• Record Label: Republic
  • Release Date: Feb 8, 2019
Metascore
86

Universal acclaim - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 24
  2. Negative: 0 out of 24
Buy Now
Buy on
  1. Feb 15, 2019
    91
    Of course, the album is a highly polished product and not some diary page. But it feels lived in, truthful, authentic.
  2. Feb 11, 2019
    91
    A leap forward in the way it reshapes her R&B-inflected pop into something sleeker and more adventurous. ... Thank U, Next skillfully toys with the tension between universal sentiments and deeply personal confessions.
  3. Feb 25, 2019
    90
    Occasionally, rarely, a record comes along that restores our faith. If this is the future of pop-music, then sign me up.
  4. Feb 20, 2019
    90
    thank u, next builds on Sweetener by switching modes of scale. It’s less about looking at the world than being by yourself, more focused on the textures of memory than our actions stemming from it. ... thank u, next is also Ariana’s most stunning vocal album.
  5. 90
    Thank U, Next flaunts Grande’s emotional healing; it’s suffused with the joy of discovering that what didn’t kill her really did make her stronger. ... As eager as she sounds on Thank U, Next to embrace new ideas and attitudes, the album shows that she can still do the old-fashioned stuff--the big vocals that connect her back to Mariah and Whitney and Celine--when she wants to.
  6. 90
    It’s contradictory, assured yet tender. It’s delicate but strong. It’s sweet pop music wrapped in an unbreakable metal shell. It’s beautiful but vulgar. It is, frankly, much more than we could have ever hoped for from her.
  7. Feb 7, 2019
    90
    A singer who not only knows what she wants but knows that she's wanted, and that attitude unites and propels thank u, next through its ballads and R&B jams, turning it into an album that embodies every aspect of Ariana Grande, the grand pop star.
  8. Feb 12, 2019
    89
    Thank U, Next stands as what promises to be one of the best pop releases this year.
  9. 83
    It’s a lovely, intimate collection that embraces its essential paradox of being both a grand pop statement and a bedroom-pop wonder.
  10. 83
    What Grande has honed on thank u, next is the way she cunningly interweaves modern r&b patois and beats that brush up against the boundaries of top 40.
  11. Feb 13, 2019
    80
    Thank U, Next has some hiccups but is still her most musically flexible and au courant release to date. ... The [Max] Martin songs are crisp, as always ... [But] It’s in the other songs [not produced by Martin], however, that Grande takes her most intriguing leaps, largely because of the new fluidity she brings to her singing.
  12. Feb 13, 2019
    80
    thank u, next is a very accomplished album which showcases Grande’s inner strength and emotional maturity in the face of the undeniably harrowing trauma she has suffered in the past couple of years. Forget Grande: This album is a Venti, with an extra shot.
  13. Feb 12, 2019
    80
    This is one of the year’s best pop albums so far, even in a 2019 that’s already turning out to be a great one for new music. Thank U, Next makes you suspect that the best Ariana is yet to come.
  14. 80
    It could easily be a self-pitying album, one ready to dwell in the wreckage of incidents, but instead keeps picking up and moving on; providing a guide to how to keep on keeping on even when it feels like whatever you do is going to end in devastation.
  15. Feb 8, 2019
    80
    [Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored is] the most jarring song on the album, which is otherwise her most mature and cohesive yet.
  16. Feb 8, 2019
    80
    Her strongest body of work to date.
  17. 80
    So thank you, “Ari”, for a lovely listen. I have to confess, I’d like a bit more vocal grit. Maybe that’s up next.
  18. Feb 8, 2019
    80
    As with Rihanna’s Anti, this feels like the work of a pop star previously happy to act as conduit for other people, finally working out who they are and what they want to say. Here, Grande finds her voice.
  19. 80
    An album that ultimately serves as both an emancipation and a proclamation, Grande fully bending her collaborators to her will instead of merely playing in their sandboxes, and creating a blissful fusion of pop and R&B that is entirely her own.
  20. Feb 11, 2019
    79
    In the rare spots where the production is grating and the writing limp, Grande makes up for it with skill and intuition. thank u, next may be an imperfect album but it’s a perfect next chapter.
  21. Feb 14, 2019
    70
    At times the writing struggles to keep pace: The concepts behind songs like “needy” and “fake smile” are as relatable as they are predictable, and begin to stretch thin after a couple of minutes. Still, there is an awful lot to like.
  22. Feb 11, 2019
    70
    The songs that hew closer to pop than hip-hop are the strongest because they show the most confidence, both vocally and musically. That there is even a disparity, however, points to the biggest problem with thank u, next: its occasional lack of a clear identity.
  23. Feb 7, 2019
    70
    Thank U, Next is easily Grande’s most sonically consistent effort to date, even if that means some of the album’s sleek R&B tracks tend to blur together.
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 3536 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Feb 9, 2019
    10
    Amzing! Ariana show us a new type of music, thank u, next is very good album and it deserve a score up to 80 like sweetener and Yours Truly
  2. Feb 8, 2019
    10
    UM ÁLBUM LIVRE DE TODO E QUALQUER DEFEITO, ARIANA RAINHA DO POP FEZ UM ALBUM PERFEITO EM 5 MESES, E AI VAI PEITAR VIADINHO?
  3. Feb 8, 2019
    8
    There's still more room for Ariana Grande to grow. Thank U, Next is a fusion of all her previous works but with distinctive production. NoThere's still more room for Ariana Grande to grow. Thank U, Next is a fusion of all her previous works but with distinctive production. No hesitation were noticed in her utterance this time. All vulnerabilities and resilience she had exposed to this album are dazzling thoroughly. Full Review »