From CNN: Review: Beyoncé's '4'By Adam Markovitz, EW.com

[jobeterob]

Viadeo
Review: Beyoncé's '4'By Adam Markovitz, EW.com
June 28, 2011 -- Updated 1334 GMT [[2134 HKT)
Over the course of three previous records, Beyoncé has matured into a formidable solo hitmaker on her newest album "4."STORY HIGHLIGHTS
The album's first half is full of conflicting ambitions, resulting in a sleepy recital of ballads
Vocally, she's never sounded better, but the songs aren't Beyoncé's equal
The singer is at her best when she sounds like no one but herself, such as in "Countdown"
[[EW.com) -- If show business were high school [[and isn't it, really?), Beyoncé would be a front-runner for valedictorian.

She's a class act on and off the charts, a can-do girl who shares her gifts with everyone while keeping her beyond-fabulous life -- the Obamas on speed dial, Jay-Z at the dinner table -- largely to herself.

Over the course of her three previous records, she's matured from Destiny's Child-hood into a formidable solo hitmaker with two of pop music's most transcendent chart-toppers, ''Crazy in Love'' and ''Single Ladies,'' tucked in the pocket of her Deréon jeans.

So why does it feel like Beyoncé is struggling so hard to prove herself on "4?" The album is an every-song-for-itself welter of conflicting ambitions: It wants to be cutting-edge but familiar, accessible but artistic, hot-blooded but strictly impersonal.

Those tensions hurt most in its lumbering first half, a defiant bird flipped at anyone expecting out-of-the-box radio killers. Instead, we get a sleepy recital of ballads, kicked off by the arid Prince-ipality of ''1+1'' and ''I Miss You,'' in which Bey pants and sweats and grunts [[except, you know, sexy-like), her voice climbing ever higher in search of an octave big enough to hold it.



Beyonce: 'Love is my foundation'
RELATED TOPICS
Beyonce Knowles
Kanye West
Jay-Z
Music
"I don't know much about guns/But I, I've been shot by you,'' she yelps on ''1+1,'' as if the love bullet were actually breaking skin. Vocally, she's never sounded better -- throaty and precise -- but the songs here just aren't her equal.

While those efforts at least aim high, a few of "4"'s lesser tracks feel like they were unsuccessfully bred in studio captivity for mass consumption. The familiar lite-FM bombast of ''Best Thing I Never Had'' proves her 2006 hit ''Irreplaceable'' is just that.

''I Was Here,'' co-written by Diane Warren, reaches Lifetime-movie levels of schmaltz, while the promisingly named ''Party,'' featuring Kanye and Andre 3000, turns out to be a slow-jam invitation to an after-work mixer with light refreshments.

And when the 29 year old mimics Luther Vandross and Diana Ross on the charmingly goofy one-two of ''Love on Top'' and ''Rather Die Young,'' she gets lost in her idols' polyester-swathed shadows.

Unsurprisingly, Beyoncé is at her best when she sounds like no one but herself. She takes her trusty freakum dress out of mothballs for the marching-band funk of ''Countdown,'' which includes such joy-inducing non-lyrics as ''Me and my boof, and my boof boof riding.''

On ''Run the World [[Girls),'' the first single off the disc, she turns cheesy postfeminism into a martial foot-stomper that crackles like a burst of pirate-radio agitpop. [[It bombed accordingly on the mainstream charts.)

And the terrific ''End of Time'' seethes with off-balance harmonies, MJ-style "Off the Wall" horns and a bionic Bo Diddley beat, all while Bey howls her eternal love to everyone and no one in particular.

It's exactly the kind of genre-busting risk that few other current pop stars would even attempt, let alone pull off flawlessly with a no-big-thing shrug. With more moments like that, "4" might have been an album fully worthy of her talent. As it is, though, even star students get the occasional B.

[carlo]

Rob, did you purchase this album? What did you think of it?

[jobeterob]

Carlo, I struggled to buy Let Yourself Go. And I'm liking Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits a lot again. And I think you know I admire Beyonce in many ways; she is the lady following Diana and Whitney. But I dont own a Beyonce album; my kids had to tell me how to pronounce her name. So, I'm not really into the new crop.

But I admire her business sense and how she conducts herself. But she isn't much of an actress; Jennifer Hudson and Diana were far superior.

You probably know the CD?? What do you think? It seems the first single didn't do that well and the reviews are so-so. But I laugh at the idea that it wont be a hit. Beyonce is already beyond being about her last hit record.

[carlo]

I too admire Beyonce'. I like some of her music. When I had initially heard the first single from this new album, "Girls Who Run the World", I didn't really like it. But it has grown on me.

Have you seen the movie "Cadillac Records"? Beyonce' does a superb job in that movie in her portrayal of Etta James.

[glencro]

I've heard some of the cd [[about 5 songs) and wasn't impressed. The first single I still don't like but the video is on fire. I too admire her for her business sense and CAN'T NOBOBY [[yeah, it's a double negative lol) shake it on stage like her but this one will have to grow on me. Now that B DAY cd. I only purchased because I'm a photographer and it's good upbeat music for photo shoots but that's a hot cd. Every artist has their highs and lows. If this one doesn't fly, hey it's just a part of the business.

[jobeterob]

I wonder why she would release such a CD, when it appears to be fairly clear that it isn't going for the mainstream. Maybe she's tired of her regular music???