PREFIX MAGAZINE BEST ALBUMS OF 2011:
48. Beyonce: 4
2011, at times, seemed like the Year of Beyoncé, 12 months full of testaments to her all-encompassing cultural penetration: the GIF ubiquity, the pregnancy hysteria, the lavish music videos. In the midst of all this media noise, it's easy to forget that 4 represents Bey's finest and most cohesive album to date, juggling mature meditations on love and legacy with ecstatic, effervescent pop. 4 is the rare pop album to which the descriptor "graceful" can be applied; it proves that getting older does not guarantee becoming boring, and that it's possible to love passionately without compromising the spark that defines you. —Jamieson Cox
http://www.prefixmag.com/features/be...1-50-41/59573/