Album Review: Beyoncé - Beyoncé

Beyoncé
Beyoncé
Rating: Woof Daddy

Dropped with no warning last month as an iTunes exclusive "visual" album, Beyoncé's self-titled fifth album turned the music industry on its head, and showed that Queen Bey is still head of the pack when it comes to pop music. Beyoncé leaves in its dust other pop records released at years end, from Lady Gaga's massive flop ARTPOP, Miley Cyrus's Bangerz, Britney Spears' Britney Jean, and Katy Perry's Prism. Beyoncé is a jaw-droppingly diverse record mixing standard Top 40 pop fare along with more edgy material, showing that Beyoncé is not going to be content to just rest on her laurels. After her disappointing, at least to me, last record 4, which appeared to have Beyoncé coasting on the back of bland arrangements and resorting to too many painfully mediocre ballads, I was not really giving Beyoncé much credit early on. But from my first listen, I recognized that this was perhaps her most fully realized album, not just a collection of singles with lots of filler. Working with a variety of collaborators including Timbaland, The Dream, Drake, Noah "40" Shebib, Frank Ocean, and the relatively unknown producer Boots, Beyoncé somehow remains singular and cohesive, and is perhaps the best pop/R&B record of the year so far.

Usually, when it comes to pop/R&B albums I am drawn more to tracks that step outside the lines a bit. While the more adventurous tracks on Beyoncé kept my attention, I was very surprised that the more conventional tracks were also spectacularly catchy and well done. Commanding, stadium ready ballad "XO" is a prime example of Beyoncé giving a slow build up to the phenomenally epic chorus,



Sia-co-written opener "Pretty Hurts" is another classic Beyoncé anthem that she does so well,



while her collaboration with Timbaland and Justin Timberlake "Blow" is a frothy sex jam that can't help but get under your skin.

Of course, the edgier tracks are, for me, what elevates this from a good pop record to a a great one. "Partition" is a trunk rattling sex manifesto from Ms. Bey that, as my friend Jon opined, will be heard in every strip club in the country all year long,



"Haunted" is a sleek collaboration with Boots that ventures over into future R&B territory that Beyoncé has not normally ventured into,



and perhaps my favorite track is her collaboration with Drake, the mesmerizing duet "Mine" which could almost be an outtake from Drake's latest opus Nothing Was The Same,



Beyoncé is a record that constantly evolves and shifts for me. While there are some weaker tracks on the record, like the trap-influenced feminist track "***Flawless," and her rather unmemorable collaboration with her husband Jay-Z on "Drunk In Love," these are not major missteps but just not the high quality of the other songs. Beyoncé is a treasure trove of great pop tracks that can be mined again and again, and with each listen I discover things I haven't heard before. This year has barely turned and the competition is already fierce. All hail Queen Bey! She is rightly pop royalty and every one else at the moment is grasping at the hem of her garments.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.