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The Official Beyoncé Thread; New album "Lemonade"
Topic Started: Nov 3 2008, 10:40 AM (13,285 Views)
Pera
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Well after 2 plays I can easily say it's her best work so far. I don't hear any chart toppers, but it's really good direction for her. She's sounding more like Solange than her own early stuff, and she was obviously inspired by Drake, Miguel etc.
Now let's wait for the critics to update those rushed best albums of the year lists :celebrate:
Edited by Pera, Dec 13 2013, 11:52 AM.
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johnnox
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Yes, I'm not going to praise the album until I have heard it, and you are right, often there's a handful of good tracks and the rest are filler.

But I love the fact she's done this so quietly, so Bowie-like and filmed promos for everything too.

Of course, this could all have been done because she is scared of early pre-release reviews slagging it off and to disguise the fact the whole thing is shite.
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Pera
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Riverwide
Dec 13 2013, 11:28 AM
I'll be holding back on the relentless anti-Gaga fuckery though, as it's the MUSIC I care about, not release strategies and hype, and if this album is like every other Beyonce album, it'll consist of 3 good songs and a load of shite. Gaga consistently delivers fantastic music and that's something the other "bitches" would do well to mirror.
But all you do in that Gaga forum is discuss her strategies and charts. I mean you follow and post daily updates of her airplay. And you only care about music ?
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johnnox
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:popcorn:
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Pera
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Yes I better ban myself now, he is going to share all the kind words he knows
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Riverwide
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Pera
Dec 13 2013, 11:54 AM
Riverwide
Dec 13 2013, 11:28 AM
I'll be holding back on the relentless anti-Gaga fuckery though, as it's the MUSIC I care about, not release strategies and hype, and if this album is like every other Beyonce album, it'll consist of 3 good songs and a load of shite. Gaga consistently delivers fantastic music and that's something the other "bitches" would do well to mirror.
But all you do in that Gaga forum is discuss her strategies and charts. I mean you follow and post daily updates of her airplay. And you only care about music ?
I find stuff like that somewhat interesting, but as I have said time and time again, it doesn't matter to me at all. I adore her because of her huge vocal and songwriting talent, not because of sales, strategies or because she's "cool" to like. Unlike quite a few people, I enjoy what I enjoy based on how it makes me feel. I am obsessed with music. I am not obsessed with charts, sales, airplay figures etc. I post those things because it's news and it may interest some people.

Using the shock Beyonce release as yet another stick to bash Gaga with is so, so pathetic. Just give it a fucking rest, will you?
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thesmu
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It's a cool release strategy and no mistake. I've never been a fan of her music before now so unless it's a big change of direction it's unlikely I will love the album though. I will give it a whirl once it appears on spotify.
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GimmeSomeRiver
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johnnox
Dec 13 2013, 11:54 AM
Yes, I'm not going to praise the album until I have heard it, and you are right, often there's a handful of good tracks and the rest are filler.
For me, she really turned a corner with 4. Until then, there were always a handful of undeniable pop classics and everything else was extremely forgettable. With her previous album and this, it's obvious she's making the music she loves and is not being pressured by her label. There aren't really any massive radio monsters like Halo or Single Ladies but I find all the music extremely engaging and multi-layered.


As for the strategy of it all, fair enough if you don't give a shit about those things but I find it interesting that both artists had somewhat underwhelming eras commercially and they came back in completely different ways. One was all bluster and big talk (as usual) but the execution (not the music) was pretty much a wet fart and the other didn't really say anything but just came back quietly and has apparently stolen the entire year. I still love Gaga's music but her delusions of grandeur and indulgences as thesmu put it are seriously starting to grate, especially when the reaction from the 'culture' she loves to reference so much is either indifference, or even worse, ridicule.
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johnnox
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from Billboard:

Industry sources tell Billboard the album sold over 80,000 copies in three hours

The stealth Thursday evening (9 p.m PT) release of Beyonce's self-titled fifth solo studio set is likely headed towards a No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200 when that chart's top 10 is revealed on Wednesday, Dec. 18.

The iTunes exclusive "visual" album, retailing for $15.99 contains 14 tracks -- not available for a la carte purchases until Dec. 20 -- and 14 accompanying videos, along with other bonus video content. As of this morning, no set date has been announced for the CD release to physical retailers or of its availability on other digital download sites.


In just a three-hour sales window (closing at midnight Friday PT), "Beyonce" reportedly sold over 80,000 copies, according to industry sources. It's still too early to judge what the set will do over the full three days left in the sales tracking week (which ends Sunday night), but with prior projected leader, "Blame It All On My Roots: Five Decades Of Influences" by Garth Brooks, estimated to shift 150,000-160,000 units, Beyonce is already halfway to that sum. And in the time it would take someone to fly from New York to Miami.

The album release was so heavily guarded, that reportedly only a dozen or so members of her Sony Records family were even aware of the set being pushed to iTunes yesterday evening.

Beyonce's last studio set "4" sold 310,000 in its debut week in July of 2011, but that was with a full sales week and a marketing/media push leading up to the release. It is an interesting commentary on the influence of social media in today's world if "Beyonce" can come close to that sum with just social buzz driving the project instead of weeks of traditional media promotion normally part of the album release playbook.

Stay tuned to Billboard.com as we track "Beyonce's" sales over the course of the weekend and predict where the album will land, both in units and in rank, when the top of the Billboard 200 chart is revealed on Wednesday, Dec. 18.
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Riverwide
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The album is doing *nothing* for me. More generic, extremely weak-tuned urban material and feeble, soulless ballads. She's trying so hard to appeal to the hipster crowd these days too. Just write a decent fucking tune.
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Pera
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johnnox
Dec 13 2013, 05:05 PM
from Billboard:

Industry sources tell Billboard the album sold over 80,000 copies in three hours

The stealth Thursday evening (9 p.m PT) release of Beyonce's self-titled fifth solo studio set is likely headed towards a No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200 when that chart's top 10 is revealed on Wednesday, Dec. 18.

The iTunes exclusive "visual" album, retailing for $15.99 contains 14 tracks -- not available for a la carte purchases until Dec. 20 -- and 14 accompanying videos, along with other bonus video content. As of this morning, no set date has been announced for the CD release to physical retailers or of its availability on other digital download sites.


In just a three-hour sales window (closing at midnight Friday PT), "Beyonce" reportedly sold over 80,000 copies, according to industry sources. It's still too early to judge what the set will do over the full three days left in the sales tracking week (which ends Sunday night), but with prior projected leader, "Blame It All On My Roots: Five Decades Of Influences" by Garth Brooks, estimated to shift 150,000-160,000 units, Beyonce is already halfway to that sum. And in the time it would take someone to fly from New York to Miami.

The album release was so heavily guarded, that reportedly only a dozen or so members of her Sony Records family were even aware of the set being pushed to iTunes yesterday evening.

Beyonce's last studio set "4" sold 310,000 in its debut week in July of 2011, but that was with a full sales week and a marketing/media push leading up to the release. It is an interesting commentary on the influence of social media in today's world if "Beyonce" can come close to that sum with just social buzz driving the project instead of weeks of traditional media promotion normally part of the album release playbook.

Stay tuned to Billboard.com as we track "Beyonce's" sales over the course of the weekend and predict where the album will land, both in units and in rank, when the top of the Billboard 200 chart is revealed on Wednesday, Dec. 18.
If that's correct, damn, that's an epic success! :grin:
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Riverwide
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This album is such a chore to get through.

Seriously, is there a single decent melody on the entire thing?
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GimmeSomeRiver
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Me during Partition

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Vertigo
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Well, I've now watched it all. Musically and vocally, I thought the album was really poor : Drake- or Rihanna-lite ghetto songs with disappointing delivery. The only song I wished to go back to is "Blow" which has to be one of Beyoncé's most delicious songs (reminds me of Summertime, Crazy In Love b-side). The sheer sexuality of it all came as a surprise to me, I didn't think she would go this path. It's the strong feminist statement of a happy monogamist mother who enjoys her sexuality. The French quotations on the songs are all about feminism and sexuality ("people think feminists don't enjoy sex but it's such a stimulant thing").

This said, promotion-wise and visually, the album is a stroke of genius. The music videos are really interesting : they echo each itself in a coherent way, they are full of visual homages (Madonna, Janet Jackson, Prince all come to mind), self-referencial, autobiographical, sleek, in brief, everything you ever want from a music video. The concept of the visual album works wonderfully, it is a great odyssey. And the music really becomes interdependant with the videos (I'm listening to "Blow" right now and picturing the images in my mind). Just imagine what other artists could have done with this concept ...

Without the images, the album doesn't hold together, that's what makes the whole concept of "visual album" so great and all the more successful.
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bulgar
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Riverwide
Dec 13 2013, 05:43 PM
The album is doing *nothing* for me. More generic, extremely weak-tuned urban material and feeble, soulless ballads. She's trying so hard to appeal to the hipster crowd these days too. Just write a decent fucking tune.
:clap: :clap: :clap:
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Riverwide
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Seriously though, it makes me so fucking angry. Gaga writes hook after hook after hook, and is met with a collective shrug from critics. Beyonce releases a TUNE-FREE collection of sub b-sides and the world loses its shit
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bulgar
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I don't think people care about melody anymore. It's style over substance these days.
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Riverwide
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And then you have the editor-in-chief of Billboard tweeting that he "feels sorry for all the other pop girls" because this album is so good.

:megamanson:
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Riverwide
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bulgar
Dec 13 2013, 09:56 PM
I don't think people care about melody anymore. It's style over substance these days.
Sadly, I think you're spot-on.
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Pera
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83/100 on metascore :sadbitch:
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