Ariana Grande - Dangerous Woman

Released in May 2016, Dangerous Woman is where Ariana Grande stopped being a pop star with a great voice and became a pop star with a point of view. The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album, but its real achievement was tonal: it found a register between the doo-wop revivalism of her early work and the confessional turn that came later.

Max Martin and Ilya Salmanzadeh handle most of the production, and the singles are close to flawless. "Into You" is four minutes of pure sustained tension. "Side To Side" pairs her with Nicki Minaj over a reggae-lilting groove that refused to leave radio for a year. The title track opens on a single guitar and a whisper before the whole thing detonates. Deeper cuts hold up too: "Leave Me Lonely" brings Macy Gray in for a torch-song duet, "Everyday" is Future at his most unhinged, and "Moonlight" opens the record on something close to old Hollywood.

Nearly a decade on it remains the most consistently enjoyable album in her catalog, and the one where the vocal fireworks and the songwriting finally pulled in the same direction.