With her one-year disappearance act from the stage Beyoncé fans needed something to quench their “Single Ladies” thirst, well she came back with vengeance and did not disappoint. Her album titled “4” is her fourth album debuted June 24, 2011.

A great kick off to Summer 2011. Her first single and track 12 off the new album is a female anthem entitled “Run The World (Girls)”. The aggressive anthem paid homage to all estrogen carriers and all the possibilities we posses. The song borrowed collaborative music project from Major Lazer’s eclectic and funky beat as a base.

The song both fun and upbeat also deliver a message that can’t be faulted, another gold star for her achievement in the Women’s Movement. The video for her first single, was released May 18, 2011, was very much empowering like the song itself. Beyoncé donned a tall Egyptian like crown with 50-100 other girls danced and pranced their way around the deserted location with lions and hyenas in toe.

The fashions featured the late great Alexander McQueen, Givenchy, and a Gareth Pugh intricately cut gold-mirrored mini dress matched with McQueen heels a personal favorite of mine from the video. Nevertheless a great opening to her new album and spark back in her fans.

The album itself like her 3 previous solo albums is a work of art and takes you on a ride into Beyoncé world that were not always able to reach. If “art imitates life” than Mrs. Carter is a lot deeper than we thought or than she lets us on to believe. The album starts off with “1+1, I Care, and I Miss You”. These 3 songs are smooth melodic that show the bootylicious diva’s more intimate and vulnerable side.

“I Miss You” one of my favorite tracks on the album and was produced by upcoming producer Frank Ocean of OFWGKTA. As soon as you get to track 4 “Best Thing You Never Had” you get the more common Beyoncé we have all come to love. This is also the second single off the album; the song puts you in the mind of her 2006 hit “Irreplaceable”.

Track 5 “Party” is the only song on the album featuring another artist beside herself, Kanye West and Andre 3000 (from Outkast) gifted the singer with their versatile and unique sounds and it has been said to be the third single released from the album.

Track 6, 7, 8 “Rather Die Young” “Start Over” and “Love On Top” are very strong ballad songs and have a very old school feeling to them and seem like timeless pieces. When you get to track 9, 10 “Countdown” and “End Of Time” are really the only up-tempo songs on the entire album, which is a shock to me because she’s mostly known for her radio friendly dance songs.

But don’t get me wrong these songs can sell the whole album by themselves. “Countdown” takes a sample from Boys II Men “Uhh Ahh”. “End Of Time” is a fast paced song with drums and horns galore.

And what Beyoncé album would be complete without a declaration song track 11 “I Was Here” is a song about all her accomplishments and leaving her mark on the world. All in all “4” is by far my favorite Beyoncé album from its humble beginnings, loud and retro core, and uplifting ending; it’s classified as a classic in my library.

arvzdix / Shutterstock.com

The article Beyonce 4, A New Sensation for Beyonce’s Fans appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Even though Beyonce may be rather quiet about her love life in interviews, she has no problem airing out her feelings in her track, “I Care”, off her studio album 4, released June 28. Produced by Jeff Bhasker, the track finds the captivating songstress singing about a relationship turned sour over some ominous notes. Beyonce puts all her cards on the table; however, the one who has her heart has swept them to the side. She belts out, “I told you how you hurt me, baby/But you don’t care/Now I’m crying and deserted, baby.” This song is a power ballad that recalls slow jams like the ones Phil Collins used to spill his heart in. She lets her voice own the song as the instrumentals crescendo around her.

MTV says it perfectly: “Lady Gaga is political, Britney Spears loves to party, and Beyonce knows all about matters of the heart.”

Her second track, “Party,” featuring Andre 3000, is the song that would have most likely been played at a house party in the mid-90s, As Beyonce sings, “So in love/I’ll give it all away/Just don’t tell nobody tomorrow,” listeners will be transported back to a time when pop princesses cared more about the heart than anything else. “Rather Die Young,” another track off her album has more of an “old-school” groove to it. Beyonce collaborated with Luke Steele of the electronic group Empire of the Sun.

The song is about how you can’t fight what the heart wants, even if it isn’t right. Comparing her lover to James Dean, it’s all about the “sexiness” of bad boys and the good girls who love them. But, she still keeps the sound soft. This track is really something beautiful, as Beyonce sings about being completely devoted to her man.

However, the most surprising song on her album is “Countdown.” Beyonce gets a bit sassy and futuristic on this track, which isn’t like the other songs on the album, but still has a “check on it” vibe. As MTV says, the singer gives fans a musical kick to the head during “End of Time,” a bombastic track, complete with “in-your-face bass line and a marching band. Beyonce keeps things melodic, sharing lines like. “Take you away from here/There’s nothing between us but space and time.”

Metacritic gave 4 an overall score of 70, saying that her fourth album has both “dance-floor-ready jams and down-tempo tunes that are a bit tamer than those in the last album.” Consequence of Sound said “between doing more of the same old goodness and boiling everything down to its most essential lethality, Beyonce also makes room on the album for more grandiose tracks that would sound right at home in Broadway musicals”, giving 4 a score of 90. On the other hand, both NOW Magazine and The Guardian agreed with a score of 60.

Now Magazine asserts that on 4, Beyonce’s missing a real sense of vulnerability but steps out from “behind club jams with beautifully nuanced mid-tempo production. Likewise, The Guardian had only statement about this album “it’s hard not to feel that what it might have been sounds better than what it is.”

Beyonce’s new album is a definite change of pace for this R&B queen. 4 is more relaxed and personal and emphasizes ballads and showcases the singer’s nuances. An album like this comes in a singer’s career when he or she feels like she has nothing left to prove. 4 is definitely the album where Beyonce pours out her feelings, expressing breakups, love, and her most intimate feelings of her love life.

She is not afraid to let the world know what she has been going through. Every song has power behind it. Beyonce sings her ballad songs beautifully and with feeling, guiding listeners through the pain and joy that is her life.

Track list
1. 1+1
2. I Care
3. I Miss You
4. Best Thing I Never Had
5. Party (featuring Andre 3000)
6. Rather Die Young
7. Start Over
8. Love on Top
9. Countdown
10. End of Time
11. I Was Here
12. Run the World (Girls)

Image Courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/28722563@N05/5892994892/

The article Beyonce’s “4” Soulful Singing appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.