2013
Beyonce
Beyonce drops new self-titled album on December 13 leaving the media and her big time fans in shock. It’s has been a hot topic ever since then. What made this album such a hot topic? This album contained fourteen songs and seventeen videos making it a visual album with features from Drake, Frank Ocean, and Jay Z. The track list for BEYONCE is as follows. 1) Pretty Hurts?2) Haunted?3) Drunk in Love (feat. Jay Z)?4) Blow?5) No Angel?6) Partition?7) Jealous?8) Rocket?9) Mine (feat. Drake)?10) XO?11) ***Flawless (feat. Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche)?12) Superpower (feat. Frank Ocean)?13) Heaven?14) Blue (feat. Blue Ivy). This album was sold over million copies just in one week making her visual album platinum worldwide.
She was able to discuss openly at New York’s school for visual art about the success behind this album and what she ought to accomplish. On her speech she told her fans that she was terrified to drop this new self-titled album due to the fact that she revealed a lot of personal feelings and thoughts on this album. She also discussed that she ought to do something different this time. The 32 years old Huston singer hoped this album will be the gate to open her own empire in the music industry following the footsteps of Madonna. She took a very different approach on this album in a way that reflects her personal life, her perfections and imperfections on this album.
Being one of her biggest fan I rushed to check this album out. However, what I saw wasn’t exactly pleasing. It was very different and very unlike any of her past albums. I wasn’t drawn to this dramatic change specially the videos had brought disappointment to me and some of her fans who are familiar with her style and what she usually present in her videos. Before I bought her album I read some reviews on ITunes. These reviews wildly reflected the disappointment in those who bought the album and I think that’s why it took me a long time to buy the album. Some of them are very wildish which is Beyonce like but with the feeling of seeing her true side in these videos. It feels like am not seeing anything that’s choreographed but something that has been there all along. Even though I wasn’t thrilled to discover this change I became aware of the deep meaning behind these songs and videos which is pretty amazing and inspiring.
One of my favorite song/video is called “ Pretty Hurts” this videos shows the competition between all these beautiful women who strive for perfection. The intensity of the video shows that even though Beyonce the star on the video tries to win the beauty pageant by doing everything and anything she can but at the end she ends up loosing. The message of this video is that perfection is the disease of a nation. It’s important that we feel comfortable in our skin and own up to our imperfections, which, I think is brilliant message especially since a lot of people look up to her as a perfect person. In particular these days where everyone is compared to photo shopped celebrities, and unrealistically perfected bodies her message really is an eye opener, which is the best aspect of this album.
The qualities of the videos and songs are very high. The lyrics reflect the artist’s view on certain social aspects, and highly influenced by reality. Beyonce tends to have fans different ages, which is great for the artist however I don’t think she putted a younger audience while making this album. Even though the overall appearance of the album tend to appealing to all I highly suggest it not buying this to kids under fourteen. The reason is that some of the topics she addresses are highly personal, and even intimates. Most of the videos contain nudity and foul languages. I highly suggest parental guidance before allowing kids to have access to this song. This is not something I will watch with my family or perhaps play it out loud due to the fact that the majority songs contain adult topics. I recommend this album to all of her mature audience to check it out. This album is very unique and it reflects her growth as an artist. For farther reviews I recommend going on websites like rolling stones that includes direct quotes and a clear view on the background of this album from the artist herself.