Product Details
- Audio CD (27 Jun 2011)
- Number of Discs: 2
- Label: RCA
- ASIN: B0051X56FK
Price : £8.25
Product Description
Review
The number 4 means something to Beyoncé: it's the date of her birth, the date of her wedding; there are even four key changes in the final, teetering chorus of Love on Top to ram the point home. That the title was apparently crowd sourced from fans attuned to Beyoncé’s yen for numerology smacks of post-justification, but one fact pokes through – 4 is definitely her fourth album.
Following schizo double I Am... Sasha Fierce, Beyoncé took a year off but has come back brighter. Dozens of songs emerged from the original 4 sessions and the promo circuit’s been leapt on with a vengeance, culminating – at least over here – in the intriguing Glastonbury headline slot (yet to wow us as we go to press). With 4’s best bold tunes, Beyoncé has spruced up an already handsome catalogue. She's got the armoury to trump husband Jay-Z’s perception-altering Pilton turn.
Run the World (Girls) we know, twice over, in Major Lazer’s Pon de Floor and in its recent official and unofficial leaks. Strangely, it's tacked on like a bonus after the natural big finish of the Diane Warren-penned I Was Here, when it would've nestled comfortably alongside the opulent M.I.A.-style cacophony of Countdown or End of Time's startling vision of Animal Collective covering Lionel Richie's All Night Long. No matter – the rest of 4 tips towards the powerhouse balladry that caressed her previous album.
And these are exemplars of the form, I Care in particular emoting the house down over a sustained Purple Rain chord. Its near-equals 1+1 and I Miss You tug heartstrings too, the former over magnificent guitar bombast; the latter – a contribution from Odd Future's misfit soulman Frank Ocean – over the kind of subtle tension achieved by Alicia Keys' Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart. 1+1 offers a pointer to Best Thing I Never Had where Beyoncé really gets her soft rock on, matching Bon Iver's Beth/Rest in summoning up Bruce Hornsby and the Range. Now there's an odd future.
Less successful are Kanye West and Andre 3000's interruptions ("You got the swag sauce / You drip the swagu," leers Kanye – oh dear) on Party's slick 80s soul, while the overdone glitz of Rather Die Young drags. The rest of 4, though, sparks. Beyoncé slips from flirty to fragile to fabulous, and is in terrific voice throughout, reminding us that when she opens up there's no-one else in the game.
--Matthew Horton
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4 (Deluxe Edition)
Costumer Reviews
I bought this as a gift and my friend was delighted. I was very pleased that it arrived on time and was compeititvely priced.
I love Beyonce and this album I believe is her best yet! My favourite songs are 'I Miss You' 'I Was Here' 'End Of Time' and 'Start Over' hell there all great songs. The only one I do think is boring is 'Rather Die Young' but hey the rest of the album is a complete 5 stars. The only quip that I do have is that these songs are more personal to Beyonce herself and you could tell that there isn't a song intended on here to be iconic. Such as the bouncy 'Single Ladies' or the delicious 'Irreplaceable' and that kind of made me mad as I want Beyonce to show more people her amazing talent with hits that should be number 1.
But this is still great stuff and its nice to see Beyonce taking charge of her own career and showing them whose boss. The only advice that I would give to me special matey is for the next album to be more up beat and dance sound. That would be great but even if she doesn't, anything produced by Beyonce is a show-stopping treat and I adore her. Kudos 'B'
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