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Beyonce's third solo studio album is as concise as 2006's B'day, but it is divided into two discs as a way to emphasize the singer's distinct personalities. It's a gimmick, of course--a flimsy one.
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It's the classic, more timeless R&B songs on the I Am portion of the album that seem like a much-welcomed stretch for the singer.
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What’s revealed is...well, what we’re used to. Beyonce is still a beauty-shop feminist, quick with the smack-downs, and she still describes the rattling rush of love with preternatural poise.
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For the most part, it works well and sounds fresh.
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I am...amused. But it's sort of like the horrific fascination of seeing a train wreck.
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It's more a rescinded lesson in demographics, with disc one seemingly aimed at airbrushing out the last vestiges of Knowles' credibility in favour of a procession of lame pop ballads in a Shakira or even Shania Twain-ish mould.
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I Am...Sasha Fierce does offer two compelling sides of the singer.
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The ballads are nice enough, in a syrupy, overwrought way. But slamming dance songs have always been Beyoncé's strength, so it's no surprise that the "Sasha Fierce" half of the album is the better showing.
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Beyonce still proves that she's an all-around good performer even though her attempt to branch out into an alter ego fails a little.
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Mar 8, 2011She's not there yet, but the effort is fascinating, and hopefully she will keep on this path.
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There are three good songs on this 11-track artifact, and deeply vapid though the split-personality bit is, the trick of dividing the album into two CDs does leave a 17-minute dance disc that can be played without gastric distress by any purchaser who isn't picky about diva gangstaism or videophone porn.
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Unfortunately, the "deluxe edition" is bloated with filler, and the shorter "standard edition" omits some of the more creative songs instead of dropping the duds.
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But OutKast's "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" aside, it's debatable whether there has been call for a double album since "Sign O' the Times" in 1987, and this is clearly another case for the prosecution.
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On the first disc (I Am), Knowles comes off helpless and as emotionally closed as ever....The Sasha Fierce side is more like it. Here, Knowles works her confident, fun alter-ego. Still, she overdoes it on 'Diva.'
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While this LP is more painstaking than B'Day, the extra effort dulls any emotional wallop; "B'Day," in all its hectic glory, offered a much more vivid peek into the elusive mind of Beyoncé than Sasha Fierce, which often reads more like projection than reality.
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I Am… Sasha Fierce had an opportunity to be a great record. Instead, it's merely good. And for a diva such as Beyoncé, that's not entirely acceptable.
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Though some of the slow songs have thoroughly memorable tunes, the lyrics are full of bland self-affirmation and saggy lines....But the "Sasha" disc boasts Beyonce's most adventurous music yet.
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I Am...Sasha Fierce is an admirable vie for artistic credibility (and for a last-ditch revival of the long-player format) but one that is muddled by the fact that the album is being offered in two configurations.
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Sasha is an intriguing but diluted direction.
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Mar 2, 2011While an interesting concept, neither CD contains enough strong material to match up to either of her previous releases, and at times, the constant barrage of R&B cliches and adult-contemporary production make it sound like Beyonce is rapidly transforming from hot, hip pop goddess to your standard bored diva.
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The two halves wouldn't necessarily sound better shuffled together--both are pretty uneven.
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My advice is to skip directly to disc two, though I'm happy to report that the typically melismatic Mrs. Jigga shows a shocking degree of vocal restraint on the ballads.
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It's not just that the music on I Am ... is boring--although, aside from the growling guitars and tumbling drums of That's Why You're Beautiful, it is. It's that there is something underwhelming about the whole project.
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Ironically, it's the more tame (and nameless) persona that's the most intriguing, commanding and sexual.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 533 out of 714
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Mixed: 80 out of 714
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Negative: 101 out of 714
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Sep 3, 2011Amazing album. The "I Am" side is perfect, there is no one with voice like the one she has.
Halo is one of the most beautiful songs that I ever heard. -
Aug 6, 2012
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Jun 10, 2011