Maybe it’s because Beyonce was feeling light-headed from her vegan diet. Maybe she was just running out of stunts after all of her meat-themed clothing. Or maybe Beyonce is just mad that she was only nominated for one Grammy this year, as part of a collaboration with her husband. Whatever it was, Beyonce decided to drop her new album on iTunes at midnight and now the world is all “QUEEN B!” What’s interesting to me at least is that this is the album Beyonce has been working on for the better part of a year and a half. Word is that she scrapped nearly everything she had recorded earlier this year and started over because she wants this album (the album is called BEYONCE) to be her big comeback.
Beyoncé has created a holiday frenzy – delighting fans by announcing a surprise new album just before midnight Friday, then secretly releasing it immediately after the announcement.
With 14 songs and 17 videos and collaborators such as Jay Z, Drake and Frank Ocean, the self-titled album also features on its closing track, “Blue,” performed by Beyoncé with daughter Blue Ivy.
“I see music,” Beyoncé said in a video announcement on her Facebook page. “It’s more than just what I hear. When I’m connected to something, I immediately see a visual or a series of images that are tied to a feeling or an emotion, a memory from my childhood, thoughts about life, my dreams or my fantasies. And they’re all connected to the music.”
Inspiration for the new work, she says, came from watching Michael Jackson reveal his landmark Thriller album in the ’80s.
“I miss that immersive experience,” she says. “Now people only listen to a few seconds of song on the iPods and they don’t really invest in the whole experience. It’s all about the single, and the hype. It’s so much that gets between the music and the art and the fans. I felt like, I don’t want anybody to get the message, when my record is coming out. I just want this to come out when it’s ready and from me to my fans.”
This is her fifth studio album and first since 4 two years ago. The new album is released exclusively on iTunes.
“It’s all about the single, and the hype. It’s so much that gets between the music and the art and the fans.” I feel like this is a pointed criticism, specifically at Lady Gaga. But it could easily be about Katy Perry too, I guess. Both Katy and Gaga released their albums a few months ago, and Katy “won” with how she released Prism and Gaga “lost” because she over-hyped and badly managed the release of ARTPOP. Beyonce’s gamble is that people love her so much they’re going to be crazy-excited for her album with little to no advance publicity. Will it work out?
Beyonce also released a ton of “teasers” for the songs. I’m including a few below.
Photos courtesy of Beyonce’s Tumblr, WENN.
This is as calculated as the other artists planning months in advance of promotion.
Duh
They have been dropping hints on the urban blogs for weeks. Last one I read was the “Beyonce’s album is genius…if she ever gets around to releasing it.” this was totally plannned like everything else.
Lol this whole entire sound is prolly an “Homage” to the last two albums From the Weeknd…which naturally are far superior but less known!
I agree wholeheartedly. This album is the ANTI-GAGA record. Whereas Gaga releases are hyped heavily months in advance of their release with grand proclamations like “album of the year/decade” before the first single is even heard, this album was deployed in the complete vacuum of silence. Gaga, by setting everyone’s expectations too high, has royally disappointed the critics and fans. Unlike the high expectations with Artpop, Beyonce’s album has no preset pedestals from which to fall. As a marketing strategy, this is a brilliant move that runs counter to all of the online, social media hype that is so commonplace these days. Buzz is only buzz if the music fails to delivery. Of course, only an artist with a stature like Beyonce, who commands such brand presence, would dare be allowed this surprise option by a record label.
No doubt… but in my mind that doesn’t lessen the impact of it.
This approach is pretty refreshing after coming out of a season of never ending pre-promotional roll outs from the likes of Miley, Kanye, 1D, Perry and worse of all Gaga.
Singles come out months before the actual albums and in between it is a never ending parade of drops and leaks.. FFS these pop artists are even releasing cover art months in advance as part of promotion.
I don’t know if I will buy Beyonce’s album but I do want to thank her for not subjecting us to her for months on end.
Totally agree with u .. but i will not buy. 🙂
I agree with everything you’ve said and i’ve always thought that if you made good music you wouldn’t have to promote a single for months at a time.
I want to thank Beyonce too.
yep but I’m sure the label didn’t spend 20+ millions on mindless promotion
No shit?
Yeah, that’s why it works so well. Her fans are doing the promo for her.
Hmmm Friday the 13th release date. Could it have something to do with her having a pact with …[pause]… SATAN?!?!? [echo]
Actually she and her husband are into numerology and they are both up SAST with the number four. So with Friday being the 13th it is a one +3 equals four situation.
I prefer my explanation
I prefer your explanation too, MonkSolo! Bey and Jay are always trolling and throwing the ‘Pyramid’ sign, and it is known that Sasha Fierce is her demonic inhabitant. Bwahahaha!
Thank you. This wasn’t some spur of the moment thing.She is as over hyped as her pop counter parts. She and her husband are beyond annoying.
Couldn’t agree more. If I never heard or read about Sasha Fierce Yonce Diddy again I’d be good with that 😉
It’s genius. People are going to be so surprised they will go download right away without a second thought. Hell, I’m excited and I don’t even buy music.
Beyonce is EVERYTHING. Sh*tting on the lives of these lesser and these bitches will DEAL. I am SO VERY HERE for this next era of her music domination.
Meh, you might want to listen to every clip on iTunes first, as there is a whole ton of production on there, and not one single killer hook or memorable melody on ANY of the tracks.
I would rather have ONE new Crazy in Love or Single Ladies than a whole album’s worth of bland mediocrity…
I really liked her when she was with Destiny’s Child and in her early days as a solo artist. Now I can’t stand her. Her songs suck. Like you said, they are just bland mediocrity…plus she’s got so unbelievably narcissistic, ugh!
Shhhhhh! Don’t upset the stans!
Isn’t it interesting though that Beyoncé is such a huge star and yet, whenever you think about her songs, only two come to mind: Crazy in love and Single ladies.
And that’s it. She doesn’t have twenty huge hits, just those two.
Finally some sense! I agree!
From the bits I ‘ve heard, it’s awful !
You obviously didn’t hear Partition or Mine. I’m not even a big Beyonce fan but theyre catcheeee. Muct better than Crazy In Love (never got into that song..)
I can’t stand beyonce. She is far too impressed with herself for medicore music
@Matia
I’m with you gurl! She could put out a masterpiece and I still wouldn’t buy it.
Yep
I am stunned by her enormous feet!
I am stunned that she definitely had a liposuction of her tighs! Looks so unnatural!
either that or a good photoshop brush!
liposuction? girl please
Why does it matter if she’s had liposuction or not?
I’ll answer that: it doesn’t.
Her artifice is overwhelming her talent.
I’m no big fan of hers but I thought this was pretty cool, I’m not 100% confident about how it will fare on the charts, it will definitely do better than Britney Jean (which isn’t saying much) but Bey has a pretty dedicated fan base so it just might top Katy/Gaga/Miley.
The songs and videos are above and beyond anything Beyonce has ever done, the quality is exceptional, the songwriting, direction, and production are top-notch. If you are a pop artist, this is how you do “art”. This album seems to be already winning with critics and fans alike, something so uncommon these days. Again, I’m judging Beyonce against Beyonce.
Now that we got that out of the way, I don’t know if it was a shakedown, soul-searching, or just plain good ole’ strategizing, but Beyonce has one of the best and most creative teams in the music business.
It’s not the lack of promotion that impresses me (there is a promotion even when it can’t be seen) because anything from Beyonce is bound to get an insane amount of attention; it’s the fact that her team masterminded this album release and its production and somehow were miraculously able to keep it under wraps with no leaks, rumors, or gossip. Naturally, Beyonce will get all the credits but I just hope they get a huge paycut.
+1 I bought it this morning and it’s not putting me to sleep like Katy’s and Gaga’s did and it’s not as underwhelming as Britney’s.
And yup, it’s AMAZING that nothing leaked. Props to her and her team tbh.
You nailed it.
I’m not the biggest Bey fan but I checked out the videos that have leaked and I like the rhythm of her sound.
Her songs are more explicit, the beats more R&B than pop (thank goodness), and you can tell she’s come into her own as a woman.
I like it, which coming from me, is saying something because I’m rarely the one to give her props for music (I do think she’s a talented entertainer and beautiful tho).
ALL of this.
there was small talk of her keeping a space in the 4th quarter open to release something. but to do it on a thursday!!!??? with videos accompanying each song!!!??? is big.
THIS is “ARTPOP”.
How awesome that she included excerpts of the book by Chimamanda Adichie about feminism. I cant wait to get my hands on this album
I downloaded the album right away and I am beyond impressed. I admit, I am a fan of hers so I am predisposed to like it but I think this is for sure her best work.
Each track has a totally different vibe, the lyrics are personal, and the entire concept of the album is genius.
My only criticism is that I don’t find any of the tracks to be as catchy as something like, “single ladies” but the album as a whole is better then anything she has put out before.
I remember reading an article on Bossip(?) a few months ago about how she was secretly planning to release an album at the end of this year to “blow Katy Perry’s, Gaga’s and Britney’s out of the water”.
Anyone wanna sit through 17 videos and let me know how mind-blowing they are so I don’t have to…
It definitely worked out for her, this is all tumblr, twitter and instagram could talk about last night and even now. She even sit down iTunes for a while because so many people were buying it. This whole thing is technically even more planned out then how other artists have released their albums but with singers like Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry all they talk about is their “art” and how their music is the most important thing but the months leading up to the album releases are filled with publicity stunts that everyone can see through that actually take away from their songs.
Beyonce’s album is actually thaaaat good and the music videos that go along with the songs are some of the best ones she’s ever done. I also heard that the story that she scrapped her album was purposefully planted to throw everyone off and be super unprepared for this album. Which makes sense since some of these videos were clearly filmed last year/early this year.
Mine, XO and Blue are my favourites on the album. I also love flawless, I wonder how all those people screaming about how mysogynistic Bow Down was feel now?!
btw did anyone else see the joke that this was all planned by Kanye to be released on Taylor’s birthday to steal her thunder? LOL
The Jury is still out on how many people actually bought the album. I guess we will know by next week. If she sells more than 300k she will have the biggest opening week for a female artist this year. Not so newsworthy since that’s a pittance compared to the boys this year.. Justin 958k, Eminem 792k, Drake 658k. Now if she breaks Taylor Swift’s opening week number 1.2 mil. That’s HUGE.. I’ll give her props
Yes, she didn’t promote her album the traditional way but, to say her record label didn’t spend money that ridiculous since she created 17 videos… that alone is probably $10-20 mil. It all could backfire.
Is it just me or her music isn’t as good as it used to be? I’m not saying that it is crap; I just don’t like the new stuff as much as some of her older hits.
I do agree with the above poster that this is a calculated move. You have to buy the entire CD to listen to the songs. I guess she knows that this is the only sure way to make sales because her last CD didn’t perform that well.
Ugh, replied to the wrong post.
I agree with you about the first part. I watched the Deja Vu video the other day and I miss that Beyonce. She showed up at the Superbowl, but she hasn’t had a great single/video in years.
After sitting down and listening to all of the previews and watching all of the video clips I’m eating my words and taking this comment back 🙂
“I do agree with the above poster that this is a calculated move. You have to buy the entire CD to listen to the songs. I guess she knows that this is the only sure way to make sales because her last CD didn’t perform that well. ”
This totally….because she doesn’t have enough millions as it is. She’s basically forcing her fans to buy the whole record. As someone who prefers to buy individual songs, I think that sucks. Then again, I’ve never bought a Beyoncé album and never will so I guess it doesn’t affect me.
Buying the whole album is a SMART move. She was able to release a new album with NO LEAKS. How rich she is already is irrelevant, she is NOT a charity, this is her JOB. of course she wants you to buy more. How is that calculated?
On the flip side, the option to buy singles will be made available by the 20th-i think she wanted to do something special fir the fans (they’re a dedicated-to be nice-lot).
I’ll stick to tumblr and YT for now until spotify has it, lol
Is it the same price per song in buying the whole CD as it is to purchase a single? I would have thought buying piecemeal would cost more. I haven’t listened to it yet, but I do like a lot of her music.
As an aside, that patterned bathing suit bottom is strange.
@Mabooski-
Um, how is it NOT calculated???
—-“done with full awareness of the consequences”.
Yep, forcing your fans to buy the full album for $15.99 instead of allowing the option for people to buy individual songs is intentional. Not sure how you could argue with that. As I said, I don’t listen to her music so what you and her stans spend on it really doesn’t affect me. If it was an artist I liked, I’d be disappointed though. As I said, I prefer to buy individual songs.
*shrugs*
Just my opinion.
EDIT: Maria-I think it’s good that she’ll eventually allow for fans to buy songs individually. By then, most of her hard core fans will have probably purchased the full album anyway.
@mabooski
It’s calculated because she knows her die hard fans wouldn’t wait for a single to be released (if she even decides to release singles) they would buy it as soon as it hit Itunes. Bey knows that nowadays most people don’t buy entire CD’s, they just download the songs they like or buy the single. She’s forcing people who wants to hear her music to buy the Album if they want to hear anything new from her as oppose to waiting for radio play. Buying the album will increase her sales; it is a calculated move.
Like Kitten, I have never brought a Beyonce CD. If I want to hear her music I will just go to Pandora or YouTube.
I love love love this move, and from what I hear, this album is phenomenal. I hate this current trend of artists releasing singles. Remember the time when artists actually released full albums and you could not wait to get your hands on them. Remember the anticipation and sheer joy of buying a Micheal Jackson album. What we have these days are artists releasing singles and crappy albums filled with fillers. I cant wait to get my hands on this album.
well, Prince has used many strategies that do not allow for ‘casual fans’ like myself to even hear his music or videos unless I buy the whole album. Cannot even access his website without paying money….
which I will not do. He’s talented but not that important to me…
So while this is obviously ‘calculated’ (it’s not like they can just release all of this on a whim), I don’t think calculated means manipulative. And I do think Beyonce had an artistic vision for this [ie, mentioning Thriller as the inspiration though of course this will create a connection in people’s minds and set up more hype). Today’s pop artists cannot be separated from the constant digital presence….Thriller is a true work of art, as is much of Prince’s work-and those artists truly wanted to create and share at a different level than Bey, who is more interested in adulation first, artistry second. Even Madonna,, while absolutely about attention, was able to operate before all of the 24/7 coverage, and so created some pieces (lesser known) based on her own artistic inspirations/aspirations. Beyonce is a talented entertainer, for sure. I think her best work is yet to come, and I am not even a fan. I do think she will tire of this superficial level and eventually dig a little deeper as she matures. Perhaps I am overly optimistic (or delusional!) hah.
“Remember the anticipation and sheer joy of buying a Micheal Jackson album.” I remember those feelings, only I was 15 and waiting for the next Elton John album.
@lady d , I love Elton’s early work and will still listen to that stuff cause it is that good. If you have never heard Mary J Blige’s version of “sorry seems to be the hardest word” give the performance a view on you tube. She is one of the few that I think rivals Elton’s own interpretation. As to that music lovers in general and Elton and Mary fans in particular should give it a whirl. Love to know if anyone else agrees with me.
@Tulip: Just checked it out. One of her best performances, in my opinion. She was living those lyrics. Amazing!
Thanks for the tip Tulip Garden. That was an awesome performance.
I also listen to old Elton John occasionally. One of my favorite albums was Capt. Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy. I literally wore that record out.
There is nothing on this new album that’s half as catchy as her older hits, IMO. There aren’t a lot of hooks.
Tulip Garden remember when Stevie Wonder and Elton John used to go head to head at the Grammys? Now those were the days. Remember the days when radio would play 5-6 songs of an artists LP?
@Vreal
No it’s not just you.. Her music is crappy of late. I was a big fan of Beyoncé until she started opening her mouth. Her father had her under control.
It’s interesting how the older R&;B divas never gives her props. Yet, they give it to Mariah. Patti Labelle loves Mariah. Even Ne-yo had to call her out for trying to take full writing credit of a song he wrote “Irreplaceable”. I noticed he hasn’t written anything for her since.
@CS, now Jay Z and his camp is in control.
She should have just called the album, ‘Helplessly in love with myself’. Only a narcissist like Beyonce would release 17 music videos all about Beyonce in one day. I’m surprised she didn’t petition the state of New York to legally have December 13th changed to Beyonce Day for her album release. Now Kanye is going to pressure Kim to put out 18 sex videos in one day, just to top Beyonce.
Who is beyonce going to sing about besides Beyonce? Who ELSE is gonna be in her videos? You tried.
@TeresaGuidice
LMFAO..
LOL! Nailed it!
Quantity over quality seems to be what she’s aiming for. I’ll bet there’s only two or three good songs on it.
Really love the first video can anyone ID the place? Is that Puerto Rico?
Looks like Brazil.
I heard clips of the songs on Youtube and none of them did anything for me.
I watched the snippet for “Drunk in Love” and Beyonce should have rocked the bob a bit longer, it was a good look I think. I kind of like that there wasn’t a whole lot of press leading up to it and she just decided to drop it. It’s calculated yes, hopefully it pays off for her.
As for the single comment, I don’t think she was shading anyone other than making a statement of fact. How often does the public buy the entire CD anymore? A lot of artists like their albums to be cohesive so I guess buying the singles may cheapen the effect? Maybe I’m wrong but that’s my take.
What on earth does “This is her fifth studio album and first since 4 two years ago.” mean?!
Aha, I just figured it out. Man, I was having a major brainfart with that line!
Her fourth album was called ‘4’.
http://www19.zippyshare.com/v/11850649/file.html
Well, she is in that league, she can do it.
May I say that I find her granny swimsuit really ugly
It’s terrible. It looks like she’s wearing pull-ups. And I say that as someone who usually likes the old-style full-cut bottoms. Those, though are just…
Has it something to do with the fact that a few months ago David Bowie managed to launch a new album at the absolute surprise of everybody?
I mean every media praised the fact, that in this day and age, a superstar could work in total secrecy if he really wanted it, no leaking music , no endless teasing, snippets, trailers or whatever you call them. Bowie topped the UK charts, got his best sales in years and is nominated for 2 (3?) Grammies.
I’m sure some brains in her team found that so cool and so new, and decided to try something in the same style. But obviously Bowie spared us the partial pictures of his daughter (bad marketing move, David).
Exactly what I was thinking. Bowie did it first (and better, imo) since it was such a surprise. I give her points for not hyping the hell out of her album before releasing it, though.
Exactly. This is the only place to get negative comments. I’m sorry but I can’t shit on this girl. She didn’t saturate the media with her album hype. She quietly released it and everyone else is doing the talking. But this is the only place that it comes with hate. I just can’t. Billboard boss on twitter said the album is great and he ‘feels bad for other pop stars’ I guess that’s something. I usually think kaiser is funny with her snarky writings but this time its just… Well I don’t have a name for it. That’s being said. The album is great. Every song on it is how pop is done. I know y’all don’t dig beyonce
RIGHT?! SO MANY SALTY TEARS being shed on this site. Like Beyonce didnt just drop one of the best an biggest surprises of 2013.
LOOOOOOOVE IT!
Seriously! Why is there so much vitriol for her on this website?
In general it seems like the least disliked female pop stars here are Pink and Britney, but with Britney I think it’s more about sympathy. But yeah, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, and Katy Perry would all be in the more disliked categories. Selena is somewhere in the middle.
+100000000
I’M WITH YOU GIRLS!!!!!! THIS WAS A FLAWLESS MOVE
how can people be so grouchy about the no marketing strategy! effin BRILLIANT. and the album/videos are GORGEOUS. Haunted, Mine, XO, Blue, Flawless, Partition… so good
Exactly. This is the only place to get negative comments. I’m sorry but I can’t shit on this girl. She didn’t saturate the media with her album hype. She quietly released it and everyone else is doing the talking. But this is the only place that it comes with hate. I just can’t. Billboard boss on twitter said the album is great and he ‘feels bad for other pop stars’ I guess that’s something. I usually think kaiser is funny with her snarky writings but this time its just… Well I don’t have a name for it. That’s being said. The album is great. Every song on it is how pop is done. I know y’all don’t dig beyonce but I’m happy for her
I get what you means about her not saturating the media with hype, and I just think she’s one of those few celebs on here that people in general don’t seem to like – half of the reasons are valid and then the other part of it is just that once you really don’t like someone, nothing they do is good enough. Kate Middleton is another good example.
I enjoyed her last album. I’m looking forward to this album if it’s R&B flavored.
Still better than That Cyrus
I haven’t listened yet but I am so freakin EXCITED!!! It was like waking up to Christmas morn. I love how she made a video for every song too. It reminds me of B’day and I loved that album so much.
I’ve never really been a fan of Beyonce (a few songs here and there) but i clicked on those two song snippets and i’m intrigued. I think her new album is going to be more R&B-oriented, which is something i greatly enjoy so i’m about 80% sure i’ll get this album. She also released music videos to ALL her songs, and just a heads up, this is apparently only part one of her album so there is more to come.
I think this surprise release thing is just as calculated a move as Gaga’s ARTPOP, except it’s actually clever. Gaga over saturated the market with her antics for years before ARTPOP was released and when the album finally dropped, it was mediocre and people were already tired of her gimmicks. It didn’t help that she kept pushing her ARTPOP concept like it was some divine gift from the Gods. I’m gonna have to give props to Beyonce for this one. This was really a smart move by her and her team.
Agreed. I bought and listened to some songs this music and they are good. And I am sorry but Beyonce does rock it, you can find her pretentious or full of herself but girl always gives a great concert and her videos on this one are awesome. If Gaga, Miley, and Katy would just stop pushing themselves on people so much they would be better off. I can’t even take listening to Wrecking Ball anymore, anytime it comes on I change the radio and grimace. Katy ripped off Roar from Brave and it sucks as a song. Gaga’s songs so far for me have been pretty meh.
I think it’s sweet she made a song for her daughter and a little teaser video to go with it but…what does children twerking and thong bathing suits have to do with anything? I’m not saying it has to be all Beyonce and and Blue but that’s just weird.
I think it’s kind of cool that she released the album as a surprise and no publicity in advance. Sure, this was calculated and very well-planned, but I do like this strategy.
Fans are going crazy over the new album, the media is talking about her, she won.
As for the photos she released to promote the “visual album”, she looks gorgeous. I love that photo of her laughing. She looks great and natural there.
Exact
The only problem with releasing like this is that you are at the mercy of current events – if something news worthy had happened B would have been blown off the media-radar. Luckily for her it didn’t. And it’ll still be costing $$$$ – the usual promo stuff will be in place, just at different times.
It’s also unusual for a singles-driven artist like her to go album first – it will cost her sales as it’s then hard to build a radio-driven strategy around the singles. But I guess she doesn’t care.
I’ll be interested to see how this does & what strategies her team come up with to keep it alive. These days a week’s worth of album sales = dropping like a stone so longevity is key – even if it pisses off non-fans.
I think it’s kind of clever, though, since overall album sales for other artists have been low. This forces people to buy the entire album rather than just a single, so her first week sales will likely blow everyone else’s out of the water.
and I LOVE it!!!
My homegirl Bey did THAT
Bow Down
Bow Down? I hate that saying, and I hate that THEY are the ones who say it also. She isn’t a queen, she doesn’t do anything of importance besides sing and dance and tell us how great she is. I like her songs, but when people lose their humility to their fame you’ve lost my respect. And Beyoncé and Jay Z have done that.
Oh thank goodness someone else feels this way! I thought it was just me. Unless you are my Savior, I ain’t bowing down but you are welcome to try and get over yourself!
LOL
Well, she didn’t come up with it. David Bowie’s album came out of the blue. No one even knew he was recording an album. He did release a single first, though. That’s the difference. People knew Beyonce was recording, but not date or anything else. No one knew it was coming now. And, bam, out it comes. Justin Timberlake’s album was a total surprise, not a hint of an album until his first single, Suit and Tie.
I hate Gaga’s forever hyping her album. Miley’s seem to take forever, but the difference was she had two great singles that people loved.
I agree. It’s all about the singles anymore, not the album experience. By the time Gaga released her album she had performed half of it live a couple of times almost. To me, that really takes away from the experience of hearing the album fresh, not really knowing the album at all save a single or two.
I don’t really get the surprise, and the kudo’s for keeping everything locked down.
There were no leaks, but it seems like every week for months now a different producer or writer has done an interview talking about this album…this isn’t like Bowie’s album that just came out of nowhere, everyone knew it was coming out soon, it’s been hyped like crazy since before she even went in the studio. It’s just that Beyonce has let others do the talking for her. Plus she’s been touring…it’s not like she went away for a while and came back with a sudden bang. It’s a different approach to Gaga and Katy, but it’s not exactly re-inventing the wheel, lot’s of mainstream pop-stars have done the ‘surprise’ album drop since pirating and leaks became an issue.
Anyway on first listen I like it, it’s a little samey and a little over-produced in parts, but significantly better than her last two albums. This is the first Beyonce album that actually feels like an album for me, all the rest had so much filler, this actually feels like a proper, cohesive album.
True it was talked about and Bowie’s was a total shock. But no one expected this album I don’t think until much later in 2014, not even the beginning, plus to have a freakin’ video for every song is genius. Gaga was going to do a video for every song and nada, and they are still waiting for a video for her next single. LOL
I agree with this comment. I was wondering what the hell the she was going to do with all of that “scrapped” material that she’s had on the back burner for over a year. And it turns out she’s found the perfect way to unload it. Being that the reaction to “Grown Woman” wasn’t as great as she expected, she now gets the huge response she always wanted and all of her producers and collaborators get to see their work finally see the light of day. I can do nothing but applaud the woman.
I’m happy for that surprise release because i’m over Kimye, Miley and other ass hole fame whore. That will change for a week maybe ?! … =)
I don’t think this is especially calculated because I’m not sure that Beyonce is aiming for mainstream success. The album is very atmospheric hip hop/R&B–think Frank Ocean meets Ciara meets Kanye West. There are no Crazy in Loves or Single Ladies or any other overtly Top 40, radio-friendly “hits” on there (although this will slay the urban market). That being said, I think scrapping her material was a wise idea. I’ll be the first to admit that she’s a crazy narcissist (her documentary made me roll my eyes so hard they almost got stuck up in my head) but the album itself is fantastic. Not a clunker on there, IMO.
This is one of her best albums in my opinion. MUCH better than 4. Already getting good reviews from the critics who have gotten around to it….I know this site loves to shade Bey (come on, I love you all but you guys do have your biases), but this is pretty much getting universal adoration by both the media and the fans and good reviews to boot…so yeah, it definitely worked.
And Beyonce didn’t have any grammy nominations except the one with Jay because she didn’t release an album (4 was too early) in the time period to qualify for this year…so that was a ridiculous comment to make. I can see this doing very well at next year’s Grammy’s.
Me too and I already listened to some songs before work and yes they are much better than 4. And she put together an album that sounds great. Problem with singers like Miley, Gaga, and Katy they may may only have 2 great singles off an entire album. So after those songs get played out people move on. Remember buying a Michael Jackson album back in the day and you loved every song on it! I remember listening to all of his songs for hours. We don’t have artists that do that anymore.
Exactly, Beyonce is all about making enjoyable albums, not singles. Oh how I miss Michael.
We don’t have producers like Quincy Jones anymore, that is the true source of albums like MJ’s best.
I swear Beyonce is a living legend. She said she released this album for her fans and her fans love it! No matter what Bey does she will always be criticized. She knows that. The album will do well and bring a lot of joy to her fans so bitter people will always be bitter.
You don’t have to be bitter to be turned off by a celebrity who lacks humility. Her hubris overwhelms any urge for me to want to consider her art. It’s as off-putting as say, getting special permission to visit a communist country for your 5th wedding anniversary while the rest of America fights to keep their constitutional freedoms intact. Kinda bougie.
im sorry you believed that ish she doing it for you but you got to pay if it really was for you i would be free or yall get it b4 the world. && to get you further together the only ppl bitter about bey are the ppl she STEAL from. she wouldn’t originality if it walked and slapped her. oh honey i need you to go have several seats
I don’t have an opinion about any of this, and I’m neither a Beyonce fan nor a Beyonce hater, but I’m chiming in needlessly just to complain that the top photo is really gross.
lol kate. she dropped her album and her pants.
She’s now copying Solange. Snooze.
hahaha, my first thought:P
Now I really want to give it a listen!
Not that much of fan but this is the first Beyonce that I have LOVED. When it comes to Beyonce, I expect the shade and the hate but at some point you have to give credit where credit is due. You all would still be sitting there hating if she had a two month publicity campaign, no campaign and guess what? You are STILL sitting there hating. It’s lazy hating at that.
if only she could do the same to the many many many ppl she steals from oh sorry i mean inspired by
Meh.
Good idea not promoting it to death.
Interesting choice of date to release it.
I’m curious to listen and will download from a torrent site.
Yeah she picked Friday the 13th…very interesting as I know numbers are big with Beyonce…she does love the number 4 but she also likes adding numbers to equal 4…
so 13…let’s see…3 plus 1 equals 4…there you have it.
What are we supposed to give her credit for exactly? I’m genuinely asking here.
Is it because she released a “secret” album for her fans? I guess that’s….nice for her fans, who’ll all be excited to shell out $15.99.
I still don’t see how it’s something that we should be applauding her for, though. It’s just extremely clever marketing that’s going to make her a boatload of money-and good for her–smart move for sure. In fact, skipping the pre-release promotional crap is probably saving the record company a ton of dough AND driving up album sales just based on the surrounding hype alone.
You know what I applaud? When Radiohead gave away In Rainbows, their 2007 album FOR FREE. It was a really cool move that challenged the record company. But even then, it was calculated in the sense that people had to sign up to get it, thus making them a future target for marketing material. Also, free albums give the band more exposure and drive ticket sales.
I think people are being incredibly naïve thinking that this is some Big Gift to the fans-but that’s brilliant on the part of Bey for spinning it like that and getting her fans to actually believe it.
And just to add to that: if you don’t think it’s calculated then you’re really underestimating the greed of record labels. EVERYTHING record labels do are designed for maximum profit. EVERYTHING.
In fact Columbia Records even stated that the exclusive digital release at midnight is a “preventive plan” against piracy because in the past, Beyoncé has been the target of leaks.
Didn’t Radiohead not give it away, but rather asked fans to pay what they thought it was worth? I think I still paid full price because I could.
They said you could pay what you could or nothing if you didn’t have enough cash to pay for it.
I agree, Kitten. I can’t stand her or her music. Also:
1: I’m dubious about the story that she trashed her work of 18 months. I think she just renamed it and this is it.
2: My suspicious character makes me believe that releasing it like this, without fanfare, was calculated all right, but simply because she couldn’t be arsed getting on the gruelling promotional trail. Easy money. Choice.
But Radiohead and Prince are ’80s acts, much farther along in their career and not in their heyday having huge album sales. They do stuff like that out of frustration with labels. I think it’s great they do it, but still at a different place in their career.
I have never seen such women who constantly hate on Beyonce… Sometimes the hate just sounds like jealousy. Wether u like her or NOT, she released an album tht shut down Itunes for a minute. What’s wrong with people loving this!! I think if u r only here to make negative comments, u should just be quiet!! It’s crazy!!
Oh, sorry. She wants to take control over the Internet now by exerting her power to crash iTunes? Right. We’re meant to defer to her. Oops.
She lives in too rarified a universe for any of us to even know what we were being jealous about.
Oh, I know what it is – this is a bitching site. That’s why we bitch about her and others like her.
@VioletCrumble.. +100 LOL!
Meh.
People sound stupid saying this is calculated. Of course it is. It’s not as if she woke up last night and decided to do this. I don’t understand the comments she mad at one nomination. She didn’t release new music in a couple of years.
I was over Beyoncé a long time ago. There will be no “comeback” for her to me. And I most certainly will not call her “Queen B”. Her and Jay are so full of themselves with that whole “bow down” BS. Not a fan. They can go join Kim and Kanye with their delusions of grandeur .
+100
She use to sing and now she just yells into the mic. Not impressed even in the slightest. Kelly always had the better voice to me back when she was in her group days.
Well its kind of interesting strategy that we did not see before. Have to give her credit for it. But Gosh – couldn’t she buy (or write) good songs for it? I listened to all those previews and I think I didn’t like ANY song at all. It’s such unmemorable crap. Listened to it twice. Can’t find any interesting or at least descent song. “Flawless” is the only one that I found semi interesting. It looks like some song that didn’t make Rihanna’s album.
What happened to Beyounce’s taste? Can’t she see what kind of crap she is releasing last few years? I’m sure she can afford herself to buy some hit songs like Rihanna does all the time. When was the last time when Beyonce released super hit song? The one that every station and every channel across the world will play 10 times a day for 4 months? Was it “Halo” in 2009? I love Halo. I want more songs lika that and Single Ladies. But it looks like we would have to wait another 2 years till she will release another album.
New album will be #1 for few days because it’s Beyonce. But then it will slip because it’s has boring songs.
She and her husband are geniuses, though. It’s ART. If you don’t get it, you don’t get ART. It’s all in the Kanye West Pocket Book of Geniuses.
I never go by previews. I have loved previews and the songs end up lacking. I haven’t been impressed by previews, and the songs turn out to be so much more.
I just can’t with this egomaniac. And her thighs have. And yep, her thighs have been lipo’d to death.
Aren’t you a clever girl.
I only liked a couple songs, one is Rocket… the rest, she’s too late, Ri-Ri’s done that, Kanye has done that. The latter part is not a compliment by the way.
I have only listened to the 30 sec clips of the album but, I LOVE “Rocket” the most. It makes me want to jump into bed with my boyfriend… 🙂
I watched the little promo clip and I am intrigued. The videos look very well done, each very different visuals but all done very professionally.
Bey may see music, but I see some of the vids from the album are clear rips of Madonna
WORD.
sigh.
I think it is a nod to Madonna’s women empowerment. It wouldn’t have been that obvious if it was an attempt to copy.
Who cares? All she does is yell into the microphone. She’s as overrated as Kanye. Jay-Z is the only one with talent. At least his songs are bearable.
Continuing worshiping this woman like sheep. The comments are hilarious.
She is talking more and more like goop these days. Hell, in the first pic she even looks like her.
blah
14 songs with 17 videos? This woman is so in love with herself.
I think its WONDERFUL that fans have another Beyonce album to enjoy, that’s great. A little more happiness in this world is something we all need.
I just don’t think she’s queen of anything and I’m ready for her to go away before she has another comeback. 🙂
There are some serious haters in this thread who should probably listen to the album and watch the videos in their entirety as a collection and then report back on who out there is currently working at this high level of production.
Beyonce and her team take a lot of liberty with the influences they make reference to. Its called paying homage. That she does this frequently doesn’t bother me. Why? Because it exposes her audience to things they may have not otherwise been exposed to. Beyonce rehashing Madonna circa Erotica in Haunted? So what. How many times did Madonna make references to Marlene Dietrich, Marilyn Monroe and many others?
I like Beyonce in passing; I’ve never been impressed by her lyrically and quite frankly found her to be very calculated and a little bit confusing.
I bought the album and haven’t been able to stop watching or thinking about it for two days.
This is entertainment….and it also seems to me the the most approachable and relaxed Beyonce has ever been as a performer- and also I feel like I know more about her.
Say what you want about Goop’s influence by Beyonce has gone from a mumbling Houston girl to a cultured, worldly woman whose body language indicates that she’s pretty well versed in stage and film- she’s a full on actress in some of these clips. In some of the clips she’s kind of awkward (her dancing in Drunk on Love?” LOL) but its like she’s just kind of resigned herself to being herself and its really refreshing.
I keep reading over the internet people making comparisons of Beyonce’s raunch to Miley and Rihanna’s Raunch- Miley looks like she stinks wobbling all over the place, uncomfortable in her stripper platforms (she’s been an adult for five minutes and has nothing to say) and Rihanna isn’t making a statement- she’s mentally disturbed.
Take Partition as an example of sexy with meaning- it seems to depict a woman trying to desperately get her partner’s sexual attention…and then fantasizing about being a cabaret dancer (“take all of me I just want to be the girl you like…that girl is right here with me”)- pretty relateable stuff considering how many soccer moms are taking strip aerobics and how much many women feel like they’re competing with internet porn stars and strippers. This album is a real comment on womanhood and is incredibly layered and mature.
I suggest all of the people complaining about her being oversaturated and this that or the other actually watch it before weighing in. Its a very well done pop album experience.
My faves are No Angel (omggg so Prince! and the video is incredible), Haunted and Blow.
why did you write an article on one? no time for the word block have a seat _/ pulled one up just for you. I rather listen to the ppl that she stole these songs from
Just because not 100% of people like something, does not qualify those who do not as haters. People are entitled to likes and dislikes and I am so sick of hearing the word hater thrown out as a valid excuse when someone doesn’t like something. Am I a hater because I don’t like the word hater? No. Just like someone who doesn’t like this album isn’t a “hater”. Do you like every album ever made? No, of course you don’t.
This was the first album of hers, since B-Day, where I have loved every single song. Not every song is meant to be a single, but there are a number of them that could huge in 2014. She will be everywhere next year. Maybe that’s why everyone had to put out an album this year.
DEAD
Well it’s doing well: from Hits Daily Double:
THE BEY UPDATE: The Beyoncé sneak attack on iTunes has become the music biz story of the holidays, with some hailing this setup-free release as a game-changing new strategy. In any case, the stealth release of the “visual album” as an iTunes exclusive, with no individual tracks for sale and no Spotify to bastardize sales, powered Beyoncé past the 500k mark on Saturday, its second full day of availability, with 600k or more clearly in sight by the time the sales week ends and Apple’s window of exclusivity ends tonight. Needless to say, the album will easily debut at #1. Thus, Beyoncé has electrified what was looking like a rather dull Christmas-release season, lighting up social media and inspiring breathless coverage by every major TV network, as the superstar creates her own publicity and reaches her audience through word of mouth—still the most powerful of all sales tools. Kudos to Team Columbia and Team Beyoncé on what may end up being the most talked-about musical event of 2013. The label expects to have the physical album in stores by this Friday. (12/15a)
This was a risky move on her part. If the wrong singer did this, it could easily result in the album flopping. But I heard it sold over 80,000 copies in 3 hours.
600,000 in digital sales alone in four days. Poor Gaga. She spent a fortune on a flying dress, on and on, and a measley 270,000 in seven days, with an 80 percent drop the second week. Beyonce hasn’t even dropped the physical album yet. That will be a big Christmas gift item and keep selling once it hits the stores. And all the videos at once for all songs. No single song sales off the album. Whoever came up with this marketing plan, it was risky, but it was genius. All the pop princesses have to bow down to Bey on this one. Upset of the year for the female pop stars.