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44 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
At Its Best, Average, November 23, 2008
The album is split into two sides--the first side being "I am..." and the second side being "Sasha Fierce". "I Am..." is nothing less than 8 ballads thrown onto a cd while "Sasha Fierce" is 8 uptempo tracks thrown on another.
Simply put, the Sasha Fierce side of the album is garbage. I've followed Beyonce since her early days (97-98)with Destiny's Child and am one of the few who truly appreciated her talent then. But I find it amazingly hard to listen to this newer uptempo side of her music. With the exception of Single Ladies and perhaps two other tracks, this second half is a complete waste of time for the listeners--album filler that many are sure to skip. If the lackluster track production on some of these songs are not enough, surely, Beyonce's juvenile niche for writing senseless lyrics will distract those looking for substance. (i.e.: "A diva is a female version of a hustler... of a hustler..." is enough to make anyone shake their head in disagreement.)
On the flip side, the "I Am..." half is fairly decent. I especially enjoyed the first four tracks and can't quite get enough of "Halo" and "Disappear". The remaining tracks are so-so and would have to grow on most people.
To appreciate this album for anything at all, one may have to disregard Beyonce's uptempo approach to satisfying mainstream fans. Her faster tracks not only come off underdeveloped but with tracks like "Diva", "ego" and "Video Phone", they also give off a shallow vibe. If this is to be Beyonce's most personal album it then becomes clear that perhaps Beyonce has some out-of-studio maturing to do. With only a third of her tracks being radio-possibles, at its best this album is average.
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17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Strong Effort to Branch Out, November 18, 2008
On her website, Beyonce wrote that this album contains what she considers the best music she's recorded to date, and in many ways this is true. The double CD "I Am...Sasha Fierce" manages to appeal to fans of the power ballad songstress from "Dangerously in Love" and the club queen with sick dance moves from "B'Day." And while improving on both those styles, Beyonce also branches out into new territory to generally good, if not great, results.
The first disc of this album (the "I Am..." part) starts off strong with the hit single "If I Were a Boy." The song showcases Beyonce's strong emotional interpretation of songs and her incredible voice (an asset many of her fellow pop divas lack), and quite frankly the track gets better each time I hear it. She immediately one ups herself with the best track on the entire album, "Halo," with soaring vocals and a much stronger melodic structure than many of today's hit ballads. The first disc features nary a misstep, and the acoustic, singer-songwriter vibe of "Satellites" is another highlight. By the end of the first disc, you feel like this album is destined for greatness, and probably a few Grammys.
Then the "Sasha Fierce" portion starts, and things get dicey. "Single Ladies" is a pretty good song, although its success as a single owes as much to the excellent music video as the actual song. But things get worse with "Radio" and the unintentionally funny "Diva," which fail to show off Beyonce's voice or provide a good beat for her to dance to. These ventures into urban hip-hop are off-putting as they are poorly done and even worse, feel forced. I was a huge fan of much of "B'Day," and I wish the Sasha Fierce songs borrowed a bit more of the tribal beats and strong dance grooves of that album. Songs like "Hello" and especially "Scared of Lonely" help redeem the Sasha persona, but most people will probably be left wondering where their Beyonce went.
Also, while I love the concept of separating the two styles in an A Side/B Side type manner, there is not nearly enough content to warrant two discs. You can listen to all 16 tracks in a little over an hour, leaving you feeling a tad cheated. Combined with the generally weaker Sasha Fierce songs, this makes it hard to whole-heartedly recommend the album. Still, Beyonce tackles a lot of new styles and does many of them well, giving her fans and newcomers a lot to like. Maybe on her fourth album she'll finally nail it.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Wow, November 21, 2008
Wow what an awful album. We must have alot of Bey stans on amazon because aint no way this album is worth 5 stars or $14.99 considering the fact she will re release it in a few months anyway. Tracks like Halo, Single ladies and Diva are my ish, but that's all. I didnt buy it for If I was a boy because I like BC Jean's version better. I feel duped into buying fake double cd. Who has a double cd with 16 songs on it come on Bey? I am a fan but this just is not right.
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