First Album Review

LQ a promo poster

I AM..Sasha Fierce will be here in a little over a week. The anticipation continues to build and EW is the first to review the new CD. Here is a snippet...

The first two singles — one from each disc, released simultaneously — demonstrate the contrast between her dueling personae. The ''Beyoncé'' disc's heartrending ''If I Were a Boy'' soars with melodic swells and unwavering in-his-skin sentiments (''I think I could understand/How it feels to love a girl/I swear I'd be a better man''). On the other hand, ''Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),'' from the ''Sasha'' half, is all bouncy hand claps and post-breakup sass (''Kept crying my tears/For three good years/You can't be mad at me''), a giddy, high-stepping hybrid of lyrical kiss-off and fizzy jump-rope jam.

On ''Beyoncé,'' there are some lovely ballads, including ''Disappear,'' with its sweet guitar-picking and delicate harmonies, and the soaring ''Halo'' and ''Ave Maria'' (the latter does riff on the classic aria, but it's not an actual cover). And several of the high-gloss bangers on ''Sasha'' are more than equal to the gauntlet laid down by ''Single Ladies.'' ''Diva,'' with its metallic kick drum and sly vocal stutters, carries itself like the feminine companion to Lil Wayne's hypnotic summer hit ''A Milli,'' while the crunk-dusted come-on ''Video Phone'' and the spiky, Europop throb of ''Radio'' expertly taunt the boys — and fill the dance floor.

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B+

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Source: EW