By far her most experimental and multi-layered album.
That Beyoncé was able to keep a project of this scale completely under wraps is one of the most impressive tricks of her career, but the real feat is the album itself, a candid, confrontational work that dares to cut against the singer’s carefully cultivated goddess image to reveal the opinionated, imperfect woman underneath.
Beyoncé waited for the last moment to unveil 2013′s finest pop album. It arrived too late to enter our top ten lists, but just in time to own the year.
This is her best album, more textured than its predecessors in both sound and content.
A tour through Beyoncé’s backstory, a meditation on Third Wave feminism and a rejection of perfection, Beyoncé is the singer at her rawest, realest, and most personal, with a sound deeper and darker than ever before.
Indeed, at its dizzying zenith, beyoncé is a loaded fusion of generosity and self-empowerment. or perhaps, more accurately, it finds self-empowerment in generosity.
In my estimation, when critically examined, BEYONCÉ functions as a highly successful feminist manifesto.
It trafficks specifically in lost arts like sequencing, pacing, and mastering. It’s not concerned with moving units. It’s concerned with Beyoncé’s self-exploration, in a complicated, incredibly intriguing way.
If there’s one thing you can take from BEYONCÉ, it’s that you never have to feel “bored” as she describes in “Ghost.” There’s always room to innovate.
Beyoncé is better than good, slickly packaged, created with the best of intentions yet still comes off as a postmodern mash of hubris, sincerity and gloss. It will be a hit regardless.
#1 | / | Billboard |
#1 | / | Pretty Much Amazing |
#1 | / | Vibe |
#8 | / | Variety |
#11 | / | Gigwise |
#18 | / | Consequence of Sound |
#40 | / | Tiny Mix Tapes |