I’m not gonna lie, I wasn’t a huge fan of Break My Soul when it first came out. But in the context of the record, it sounds much much stronger.
Are we at the point of prematurely ranking the album yet? No? Spoiler 1. CUFF IT 2. SUMMER RENAISSANCE 3. HEATED 4. COZY 5. THIQUE 6. BREAK MY SOUL 7. CHURCH GIRL 8. PURE/HONEY 9. ALIEN SUPERSTAR 10. ENERGY 11. VIRGO'S GROOVE 12. ALL UP IN YOUR MIND 13. PLASTIC OFF THE SOFA 14. MOVE 15. AMERICA HAS A PROBLEM 16. I'M THAT GIRL Really, my least favourite on this album would be top 5 on most other BPG albums. It was both instantly amazing and also continues to develop. A masterpiece.
I'm pretty sure we haven't had a UK number one by a female artist over 40 since 4 Minutes (and no, of course Running Up That Hill and All I Want For Christmas Is You don't count) so it would be nice if she could do it.
It's only ahead by a very small margin, and behind on other metics. It's unlikely it'll be #1 this week but I sense a new peak of 2 or 3 (though likely will be #1 in the first midweeks). This is where a video drop would have come in handy.
I try to make a top 5 of the album but I can't do it, basically 'Alien Superstar', 'All Up In Your Mind', 'Cozy', 'Thique', 'Virgo's Groove', 'Pure/Honey', 'Heated' and 'Move' are the cream for me.
I need her to drop the instrumentals and acapellas for this album so I can make an extended mix of the first half of PURE/HONEY, I could live in Beyonce vamping over ballroom beats
I was thinking this earlier. It wasn’t one of the more immediate tracks at first but today it’s the one I can’t stop singing. The layers this album has feel never ending.
Break My Soul really deserves the number one. And we deserve a video. I know she wants to high horse about not doing visuals this go around but please... something, anything.
I think at this point I can say this has the potential to be my favorite Bey album, knocking long-time queen B’Day from the top spot. Both exude this explosive energy that captivates and invigorates; it is music that makes you feel alive. Time will tell, of course, but RENAISSANCE’s boundary-pushing creativity and exuberance for life sort of inevitably makes it a champion.
ALL UP IN YOUR MIND is the Kitty Kat of this album, I have decided. I can't quite articulate why but they just have a very similar ~aura to me
What other great pop albums containing a continuous mix of songs have we got? I think of Madonna’s Confessions and Agnes’ Magic Still Exists. Other examples?
There are surprisingly good AI filtered instrumentals and acapellas on YouTube already, I’ve been getting my fix from them.
I just saw this note about Uncle Jonny while browsing the Genius listing for "Heated." Wow, this adds so much resonance to the album. These kind of dedications can be a little contrived, but given the themes of the album, whew.
