No, I have no interest in the videos either and yes, I have enormously little sympathy for her deep inside Beyonce consciousness raising the pains of womanhood stuff, and yes, I am sick of the techno hip hop slash and dash production every pop star uses nowadays, and it is still a terrific album.
Why is Beyonce a great album? Because the songs are real songs and the real songs are great. “XO” and “Superpowers” are two of the best songs of the year, “Mine” uses Drake to perfect effect, “No Angel” -what a vocal on that one, what the hell is that, contralto?
Song for song, Beyonce never falters, no filler, nothing not perfect in every single way. Nothing overpowers you (though “XO” is her best song since “1+1” if not “Irreplaceable”) and nothing smashes out the way “Crazy In Love” did but for all its lowkey new r&b vibe, it is still anthemic and irresistable.
I was disappointed with the “Mrs. Carter World Tour” concert, too much self congratulation, too big and noisy, it is like she didn’t trust herself enough, though maybe it was like at those prices she wanted to give the punters their money worth: I thought it felt a little too hard a sell. But if the show was, this album, despite all the videos, isn’t. It gets the balance exactly right and the result is stuff like the transition from “Jealous” tp “Partition” to “Jealous” -all three songs are mood pieces, deep album mid point fatigue songs, but all three are exceptional, they are really felt really gorgeous, it pays off “I’m in the kitchen naked” with “pretty girl you can’t survive like this”, and your ear keeps on perking up.
The sound is obvious except she maintains such control over it, it remains rooted in the earth the way “Mrs. Carter” doesn’t; it manages to be as deeply personal a work as she can make and still a huge huge thing. Only two songs I’m not certain about “***Flawless” and “Blue” -but neither of em are bad, they both work fine in the long run.
As the name suggest it is a self portrait of sorts, Beyonce attempts to balance her insecurities as a woman with her securities as a woman, her refusal to compromise her and willingness to share that with an audience (not me: wrong fantasy). All good but all meaningless to a degree, the truth is Beyonce is beautiful as such and even when she sheds her makeup as though we are supposed to believe she is shedding a mask, she is still stunningly attractive.
And nobody would care, I certainly wouldn’t in the songs weren’t such wonderful things.