this one fits the bill. There's really not much to distinguish this from the other "current faves playlist" posts, I just feel like this one has a lot of really solid songs that are different but fit together well to make a summer playlist I want to listen to all the time.

Okay, so now that we're done with that, let's talk about the elephant in my room: namely the extreme makeover I gave my blog! I've had my old theme since I first made the blog, and while it's done me some good for a year, I decided it was time for a change. I feel like this aesthetic represents myself and my blog better, and I plan on keeping it for the next year of Stellar in Neverland's existence, if not longer.

Finally, let's talk about what my plans are for this blog's second year. Well, next week I'm doing my Top 20 Fall Out Boy Songs, but what's coming after that? Well, I have a music series that will take a lot of work, but I'm really excited for. I'm not sure exactly when it will come out, but I can't wait to start it. I'm also hoping to do more reviews of albums and/or movies. Maybe I'll bring back The Stellar Adventures of Catalina in Neverland or start another fiction series, but both of those are pretty unlikely. And of course, I'm going to keep doing music-related lists because that's what I love to write. So to end this, I'm gonna say happy birthday to my baby, Stellar in Neverland. Thanks to everybody who's ever visited my blog, and here's to another great year!

For this special occasion, I figured I'd bring Catalina, my Bitmoji/old mascot of the blog, back. I dyed her hair a few months ago, but I haven't done that in real life :(

Stellar

Album Review: Sweetener by Ariana Grande

Hi, I'm Stellar, and for the first time in weeks, I'm actually sticking to what I planned to post! Well, it is Ariana Grande related, so you shouldn't be surprised by that at all. By now, you should be familiar with my love of Ariana Grande, so I had to review her fourth album, Sweetener, as soon as it came out. I've talked about this girl so many times, but as per the usual, I'm going to give a brief-ish summary of Ariana's career up to this point. Beware: I'm about to sound like a walking Ariana Grande encyclopedia. You have been warned.

Ariana Grande got her start on the Broadway musical 13 in 2008, but a year later, she got cast as the adorably naive Cat Valentine on Nickelodeon's Victorious. Cat wasn't the main character of the show, but she quickly became a fan favorite and the role shot Ariana to fame. Ariana got to showcase her singing talents on Victorious, and between her performances on the show and her YouTube covers, fans definitely took notice. She began working on her debut album, titled Yours Truly, in 2010, but it wasn't released until 2013. Yours Truly was a critical and commercial success, and it featured both 90s R&B sounds and 50s/60s throwback vibes. The album's lead single, "The Way" ft. Mac Miller, was a top 10 hit, and the album debuted at #1. Ariana was praised for keeping a wholesome image compared to her peers (this was the year of Miley Cyrus and the Bangerz era, after all) and especially for her voice, which has gotten her compared to Mariah Carey.

Victorious ended in 2013, but the spinoff series Sam & Cat premiered shortly afterward. Ariana was busy starring in Sam & Cat in addition to her music career. However, Sam & Cat only lasted a year before getting cancelled for unknown reasons. Once the show ended, Ariana was able to focus solely on her music career. She dropped "Problem", the lead single for her second album, My Everything and a collaboration with Iggy Azalea, in early 2014. The song was a huge hit, peaking at #2. Other hits from the album were "Break Free" ft. Zedd, "Bang Bang" ft. Jessie J and Nicki Minaj, "Love Me Harder" ft. The Weeknd, and "One Last Time. The album was more modern pop/EDM than its predecessor, and it showcased Ariana in a more sexual style. Ariana became a huge celebrity after the release of My Everything, one of the biggest stars in music. However, she did get hit with diva rumors and faced her first scandal in July 2015: licking a donut and proclaiming she hated America. Make of that what you will.

After being put in a less-than-stellar light from the donut incident, Ariana decided to get darker and edgier with her music. She released the single "Focus" in late 2015, then scrapped it from her album (because it underperformed by her standards and was too similar-sounding to "Problem", I assume). In early 2016, she officially began her Dangerous Woman era, starting by releasing the single "Dangerous Woman". The single marked a darker shift in her music, being a sexy, rock-inspired slow jam. The album followed in May 2016 (I reviewed it here), and drew praise from critics for its experimentation to Ariana's sound. I think it's the best thing she's ever done thus far, showing her maturity and that she wasn't afraid to experiment with new styles like house, reggae, and rock & roll. "Side To Side" ft. Nicki Minaj was the album's most successful song, but the second single "Into You" is, and always will be, my favorite. I could talk about how that song is a masterpiece of pop music all day.

Come 2017 and Ariana is happy. She's proud of the music she's making, she's happily dating Mac Miller, and she's about to begin the Dangerous Woman Tour. Then the Manchester show happened. By now, you should be familiar with the horrible thing that happened in the Manchester Arena on May 22, 2017, even if you don't follow Ariana, so I won't spend too much time on it. That doesn't mean I don't care about it, because it's still something so tragic I can't possibly forget about it. After the show, a suicide bomber released a homemade explosive, killing 22 of Ariana's fans. Obviously, Ariana survived, but she would face immense trauma, guilt, and sadness after the attack. It's been over a year since the attack and she still gets emotional talking about it in interviews. I think it's something you can't ever truly be over. You can do all you can to lighten the mood, uplift others, and help those who need it (Ariana spent time visiting injured fans in the hospital, paid for the victims' funerals, and assembled a highly successful and uplifting benefit concert called One Love Manchester), but no matter how great things can become, it's still going to haunt you on and off for your entire life. Ariana received a tremendous amount of support after the bombing and her classy, mature way of handling it put her in the public's good graces. There was much hype for her new album, and many people expected she would address the tragedy in her new music.

Of course, we can't forget to discuss the second really big thing to happen to Ariana since the release of Dangerous Woman: her highly-publicized relationship with Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson. Ariana announced her breakup with Mac Miller in May 2018, and shortly after it was announced that she was casually dating Pete. Only a month after news of their relationship broke out, it was revealed that they were engaged. The two have been extremely public in their affection for each other, commenting flirty things on each other's Instagram photos and getting matching tattoos. However, their relationship hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows, at least when it comes to fans' reactions. Ariana has gotten so much flak for her relationship. Some fans noticed that Pete made a joke about Manchester last fall, something along the lines of "Ariana must know she's famous now, because Britney Spears didn't even have a terrorist attack at her concert." Fans were pissed and started demanding Ariana break up with him, as if they controlled her life. She defended him, saying he never had bad intentions, though she didn't find it funny. People got their panties in a twist, and part of me wants to say that's fine. I know that if a person I was in love with made a joke about a tragic event that's very close to my heart, I would probably dump them in a heartbeat. But I'm gonna take the high road and say it's none of my damn business. People also give them flak for moving way too fast in their relationship, and although part of me wants to agree with that as well, I also think that is none of my damn business. As a fan, all that matters is that Ariana's happy, and she seems to be head-over-heels happy in love with Pete Davidson. She's been through a lot, and she deserves to feel happy. You don't have to love Pete, but you have to respect Ariana's decisions in her life. It's none of your business.

Anyways, Ariana's lead single for the album, "No Tears Left To Cry", was released in April 2018 to critical and commercial success. She announced Sweetener a few weeks after, stating the concept would be about "bringing light to a situation, or to someone's life, or somebody else who brings light to your life, or sweetening the situation". She released "The Light Is Coming" as a promotional single and "God Is A Woman" as the official second single throughout the summer. The album garnered lots of momentum and was one of the most highly-anticipated pop albums of the year. She released it on August 17, 2018, and while she's gotten lots of critical praise, fan reactions have been mixed. Some love it, some hate it. But what do I think? Well, I don't know quite yet. I've already listened to the three songs Ariana's released prior to the album, but I haven't heard anything else. I guess this is a First Impressions post, but honestly, I'm thinking I might drop that label. I'm going track-by-track, giving my thoughts on each song and then I'll sum up everything and name my favorites and least favorites. Let's go. 

Honestly, I don't like this album cover much. I like the symbolism because it represents her feeling "upside-down" with her anxiety and I like how it's her first album cover in color, but other than that it's just kind of boring. She just looks kind of bored, and considering this is supposed to be her light, happy album, I kind of feel like she should be smiling? It just feels basic and amateurish. She has a huge budget, surely her label can give her a better cover than this. Geez, why has every album I've reviewed (except for Panic! At The Disco) had a crappy cover? Also one last thing: yes, I know all of the songs except for "R.E.M." and "God is a Woman" (technically "God is a woman" are lowercase, but I'm still gonna use proper grammar because it looks better to me. Screw you, it's my blog, I can do what I please. 

#1. "Raindrops (An Angel Cried)"

The album opens with a short acapella cover of "An Angel Cried" by The Four Seasons. Ariana revealed to Jimmy Fallon that she had already chosen to cover the song before she learned it was written by her late grandfather's best friend. This fact made the song even more special to her. I think the inclusion of the song alludes to the victims of the Manchester bombing, especially with the line "The day you left me, an angel cried". Her vocals sound top-notch and full of emotion. However, because the song is merely an intro and only around 30 seconds long, it probably won't end up being anybody's favorite or anything. It is pretty, though. 7.5/10

#2. "Blazed" ft. Pharrell Williams

Pharrell produced seven of the tracks off of Sweetener, so it makes sense that Ariana chose to collaborate with him. From what I've seen, his contributions have garnered a mixed reaction, with some fans loving Pharrell's quirky style and others hating the experimental nature of his tracks. I'm only two songs in, so I will refrain from commenting for now. Based off of the first impression, I think "Blazed" is pretty good. The lyrics are likely about her relationship with Pete Davidson, with the line "They be making fun of this on TV" being an obvious allusion to how much flak Ariana's gotten for their relationship. The production sounds like a 2000s R&B song, and it's a pretty catchy song. I love Ariana's lower range and pretty tone throughout, and I love how she and Pharrell play off each other in the chorus. The one complaint I have it that I feel like the prechorus is too repetitive, like a few repetitions of "Never let you go" could have been removed. But other than that, this is a jam and I can see it becoming a single. 8.5/10

#3. "The Light is Coming" ft. Nicki Minaj

This song was the second released from the album, and it immediately divided fans. It's one of the more experimental songs, not just in its production (which sounds like "Lemon" by N.E.R.D.), but in its song structure. This song starts off with the Nicki verse, as opposed to most songs, which have the guest rapper a little over halfway through. The chorus is also extremely repetitive and the sample of Senator Arlen Spector yelling "You wouldn't let anybody speak and instead!" repeats throughout the whole song, much to many fans' dismay. Ariana's vocal stylings on this song are more sing-rapping than the powerhouse belting she's known for. All in all, this song is an acquired taste, but it grew on me a ton over time. Initially, I was like "WTF is this, Ariana?", but it grew on me because it's quirky, catchy, and memorable, and I like the message of staying positive in dark times (even though some of the lyrics are pretty cringey). Nicki's verse is quite short, but it's still good. Nicki and Ariana normally do really good work together. I appreciate Ariana taking risks, even if not everyone is going to like those risks. It's not my favorite song she's ever done, but it's fine enough and better than people give it credit for. Once again, it sounds a lot like a slightly-worse version of "Lemon", so if you like that song, you'll probably enjoy "The Light is Coming". If not, you'll think it's a total mess. Both opinions are justified, even though I like the song. 8/10

#4. "R.E.M."

Like any good stan, I follow Ariana on Instagram, and judging from her posts, she seems to really love this song. She's put it in a ton of videos relating to the album on her story. She's also teased the song in tweets and in an interview game with Elle. The song's hook was taken from an old Beyonce demo, and Ariana's take on it is fine, but I'm not sure if the style's right for her. I feel like the first verse is pretty unremarkable in both lyrics and melody, but I love the quirky, sing-song flow of the second and third verses. I also love how Ariana hints at her lower range and the harmonies. I feel like the chorus is a little underwhelming. I'm not sure why, it just feels off to me. The production feels a little off-kilter to me, and I'm not sure how I like it. There's this weird breathing in the background that just shouldn't be there. It's creepy. I know this is like, Ariana's favorite song on the album, and from what I've read in other reviews, it seems to be getting some acclaim, but I just don't like it as much as I feel like I should. But it's okay, because I tend to disagree with her tastes on her own music. She tweeted her top 5 favorites from Dangerous Woman and none of my top 3 ("Into You", "Greedy" and "Touch It") were in it (Her top 5 is "Be Alright", "Dangerous Woman", "Let Me Love You", "Side to Side", and "Knew Better/Forever Boy", in case you were curious). Maybe I'll like the next song more. 6.5/10

#5. "God is a Woman"

Just kidding about that "maybe" part. I've talked about this one before, but I said I'd go in-depth during this review. Long story short, this is my favorite song of 2018 thus far and the second-best single Ariana has ever released (because "Into You" will always have my heart). Based off of the title, people thought it would be a feminist anthem, but instead it's about sex, specifically how Ariana is so good in bed it'll make her lover think God is a woman. It's still empowering in its own way, because everything about the vibe makes me feel like a boss. Ariana's vocals are amazing as always. One moment I'd like to single out is the whistle note right before the final chorus, which straight-up made my jaw drop the first time I heard it. Of course, the best part is the outro, which features Ariana's vocals layered countless times to sound like a heavenly choir. If I were to pick the number one thing I love about Ariana's music, it's the way she uses her voice as an instrument and does amazing vocal harmonies. Naturally, the huge choir is heaven to my ears. I also love Ariana's confidence in the way she sings the song, it's the perfect performance for this particular song. Her "yuh" ad-libs are great, too. Finally, the music video is the best she's ever done. There are so many well thought-out references to religion, sex, and womanhood and the visuals are stunning. She even got Madonna to recite a quote from Pulp Fiction midway throughout the video, that's how you know Ariana isn't screwing around. I feel like this song and its video are already iconic for 2018 pop culture, and I hope this is a pop classic that's talked about for generations. What a song. 10/10

#6. "Sweetener"

The title track was the first song Ariana recorded for the album. This one's got more of a trap vibe, but it's not to the point where it sounds awkward. The chorus is pure sugary goodness, and her voice sounds really pretty. This is another Pharrell song, and I think this might be my favorite of the Pharrell tracks thus far. The beat is really quirky, because it sounds like a 90s R&B song mashed up with the video game-y synths that are characteristically Pharrell at this point. From what I've seen, the post-chorus with the "mix it, mix it, twist it, twist it" part is the main talking point of this track, and I think it's light-hearted, cute, and funny. I feel like she might make it a single only because that totally has meme potential. "Mix it, mix it, twist it, twist it" is the new "raindrop, drop top", mark my words. I've heard people comparing it to Bop It, which is hilarious to me. The main issue I have is with the lyrics, specifically the line about "licking the bowl". That's just a really bad innuendo, and a lot of the other puns are pretty bad. But still, this is a cute song, I like it. 9/10

#7. "Successful"

Going into this, I expected a female empowerment song all about how successful women are. That's not too far off from what it actually is. It's Ariana essentially bragging about how successful she's become. While it could sound awkward and narcissistic coming from anyone else, Ariana can make it work because she's actually got the kind of success worth bragging out. She takes some time to uplift her fellow women too, singing "and girl, you too, you are so young and beautiful and so successful". I love all the twists and turns this song takes in tone. My favorite part is the prechorus, which has a pretty melody and vocals. The chorus is laid-back and catchy. One thing I will complain about again is that the breathing that was in "R.E.M." is back for this song, and it's awkward and I don't like it. Other than that, this is a bop and I can see it being a grower. 7.5/10

#8. "Everytime"

This one is very trap-influenced in its production. It sounds sort of like "God Is A Woman", but a little different. "God Is A Woman" had more guitar while "Everytime" is mostly synth-based. It's about a bad relationship where Ariana knows the guy is bad for her, but she keeps going back to him. I feel like this song was originally named "Back To You", but Ariana changed it because both Selena Gomez and Louis Tomlinson (ft. Bebe Rexha) released songs with that title within the past year. Other than "God Is A Woman", I think this is my favorite thus far. In the final chorus, Ariana does some of her signature belts and runs, which we surprisingly haven't really seen on the album. I don't know much about actual vocal technique, but amazing vocals are always something that will impress and fascinate me. The high notes are gorgeous and perfect, especially the really high one on the "BAAAACK TO YOU". That part gives me chills. I really can't think of any immediate flaws with this song, and I can totally see myself loving this one and getting a lot of play out of it. 9.5/10

#9. "Breathin"

I've heard a ton of hype about this song, specifically that it's a gigantic synthpop track about her anxiety. This sounds tailor-made for me. Not only do I love big, well-produced synthpop tracks (a la "Into You") more than any other kind of song, but I also struggle with anxiety so I can relate to the lyrics. I can tell this will be a song I'll play when I'm having really bad panic attacks. It's a reminder to "keep on breathing and breathing and breathing and breathing", because that's something I've heard from many people and it's good advice. Just take a deep breath and everything will feel better. The production is immaculate, with gorgeous synths and even a cool guitar solo during the bridge. I love the moment during the second chorus when it goes acapella, only for the beat to kick back in. The production is a great match for Ariana's soft, delicate vocals. Her approach to this song is pretty typical for this album, staying in her middle range for most of it and only really belting in the end. She also uses lots of harmonies, much to my delight. From what I've seen, this is the big fan favorite that everyone wants to be a single, and while I'm not sure if she'll release it as a single ("Greedy" was beloved by so many people and she didn't release that), I agree with them. One of my favorites so far. 9.5/10

#10. "No Tears Left To Cry"

This was the lead single for the project, and since I already talked about it in a full review, I'll keep it short. At first I really liked this song, but it's grown on me so much that I now consider it pop perfection and Ariana's best lead single. It really hasn't sounded like any of the songs I've heard from the project, but I do think it was the best possible artistic decision for Ariana to lead off with this. It's a big pop song with a huge, gorgeous chorus and a great message. Ariana's been through some unspeakably horrible things in her life, but she's done being sad and has learned to live with the pain. When the song came out, Ariana said something about how she hopes it "brings you light and comfort but also makes you wanna dance and live ya best life!" That pretty much sums it up. Also, one last thing about this song that I'm kind of annoyed by: in the review, I stated that the snippet Ariana teased was of the intro, when it's only the intro in the music video. If you listen to the song on Spotify, that beautiful choral intro is not there. I know it's not that big a deal, but I think dwelling too much on past mistakes is a big part of my anxiety. The song is still awesome, regardless of my incompetence. 10/10

#11. "Borderline" ft. Missy Elliott
With this one, Ariana teams up with Missy Elliott, who was one of the biggest rap icons of the 2000s. I feel like this is the weakest of the three collabs on the album. Missy's part isn't bad, but she's barely there. She spits eight unremarkable bars, then disappears. What a waste. The chorus on the song isn't as memorable as the others, and some of the lyrics are pretty dumb. Two lyrics I'm gonna single out for being particularly inane are "You know I'm the wifey type" (because using modern slang in lyrics is cringeworthy 99% of the time) and "Once you tastin' my ice cream, I bet you won't ever leave" (because...ew). Ariana's vocals are passable, but only a fraction of what I know she's capable of. This is another Pharrell track, but it's indistinguishable from the other Pharrell songs. The clattery cowbell at the end is...why? This is my least favorite track so far, and I know Ariana can do better. 6/10

#12. "Better Off"
This track wasn't supposed to be on Sweetener, but Ariana added it sort of the last minute. This one is a slower song, but it's not quite a ballad. It has some nice R&B/trap production with gorgeous strings, and Ariana's vocals sound beautiful and cozy. The lyrics are reportedly about Ariana's ex, Mac Miller, and how their relationship was toxic. "I'm better off without him, I'm better off being a wild one" is such a simple statement, but it's a powerful one. I like the details this song provides about their relationship, and how it shows Ariana getting more personal than ever before. I don't really have much else to say about this one other than it's another favorite. 9/10

#13. "Goodnight N Go"
"Goodnight N Go" is a cover/remix of the song "Goodnight and Go" by Imogen Heap, who is one of Ariana's idols. I've never heard the original, so I can't compare the remix. Personally, I'm not a fan of Ariana covering songs for her albums. While she does great covers, I'd prefer for her albums to be all-original material. I'm not sure what the lyrics are about. I'm guessing it's about a crush. I don't like the production much, especially the drop. The drop sounds like it's from a bad Chainsmokers song, and I don't know if it came from the original but I don't like it either way. Surprisingly, I'm not a fan of Ariana's vocals on this particular song either. There are some parts where she uses her falsetto, and even though I love her falsetto every other time, it just sounds...off. I can see why others would like this song because it is experimental, but I'm not a fan. Sorry, Ari. 6.5/10

#14. "Pete Davidson"
Here's the one everybody's in a tizzy about. Ariana's fiance, Pete Davidson, is a controversial figure in the Ariana Grande fandom, and naturally the fans that don't like their relationship don't approve of Ariana naming a song after him. I think it's great that she's happy enough to name a song after Pete, but I don't think she should have. Not that I'm wishing for this to happen, but it's a real question: what happens if they break up? This song's gonna be super awkward if that happens. The actual song is another interlude, and I don't think there's anything special about it. It's very repetitive. Some of the lyrics are cute though, namely "And I know you know you're my soulmate and all that". Personally, I wouldn't have included this song on the album if I were Ariana, but I'm happy she's so happy in this relationship. 7/10

#15. "Get Well Soon"
This is the one I was really looking forward to because Ariana revealed it would be about her anxiety and how she felt like she was floating-and not in a good way, to quote Ari herself. The main message is about how you need to take care of yourself so you can get better. One thing I noticed is that she sings "Is there anyone else whose mind does this?" and my response is YES. Specifically my mind. Anxiety is horrible, oh my god. I love the laid-back production and gorgeous vocal layers. It really lets you focus on the lyrics and message. While they aren't all great ("unfollow fear and say 'you are blocked'" is a really dumb line IMO), I admire her for trying to spread a positive message in her lyrics. In this song, Ariana's offering herself as a shoulder to cry on, willing to help anyone who's going through a tough time. It's a nice sentiment to hear, and a nice sentiment for her to go out on. The track ends with forty seconds of silence in honor of the victims of the Manchester attack, and the song's runtime is 5 minutes and 22 seconds, as a nod to the Manchester date of May 22. I really think that's a really nice, respectful thing for Ariana to do, and a beautiful way for her to end her album. 9.5/10

All in all, I'm not sure how Sweetener compares to Dangerous Woman, my previous favorite album from Ariana Grande. I don't think any of the songs, other than "God Is A Woman" can compare to the insanely high highs from Dangerous Woman, but as a whole, it's Ariana's most cohesive and probably her best album. However, I've had most of the Dangerous Woman tracks on repeat for two years, and I've only heard most of the Sweetener tracks once, so it's not fair to compare. I can see myself enjoying many of these songs for a long time, and I think Ariana developed a lot more artistic credibility on this record. One thing I was surprised by was the fact that she didn't outright address Manchester very often on the album, but I can see why. It's a scarring thing to go through, and I respect her for wanting to move on and focus on the good instead of dwelling on the worst times in her life. It's a very mature direction for her to take. All in all, I give Sweetener an 8.5/10.

Best Songs (or at least my favorites): "God Is A Woman", "No Tears Left To Cry", "Breathin", "Everytime", "Get Well Soon"
Worst Songs (or at least my least favorites): "Borderline", "Goodnight N Go", "R.E.M." (fight me)

Okay, so that's all for this week. Tomorrow is my one-year anniversary of creating Stellar in Neverland so I'm gonna do...something. I have this big post planned, basically chronicling every mistake I've ever made on here. However, that's time-consuming and I have no motivation, so I might just write a quick "happy birthday to my blog aka my child" thing. Either way, I'm going to acknowledge it, because hey, I've consistently written on here for a year! Next Wednesday, I'm making a list of my top 20 Fall Out Boy songs. Maybe it's my anxiety being a burden on my life, and maybe it's my desire to feel like how I did in 2016 when Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco were the most important things in my life, but either way, Emo Stellar is making a resurgence. Now, when my passion for them is strong again, is the perfect time to talk about Fall Out Boy. Besides, I've promised it a few times and I want to keep that promise for once. So yeah, that's what the next seven days will look like on Stellar in Neverland. I'll see you then. Peace!

Stellar