via 411mania.com
Among R&B pop divas, there is little doubt that Beyonce Knowles has become royalty of a sort. The former Destiny's Child member found immediate stardom when she launched her solo career during a band hiatus in 2003, with Dangerously in Love becoming one of the most successful albums of that year and garnering five Grammy nominations as well as huge hits in "Crazy in Love" and "Baby Boy." She followed that up upon the band's 2005 dissolution with the 2006 album B'Day and then 2008's I Am…Sasha Fierce, both of which were huge successes and the latter of which earned her six Grammies. As her music star has risen to ever-new heights, she's ventured into other areas such as acting and fashion lines, but music has always seemed to be her focus, and she's managed to stay on top of the mountain without falling into shock-value controversy or personal demons. Now, with the release of 4, Beyonce has set out to prove that in a world where Katy Perry and Lady Gaga rule the pop airwaves, her sound is still relevant. A lot can change in three years, after all. 4 is actually a very different record from her last album. Where I Am…Sasha Fierce tried to show off a bit of Beyonce's bad side and give her a touch of the naughty, 4 is an album from a much more mature artist. The twelve-track disc is by and large a collection of torch songs. Not that you would know it from the singer's first single, "Run the World (Girls)" which is a liberated girl-power track with a fierce drumbeat and a chant of "Who run this mother? Girls!" that is already everywhere on the radio. This seems like a track more suited to one of her previous albums and in fact, its presence at the end of the album almost makes it seem tacked on simply in order to give people who are looking for the old Beyonce—the "Single Ladies" fans—a reason to buy the album. It actually does the rest of the album a disservice because it gives things a bait-and-switch feel, and what is left on the album stands perfectly well on its own.
The lead track, "1+1," is a much more indicative example of what to expect. It isn't by any stretch of the imagination the best track on the album, and the song's gimmick—carried in the line "I don't know much about algebra/but I know that one plus one is two" is a bit awkward. But it's still a very listenable track thanks to the singer's vocal talents and the strength of the lyrics that fall outside of the song's gimmick. From there the album continues along the torch song theme, with "I Care" standing as one of the strongest songs. With just enough of a beat to add to the desperation of the song, Beyonce sings "I need you to tell me that this is love/you don't care but that's okay." It's a fantastic song that builds to a crescendo toward the end of the song and really let the singer show her stuff. She dials it back a bit for "I Miss You," where she sings about wanting to be with an absent lover. This is a more grown-up artist, who has moved beyond sexy flirty fun into a settled-in a serious relationship and the joys and conflicts that those entail. No longer is she telling the boyfriend of "Irreplaceable" to move his stuff out and give back the car she bought him, instead she sings that "I'm tired of fighting about the same old thing" on "Start Over."
There have been some rumors that Beyonce's label is concerned about the commercial viability of this album, and it may be a fair concern. This is not full of radio-friendly hits; there are a few obvious singles such as the already-released "Best Thing I Never Had" which is the singer's one concession to the attitude that brought about "Irreplacable." There is also "Party," which promises some variety when you see that it features Kanye West and Andre 3000 but plays more like an adult contemporary R&B with just enough rap to hook in the younger crowd, and "Love on Top" which recalls the fun, bouncy R&B-lite pop of the 80s and 90s. These tracks, which seem made for airplay, are among the weakest tracks. Like "Run the World (Girls)," they sound like tracks that were placed on the album in order to satisfy record suits and bean counters worried about album sales.
On the other hand, "Start Over" is a great example of the Beyonce song that can be a radio hit but stands on its own strengths instead of the need for a great hook. Another strong one is "Countdown" which manages to sound more like what Sasha Fierce fans will be looking for without screaming out loud "Look at me, I'm a manufactured hit!" The album closes out with the marching band-themed "End of Time," the slow and contemplative "I Was Here" where Beyonce thinks on her legacy and delivers one of the albums top tracks and then, regrettably, the merely 'okay' "Run the World (Girls)." It's a bad track to end the album and seems to promise a return to strident pop-friendly tracks the next time we here from her, which would be unfortunate.
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