Beyonce
| Beyonce
Beyonce
American singer Beyoncé released her musical film and visual album—Black Is King—in 2020, as a visual companion to her 2019 album—The Lion King: The Gift. The album tells a story about an African youth who gets exiled from his kingdom after his father, the king, dies. He undergoes a long journey of finding himself as he grows into a man through his ancestor’s guidance.
The film’s production lasted more than a year and spanned across six different countries on three continents. Black is King received universal praise from critics across the world sang praises for Beyonce’s cinematography, direction, costume design, score, cultural themes, and subject matter. Read more about Beyonce’s new album reviews here!
Critic Reviews
Show All-
Pitchfork
Beyoncé's fifth album, surprise-released on iTunes in December, finds the singer hitting a new peak. Working with a large cast of collaborators, she shifts gears to pull off her most explicit and sonically experimental music to date, exploring sounds and ideas at the grittier margins of popular music.
-
Variety
More personal, confessional, and powerful than anything the singer has released in the past.
-
The Guardian
Without warning, Beyoncé's fifth album appeared in all its multimedia glory on iTunes this morning. Pleasingly, it's a winner.
-
Consequence of Sound
The Queen's self-titled opus should carve out a place among pop's most important moments.
-
Entertainment.ie
There will be some disappointment from the lack of club bangers, but Beyonce fans will be satisfied at getting to know their Queen Bee a little better, and even non-Bey fans will be surprised by the new sounds she's serving up.
-
Fact Magazine
Beyoncé is a stronger personal statement than Magna Carta… Holy Grail, less self-indulgent than The 20/20 Experience, and (in its own way) as dark and confrontational as Yeezus. Beating the boys at their own game — how’s that for feminism?
-
The New York Times
Beyonce's new album is steamy and sleek.
-
Royal Purple
I recommend Beyoncé’s great new album to fans and non-fans alike.
-
Slant Magazine
Instead, what makes the album significant is the fact that its creator is a bona fide superstar who, apparently, seems to care more about following her creative bliss than scoring easy hits. And it takes her (and us) to some mighty weird and exhilarating places.
-
Pretty Much Amazing
Beyoncé waited for the last moment to unveil 2013’s finest pop album. It arrived too late to enter our top ten lists, but just in time to own the year.
-
Thomas Bleach
Beyonce is still queen, her reign is never ending and my mind, body and soul are prepared for what she has installed next.
-
Luddite Stereo
Beyoncé represents a significant shift from immaculate, verse/chorus pop to more sophisticated, multi-faceted compositions. “Haunted” and “Partition” unfurl like elaborate mini-suites, employing tempo changes and stylistic experimentation (trap, electro, and post-dubstep) in lieu of humongous, catchy hooks. “XO” proves Beyoncé can still write a flawless anthem, but its martial cadence and jittery, diced-up electronics are better suited for cinematic soul-searching than packing the dance floor.
-
Hypable
A complete body of work.
-
The Varsity
The release of the visual album proves that, a decade into her solo career, Beyoncé truly has become her own boss.
-
Central Times
From the steamy to nurturing, Beyoncé reveals the influential icon she has become.
-
Newsday
Winner from start to finish.
-
Clash Magazine
‘Beyoncé’ is one of the best damn albums of 2013, basically, however you’re looking at it: as an R&B record, a pop set, an electro collection. Whatever your tastes, you can’t question the quality here – it’s just so easy to hear, to feel, whether you’ve a dozen LPs in your personal collection or several thousand, whatever your own frame of reference.
-
Treble
Beyoncé doesn’t get bogged down in dowdiness or rote tortured by fame tropes, rather it’s revelatory and mature while retaining accessibility, as well as a daringly bold approach recalling everything from Three 6 Mafia to Burial to Prince to Björk. It presents a new chapter in Beyoncé’s career, dropping her impossibly perfect persona, revealing someone that feels a lot more real, full-bodied and much more engrossing.
-
All Music
In time, it should be seen as a career highlight from a superstar -- one of the hardest-working people in the business, a new mother, in total control, at her creative and commercial peak.
-
PopMatters
this album is far too bangin' for that. She's this decades Beyonce, grown secure and prominent as ever.
-
SFGATE
She declares herself a feminist on several occasions, and on album opener "Pretty Hurts" denounces almost everything we thought she stood for: "Perfection is the disease of a nation." And while the album doesn't contain any pop firecrackers like "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" and "Irreplaceable," it hardly matters. Beyoncé has already proved herself as a brand.
-
Under the Radar Magazine
Regardless of that nagging contradiction, it’s still a massive leap forward—hearing a superstar be honest about her desires, in love with a family, and calling for an end to unrealistic expectations for women is a pretty great thing to have on a platinum-selling album.
-
The Leaf
Beyoncé throws in many pageant-ready ballads about believing in your dreams and reaching your goals. This theme throughout her songs is very uplifting and soulful.
-
Financial Times
The singer’s surprise fifth album is an odd blend of imperiousness and vulnerability.
-
Evolution of a Fan
With open minds, men can get a detailed glimpse into the female psyche after taking in this visual album, and if he were alive today, Freud would certainly agree.
-
Muse
Despite the sudden appearance of Beyonce, it went straight to number one on the day of release, even so it's probably only number three out her five albums.
Rate This Album and Leave Your Comments