Beyonce - 4

the chorus sounds like beyonce is a pre school teacher and she instructed the girls in her class to yell GIRLS after every time she says "who run the world?"

in which surm explains call and response

it's a concept desperately in search of a song

To me the strength of this album is her and her producers' determination to avoid concepts in favor of a more considered, full-bodied songwriting. Her erotic agitprop is a large part of her appeal, but she couldn't do it forever.

i do not need a song

i need beyonce yelling at me over drumrolls

that is completely acceptable in lieu of a song

not sure about that last sentence but "her and her producers' determination to avoid concepts in favor of a more considered, full-bodied songwriting" is nail on the head

xp

i do not need a song

i need beyonce yelling at me over drumrolls

was getting bored of it tbh

luckily she offers "Countdown" here, which is a sop to us both.

brad nelson more like stan nelson

i will not stop till everyone acknowledges the greatness of "end of time"

not greatness, superiority

Til The End Of Time is better than Run The World, definitely. So is Countdown.

Just seen the Zane Lowe thing finally, I'm not sure what's funnier, the look of utter disinterest and disgust on his face or the sudden backpedalling after Twitter went mental. Was a bit weird to come back home and fine 'Zane Lowe' trending globally but not 'Beyonce' or 'Glastonbury'.

brad nelson more like stan nelson

goddamn right

anyway yeah "countdown" and "end of time" are great, superior, yes, i guess i am trying to say that i love "run the world" precisely for how it is insistent and incomplete because it surprises me every time? "concept in search of a song" is actually something i can really get down with!

i think beyonce's vocals on this album overshadow the songwriting, which is kinda whatever for the most part tbh

n which surm explains call and response

― Brad Nelson (BradNelson), Monday, 27 June 2011 22:15 (Yesterday)

call and response doesn't have to sound like preschool drivel.

damn, son

i pretty much agree w/ surm

just when i thought i couldnt like a new beyonce song as much as "1+1", "schoolin' life" is right on its level

it's a mckinney job of course btw! seriously when those two motherfuckers are in a prince mood they are legit batting 1.000. "fast car" "yamaha" "don't make me wait" and now this

can't really for the life of me understand where you guys are reading the "preschool" element but that's cool.

also k3vin otm on both counts. everything i like about this record is mostly dependent on beyonce's delivery.

Preschool as in it would make more sense as a Willow song.

preschoolin' life

the song is completely empty but she did it well on stage

that might be the only place it makes sense

though i kind of imagine it would be better and people might say 'she should release that' if it started as a purely live thing with beyonce just voicing major lazer for fun rather than trying to make a totally new song out of it.

i agree (cf if she'd made her "in da club" a LEAD SINGLE rather than just something thrown out there)

I'm still rolling my eyes about people complaining about lyrical simplicity or lack of songwriting in a fucking DANCE track though.

I like the lyrics of tons of dance tracks tho.

And the lyrics are hardly the only problem.

It did sound good when I heard it out tho, but I still would have rather the DJ just played "Pon de Floor".

i roll my eyes at the lyrics for her non dance tracks too if thats any better

why yes thank you titchy

luckily she offers "Countdown" here, which is a sop to us both.

In the grand tradition of me vs. ILX,

"Countdown" < "Run The World"

can't really for the life of me understand where you guys are reading the "preschool" element but that's cool.

also k3vin otm on both counts. everything i like about this record is mostly dependent on beyonce's delivery.

i already articulated this, but i'll say it again. the shouting of "girls" in the chorus sounds like a bunch of little girls playing some sort of game. this might be a good look for some songs, but here it just sounds dumb. if this one element of the song were different, we would have an entirely different song on our hands.

you could see it as sort of a hopscotch chanting game type thing

lol yea. i am not opposed to that as a concept, i just don't like this incarnation of it.

i think the song's hard, militaristic edge mitigates that somewhat...it's not cutesy hopscotch chanting at all, it's drilling her footsoldiers.

i guess that's the point but ... i don't think it goes hard enough in either direction, so it ends up sounding somewhat like both, which results in something muddled and inane

maybe we just have more inane chanty pop songs over here but it's nowhere near as awful as say the ting tings or that nicola roberts single

Setting the bar amazingly high there.

also i wouldn't call the ting tings' concept muddled

inane as it may be, it's pretty clear what impact they're going for

8.0

i rly can't take the beginning of i care, that vocal!

with the drums!

Great review of this by Rich in The Voice:

Really, 4 is about joy, and that may prove too much for people who expect our R&B stars to be tortured at least some of the time, who expect life's lemons to produce sourness instead of lemonade. Few know the details of Beyoncé's private life, and sadness is relative, but the perception that Beyoncé has had it easy, and thus doesn't carry the scars to make her authentically soulful, is not an unpopular one. Mary J. Blige, as good of a Bey counterpoint as any, once griped, "There's no school for organic," in reference to Bey's supposedly smooth path and its effect. But if happiness is at the root of Beyoncé's soul, 4 could be just as much her truth as My Life was Mary's.

http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-06-29/music/beyonce-s-odes-to-joy/

excellent from rich as ever :)

I'm still worried about Tricky. He just seemed to disappear ...

(Is there a Beyonce/Tricky connection that I'm missing - eg. production/collaboration at some point?)

you may have heard "single ladies"

lol not that tricky

oh lol

Tricky's from the West Country, maybe he was just hanging around backstage? It's not beyond the realms of possibility that Beyonce is just a Tricky fan and invited him on?

Either that or he's her stalker.

i was wondering why anyone other than i would care about that xp

Pretty sure Beyonce and Jay-Z have repped for worse and more unlikely albums than Maxinquaye.