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Thread started 09/12/19 7:12pm

alphastreet

Beyoncé 4 album appreciation

Who else thinks this album was underrated? I still have it on rotation and like it so much better than lemonade
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Reply #1 posted 09/12/19 10:06pm

nextedition

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Its pretty good, i live the vibe. But no way its better than lemonade.
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Reply #2 posted 09/12/19 11:47pm

TrivialPursuit

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nextedition said:

Its pretty good, i live the vibe. But no way its better than lemonade.


Agreed. Lemonade and BEYONCÉ are, by far, her two best non-Beyonce albums. She finally slipped out of that beatcapella shit she does. Every other song of hers is like an 80s 12" single, where it's just the percussion/drum track and the artist's vocals over it. "Single Ladies" has little to no real musicality to it (the instrumental is out there, go listen). "Crazy In Love"'s only musicality is the sample in the chorus. "Run the World" (which is repetitive and has over a half dozen writers because it is still sample laden) is a glaring/glowing example of this format she leans on. "Diva", "Video Phone", "Upgrade U", "Ring The Alarm" are other examples. Sure, some of her stuff has some musicality to it, but in general her bigger hits don't.

4 has a bit more flavor to it. I found the instrumental version of "Party" and took Andre 3000 out. Sorry not sorry. "Schoolin' Life" is fun, and "Love On Top" is a bop. "Countdown" relies on that old aforementioned formula, yet something like "End of Time" does too but the drum corp and horns keep it more interesting. (Plus who could forget that Super Bowl performace of it. STOMP! STOMP!)

4 is probably #3 of my list of best B records. I'd actually rate BEYONCÉ only a tad higher than Lemonade, but that could change on a whim. B'day, Dangerously In Love, & I Am... Sasha Fierce rounds out the list.

Sorry, it's the Hodgkin's talking.
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Reply #3 posted 09/13/19 1:12am

paisleypark4

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I Care is probably my favorite track on it. What a passionate ballad.

Love On Top. A jam.

Rather Die Young is very nice, love the loud "rather not live...at AAALLL..". Very poignant vocal delivery.

Countdown was cute.

Party was cute too, Kanye's production was laid back.

Dance For You had a nice little video.

I Miss You - Nice ballad, like her dry vocal delivery and background vocals. Very airy.

Schoolin' Life a nice Princey track with the Linn Drums and pop synth splashes... with autobiographical lyrics "I'm not a preacher, but we can pray if u wasnt 2"..."Im a freak all day baby, all night...". Jam.

I like the album and actually think it has aged well.

Straight Jacket Funk Affair
Album plays and love for vinyl records.
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Reply #4 posted 09/15/19 5:36am

purple05
4 is cohesively better than Beyoncé. She shows bright moments on Beyoncé but it’s a very uneven album. Beyoncé is more cohesive but it’s overrated as well. The hype was more about the imagery than the songs.
[Edited 9/17/19 3:56am]
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Reply #5 posted 09/15/19 5:38am

purple05

TrivialPursuit said:



nextedition said:


Its pretty good, i live the vibe. But no way its better than lemonade.


Agreed. Lemonade and BEYONCÉ are, by far, her two best non-Beyonce albums. She finally slipped out of that beatcapella shit she does. Every other song of hers is like an 80s 12" single, where it's just the percussion/drum track and the artist's vocals over it. "Single Ladies" has little to no real musicality to it (the instrumental is out there, go listen). "Crazy In Love"'s only musicality is the sample in the chorus. "Run the World" (which is repetitive and has over a half dozen writers because it is still sample laden) is a glaring/glowing example of this format she leans on. "Diva", "Video Phone", "Upgrade U", "Ring The Alarm" are other examples. Sure, some of her stuff has some musicality to it, but in general her bigger hits don't.

4 has a bit more flavor to it. I found the instrumental version of "Party" and took Andre 3000 out. Sorry not sorry. "Schoolin' Life" is fun, and "Love On Top" is a bop. "Countdown" relies on that old aforementioned formula, yet something like "End of Time" does too but the drum corp and horns keep it more interesting. (Plus who could forget that Super Bowl performace of it. STOMP! STOMP!)

4 is probably #3 of my list of best B records. I'd actually rate BEYONCÉ only a tad higher than Lemonade, but that could change on a whim. B'day, Dangerously In Love, & I Am... Sasha Fierce rounds out the list.


Hmmm I never thought about it this way but this is true.
BDay is definitely what you call beatcapella
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Reply #6 posted 09/16/19 3:28pm

SchlomoThaHomo

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I think it was her best. I never got into the ones that followed. 4 at least had some melodies on it. The next two were mostly about vibe and protools imo.

"That's when stars collide. When there's space for what u want, and ur heart is open wide."
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