Album review
1.5 Stars
By Anthony Kuzminski
Beyonce is a pop princess who has created a handful of really exquisite and catchy pop songs full of release and mental abandonment. She’s not an A-grade talent in my mind, but you can’t tell me that “Crazy In Love” and “Irreplaceable” are not great pop singles, because they are. I wish I could say the same about the songs on her latest album, I Am…Sasha Fierce. The album is to display her two different sides and according to Beyonce, she didn’t want to “mix the songs together” according to her father. But when you go to buy this album, prepared to be confused. The album is being released in a series of configurations. The cheapest (and most widely available) will be a standard edition with thirteen songs, but there is a deluxe edition with sixteen songs and then there’s two more songs available on the Japanese edition and through iTunes, confused yet? Well, we’re just beginning because the songs are arranged in a series of two discs (labeled “I Am…” and “Sasha Fierce”). More confused? Wait until you hear the album.Beyonce has made a career of making a splash out of every career move because ultimately, without the razzle and dazzle, I am not sure if anyone will remember her. It’s a shame because she shows promise, but as a song on the deluxe edition displays, “Ego” is out in full force. Her performance this past weekend was solid and inspired…until a wind machine started blowing through her hair, deflating how I felt about the performance because with that one idiotic decision, it came to light that this is all about show and having nothing to do with soul. Sadly, I Am…Sasha Fierce falls victim to the same traps.
“If I Were A Boy” and “Single Ladies” are solid pop singles, but the dichotomy between these two distinct personalities prove to be a tad too much for one to digest, even on multiple listens. The “I Am” disc is ballad heavy and ultimately, after the first two tracks, you drown in a sea of snoozing as there is nothing noteworthy about the remainder of the ballads aside from the caressing chorus of “Halo”. However, while most of the album to this point proved to be nothing more than a largely uninteresting affair, the second half “Sasha Fierce” proves to be more embarrassing than enlightening. Songs such as “Radio”, “Diva” and “Ego” are directionless and not brave but misfires as Beyonce proves to be out of her league on the techno-electronic heavy tunes. “Ego” should have been cut live in the studio with a horn section…the key is to be timeless, not timely. She almost pulls off “Sweet Dreams” and “Scared of Lonely”, but her reliance on the more experimental computer generated sounds dates the song immediately. Instead of writing from within, you hear a confused artist who has too many cooks in the kitchen. “Video Phone” isn’t catchy in the least and is a low point of her career.
Ultimately, I Am…Sasha Fierce can’t even be saved by cutting the best tracks to one disc. The two lead singles are easily the best of the bunch with “Halo” coming in a distant third. Aside from “Single Ladies”, the second album is largely a throwaway offering little insight into her psyche or soul. While a song like “Crazy In Love” will be played in clubs years from now, it’s unlikely anything from this double album will stand the test of time. There is far too much filler here and I’m surprised someone didn’t say something to her and beg her to pair the disc down to a much more digestible ten songs. This album is drenched in self-indulgence and finds a pop-star more consumed with success and trying to stay relevant than making the best possible pop music possible. When this album was handed into Sony, someone should have sat her down and mentioned two words: “Chris Gaines”.
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network and his daily writings can be read at The Screen Door and can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com.
