Review: Beyoncé, "4"

4
Beyoncé
Columbia
06.24.11

Unstoppable (and reliable) distaff pop-&b machine that she undoubtedly is, Beyonce's never come up with a compelling public persona to drive her, um, branding. She doesn't have Gaga's dada, Madonna's scrappy drive, Cher's tattered love life, Pink's party punkishness, or even Babs or Miss Ross' self-love to cling to: so far, all she's been able to come up with is a belief that women can stay true to the game while still remaining ladies. And she didn't even fully articulate that until her Sasha Fierce alter ego came up with it a few years ago: "Diva is a female version of a hustler." For her legions of independent women who are also single ladies, that's been more than enough. They need someone to say it for them; they don't necessarily need someone to live it, too. 

Which is not to say that Beyonce's not sitting on Oprah-like piles of money. She just hasn't, for all her undeniable talent, found a personality to accessorize it. Then again, if you believe the PR surrounding her latest album, this diva's fans came up with the idea to name her fourth album 4, suggesting that personality may not be all that important anyway. Jay-Z is still the invisible pimp hand guiding her marketplace, but Black America's biggest power couple have apparently decided a change was in order: having "killed" Sasha, as she put it, she declared herself ready to merge her dancefloor and bedroom personas. 

She doesn't. 4 was culled from over 70 tracks, again according to advance press, but the result doesn't hang together well at all: it takes a personality to weld together the tortured gravitas of a Kanye-like megalomaniac with the tortured heart of a Whitney Houston, but that's just what she tries anyway, merging not nearly enough club anthems with a surfeit of rather retro ballads. This may be the first Beyonce album that'll please the divas-in-waiting during the day and bore the piss out of their wannabe hustla boyfriends that night.

What's even more frustrating is that the lack of focus arrives at the exact moment the former Destiny's Child leader finally finds her voice. Literally. 4 finds her beating Whitney at her own game, pulling real heartache out of soppy scenarios like the opener, "1+1," Babyface's "Best Thing I Never Had," and, dear God, a Diane Warren song called "I Was Here." As much of an instant five-star classic as "Crazy In Love" was, you didn't really picture her squirming in her seat and waiting for Jigga to call; here, when she simply sings "Make love to me," you feel her climbing on to the bed -- and not as a sexy superstar, but as a woman in need. If only she didn't keep getting interrupted by the busier cuts, like Switch ripping himself off on the "Pon The Floor" homage "Run The World (Girls)," or Kanye and Andre 3000's suprisingly limp collaboration, "Party." Didn't she almost have it all? Well, no. But if she wants to be the female Kanye, she'll have to remember that he got there by leading with his vulnerability.
       

Graded using the Third Eye Method:

Impact: 80. The backdrops are lacking for the first time, but the newfound power and clarity of her voice makes up for it.
Invention: 55. Her attempts at glossy '80s R&B work; her attempts at M.I.A. and Major Lazer, not so much.
Integrity: 78. Emotionally, she has the instrument she needs. Now she only needs to get her focus back.