Beyonce’s third record proves to be the most personal

After Beyonce released her sophomore effort B’Day in 2006 which was a bit more unusual and experimental than her debut album the singer did not waste her time. Last year she added another Grammy to her awards collection winning one of the five received nominations, in fact, for her second album, and then became the first woman in the American music history to get the International Artist Award. Recording an unbelievably successful hit Beautiful Liar with Shakira the singer went to a long world tour which ended at the end of the last year and then got to work on her new solo material. Finally this November her third record I Am… Sasha Fierce is released. Beyonce has been preparing it for almost a year which is more than she devoted to any of her solo albums and all Destiny’s Child’s creations. The artist herself has claimed I Am… Sasha Fierce to be her most personal creation of all. Today when she is married many things in her life are changed and that is what Beyonce sings about on her new compositions among which there are both easy-going danceable and serious and reflective ones.

I Am… Sasha Fierce presents two sides of Beyonce

The album I Am… Sasha Fierce consists of two discs, the first presenting the artist herself and offering some soft soulful ballads and the second being a creation of her alter ego Sasha Fierce who reveals Beyonce’s more cynical side. Accordingly before the album was released the audience heard two singles from each of the discs, If I Were A Boy and Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It). If the first one is a beautiful melodious ballad on which the singer makes a step forward on a hard path of understanding the opposite sex then the second one is a much more complicated piece both vocally and in the respect of arrangement devoted to single girls and pleasing with a contagious danceable beat. An emotional composition Halo pleases with that very clapping beat which Beyonce enjoys so much whereas a slow song Dissapear proves to be one of the most beautiful on the record. Fiddles and piano refine another ballad Broken-Hearted Girl on which sadness and desperation are mixed with girl power and the singer’s vocals have never yet sounded so heartfelt. The famous aria has become a base for another wonderful composition Ave Maria and a reflective ballad Satellites closes the first part of the album. Its second part consists of tougher danceable compositions similar to the single and offering more penetrating sounding of the vocals and instruments. Beyonce is almost rapping on a heavy track Diva built practically entirely on samples, demonstrates her boldness on Sweet Dreams and finally presents herself in all her glory on the haughty finale Video Phone.

The album division has a deep meaning

Despite that Beyonce has been the world pop scene icon for quite some time already the audience does not know too much of her personal life. In fact her creative work is practically the only source from which we can get at least some information of what is going on in the singer’s life in this or that period. Due to the tough schedule of performances, a constant work on her own clothes line and her interest in various charity projects this artist rarely gives interviews most of which prove quite evasive. Nevertheless the number of her fans never reduces because of that and with I Am… Sasha Fierce it is sure to increase for this record tells of her better than anything. On the whole all of the 11 could well co-exist on one album and perhaps some may think it is nothing more than a commercial trick but for Beyonce herself this division has a deep meaning. She is not afraid of showing the different sides of hers and different discs mean to signify them. Anyway I Am… Sasha Fierce is a great continuation of her brilliant career.

Alexandra Zachernovskaya
12.11.2008