It's an event that stops the entire world whenever Beyoncé releases a new album. But still even though she had clearly let us know a new album would be coming, as we approached the end of the year, there was still no album.
Then one morning as I woke up at 2:30am to get ready for work, I was woken up by several text messages from dear friends of mine and my lovely sister, informing me that in the few hours I slept, Queen Bey herself released an entire album complete with a music video for every song! How in the world was this even possible?!!! In this day and age where everything seems to be getting leaked online before its official release date, how did she manage this? I mean a song or two perhaps, an album would be pushing it, but this woman did all PLUS 17 brand new music videos! It was the perfect early Christmas present to the world. And after a year of letting it all marinate and sink in (not to mention ANOTHER world tour with her husband, the incident in an elevator, and the gem that is "7/11") it's time to revisit her best work to date with an updated track by track review! You're welcome.
"Pretty Hurts" (9/10)
This beautiful woman opens up her fifth album with a song all about image and the cost of beauty. It's a different way to open up an album, more poignant and personal and eye-opening than she usually is (although she came pretty close with "If I Were a Boy" and "1+1"). Co-written with Sia and produced by Boots, it's an eye-opening piece of music that really teaches us all what true beauty is. We don't all have to try so hard. The music video is without a doubt one of the most beautifully shot videos in this collection, great art direction and cinematography. And let us not forget what a beast Queen Bey is in those shorts and that top, pageant queen and all breaking every trophy and award in her room!
"Ghost/Haunted" (8/10)
The “Ghost” portion of track #2 at first I thought was one of the weak spots in the album. The weird chanting, the repetitiveness, it all just seemed misplaced. (But after listening for a year, it's definitely grown on me). And then we got to the good stuff with “Haunted”, a haunting (ironic) tune filled with sex and sex. It's no wonder it's now being used to promote the new Fifty Shades of Grey movie. On the music video side, “Ghost” is beautiful (obviously) with a lot of pretty sheets floating around. It's “Haunted” that takes the cake though with its gothic themes, that famous pixie cut, and all that freakiness. It's a whole different side to Beyoncé that seems to get stronger and stronger from here on out.
"Drunk in Love" (featuring Jay-Z) (10/10)
A collaboration with her husband on her own album had been missing from I Am…Sasha Fierce and 4, so it was a pleasant (albeit not a very surprising) surprise to see Jay-Z pop up. But I didn't think it would be what everyone would talk about! It has a clearly distinctive sound, different than most singles of hers. And although it's not as upbeat as something like “Crazy in Love”, “Dejá Vū” or “Run the World (Girls)”, it's the undeniable chemistry between the two AND all of those lyrics that got stuck in our brains that made this a true gem. Surfboard? Watermelon? Clint Eastwood? Whoaaaa baby? Genius! From that little opening warrior call to the thumping bass, it glides so nicely from beginning to end. The video may be awfully simplistic, but it catches them in a beautifully natural environment where nothing needs to be forced. It's effortless, it's two people in love, dancing and singing in a beach. It's just that those two people happen to be the King and Queen of America.
"Blow" (8/10)
Pharrell was in his producing prime last year, so it's no surprise that he contributed to her blockbuster album. While it's an upbeat, light-hearted addition to the album, it was never one of my personal favorites. My favorite part though is hearing the moment when it switches from Pharrell’s production to Timbaland’s (turn that cherry out) and just how in sync they are with each other. The video is fun and retro and very very blue, and did I mention fun?!
"No Angel" (9/10)
This was the song I would constantly skip over every time I listened to the whole album. I didn't think there was anything special about it, I thought it slowed down the whole pace of the album. But then after a couple of months of not listening to it, it popped up out of nowhere and I was entranced by its beat, her whispering highs, the pure grit of it all. The video is a nice homage to her hometown and I love the contrast of the dirty south and her in all her splendor, but it's nothing compared to the perfection of the song itself.
"Yoncé/Partition" (10/10)
We had Beyoncé, we had Queen Bey, we had Sasha Fierce, and thanks to this gem we now have Mrs. Carter and Yoncé, the names that just roll off the tongue like liquor. It has that signature Bey swag and bump that makes songs like “Get Me Bodied” or “Countdown” some of the best in her collection. And when we think it can't get any better, in comes that booming DROP, dum dum dum duh dum. Timbaland is in his prime, lyrics co-written by Justin Timberlake and Beyoncé herself, it's a very revealing and overly sexual song, something a lot of us aren't really used to hearing from her before. She's being more open, letting us into a part of her personal life that she's never shared before…and it's amazing! They get freaky, and we likey. And the video perfectly compliments it's music, a sexual fantasy of pleasing her man, all the things he dreams of happening start to happen just for him. The mirrors, the dancing, that rubber pole thing she moves around with, it has so much goodness happening all around.
"Jealous" (9/10)
It’s the halfway point, and you're starting to think that it can't get any better than this. The first part is always so much stronger than the last. This woman has nothing left to give. So then she leaves us with this song, the most vulnerable piece of work she's ever given us. Most of the time she likes to write about a woman scorned, why it's always the man’s fault. It seems demeaning, but it gives us catchy moments like “Irreplaceable” and “Single Ladies”. But here she takes the fault herself, she opens up herself in yet another way giving us more depth, more vulnerability, a heartbreaking recollection of what she's done wrong. And it's placement of following “Partition” is amazing. It's a great contrast and a great part 2 where the music videos are concerned. What happens if he DOESN’T like all that she's done, if he doesn't appreciate her for what she's giving him, maybe something else is happening. It's beautifully tragic.
"Rocket" (9/10)
“Let me sit this assssss on ya…” What a way to open up a song! It's a fantastic dream team behind this 6-minute song: Timbaland, Miguel, Justin Timberlake, and Beyoncé herself. Another sexual piece of music that goes on and on (in a great way of course). A nice gentle song you never want to end, it's complimented yet again by a simplistic but beautifully shot music video, all about Mrs. Carter, and a lot of bath water. Rock. Hard. Rock. Steady.
"Mine" (featuring Drake) (10/10)
The intro of this track is another part of Beyoncé that we've never heard before. It's her most vulnerable moment yet, questioning her marriage, her baby, her life. It's an epic song with a thumping infectious beat, a great collaboration with Drake and his producing partner Noah “40” Shebib. The ending kind of dies out in a weird way, but everything before that is delightful. The video is the next most beautiful piece of work after “Pretty Hurts”. The dancers in masks, those opening shots, the fire. It's all breathtaking.
"XO" (9/10)
It’s a special song for her fans, and it's got a very infectious rhythm throughout. Her voice is somewhat quieter and deeper. In reading about the song, it was discovered that she had a cold when she recorded it as a demo. When she decided to keep it for the album, she liked the way it sounded originally and decided to not re-record it. There's a little crack in her voice when she sings the first “baby love me lights out” before the first chorus. The fact alone that she kept in her flaw for this version (and ended up choosing this as her first official single) makes this a spectacular selection. Otherwise I feel like it would be a so-so song on this album. The video is nothing too spectacular. Although what I would give to be at Coney Island and have Yoncé herself taking over to film. Yes please!
"Flawless" (featuring Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie) (10/10)
The first half of this song before Ms. Adichie’s mesmerizing speech was released earlier in the year along with “I Been On”, but it was titled as “Bow Down”. To hear it continue on as “Flawless” takes me into another dimension. We've never heard Beyoncé get so angry and passionate when it comes to how she's represented. She goes all out on this song, she goes hard with such grit and power in her voice. We've always assumed that Beyoncé was a self-proclaimed feminist, but it's in this song that she officially declares it as her title. The video is equally satisfying with its jarring mosh pits, hand choreography, and that flannel shirt and jean shorts. And as usual, it gave us one more thing to adapt into our everyday language… “I woke up like this.”
"Superpower" (featuring Frank Ocean) (9/10)
As we approach the end of the album, we get to the more somber section, beginning with this haunting production from Pharrell. It's an eerie track that plays all the way through with its voice box background and all. It's an empowering song for us all, to make us all feel like we have superpowers inside. We can conquer anything if we set our mind to do it. It's passionate, it's inspiring, and her voice is so beautiful when it's low. She never has to try so hard to get her point across. The video was pleasing in and of itself for the Destiny’s Child reunion that took place. And what direction it must have been to just take a parking garage and tear it apart like that!
"Heaven" (9/10)
Now comes a beautifully sad moment when Beyoncé remembers a friend gone too soon. It's bittersweet but absolutely beautiful to hear it sung that “heaven couldn't wait for you”. It's a yet another haunting melody on the album, but one that really resonates again and again. The video is once again a beautifully shot one at that, reminiscing about a friend that's passed on. The images of Beyoncé in church have some of the most breathtaking light I've ever seen.
"Blue" (featuring Blue Ivy) (10/10)
And at last we have the most precious moment of the entire album: an ode to a child. Her child of course. It's a beautiful and upbeat song with quite a fun energy. It has a nice lightness to it but it's so epic and beautifully written about and for her daughter Blue Ivy and all the joys or being a mother. The music video is just as sweet and equally full of love with its beautiful backdrop of Beyoncé traveling the world. It's a sweet way to close the album. And because of her credited as a featured guest, it now means we can call her Grammy-nominated Blue Ivy. Amazing.
"Grown Woman" (9/10)
The bonus video on the album finally gives us a full taste of the song that had been teasing us all year. "Grown Woman" was first released in a short form for her career retrospective Pepsi commercial earlier in the year. We all had assumed that it was the first official single, but of course she kept it all to herself. Then she surprised us all when she performed it during the end of her European leg of the Mrs. Carter World Tour. It's an infectious beat thanks to super producer Timbaland. It has a great island feel and the video perfectly compliments the sound. It's fun, vibrant, and colorful. Not to mention it's great seeing videos of her as a youngin' singing her own new song! Trippy, but in the best way!
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