We shot them down!
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[6.23]
Will Adams: It’s a miserable two minutes sitting through Jessie J and Ariana Grande’s howling to get to Nicki’s verse, and then it turns out to be one of her most uninteresting features to date. Add messy songwriting to the mix and we’ve got the year’s most focus-grouped belly flop.
[3]
Micha Cavaseno: The production here is less “Do The Disco Shuffle” and more “Movie Trailer Soundtrack Northern Soul” so ultimately it’s a slight change from recent singles in the universe. And I can’t remember the last Jessie J starring single that didn’t have her ‘making statements’… Then again, that was 2012, and this is 2014! The Year Where We Get Down! But for all the fanfare and energetic performances, this is making no noise. Just a bunch of standard fare.
[5]
Katherine St Asaph: From Bionic launching Sia’s pop career, now to this and so much sounding like Back to Basics, it’s looking like Christina Aguilera secretly won the 2000s pop wars, while getting no prize. None of these clowns are Christina Aguilera. They aren’t even Lady Phoenix.
[3]
Alfred Soto: The millions of dollars in lung power would impress me if all involved weren’t thinking of a sonic update of “Ain’t No Other Man.” Just like that record, this thing leaves no space or breathing room.
[4]
Elisabeth Sanders: How much of a bad fan does it make me that I can’t totally tell when Jessie J is singing and when Ariana is singing? I feel like usually Ariana’s high rasp is very distinctive, and I always know a Jessie J song because she sounds like a cartoon character who’s doing cartwheels (but in like, uh, a skilled way). But I’m… not 100% sure who’s who on this one. Okay, I’m like 80% sure, but still. Maybe it’s because they’re both just sort of yelling. BANG BANG. Whatever, I’m into it and I’d probably be even more into it if I was like, four shots deep. Lots of good aggressive percussive moments for punching the air, and there’s always a place in my heart for a good yelling song. (Also, this should go without saying, but the Nicki verse is great.)
[6]
David Sheffieck: Ariana sounds almost embarrassingly outmatched following Jessie – even before Nicki again demonstrates why she remains the best feature around – but this is energetic and infectious enough to overcome any doubts, a burst of concentrated sunshine that’s impossible to resist.
[9]
Luisa Lopez: This is not a song; it’s an encounter. It doesn’t even feel like three minutes have passed when it’s over: the sound smashes into the room, topples the furniture, barrels its way out. A pop song where sex is a weapon, a pop song sung by women with the triumphant dirtiness of “It ain’t karaoke night, but get the mic ’cause he singin'”. A pop song that reaches into Robin Thicke’s pitiful posing and makes “I know you want it” sound like a howl of real desire. The best part being not Nicki’s verse but the anticipation of it, turning into a final frenzy topped off by Jessie’s bad girl wailing that’s better than anything I can think of this year. What kind of beautiful world do we live in where Jessie J and Ariana Grande outscreaming each other about how good they are in bed actually sounds like something you’d want to listen to again and again?
[9]
Rebecca A. Gowns: This is an intriguing track. It seems to be gospel-inspired, which brings to mind collectives, call-and-response, crowded rooms … but it’s maddeningly stripped-down and compressed. Max Martin & Co use a choir of echoing voices, contrasted with a sample of shouting voices, as percussion more than anything else, and the effect is bizarre. Even more bizarre: none of the voices, instruments, or handclaps can be placed anywhere, let alone fill a space. Everything happens in a vacuum, with the three women’s voices skating along on top of it, always seeming to be in danger of being sucked into the void. This is definitely the sister song to “Problem”; both songs have so much “sound” with so little sound. The main improvement here is replacing Iggy with Nicki. (Second best improvement: no compressed sax riff.) It’s not a great song, but it’s a compelling song, like being drawn to a small black hole in the corner of your living room.
[6]
Crystal Leww: Jessie J and Ariana Grande are shrill and spend the entirety of the song shrieking. They oversing the entire song. The production is cluttered with drum hits and handclaps willy-nilly, infinite places where a transition is required but missing, and harmonies spilling on top of each other. There’s not a moment of this that doesn’t try too hard. Nicki Minaj opens her verse with some shameless product promotion, a shoutout to Myx Moscato, the product that she acts as spokesperson for. And yet…
[8]
Patrick St. Michel: What marketers think the summer sounds like, filtered through a weird interpretation of Wham! salvaged only by a decent appearance by Nicki Minaj.
[3]
Megan Harrington: Like diamonds worn with pink leopard print leggings, high-low opulence is wired into “Bang Bang.” It overflows with throaty vocals and Max Martin’s luscious bells and whistles production turns the hilt into event horizon. Jessie J and Ariana Grande are gripping the throttle with a demonic strength; Nicki is rapping like it’s a game of double dutch. Though it sounds expensive, it also sounds excessive — it’s tacky and luxurious at the same time.
[9]
Brad Shoup: Those first two lines are incredible, full stop. They’re so good I’ve taken to pretending they’re singing “bang bang/into your tomb”. The energy is manic, so intent to impress: Ariana’s working her entire range, hiding dud takes under the drums, playing with a conversational tone. I’m not gonna say this is equal to “B.O.B.”, not quite, but I’d take any part of this over the “power music/electric revival” half. Everyone’s giving one hundred, so much so that you gotta wonder why the addressed triflers rate any mention.
[8]
Josh Winters: Shanté, you all stay.
[8]