25
Beyonce
4 Awesomes /27 tot =14.81%
3 greats
9 good-ish w/1 version [w/versions 30 tot songs]
53.33% output is good & up
Catchy, pop/R&B, interjections, detailed descriptive story, she and miley were
made to sing together! Voices complement perfectly; each song contains
varying components: opera, Orchestra
American Requiem- The repeated words & and phrases are effective.
Can we stand for something?
Now is the time to face the wind
Now ain't the time to pretend
Now is the time to let love in
Blackbird- beautiful harmony. Short.
16 carriages- Catchy.
Protector- Boring. Hate random children noises in songs. Short. Should have been edited out because it doesn't add anything to the body of work.
My Rose- The harmonies are Christmasy. Short. Also could have been cut.
Smoke Hour- Surfing through the radio stations puts the audience in a place and time. Shows older entertainment and what rurals especially leaned on. Does it work in the streaming era, though?
Texas hold ‘em- Canada did a good job. Her team did a good job of adding some modern touches. catchiest song on the album. Claps and how he's add flavor. Notes are there. Is this just a song about drinking and dancing? Somehow the layers of the song bely an importance/significance that's not actually there.
Bodyguard- doesn't have the same vibe as the other songs. The spurs or twisting tool sound is fun. Honey honey sample used sparsely. Mosh pit sounds recent. Jealously hating interloping women-why are straight women like this??? Be annoyed with the man at the center, not each other!
Dolly P- Fun cameo, but getting cliche'. Does everybody need a Dolly shout out in order to be taken seriously?
Jolene- Nobody is going to best the original. I like the vocal interjections. I don't like how it's more mean-spirited. And I hate when straight women fight each other rather than calling out the two-timing POS man 🙄 what I do like is how Beyonce describes knowing her man well, and things they've gone through together that have made them a stronger couple. Sidenote: I cannot understand the mismatched couple. Money, grooming, wanted children? I don't get it.
Daughter - Tells a very descriptive story. The backing is very Mexican Texas olden days. The marijuana speaks to otherness or lawlessness or desperation. Opera lends drama and could be a movie scene like in a Quinton Tarantino OTT scene.
Spaghetti- Pre-spoken: I don't think it's necessary for Beyonce to have to defend doing country or how it's not country enough. Since Shania, country music have been butt hurt at the POPification of country (when women do it, Bro derivative country gets a pass) and it's 😵 The rap is very Childish Gambino. I don't like the ugly kind of shouted poem. The clock sounds just annoyed me. Unnecessary and just made a skip longer.
Alligator Pie- Catchy.
Smoke hour 2- Making the album seem like it's on the radio is clever.
Just for Fun- Catchy. Bringing religion in lends to the country sound. Saying pray to HER adds just a touch of subversiveness and rebellion to traditions. Gospel lullaby is nice. Positivity.
II Most Wanted- They sound absolutely amazing together! Their voices were made to harmonize. I must say it's kinda Sapphic. Call back to that movie where the two women drive off a cliff.
Levi's jeans- I think it contrasts Bro-country, saying "beer," "jeans," "truck" and getting the country stamp of approval with her depth. Hers is a love/sex song. Post fits well with the vibe of the song. Especially when he puts stress on a word in each ending phrase.
Flamenco- Strong harmonies. High notes just OK. Too short.
The Linda Martell show- Very Charlie's angels. Olden. I like how layers are added in. Reminds me of Austin powers music/dance sequences. Her singing reminds me of Tina Turner. Well placed good vibrations sample. Calling different dances is fun. Good God sample perfectly used. This is the best one framed as a radio show. Though it doesn't work for Playlists like I was listening, or for streaming in general. I only caught it after I ranked and listened to the full album in order. Very fun.
Oh Louisiana- Auto-tune is awful and annoying.
Desert Eagle- The plunking sounds are fun. Sexy. Short.
Riverdance- A square dance caller? Too many repeated “dance, pounce on this shit" but that phrase modernizes it. The backing strings are the only thing I like about this one. Too repetitive.
II hands II heaven- Muted. Beat distinct. Descriptive. Too much tasting and straight sex stuff. Good harmonies at the end.
Tyrant- More dolly. Tapping or typing sound. I think like the un-melodious strings. Catchy. I don't want to picture Beyoncé straight sex 😳 reload the gun 🤮 nigga daddy. I honestly wish this was about an actual horse because the music of the song is good, but I don't care for the explicit lyrics.
Sweet honey bucking- Sample blends well. Step step repeated is super annoying! Seems less like a bridge and more like a different song. I like the buck it portion-catchy. The lower music sounds good. I would have cut out everything prior to that part.
Amen- Solid singing sounds really good. Choir puts listener in a church. Bookends the American Requiem. Distortion is an interesting end and also speaks to the chaos of the political moment.
It's a complex, layered album. Totally bloated, not conducive to streaming. I would have cut 8 tracks (interludes? Memos?) and reworked two others to go into a bridge or something.
I kept looking up lyrics thinking I was missing something important. The way it's laid out conveys depth and importance, but the lyrics don't. I think it suffers from overzealous fan base artificially lifting it.
The album is fine. Most songs are catchy. But there's no profound epiphany hidden within. The message within was: “Listen to my catchy songs.” And that's fiiiiinnnnne.
I think it could have been better if she more overtly and obviously addressed the intersection of rural/country and race & sex. Like within her lyrics-I get that many of the songs were ‘urbanized’ and/or carefully subverted traditional elements to prove a point. But more. Define that intersection more fully and more clearly.
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