It is exactly one week til the release of the hotly anticipated 4, the fourth studio album release from worldwide superstar, Beyonce. The album is two years in the making and features a bunch of producers from anyone and everyone and quoted by Bey herself, as her “most personal album to date”. However, does the album live up to its hype?
Opening number ’1+1′ is R&B at its finest. It sounds like a wedding song in which Bey screams “Don’t know much about algebra, but I know one plus one equals two,” Not the strongest track on the album by any means, but the vocals are Beyonce at her best. ‘I Care’ is next up. Boring, bland and no way near on the level of what a Beyonce track should be. Same can be said for ‘Party’ (featuring Andre 3000 & Kanye West), whilst it has a vintage feel to it, the track could have easily served as unreleased Kelly Rowland. ‘Rather Die Young‘, ‘Start Over’ and ‘Love On Top’ sound like tracks that didn’t make Beyonce’s debut album ‘Dangerously In Love‘.
Thankfully, the rest of the album actually lives up to the hype. Uptempo tracks such as ‘Countdown’, ‘Run The World’ and ‘End Of Time’ are classic Beyonce. Then there is the second ’4′ single ‘Best Thing You Never Had‘-another girl power anthem, just imagine if ‘Irreplaceable‘ and ‘Broken Hearted Girl‘ had a child, that is what it would sound like. ‘I Miss You’ is actually Beyonce at her best. The track is more R&B than pop and show’s Beyonce at her most vunerable. Finally my favourite track on the album is the Ryan Tedder produced ‘I Was Here’. The track is like a Halo Part. 2, but very stripped down, raw and showcases Beyonce’s distinctive voice.
Overall, the album does sound different to anything out there at the moment and in my opinion, Beyonce is back and here to stay. All your favourites better watch out…
Post by Sam Capaldi
