I Am...Sasha Fierce.
| Beyonce
I Am...Sasha Fierce.
I Am... Sasha Fierce is the third studio album by American singer Beyoncé. It was released on November 12, 2008, by Columbia Records and Music World Entertainment. In its original release, the album was formatted as a double album, intending to market Beyoncé's dichotomous artistic persona. The first disc, I Am..., contains slow and midtempo pop and R&B ballads, while the second, Sasha Fierce (named after Beyoncé's on-stage alter ego), focuses on more uptempo beats that blend electropop and Europop elements. In composing the songs' lyrics, Beyoncé worked with writers, with each session accompanied by live orchestration. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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All Music
It would, if anything, be notable as the least R&B-oriented batch of songs she has made -- that is, if it wasn't for the I Am half, essentially a small set of adult contemporary ballads.
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PopMatters
I am...Sasha Fierce had an opportunity to be a great record. Instead, it's merely good. And for a diva such as Beyonce, that's not entirely acceptable.
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Random J Pop
Beyoncé needs to decide how she's going to reign her musical styles, because whilst she was able to divide her musical styles between 2 discs on this occasion, she won't be able to do this again and get away with it. I am... Sasha Fierce is a decent album. But it's not the huge risk take Beyoncé is making it out to be. A risk would've been a one disc album with all of the songs from the first disc and smattering of tracks from the second. A couple of more songs from Ryan Tedder and Rodney Jerkins wouldn't have hurt neither.
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musicOMH
Sasha Fierce is an apt demonstration of what a worthy pop diva should look and sound like in 2009. Beyoncé is as tough as she is tender, as commanding in heart-on-your-sleeve ballads as she is in blazing dance-floor blinders so fierce you can almost hear her six-inch stilettos. It seems this new configuration has allowed Beyoncé to embrace both sides equally, with plenty of overlap, creating what may well become a permanent entry in the pop diva canon.
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BBC
An attempt no doubt for credibility and importance, I Am ... Sasha Fierce ultimately falls short of this goal. In a world where Rihanna seems to have released hit after hit, Beyonce, although the superior on-stage performer, needs to come back with something stronger than this if she wants to steal her sparkly crown back off the young pretender.
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AV Club
On 2006's B'Day, Beyoncé delivered a 10-song suite inspired by the unhappy-diva role she played in that year's Dreamgirls. Now she's split her personality in two. I Am… Sasha Fierce's halves are meant to represent her deeply felt ("I Am") and showily outrageous ("Sasha Fierce") sides, and they attempt that feat in less than 42 minutes of music spread across two CDs.
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Soul in Stereo
most songs on this disc are very well-written, and especially well sung. Even Beyonce haters will give her props for her performances on “Ave Maria” and “That’s Why You’re Beautiful.” She sounds absolutely amazing.
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Sputnik Music
I Am… Sasha Fierce is a difficult record to properly summarise. There’s too much going for it, particularly on the second disc, to deem it a failure. Conversely, there’s too much filler and badly-executed ideas, particularly on the first disc, to deem it a success. I Am… Sasha Fierce is neither here nor there- and for a pop superstar, that’s just not good enough.
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Spectrum Culture
I Am…Sasha Fierce experiments with inconsistencies and succeeds. As two separate albums they are okay–not exactly standing out or offering up new, inspiring sounds, but offering at least three worthy radio singles. As a double disc, it feels schizophrenic and although we all tend to have different voices in us, we certainly don’t always choose to listen to them.
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Write on Music
I Am… Sasha Fierce marks an ambitious and rewarding turning point in Beyonce’s music. Assuming an alter ego — to take a risk, to strive for integrity rather than complacency — suggests her curiosity and determination as a recording artist; the fruits of that endeavor illustrate that they were well worth the effort.
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Paste Magazine
Beyonce’s never been our most innovative R&B artist, she’s just been our best. So maybe the overused alter ego theme of I Am... Sasha Fierce might have been enlivened by her fiery presence alone (just think: we get two of her!). But unfortunately, neither Beyonce nor her other half can salvage the limp and facile songwriting that covers both sides of this double LP.
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Slant Magazine
I Am…Sasha Fierce is an admirable vie for artistic credibility (and for a last-ditch revival of the long-player format) but one that is muddled by the fact that the album is being offered in two configurations, a 16-track “deluxe” edition and an abbreviated “standard” edition, which reaches its vocal (if not emotional) climax within the first minute of its opening track and ends abruptly with a song about cellphone porn.
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The Guardian
She doesn't make for the world's most believable Reader's Wife, but it doesn't matter, because the spare, eerie backdrop of groans and echoing electronics is so thrilling. There's a lesson in there you wish she had heeded while making the ostensibly soul-baring I Am ...: in pop, honesty isn't always the best policy.
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Pitchfork
Beyoncé follows other, uh, great ideas like Garth Brooks's proto-emo character Chris Gaines and T.I. vs. T.I.P with a split-personality 2xCD record.
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Rolling Stone
the "Sasha" disc boasts Beyoncé's most adventurous music yet: She rides frothy techno on "Radio," turns out modal-sounding hooks over 808 bass on "Diva" and juices the eerie, Nine Inch Nails-style beats of "Video Phone" with lines like "Press 'record' and I'll let you film me." Another plus: The girl who blew up going all melismatic has never sung with more restraint than she does on Sasha.
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Contact Music
I can see why she's released 'I Am...Sasha Fierce' as two discs to show two different sides to her although it can't be put in the category of other double albums in her genre like 'Songs In The Key Of Life' for example however she is in the same musical royalty as Stevie and still has more to give. She is an icon and many will appreciate her new album.
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The Independent
Time for Beyonce to really move over to a different "place", and make way for lil' sis Solange.
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HipHop DX
I Am…Sasha Fierce would have worked so much better as an EP, instead of the double disc LP it is now. It’s bloated and as her lover Jay-Z can attest, quality is better than quantity. Even so, with a double disc and two split personalities, I Am…Sasha Fierce fits the mold of the prior two albums Beyonce has released, but falls a bit short because of the filler. There is still plenty to dance too, just don’t expect to dance to all of it.
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Gossip On This
I definitely think the album is enjoyable and everyone should be able to take something from it, which is what I stated, from the jump Beyonce gave her fans just enough.
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Exclaim!
Beyoncé should be giving us so much more. It feels like since her debut, Knowles has been riding her famed name instead of writing the material that she made it with back in Destiny's Child. Perhaps she should look to her younger sister Solange, who, for the time being, is the Knowles to beat.
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The Channels
The album showcases a Beyoncé that’s never been heard before, while delivering the strong love ballads and woman-empowering songs that fans expect.
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