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Celeb News: '4' Review Thread (74 on Metacritic)
Member Since: 10/28/2009
Posts: 26,465
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let's pray it only can go up from here
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Member Since: 4/2/2010
Posts: 17,951
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is 74 gonna be the final rating?
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Member Since: 10/29/2010
Posts: 29,249
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Quote:
Originally posted by BeamMeUp
is 74 gonna be the final rating?
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Who knows?
Q mag still has to be added and I think Robert from MSN will review it as he did w/ all her albums...
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Member Since: 4/2/2010
Posts: 17,951
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Quote:
Originally posted by DG1
Who knows?
Q mag still has to be added and I think Robert from MSN will review it as he did w/ all her albums...
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Do you know his scores for her other albums?
& why is Diane Warren posted at the top of this thread?! 
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Member Since: 4/17/2011
Posts: 6,399
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Quote:
Originally posted by BeamMeUp
why is Diane Warren posted at the top of this thread?! |
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Member Since: 10/29/2010
Posts: 29,249
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Quote:
Originally posted by BeamMeUp
Do you know his scores for her other albums?
& why is Diane Warren posted at the top of this thread?! |
B'Day - A- : 91/100
IASF - B: 75/100
DIL - No review
The Diane Warren thing is probably an ad from Google 
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Member Since: 10/29/2010
Posts: 29,249
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Under the Radar Magazine - Beyoncé '4' Album Review
4
Columbia
Jul 18, 2011 WEB EXCLUSIVE
By Ben Schumer
Beyoncé Knowles has always kept excellent company and on her fittingly-titled fourth album, 4, it seems she’s learned that consistent company makes for a consistent album. The-Dream (Terius Nash)—the man responsible for “Single Ladies” and Rihanna’s “Umbrella”—co-wrote approximately half the album. This fact no doubt helps account for why 4 is Beyoncé’s most cohesive and satisfying LP.
In the press, Beyoncé made a shamelessly hipster-baiting fuss about how the album was influenced by Fela Kuti, which, it turns out, isn’t terribly accurate. 4 does boast a impressive arsenal of martial drums on a number of tracks, as well as other hipster catnip such as Frank Ocean, Andre 3000, Kanye West, and the Major Lazer-sampling single “Run the World (Girls).”
The oft maligned “Run the World (Girls)” finds Beyoncé making a crass grab for M.I.A.’s polyglot-pop steez and, thankfully, it’s an outlier on 4. Oddly enough, it also sounds better in the context of the album. 4’s second single, the Sam Cooke and Prince inspired “1+1,” is much more indicative of the album as a whole. Beyoncé’s magnificent vocal performance culminates in a guitar solo dripping with Purple Rain.
Surprisingly, 4 lacks the kind of songs tailor-made to become chart-toppers and it’s stronger for it. The album’s overarching theme of finding joy in life-long love and devotion resonates strongest in the somber, luminous swoon of “I Miss You.” However, the exuberant march of “Countdown” and its refrain of “Ladies, if you love your man, show you the fliest/Grind up on it, girl, show him how you ride it” feels like a sleeper hit waiting to happen.
The missteps on 4 are pretty minor, but the overwrought, Diane Warren-penned ballad “I Was Here” is absolutely unnecessary. 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. (www.beyonceonline.com)
Author rating: 7/10
http://www.undertheradarmag.com/reviews/4_beyonce_/
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COUNTS for METACRITIC
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Member Since: 1/13/2010
Posts: 5,334
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I'm really happy for her honestly I didn't expect this album to do that well with reviewers, since all her albums are smack dab in the 60s range. Good for her
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Member Since: 9/7/2010
Posts: 28,471
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Quote:
Originally posted by DG1
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COUNTS for METACRITIC
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So right now we're at...??? 
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Member Since: 10/29/2010
Posts: 29,249
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No Ripcord (UK) - Beyoncé '4' Album Review
Beyoncé Knowles, former lead-singer of Destiny’s Child and solo superstar in her own right, appears to be on something of a career high in the UK at the moment. The buzz around her has definitely grown since her crowd-slaying performance at the Glastonbury Festival; it’s amazing how enthralling it can be to watch someone strut around the stage without even attempting to pretend to sing whilst their own voice plays blatantly in the background. In fairness, the bits which she did sing live (the verses, mainly) were just as impressive and she used her formidable stage presence to work the crowd like the seasoned pro that she is.
It comes as something of a letdown, then, that the music on 4 doesn’t come anywhere close to replicating Beyonce’s live energy and glitzy showbiz persona. As the natural heir to Diana Ross’ diva posturing – and no stranger to girl-group infighting or allegations of plagiarism – Beyoncé has carved a niche for herself an R&B singer with a huge pop audience. Hits like Crazy In Love, Déjà Vu and If I Were A Boy have seen her rule the charts and airwaves like a pop colossus. It’s unfortunate that, by comparison, her recent music feels like more of an afterthought than the all guns blazing tour de force that some reviewers would have you believe.
1+1 opens the album with the soul-meets-rock sway of 80s Prince. After a passable start, it’s unfortunate that the repeated “make love to me” lyric of the chorus is more cringe worthy than seductive. We are then treated to plodding ballads, I Care and I Miss You, whilst the MOR influence of Ryan Tedder lurks menacingly in the production despite his lack of involvement. Marginally better in construction is Best Thing I Never Had - a song which seems to have brought the king of 90s love songs, Babyface, out of hiding. Even the presence of two of pop’s more colourful characters, Andre 3000 and Kanye West, on Party fails elevate the track beyond the mire of mediocrity which pervades the entire album. The result of such uninspired collaborations is that punchiest track here, Run The World (Girls), with its playground chant and squiggly sample, is buried beneath a mountain of dross. The only other track worthy of consideration for a place alongside the big singles for which Beyoncé is known is End Of Time, which has a percussive Afro-Caribbean stomp and smooth vocal harmonies. The less said about the egotistical power ballad, from the pen of Diane Warren (no less), I Was Here, the better.
Beyoncé may be an R&B singer but she is judged by the same criteria as pop tarts like Katy Perry, Rihanna and (former cohort) Lady Gaga. The sound of 80s and 90s soul is prevalent on 4, but instead of presenting a modern take on these sounds, the tendency is to veer into pastiche which, by its very nature, is presenting nothing modern. Where this album should be fresh and current, it sounds tired, repetitive and uninspired. Beyoncé is fortunate that the pull of her star power is probably enough to sell this record on its own. She must be thanking her lucky stars for her headlining slot at Glastonbury which cleverly glossed over the fact that 4 is that rare thing: an R&B album with no soul.
18 July, 2011 - 08:05 — Gary McGinley
RATING: 2/10
http://www.noripcord.com/reviews/music/beyonc%C3%A9/4
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Member Since: 9/7/2010
Posts: 28,471
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Member Since: 5/28/2010
Posts: 29,225
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Quote:
Originally posted by DG1
Beyoncé may be an R&B singer but she is judged by the same criteria as pop tarts like Katy Perry, Rihanna and (former cohort) Lady Gaga. The sound of 80s and 90s soul is prevalent on 4, but instead of presenting a modern take on these sounds, the tendency is to veer into pastiche which, by its very nature, is presenting nothing modern. Where this album should be fresh and current, it sounds tired, repetitive and uninspired. Beyoncé is fortunate that the pull of her star power is probably enough to sell this record on its own. She must be thanking her lucky stars for her headlining slot at Glastonbury which cleverly glossed over the fact that 4 is that rare thing: an R&B album with no soul.
18 July, 2011 - 08:05 — Gary McGinley
RATING: 2/10
http://www.noripcord.com/reviews/music/beyonc%C3%A9/4 |
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Member Since: 9/7/2010
Posts: 28,471
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Member Since: 5/7/2009
Posts: 53,753
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the Uk again
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Member Since: 9/7/2010
Posts: 28,471
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Quote:
Originally posted by Kisuke
the Uk again |
Yep  Metacritic should ban them.
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Member Since: 11/19/2009
Posts: 1,524
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Quote:
Originally posted by DG1
No Ripcord (UK) - Beyoncé '4' Album Review
..... it’s amazing how enthralling it can be to watch someone strut around the stage without even attempting to pretend to sing whilst their own voice plays blatantly in the background....
..... As the natural heir to Diana Ross’ diva posturing – and no stranger to girl-group infighting or allegations of plagiarism – Beyoncé has carved a niche for herself an R&B singer with a huge pop audience. ...
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I see them.
And DEATH @ them saying Best Thing I Never Had is one of the best on the album. It's probably LEAST exciting track on there.
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Member Since: 10/29/2010
Posts: 29,249
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We remain unbothered. Score will still remain in 70s. May only go down 1 pt or remain the same depending on the weighting they have... And they got an 80 and 70 to add.
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Member Since: 9/7/2010
Posts: 28,471
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Quote:
Originally posted by DG1
We remain unbothered. Score will still remain in 70s. May only go down 1 pt or remain the same depending on the weighting they have... And they got an 80 and 70 to add.
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Good then.
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Member Since: 8/23/2010
Posts: 16,089
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These UK critics really don't get it. And how can people say BTINH is the best song on the album. That's madness it is like the other UK critic that said RTW was the best song there, they just don't get it. 
And here I wanted her score to go up.
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Member Since: 8/2/2010
Posts: 517
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Quote:
Originally posted by DG1
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LOOOL a mess! probably the worst review I have read for 4. 2/10?! Atleast the score won't go down too much 
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