Beyonce - 4

Or hear it to be more appropriate.

do we need to do a Beyonce single poll, or are we above this

let's do a lloyd singles poll instead

I'd place "Crazy In Love" and "Baby Boy" only very marginally below "Irreplaceable".

Off the top of my head:

"Irreplaceable" > "Baby Boy" = "Crazy In Love" > "Ring The Alarm" > "Single Ladies" > "Sweet Dream" > "Work It Out" = "Check On It" > "Video Phone" > "Deja Vu" > "Naughty Girl" > "Ego" > "Diva" > "If I Were A Boy" > "Me Myself & I" > "Girls (Who Run The World)"

Am I forgetting anything? Ordering of the last 8 or so is on potentially faulty memory.

What about Why Don't You Love Me? which is totally massive and wonderful and I didn't even know was a single until recently (or that it existed) but GODDAMN so good.

Both "Work It Out" and "Check On It" ended up being bonus tracks on their subsequent albums (although TBF both were also film tie-ins, from memory) so it's not like there's no precedent for Beyonce quietly demoting a track's status.

― Tim F, Wednesday, May 11, 2011 6:57 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

yeah they were both off soundtracks a good 9-12 months before the albums, so it's not a matter of demotion, they were never part of the proper promotional cycle for those albums. also "Check On It" was a huge #1 hit so there's no parallel there.

anyway sometimes people say "comeback" in the dramatic sense of oh an artist has been away a long time or is coming off of a flop, sometimes they just mean lead single of new album, which is clearly all surm meant

I can be very literal which repels hyperbole language. My mind is still stuck in the concept of "comeback" like Tina Turner came back a la Private Dancer after all her life situations, previous albums not doing well, and playing supper clubs.

Beyonce's "Why Don't You Love Me?" was released last summer so she still was around, plus considering that it can take time to create an album she didn't "comeback" from anywhere, she was working.

yeah but there is still a symbolic importance to the lead single from a new album, especially for an artist of her stature -- there's kind of an expectation that she's going to come with a "Crazy In Love"/"Single Ladies"-level megahit right out of the gate.

although, as i said, i think it's totally fine to not hit that mark every time it's expected -- not that i think Beyonce is the visionary or risk-taker her Billboard interview implies she thinks she is, but with every other artist in R&B running scared that if they drop the wrong single their album will never get a release date, she can at least afford a left turn or an unpopular 'statement' song here or there without her career really being at stake.

i never knew "work it out" was considered a flop, it was a solid top 10 hit here (and also i love it). always thought the beyoncé strategy of leading-not-leading her albums with ~soundtrack singles~ was quite canny, maybe she should've done it for this one.

lol "why don't you love me?" has been purged from her wikipedia list of singles. you can't fool my memory, b. (weirdly it was one of those songs i didn't give a second's thought to as a whatever bonus track, but started to really like when it had a video etc.)

baby boy > irreplaceable > ring the alarm > get me bodied > work it out > crazy in love > if i were a boy > déjà vu > diva > sweet dreams > run the world (girls) > check on it > halo > naughty girl > broken-hearted girl > why don't you love me? > single ladies (put a ring on it) > ego > video phone > me, myself & i > green light > beautiful liar

w/r/t "baby boy", i can't believe it took me until last year to realise she was singing "baby boy, let's conceive an angel" towards the end, which made me love it even more

i'm struggling to imagine a world where "crazy in love" isn't beyonce's best single by a mile

Hearing 'Diva' in a club the other week reminded me how exceptionally shoehorned and clumsy a record it is.

yeah that song is garbage. imo:

get me bodied > irreplaceable > crazy in love > check on it > naughty girl > halo > ring the alarm > ego > sweet dreams > video phone > single ladies > baby boy > run the world > deja vu > diva > work it out > me myself & i

irreplaceable > baby boy > single ladies > ring the alarm > deja vu > if i were a boy > check on it > naughty girl

rest i don't like / care / recall

i'm struggling to imagine a world where "crazy in love" isn't beyonce's best single by a mile

― uberweiss, Thursday, 12 May 2011 11:30 (4 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i'm struggling to imagine a non-menopausal world where people still get excited when it comes on

http://stan-wars.com/

you guys ever see this btw, serious lolz

MY FAVOURITE THING EVER.

it is from the author of the best blog of all time obv

http://wigcrypt.blogspot.com/

http://www.beyonceonline.com/us/sites/beyonce/files/imagecache/preview/photos/B4_SNDRD_COVER_FINAL_CMYK_0.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBmMU_iwe6U

project redeemed xp

i'm struggling to imagine a world where "crazy in love" isn't beyonce's best single by a mile

― uberweiss, Thursday, 12 May 2011 11:30 (4 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i'm struggling to imagine a non-menopausal world where people still get excited when it comes on

― r|t|c, Thursday, 12 May 2011 10:50 (1 week ago) Bookmark

lol

also damn @ album art

For reals. I <3 that cover.

yeah

album art looks more like a magazine photoshoot than an album cover (i've scrolled past it 5 times today and each time assumed it was a photoshoot)

video is GREAT

does look more like a mag than album cover but not a bad thing. quite like it. they shd have made it a proper fake-magazine cover with dates etc on it.

she looks almost like britney on it tho

Yeah, i thought it was Britney on first glance. Did a total double take.

The bit in the video with the giant dogs = A+++++

over the last few months i've found myself liking "halo" more and more...i believe the ilx phrase is "ambushed my unexpected emotion"

or was about 11 years ago

are they hyenas?

i was even inspired enough to do my top 5 moments of this video http://alexmacpherson.tumblr.com/post/5633514514/i-dont-know-when-the-mainstream-media-started

xps

Would be happy with this as an album cover also:

http://newsodrome.com/celebrity_news/beyonce-4-album-preview-exclusive-25641017.jpg

that pose epitomises beyoncé

the "my persuasion" breakdowns give me a Martin Gore vibe.

this song really doesn't have any tune at all :(

No but it's easier to ignore that when beyonce is putting so much effort into distracting you with visuals.

It's like if Missy had left Ciara off "lose control".

which was second-rate missy to begin with!

the single is just annoying after a while. seems like empty energy. like the yellow outfit though. do love pon de floor but its a weird riddim in that it never really finds its groove exactly. which prob doesnt help in crafting a tune around it but then im not sure beyonce has ever been much of a tunesmith, shes more of a idk, a hooksmith?

rihanna is number one now, and not just because she's my lover.

Since when does a Beyonce single need to have a tune?

I dunno, mostly they've had them before now??

Yeah but at the same time 'Ring The Alarm' and 'Diva' and 'Get Me Bodied' and even 'Single Ladies' aren't exactly what you'd call melodic. I don't think it's exactly a prerequisite.

Still trying to work out whether I actually like the new one as much as I think I do or it's misplaced joy than Pon De Floor is getting a wider listenership.

"run the world" doesn't have any less of a tune than most beyoncé singles, stop this geirish fixation on melody

crazy in love was more or less tuneless.
single ladies was melodic (check on it was kinda melodic and catchy too) but her melodies generally dont linger or really develop, her songs just tend to sledgehammer through.
shes all about catchy hooks really.

part of me thinks using pon de floor as yr first new single from a big 'name' artist like beyonce is actually a bit boring/dissapointing.

(the other part doesnt give much of a fuck)