Album Review: Beyonce - 'I Am...Sasha Fierce'

Today, marks the release of Beyonce's third solo album, 'I Am...Sasha Fierce, a double disc which is an effort to show the differentiates of the singer's two personalities: Beyonce and Sasha Fierce.

The first disc, 'I Am', is a laid back, ballad heavy arrangement, that relies of the singer' voice rather than the use of polished production or ear-catching beats. Shown most efficiently in the lead single, 'If I Were A Boy', which is a gender reversing ballad right up the alley with Ciara's 'Like A Boy', but unlike Ciara, Beyonce takes control of the poppy ballad with a fiery emotion that almost sounds like she's on the verge of breaking down into tears, something Ciara doesn't have the skill or vocal ability to express. Lyrically, conceptually, and musically, its one of the better cuts and given the demo, originally sung by BC Jean, didn't particularly showcase a song one might picture for Beyonce, it obviously worked in her favor.

'Halo', a song originally intended for X Factor champion Leona Lewis, was crafted by One Republic's frontman Ryan Tedder, and showcases the singer's vocal delivery as she manages to sing the track with ease and passion, instead of her usually hooping and hollering. Leona Lewis, who stated she turned down the track because she didn't feel it would compliment her voice, actually hit the nail straight on the head, as Beyonce's voice gives the track a little more edge that probably wouldn't be evident in hers.

Other tracks on the grounds of solid include: the Tricky Stewart and The Dream-assisted 'Smash Into You', which is a complete winner, the beautifully sung 'Ave Maria', which samples opera singer Charles Aznavour, 'Satellites', and 'That's Why You're Beautiful', which takes a slight rock edge.

The disc doesn't particularly house any bad songs, but the set also sees Beyonce rarely reaching greatness, only coming close twice in the form of 'Halo' and 'Smash Into You'. A bulk of the songs are growers ('Disappear', 'Broken-Hearted Girl', and even some of the previously mentioned), and often come across boring, stale, and furthermore, snooze worthy.

The second disc, 'Sasha Fierce', introduces the singer's stage persona with a collection of catchy upbeat dance numbers, placing the emphasis less on her voice and more so on the uptempo dance moves, she plans to help sell the set.

The set's lead single, 'Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)', was definitely propelled by the singer's promotional team using the song as nothing more than a publicity stunt, in reference to her recent marriage to Jay-Z, and the video's brainwashing dance moves that easily have you in front of the screen trying to manipulate her actions. Smart move by her team and really the only song that could actually carry the set as a opener, although its basically a production rip off of the singer's previous hit 'Get Me Bodied'.

'Radio', is a techo, synthesized instrument filled wonder, while 'Ego', sees the singer talking in a Etta James influenced intro, while subliminally referencing to her man's endowment, as she chimes:

"Its too big, its too wide, its too strong, it won't fit, its too much, its too tough"

The Rodney ‘Darkchild’ Jerkins produced, 'Scared of Lonely', is another standout that has nice and slick production.

'Diva', starts off the rubbish portion of the set, as the track takes a strong resemblance to Lil' Wayne's recent hit 'A Milli, and showcases the singer trying her take at sounding hood and undoubtedly failing. That said, just like 'A Milli', the masses will no doubly eat up the sub par song. 'Video Phone', contains lyrics meant to be up the alley of sexy, which is ignited by the way the singer talks the song, sexy maybe, but that doesn't keep the song from being any less impressive.

The Sasha portion as a whole just fails to amuse, in fact its more Fizzle than Fierce, as there are no signs of a 'Crazy In Love' or even a 'Deja Vu', songs that were consistently strong and still hard hitting infectious upbeat jams.

Overall, the album is far from stellar, but the Beyonce portion is definitely the strongest set musically and lyrically. The singer's voice, also comes across often as she's singing through her nose and reaching to hit notes that efficiently showcase her struggling. Truth be told, she's not as a great of a singer as she would like you to believe, she's good and her voice is very versatile, meaning she can attack a track, ballad or uptempo, in a way her competitors have yet to figure out. That said, with the likes of Rihanna and Ciara pumping out tracks, she definitely vocally outshines them.

Furthermore, although Mariah Carey's 'E=MC2', Alicia Keys' 'As I Am', and even Ashanti's 'The Declaration', were all far better efforts, this sub par album will undoubtedly, if promoted like her previous efforts, propel her back to the top.

'I Am' (3 Stars)/'Sasha Fierce' (2 stars)
2.5 out of 5