I'm pretty sure I've never thought about what a Beyonce album would sound like, but if I had, I wouldn't have guessed it would sound like this - I wouldn't have expected the diversity, the sharpness of the pop lines, or the consistently high track-by-track quality (nor how much I'd enjoy it, and find replayability in it).
Some of the ones that popped out on the first couple of listens still seem like highlights. In fact, all of the first five songs are pretty super: "Pray You Catch Me", whose neo-soul/r&b reminds me of Jessie Ware; the slowed-down "Hold Up", which leads with a "Maps" (as in Yeah Yeah Yeahs) quote; "Don't Hurt Yourself", which features Jack White and - in its peaks - rages as hard as probably anything he's ever been associated with before; "Sorry" (aka the "you better call Becky with the good hair" one, also aka the one whose outro sounds like Tori Amos); and the best moment on the record, the dramatic "6 Inch" (also notable for using a sample that's extremely familiar to me thanks to Hooverphonic's "2 Wicky" but turns out to actually be from Isaac Hayes's version of "Walk On By"). Also, late-in-the-piece "All Night" is a bit special.
Some of the ones that popped out on the first couple of listens still seem like highlights. In fact, all of the first five songs are pretty super: "Pray You Catch Me", whose neo-soul/r&b reminds me of Jessie Ware; the slowed-down "Hold Up", which leads with a "Maps" (as in Yeah Yeah Yeahs) quote; "Don't Hurt Yourself", which features Jack White and - in its peaks - rages as hard as probably anything he's ever been associated with before; "Sorry" (aka the "you better call Becky with the good hair" one, also aka the one whose outro sounds like Tori Amos); and the best moment on the record, the dramatic "6 Inch" (also notable for using a sample that's extremely familiar to me thanks to Hooverphonic's "2 Wicky" but turns out to actually be from Isaac Hayes's version of "Walk On By"). Also, late-in-the-piece "All Night" is a bit special.
