Justin Timberlake, 'The 20/20 Experience': Track-By-Track Review

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When "FutureSex/Lovesounds" was released in September 2006, Justin Timberlake was 25 years old, in a relationship with Cameron Diaz that was about to end, and for all intents and purposes, still a kid trying to prove himself and sustain the post-*N SYNC momentum of 2003's "Justified." Today, Timberlake is 32 years old, married to Jessica Biel, and has nothing left to prove. He has, in fact, been hounded for a half-decade to release new music, and not been frantically tossing out stopgap singles to remind the world of his presence. When Timberlake announced his return to music last January, pop fans prayed that "The 20/20 Experience" would feel a lot like "FutureSex/Lovesounds"… but realistically, that could never have happened. Timberlake is no longer where he was in September 2006, and as his latest album reflects the euphoria seeping out of every one of his immaculate, 32-year-old pores.  

Six-and-a-half years after effectively conquering pop music with a highly sexual, fashionably futuristic album, Justin Timberlake has returned as a more relaxed version of himself, with a brand new palette of musical shades. Despite the reunion of Timberlake and "FutureSex/Lovesounds" producer Timbaland, "The 20/20 Experience" is not a sequel of that groundbreaking album as much as a document of growth, crystallized within the medium of classic R&B.

The propulsive moans and aggressive come-ons of his 2006 smash single "Sexyback," for instance, have been traded for big-band brass, creeping bass and open-hearted professions of love on songs like "That Girl," "Mirrors" and "Tunnel Vision." Timberlake has always been a vocal force, but the main accomplishment of "The 20/20 Experience" is the expansion of Timberlake's vision: aside from Jay-Z's guest verse on snappy single "Suit and Tie," the album features no guests, and often allows its tracks to run past the seven-minute mark.

One of the year's most anticipated pop releases is also one of the genre's weirdest -- and most fully realized -- efforts in ages. There will be many people longing for the immediacy of songs like "My Love" and "Rock Your Body," but Timberlake has offered us something more complicated, although no less accessible.

Which songs on "The 20/20 Experience" are worth extended listens? Check out Billboard.com's extensive track-by-track breakdown of Justin Timberlake's long-awaited new album.

1. Pusher Love Girl - Like a more seasoned version of his opening "Justified" come-on "Senorita," "Pusher Love Girl" is an extended glide -- even if the drug-addled metaphor at the heart of the song produces some dubious lyrics, Timberlake's easy delivery will leave listeners hopelessly, er, addicted. The song morphs into fuzzed-out neo-soul during an elongated breakdown, one of the many mid-song transformations that occur on the album.

2. Suit and Tie feat. Jay-Z

The ode to high style is still not as sonically ambitious as Timberlake's last lead single, "Sexyback," but within the confines of "The 20/20 Experience," "Suit and Tie" makes a lot more sense. Funneling the succulence of "Pusher Love Girl" into a more radio-friendly format, Timberlake and Jay-Z -- who will soon be co-headlining a stadium tour -- demonstrate an effortlessness that probably took months to construct.

3. Don't Hold The Wall - Tribal chants and oozing vocal samples combat with rainsticks and spacious drums, as Timberlake correctly reads the primal tone and commands his subject to give in to her physical impulses. Timbaland's production is the star here, turning on a dime at the 4:20 mark and assuming a darker, more muscular structure. There are so many things happening on "Don't Hold The Wall" that it takes five listens just to process them.

4. Strawberry Bubblegum - The intensity of "Don't Hold The Wall" evaporates, and a cloud of electronic blips, string stabs and snappy percussion tears at the seams of a (relatively) simple R&B tune. Timberlake has rarely sounded more at peace as he does when he intones, "She's just like nothing that I've ever seen before/And please, don't change nothing, because your flavor's so original." The sashaying outro is pleasant, but the main track is sumptuous enough on its own.  

5. Tunnel Vision - The instrumentation is vintage Timbaland, with fizzing beats abetted by the producer's signature ad-libs and vocal record-scratches, while Timberlake puffs out his chest and throws out a typically confident performance. The song's evolution is thrilling: not only do the ornate production details stack upon each other to create a constantly moving Jenga tower, the arrangement falls apart at exactly the right time, as Timberlake sings, "A crowded room… all I see is you. Everything just disappears, disappears, disappears."

6. Spaceship Coupe - From the groove at its gooey core to the lyrical concept -- interstellar romance! -- "Spaceship Coupe" smacks of an R. Kelly castoff… not that that's a pose that Timberlake can't successfully assume. "Spaceship Coupe" is admittedly sillier than any of the other "20/20" tracks, and Timbaland sounds out of his element here; JT sells the concept with aplomb, though, and even gets an electric guitar solo to echo across the cosmos.  

7. That Girl - "Some 'em some Southern love!" Timbaland shouts during his faux-introduction of "JT & The Tennessee Kids," and Timberlake strides onstage to reside upon one of the album's shiniest surfaces. "That Girl" does not carry grand ambitions, endlessly rhyming "baby" with "lady" and keeping the whiz-bang production techniques to a minimum, but as the bass continues creeping forward and Timberlake nods to the brass section, the song reaches "immaculate soul" status.

8. Let The Groove Get In - The album's only extended dance flare-up, with canned horns popping off, propulsive percussion begging for movement and Timberlake's harmonized voice knocking against Timbaland's nimble pop arrangement. For seven minutes, "Off The Wall"-era MJ gets a tip of the cap, and Timberlake enters a zone reserved for only the most assured mainstream stars. Make no mistake: "Let The Groove Get In" will be exhilarating in concert.

9. Mirrors

Imagine being a newlywed and wanting to write the most epic song ever in honor of your life partner. "Mirrors" is Timberlake's version of that anthem -- how can you not think of the singer's recent wedding photos alongside Jessica Biel when he endlessly repeats, "You are, you are, the love, of my life," as if he had just soaked in the splendid finality of his romantic situation? Compare this album's second single to "Justified's" second single, "Cry Me A River," and aside from the steady presence of Timbaland's fantastically cluttered production, the difference between the song is clear: 10 years ago, Timberlake was broken, and now he is whole.

10. Blue Ocean Floor - An unexpectedly somber note ends Timberlake's third album, with the pop star digging for his most pensive expressions and pleading to be joined in his silent escape. Unlike "FutureSex's" "serious" song "Losing My Way," "Blue Ocean Floor" shows the growth of Timberlake, who gently steps into Timbaland's puddles of piano pokes and stretched-out melodies. It's a song that only a few vocalists could land -- imagine Thom Yorke trying this one on for size -- and a bold way to close a generally celebratory project.

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Stronger | Album Reviews

Kelly Clarkson's fifth studio album is based on a simple formula: 1) Put Clarkson in a room with a microphone; 2) Give her a solid pop song to sing; 3) Get the hell out of the way. It's a sound strategy. From the walloping breakup anthem "Mr. Know-It-All" to the closing roof-raiser, "Breaking Your Own Heart," Stronger is as deft as any Clarkson album, with 13 catchy songs that hover between pop rock, R&B and Nashville – all of them showcases for one of music's most remarkable voices. Clarkson remains a slightly wearying one-note artist – she's a wounded lover, bellowing her pain and scorching the earth. But wow – that voice.   

Listen to "Mr. Know-It-All": 

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Mylo Xyloto | Album Reviews

In the three years since Coldplay's last album, the world's problems have gotten a little more urgent. A cratering economy, riots from Tahrir to Tottenham, the prolonged ubiquity of the Kardashians – these are things that can't be solved with a lullaby, even from the biggest band to emerge in the 21st century. Chris Martin knows this. But Coldplay's fifth album – and most ambitious yet – suggests Martin cares too much not to at least try to help.

Coldplay recently entered their second decade together – the same point Springsteen made Born in the U.S.A. and U2 made Achtung Baby – so it comes as no surprise they'd want a zeitgeist-y, big-statement album of their own. On Mylo Xyloto, the choruses are bigger, the textures grander, the optimism more optimistic. It's a bear-hug record for a bear-market world.

Aided again by Brian Eno, Coldplay are still dabbling in the kind of cool-weird artiness they truly went for on 2008's Viva La Vida. But where that album sometimes seemed like a self-conscious attempt to diversify their sound, with a world-music vibe and U2-style sound effects, this time Coldplay have integrated the "Enoxification" (as they call it) into their own down-the-middle core: Check out the cascading choral vocals that augment Martin's soaring refrain on "Paradise." Prominent elements prop up the sonic cathedrals: Jonny Buckland's guitar, which is riffier and more muscular than ever, and Euro-house synths that wouldn't sound out of place at a nightclub in Ibiza.

Martin says Mylo Xyloto was inspired by 1970s New York graffiti and the Nazi-­resistance movement known as the White Rose – it's probably no coincidence both were about young people embracing art in times of turmoil. Here, Coldplay rage in their own lovably goofy way. On the rave-tinged "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall," Martin imagines a revolution powered by dancing kids. "Hurts Like Heaven" might be the first Coldplay tune to which you can bust something resembling a move. The lyrics seem to be about fighting the Man – "Don't let 'em take control!" – but Martin sounds ebullient over a sproingy New Wave beat.

Explicit political statements aren't really Martin's thing; he's in the uplift business. Mylo Xyloto suggests he's fully embraced his role as a not-terribly-cool guy who's good at preaching perseverance, in a voice that's warm and milky like afternoon tea. By the time he croons, "Don't let it break your heart!" over "Where the Streets Have No Name"-style guitar sparkle near the album's end, you can't help but think he's an inspiration peddler who believes what he's belting.

Oddly enough, the best moments are darker ones. "Princess of China" is a ballad about loss and regret, co-starring Rihanna. It's a partnership that probably came together over champagne brunch at Jay-Z's, but its synth-fuzz groove is offhandedly seductive. It's followed by "Up in Flames," a minimalist slow jam. Martin sings nakedly about how breakups can feel like the end of the world, or maybe it's about the actual end of the world. Either way, as end-times lullabies go, it's pretty sweet.

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Popular Album Reviews on AP.net Last Week

Posted by: Jason Tate (10/01/11)

Did you miss any of the popular album reviews around the website last week?

Popular Album Reviews
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5) Thrice - Major/Minor by themostdeplete (79%)
6) Into It. Over It. - Proper by Drew Beringer (85%)
7) This Is Hell - Black Mass by Dre Okorley (71%)
8) Cartel - In Stereo EP by Ryan Gardner (75%)
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11) Blink-182 - Neighborhoods by HogarthHughes (84%)
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15) All That Remains - For We Are Many by ChristianFuller (76%)

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Album Review 4: Beyonce – 4

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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.

Album Review 3: Beyonce, '4'

By WSJ Staff

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Beyonce

The title of Beyonce’s fourth studio album, “4,” doesn’t really tell you anything about its contents.  Maybe that’s because the jumble of styles on this release is difficult to represent with any one descriptive title. There are emotional adult-oriented ballads (“1 (Plus) 1″), fatalistic numbers for the “Twilight” set (“Rather Die Young,” “I Was Here”), and a sisters-are-doing-it-for-themselves dance party anthem(“Run the World (Girls)”).
So is “4′ an eclectic masterpiece or a hot mess? Is Beyonce still relevant, or should she think about skyping her Destiny’s Child bandmates? The Band Perry’s “If I Die Young” beat Beyonce to the punch with the fatalistic thing, Lady Gaga has the market cornered on sexually-liberating dance anthems, and Adele is the current queen of vocalization. And as far as pop music style leaders go, you can’t forget Rihanna. So where does Beyonce fit in?  Here’s what the critics have to say.
–”Longtime fans, however, might be mystified by much of 4, online and in stores Tuesday. (Best Thing still is struggling for radio play.) It leaked in full three weeks ago, and opinions have been flying. Too slow. Too odd. Too much I Am … and not enough Sasha Fierce,” Joey Guerra, The Houston Chronicle.
–”Give it time. On first listen, “4’’ plays it safe, but really it plays up her strengths…This album is also one of Beyoncé’s most natural efforts, standing out for the simple fact that it doesn’t try to stand out. Its 12 songs are often rooted in neo-soul, the kind Maxwell and Erykah Badu were recording for baby-making soundtracks back in the ’90s,” James Reed, The Boston Globe.
–”This isn’t by any means a bad album. There’s nothing wrong with a song such as Love on Top, which is well written, has a great vocal and will doubtless help ensure Knowles doesn’t have to manage on a mere $35m in the next 12 months. It’s just that it isn’t the album you might have been led to expect,” Alexis Petridis, The Guardian.

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Album Review 2: Beyoncé’s ’4′ Muddles Its Message - TIME

Beyoncé performs as the headline act during the last day of the Glastonbury festival
ADRIAN DENNIS / AFP / Getty Images
When you listen to Beyoncé, try not to focus on her lyrics.
“Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” is jubilant dancehall pop at its finest, but the actual message—that she “cried [her] tears for three good years” because the man she was with didn't propose—sounds like something my grandmother would have supported. (Apparently Beyoncé has forgotten the lyrics to “Independent Woman” parts I and II from her Destiny's Child days, the latter of which preaches “No falling in love / no commitment from me.”)
(LIST: Top 10 Angry Breakup Songs)
In fact, Beyoncé's catalog includes a slew of seemingly empowering anthems for women that, when examined, don't actually empower anyone at all. “Ring the Alarm,” her 2006 f-you to cheating men, is actually about a woman who's more worried about losing her chinchilla coats and beachfront property than her relationship. And now her new album, 4, includes a thundering Major Lazer-sampling Girl Power-esque boot camp number called “Run the World (Girls)” that's about, well, how girls run the world.

There's only one problem. Girls don't run the world.  The week that I first heard this song was also the same week that I read about this summer's Slut Walks, allegations that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi may have used mass rapes as a war tactic, and that two former New York City police officers were acquitted of raping a woman, even though one of them had been caught on tape telling the alleged victim that he used a condom. I'm not saying that Beyoncé needs to perform songs about human rights. It's just difficult to read the news and then turn around and listen to a song in which someone hollers “Who run the world? Girls!” over and over.
It's hard to know what Beyoncé really thinks about this; she's a famously inaccessible pop star. In interviews, she gives bland, seemingly prepared answers and often refuses to talk about her personal life. “I know you don't want lots of personal questions, like ‘How's it going?'” Barbara Walters joked when Beyoncé appeared on The View last November and bristled at a question about her husband, Jay-Z. The most revealing anecdote she offered during the entire interview was that she loves her body but still wears Spanx.
The new album 4 is similarly veiled.  Oh, there are love songs, un-love songs, and songs about heartache. The opening track “1 + 1” is probably the finest ballad Beyoncé has delivered in years (If you haven't already seen the backstage rehearsal video Jay-Z posted, you should watch it) and the “End of Time” is just screaming to be covered by an earnest high school a capella group and posted to YouTube. But that's all the album offers: well-executed songs performed by a talented woman who refuses to scratch anything more than the surface.
Beyoncé is good at four things:  singing, dancing in high heels, avoiding questions about Jay-Z and crafting superb pop songs with either hypocritical or meaningless messages. “Run the World (Girls)” is probably supposed to be a feel-good song and not a political statement.  But you can't just declare “Nobody's Poor!” and pretend that it's true.
(LIST: All-TIME 100 Best Albums)

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Beyonce's 4: Early Reviews Are In! - MTV

Although Beyoncé's latest album, 4, was still weeks from its official release date, on Wednesday it was leaked and quickly caused a stir on the Internet, prompting fans and critics to weigh in on the singer's first new album in nearly three years.
So far, B's promo for 4 has been fueled by the release of tracks like the snarling "Run the World (Girls)", the track "Best Thing I Never Had," and the emotional "1+1." But now that all of the tracks are out there on the Net, Beyoncé's album is up for debate.
The Atlantic compares her latest to her last album: "In between, there's an unmistakable, if gradual, turn from melancholic top 40 ballads to the confrontational snap of military drums and giddy proclamations of love. Is this I Am ... Sasha Fierce part 2? Not quite. The course of 4 documents a progression, a maturation, of Beyoncé's worldview."
Rolling Stone observes, "Beyoncé's new album, 4, is a change of pace for the R&B queen ... 4 is a more relaxed, personal set that emphasizes ballads over bangers and showcases the singer's nuances; it's very much the sort of album a pop star makes when she doesn't feel like she has anything to prove."
Ology.com gives Beyoncé credit for working with so many producers on the album, but making it all sound "cohesive." "It stands quite easily as Knowles' most vibrant album; not saying it's her best (B'Day still holds that title), but it begs to be performed live in front of hundreds of thousands of screaming fans unlike anything else she's released yet."
Fans seem equally opinionated — and enthusiastic — about the album, which officially drops on June 28.
"This album is so not her, she took chances, went off in a new direction as far as sound, her vocal techniques are off the charts on this album," Lee Joseph Chaisson wrote on MTV.com. "She brought it vocally; the sounds are so uniquely different, her whole approach."
"I've heard the Album...The **** it BANGIN!" Oren Acquirestino added. "Beyonce's really really singing on this album."
B's most devoted also took to her Facebook page to put their two cents in. Tatyana Krasko wrote, "Beyonce thanks for great work...Album '4' it's amazing... I love Beyonce."
Another fan, Sunny Lochab, gave the singer props and said he was buying the album regardless of the leak. "I downloaded it. I couldn't help it - everyone was talking about it! and I completely love it - I'll be buying it too to show love! you show true growth on this album...it's ALL love."
Have you heard Beyoncé's album? Tell us in the comments!

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Album Review 1: Beyoncé's '4'

via edition.cnn.com

If show business were high school (and isn't it, really?), Beyoncé would be a front-runner for valedictorian.
She's a class act on and off the charts, a can-do girl who shares her gifts with everyone while keeping her beyond-fabulous life -- the Obamas on speed dial, Jay-Z at the dinner table -- largely to herself.
Over the course of her three previous records, she's matured from Destiny's Child-hood into a formidable solo hitmaker with two of pop music's most transcendent chart-toppers, ''Crazy in Love'' and ''Single Ladies,'' tucked in the pocket of her Deréon jeans.
So why does it feel like Beyoncé is struggling so hard to prove herself on "4?" The album is an every-song-for-itself welter of conflicting ambitions: It wants to be cutting-edge but familiar, accessible but artistic, hot-blooded but strictly impersonal.
Those tensions hurt most in its lumbering first half, a defiant bird flipped at anyone expecting out-of-the-box radio killers. Instead, we get a sleepy recital of ballads, kicked off by the arid Prince-ipality of ''1+1'' and ''I Miss You,'' in which Bey pants and sweats and grunts (except, you know, sexy-like), her voice climbing ever higher in search of an octave big enough to hold it.
"I don't know much about guns/But I, I've been shot by you,'' she yelps on ''1+1,'' as if the love bullet were actually breaking skin. Vocally, she's never sounded better -- throaty and precise -- but the songs here just aren't her equal.
While those efforts at least aim high, a few of "4"'s lesser tracks feel like they were unsuccessfully bred in studio captivity for mass consumption. The familiar lite-FM bombast of ''Best Thing I Never Had'' proves her 2006 hit ''Irreplaceable'' is just that.
''I Was Here,'' co-written by Diane Warren, reaches Lifetime-movie levels of schmaltz, while the promisingly named ''Party,'' featuring Kanye and Andre 3000, turns out to be a slow-jam invitation to an after-work mixer with light refreshments.
And when the 29 year old mimics Luther Vandross and Diana Ross on the charmingly goofy one-two of ''Love on Top'' and ''Rather Die Young,'' she gets lost in her idols' polyester-swathed shadows.
Unsurprisingly, Beyoncé is at her best when she sounds like no one but herself. She takes her trusty freakum dress out of mothballs for the marching-band funk of ''Countdown,'' which includes such joy-inducing non-lyrics as ''Me and my boof, and my boof boof riding.''
On ''Run the World (Girls),'' the first single off the disc, she turns cheesy postfeminism into a martial foot-stomper that crackles like a burst of pirate-radio agitpop. (It bombed accordingly on the mainstream charts.)
And the terrific ''End of Time'' seethes with off-balance harmonies, MJ-style "Off the Wall" horns and a bionic Bo Diddley beat, all while Bey howls her eternal love to everyone and no one in particular.
It's exactly the kind of genre-busting risk that few other current pop stars would even attempt, let alone pull off flawlessly with a no-big-thing shrug. With more moments like that, "4" might have been an album fully worthy of her talent. As it is, though, even star students get the occasional B.

Beyonce, ‘4’ – First Listen

With 2008’s 'I Am…Sasha Fierce', Beyonce pulled off a feat of transition. The mega-double album, with its slight (but effective) conceit about dual personalities (Beyonce and Sasha Fierce) and the future-shock sound of the second half, turned her from huge (but still jobbing) popstar to arch pop re-inventionist.
Three years on she’s back with '4'. Sating our appetite by teaming up with the likes of Frank Ocean (click here for photo evidence), Diplo and Sleigh Bells as well as claiming Fela Kuti, Teena Marie and Florence And The Machine as influences. Naturally our brains almost exploded when we pondered the possible new routes her sound would take. Grot-rock flecked with r’n’b? Afro-beat folk with a feminist lyrical bent?
With apparently 72 tracks to choose from, we couldn’t wait for what these sessions would yield. So when the album leaked earlier this week, we were keen to have a listen.
Here are our initial thoughts.

1+1
The Beyonce ballad to end all Beyonce ballads. With its staid pace, the Us versus The World lyrics and Carlos Santana-style guitar wig out, ‘1+1’ is quite a contrary album opener. Shiny, synthy strings and gently plucked guitars give the music a soft focus, live feel. Vocally, Beyonce's in full throttle, large-lunged form as she cribs the central lyrical conceit of Sam Cooke's 'Wonderful World'. Such is the grandeur of the songs 80s soul feel that you half expect dry ice to start pumping through the speakers when the chorus kicks in.

I Care
Ballad number two, but this one’s got significantly more going on for it that '1+1'. The verse sees a thin synth line is paired with a sparse drum beat, while the chorus sneaks in a muted saxophone line as multi-tracked Beyonces do their best "la la la"'s. The lyrics are some of the most interesting on the album with Beyonce playing the masochistic straggler over lines like; “Ever since you knew your power/You made me cry.”
I Miss You
Built around a swishing keyboard backing and a simple, clock-ticking beat, this is a slight, but catchy slice of neo-soul which makes a nice, bombast-free counterpoint to the previous two songs. And although we're still in ballad-ville, Beyonce drops the “whoa, Bodyform” vocals for a more restrained approach. Interestingly, for those who see Beyonce as always casting herself as the ball-busting, super-woman in songs, ‘I Miss You’ finds her passive, almost psychotically missing an errant ex.

Best Thing I Never Had
Some have suggested it’s like a sequel to ‘Irreplaceable’ and certainly its girl-done-wrong lyrics like: “You showed your ass/And I saw the real you/Thank god you blew it/Thank god I dodged a bullet,” could have you shaking your head like a guest on ‘The Ricki Lake Show’. Musically, this harkens back to 'Halo' or 'Scared Of Lonely' with the cascading piano work and Ryan Tedder-like drum beat. Rather worryingly, though, when the chorus swooshes in, one can't help but be reminded of the theme from 'Baywatch.'

Four slowies in a row then? This could be Beyonce’s most ballad-heavy collection since Destiny Child’s swansong ‘Destiny Fulfilled’. Perhaps Sleigh Bells got lost on the way to the studio…?

Party (featuring Andre 3000)
A mid-tempo, 80s-flecked song which sees Beyonce making good on her promise that the album would be influenced by the likes of Teena Marie. “Top down with the radio on/And the night belongs to us,” she trills in a care-free, Destiny’s Child-style, as someone who sounds suspiciously like Kanye raps about “swag sauce”. Andre 3000 drops a characteristically charming mid-track rap, as the vintage-sounding keyboards and drum machine party like it’s 1986. Not quite a ‘banger’, but getting there.

Rather Die Young
An attempt, you'd imagine, to get close to the smoky soul styling of Anita Baker, but it is spoilt by some rather drippy lyrics (“You’re my James Dean/You make me feel like I’m 17”) and a Andrew Lloyd-Webber/jazz-hands chorus. Frustratingly, there's a lyrical reference to some deeper emotional fires burning ("Nobody understands what we've been through") which, instead of being explained further, are overturned in favour of some romantic mulch.
Start Over
An overblown chorus with hair-rock aspirations (processed drums and Evanescene-style piano riffing) spoil a rather interesting verse which echoes ‘I Care’ in its mix of hissing synths and minimal percussion. A bright spot comes in the last minute of this trouble-in-paradise tune, when a chastised Beyonce sings the intriguing line: “I know I called you selfish/But that’s a lie,” over a simple piano line. But like 'Rather Die Young', it is rather buried under sonic bluster.
Love On Top
Echoes of Janet Jackson's 'Whoops Now', Lionel Ritchie's 'Dancing On The Ceiling' and ,erm, the theme from ‘My Two Dads’ here. With its jaunty, nursery rhyme style rhythm, peppy saxophone and 100 watt smile lyrics it jars against the albums rather somber tone. In fact if 'Love On Top' were a person, it would be the type who’d say “CHEER UP! IT MIGHT NEVER HAPPEN!” before forcibly ruffling your hair.

Countdown
Much better. Starts off with an reggae-ish beat, before a sample from Boyz II Men’s ‘Uhh Ahh’ kicks in and it turns dancehall. There are some nicely disorientating chord changes here, too. In fact, this is the first song on the album which follows the lineage of Beyonce’s great ‘let’s dance to this’ songs (‘Single Ladies’,’Get Me Bodied’). Also notable for the excellent use of ‘BOOF!’ as a lyric. The only song, apart from ‘Party’, that you can imagine making moves towards the dancefloor for.

End Of Time
An off-beat bass guitar and honking trumpets skirt around a military drum beat here as B reprises the rapping/singing vocals style from the ‘Say My Name’ days. The sound of several disparate influences coalescing to create something fresh serves as a little taste of what all those much talked about collaborations promised but have thus far failed to deliver. And the chorus still reminds us of ‘Valerie’ by Steve Winwood.
I Was Here
Something like a new-age ballad here, with Beyonce yammering on about leaving footprints in the sands of time, as watery synths shimmer in the background before the chorus cracks that pesky rock whip again. Shades of a “retirement song” if those rumours about her leaving the industry to become a mother are true. Fine, but does '4' really need another soft focus ballad?
Run The World
Although this under-whelmed us on its release, it comes as a much welcome change of pace for ‘4’. Diplo’s ‘Pon De Floor’ beats provide a much needed respite from the rest of the album’s super mellow tone.

Verdict
With the cast of brilliant minds involved, we’re largely disappointed that ‘4’ places the emphasis on middle of the road balladry instead of the strange-pop she can do so well. An oddly sequenced tracklisting doesn't help, nor does the impression that with 72 tracks to choose from, her de-facto setting is air-punching serenades and not, as it turns out, spangly, avant-garde pop.
Come back Sasha Fierce, all is forgiven.
NME.COM blogs contain the opinions of the individual writer and not necessarily those of NME magazine or NME.COM.

via nme.com

Beyonce - 4

Beyonce's fourth studio album simply titled 4 kicks off in promising fashion with the slow burn of "1 + 1" which gets better each time it is heard. She proves she can be a soulful belter of true passion. However, three songs later when the midtempo "Best Thing I Never Had" feels more like a dance track compared to what came before, there is a realization that the indistinct ballads have caused the mind to wander while listening. The tempo doesn't really pick up until eight songs in on the jazzy swing of "Love On Top." By then it feels as if 4 is a bit of a listening endurance test.

Weakness In Songs on '4'

It is possible for an album entirely composed of ballads to rivet attention and smolder along as a brilliant piece of art. However, the songs on 4 in general are far too weak for even Beyonce to generate the focused interest these songs need. Melodies are standard issue and the lyrics rarely generate new insights into the people and relationships described. Kanye West and Andre 3000 provide interesting vocal color for "Party," but the song itself is just a variant on the "this is my night to be bad" theme.

Beyonce's Vocals Are Strong

Fortunately, Beyonce's vocals throughout the album are uniformly strong. It is good to hear her dig into the challenges of slow burning ballads, but, aside from the opening "1 + 1" she doesn't really get the chance to dig deep and take a song of love and emotion over the top. When the tempo does genuinely pick up on "Countdown," with a brilliant Boyz II Men sample, Beyonce proves once again she has few peers in being a commanding presence on top of big upbeat hip hop influenced R&B productions. "End Of Time" and the ill-fated single "Run the World (Girls)" both give Beyonce the opportunity to demonstrate her facility with clipped, percussive singing balanced along side smooth, sweeping, melodic vocals, but the engaging excitement is far too little too late.

Top Tracks On '4'

• "1 + 1"
• "Best Thing I Never Had"
• "Countdown"
• "End Of Time"
• "Run the World (Girls)"

Beyonce's Weakest Solo Album

Unfortunately, 4 is the weakest of Beyonce's solo albums. Admittedly, she has had a phenomenal run with her first three. All of those were built around strong thematic concepts. Her debut Dangerously In Love swirled around the intensity of intoxicating love and romance. B'Day examined the emotions and concepts revealed in the wake of Beyonce's work in the Dreamgirls movie. I Am...Sasha Fierce presented an exciting duality between Beyonce and an aggressive alter ego she called Sasha Fierce. 4 seems seriously lacking in an organizing core which makes it understandable why the album is simply titled 4. Undoubtedly, Beyonce remains one of the top artists in the pop music world, but this is a weak outing that feels more like it was a contractual requirement than an expression of true artistic passion.

via top40.about.com