Random J edit: Ariana Grande featuring Pharrell Williams - Blazed (But Better)

Sweetener was a good album, but a flawed one. And the more I listen to it, the more apparent the flaws are. When I listen to certain songs, all I hear is what should have been there, as opposed to what is. One of the biggest issues I had with Sweetener was that pretty much all of the songs on it (particularly the Pharrell productions) sounded like they were missing chunks of music, bridge sections and cleaner structures. This lack of attention to detail on the Pharrell cuts left songs in a state of being just good when they could have been amazing. Yes. Even "The light is coming" coulda been great.

The main culprit was the album's first true track "Blazed". Why this song came after "Raindrops (An Angel cried)" instead of "No tears left to cry" is beyond me. But to open an album with a song that sounds so clearly incomplete was the real choice. I do not get why sections of the song are so sparse and void of instrumentation when they clearly needed it.

I managed to download the stems for the song and try to fix it. And this is the end result. "Blazed (But better)". Something that sounds complete. Some may not even notice the changes. But...

"Blazed" had no reason being on Sweetener though. It sticks out like a sore thumb. No matter which way you sequence the songs, it just doesn't fit. But it's still a bop and a better one now.

💿 Album reviews: Sweetener | My Everything | Yours Truly