Beyoncé - 4
Critic Score
Based on 34 reviews
2011 Ratings: #522 / 1031
Year End Rank: #46
User Score
2011 Rank: #165
Liked by 174 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

90
Consequence of Sound

4 continues the Beyoncé tradition of making amazingly catchy, anthemic records with some of her best songs to date.

85
Beats Per Minute

Her voice is the best it has ever been. Her music is the best it has ever been.

81
Billboard
The album is quieter and torchier than its predecessors, with the singer delivering uniformly stellar vocal performances.
80
Uncut
The lyrics are occasionally hackneyed, but overall 4 is a very strong record indeed.
80
Sputnikmusic
The queen reigns over her kingdom, a place where cynicism and romanticism don't have to be enemies, where love is the only real battle worth fighting for. And damn, she can sing.
80
HipHopDX

4 doesn't necessarily stand so well by itself, but as part of the Beyoncé experience, there are enough vehicles here to keep her moving.

80
The Observer
Only the syrupy "I Was Here" disappoints, its corny bluster at odds with the laid-back feel of her most accomplished album yet.
80
Paste
This is not your standard-issue radio candy, and the strength of the track is the hypnotic reality of the beats and the way the Houston-born superstar's voice inhabits the track.
80
SPIN

The lack of in-your-face future-funk arrangements isn't a sign that Beyoncé has lost her appetite for domination; indeed, as a singer's showcase, 4 will probably end up bested this year only by Adele's 21.

80
Prefix
You'd be hard pressed to find a big ticket R&B album quite as restless, tuneful and fearless this year.
80
The Irish Times

4 ... is a bold musical statement, even if you can't escape the feeling that her label took control of the second half of the album to try and rein in the giddy adventurousness of the first half for the sake of radio play.

80
musicOMH

4 might be her most impressive collection yet.

80
Tiny Mix Tapes

Despite some shortcomings, 4 is an unqualified success in the Hawksian sense: There are at least three great songs and no bad ones.

80
Pitchfork

It's a more mature album with songs about the intricacies of relationships, but 4 has its share of stunning tracks, many co-written by The-Dream.

75
Entertainment Weekly

Vocally, she's never sounded better — throaty and precise — but the songs here just aren’t her equal.

70
Coke Machine Glow
She's still a nearly peerless vocal performer, and if that's the one edge she retains over her otherwise edgier contemporaries, then it's probably for the best that her material be simple enough for her voice to really shine.
70
Slant Magazine

It's certainly going to dilate the cervixes of the demographic among B's fanbase who can't hold it in whenever she howls out a slow-burning torch song. In 46 minutes and 12 tracks, 4 suggests a full-term nine months.

70
Rolling Stone
It’s a big-budget megapop album with an A list of guest stars and songwriter-producers. Yet it’s as eccentric – as unmistakably personal and quirky – as anything that Sufjan Stevens ever cooked up in his bedroom.
70
Under the Radar

Imperfections and all, 4 shows that Beyoncé is willing to defy expectations and embrace her eccentricities. In doing so, she has crafted her most personal and affecting album to date.

67
Pretty Much Amazing

Though it contains a few (mostly flaccid) requisite bumpers, 4’s best moments come at lower BPMs.

67
A.V. Club

The songs on 4 display Knowles’ desire to expand beyond the boundaries of her established pop-friendly persona, albeit in a safe, pop-friendly way.

64
Spectrum Culture

4 is a much more concise, fleshed-out album that shows her seemingly unlimited range and duality.

60
Evening Standard

The singer gets a co-writing credit on all but one of these 12 tracks but there are too many contrasting sentiments: she's in love, breaking up and being abandoned all within the space of 50 minutes.

60
Q Magazine
At Glastonbury she dazzled; here she plays it safe.
60
The Telegraph
It's more Glee Club than cutting edge pop queen, and, as is so often the case with big pop albums, too many production teams spoil the froth.
60
NOW Magazine

On 4, she's still missing a real sense of vulnerability but steps out from behind the club jams with beautifully nuanced mid-tempo production.

60
The Guardian
Beyoncé's new album isn't bad, but nor is it the game-changer we were led to expect.
60
AllMusic
No one but one of the most talented and accomplished singers -- one with 16 Grammys, nothing left to prove, and every desired collaborator at her disposal -- could have made this album.
60
PopMatters

It is for the most part a fun listen at worst and for her legion of fans it will probably translate to much more.

40
The Independent
Overall, the weaknesses far outnumber the strengths. Not, of course, that that will prevent huge sales figures for 4: because those numbers, ultimately, are what it's all about.
40
NME
There ain't too much here that's going to add to her legacy. Rather, there's the unmistakable sense of someone treading water, with even the OK bits here sounding uninspired.
20
No Ripcord

Where this album should be fresh and current, it sounds tired, repetitive and uninspired.

GersonAOTY
80

One of Beyoncé's most fun and vocally energetic albums featuring a classic and delicious R&B sound that marks a moment of transition in the singer's discography.

Love On Top (10/10)
Party (8.4/10)
Schoolin' Life (7.8/10)
Countdown (8.8/10)
I Miss You (8.1/10)
Dance For You (7.5/10)
I Care (8.1/10)
Rather Die Young (7.2/10)
1+1 (7.5/10)
End Of Time (7.4/10)
Run the World (Girls) (8.3/10)
Best Thing I Never Had (9/10)
Start Over (6.8/10)
I Was Here (7.6/10)

Average Score: 80 💚

TheCarioca
86

1+1 - 4/5
I Care - 5/5 ❤
I Miss You - 4/5
Best Thing I Never Had - 5/5 ❤
Party - 4/5
Rather Die Young - 3/5
Start Over - 4/5
Love On Top - 5/5 ❤
Countdown - 4/5
End of Time - 5/5 ❤
I Was Here - 5/5 ❤
Run the World (Girls) - 4/5

undermyskin
70

This one was at the top of my least fav albums list since forever but I guess it grew on me even tho some tracks are just unbearable and it’s definitely overrated especially Run the World

_Lumael
91

Love On Top 10/10
Party 10/10
Schoolin' Life 8/10
Countdown 9/10
I Miss You 7/10
Dance For You 10/10
I Care 10/10
Rather Die Young 7/10
1+1 7/10
End Of Time 10/10
Run the World (Girls) 10/10
Best Thing I Never Had 10/10
Start Over 6/10
I Was Here 8/10

utopiaurora
78

Start over & I was here dragging the score down im afraid

72

Underwhelming prepared to her other releases and after sasha fierce

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Track List

11+1
4:34
82
2I Care
3:59
87
3I Miss You
2:58
81
4Best Thing I Never Had
4:13
84
5Party
4:04
85
6Rather Die Young
3:43
81
7Start Over
3:19
81
8Love On Top
4:27
92
9Countdown
3:33
87
10End of Time
3:44
87
11I Was Here
3:59
83
12Run the World (Girls)
3:58
77
Total Length: 46 minutes
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Added on: June 13, 2011