The Pizza Project: Better Late Than Never Reviews: 4 - Beyonce

Better Late Than Never Reviews: 4 - Beyonce

The third album by Beyonce Knowles, I Am.Sasha Fierce, was both a melodious and an environmental disappointment. The man did not take her overly precious cover of "Ave Maria," nor did it take an 11-song album printed on two CDs just so an accomplished star could make to be her sassy alter ego.

After the sense that was Dangerously in Love and the underrated follow-up, B'Day, her 4th studio album, the unfortunately titled 4, found Jay-Z's main squeeze looking to show that she did not lose ground to the Katy Perrys and the Lady Gagas of the world. Luckily, the former Destiny's Child songstress chose not to contend on their pop level and made an album that, despite having a few flaws, shows a mature artist who is even subject of churning out effortless body-movers.

Beginning with the Princely, soulful, rock-tinged ballad, "1 1," the 12-song album (yes, more than Sasha Fierce yet contained on one disc) continues quite strongly for 10 tracks. Highlights include "I Care," a bass-heavy mid-tempo joint with Squarepusher-esque airy synth and a nasty guitar solo/Beyonce vocal run (a past weakness that she is admirably restrained with throughout the album), "End of Time," a Michael Jackson-influenced banger with effectively chaotic production by producers Diplo and Switch, and "Party," a Kanye West track whose off-kilter beats and funhouse keys were attractive enough to get Andre 3000 to rise out from whatever rock he has been living under (the erstwhile Outkast MC contributes a poetry that will hopefully hold the universe over until he decides to put something full-length on wax). The very 80s "Love on Top" also satisfies, with Knowles putting in around of her best vocal work. I even managed to get into the one that Babyface wrote, "Best Thing I Never Had." It had to be the incredibly massive chorus, because I get to say you: I never thinking I would be capable to get down with a song with piano that sounds like it was played by John Tesh in his NBA theme song era.

Truthfully, the album runs out of steam in its last 8 minutes. "I Was Here" starts out promising enough with strings and distant piano that constitute it sound somewhat like Trent Reznor's theme for The Social Network. However, soon enough it morphs into the typical Diane Warren track (she wrote the thing, after all), with lame lyrics about devising a difference, touching hearts, leaving a mark, and the like. Calm down, Beyonce. You are making some pretty good music; you're not exactly figuring out how to clear the United States' catastrophic debt crisis. And so there is the closer, "Run the World (Girls)," a mere naked, cynical attempt to duplicate the winner of Sasha Fierce's female anthem "Single Ladies (Put a Mob On It)." This is the form of selling as music that has made Lady Gaga somewhat of a laughingstock, and, more importantly, it is scattershot and out of control. It swallows the singer's vocal range whole. Based on the Major Lazer track, "Pon de Floor," this kind of matter should be odd to a more aggressive mic holder (see M.I.A. or.M.I.A.).

While Beyonce may not wish to form a vocation in dubstep, the fact that she was willing to make it a try is encouraging. The voice of 4 is one of an artist choosing to leave pop radio to the youngins. Instead, the singer is moving into new territories. And whether the sounds on this album are based on the old or racing fearlessly into the new, they are more often than not successful, creating a full-length that is completely worthy of your attention.