Zeebz
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Post by Zeebz on Jul 29, 2022 22:35:52 GMT -5
A lot of the album will take some more time to sink in with me (everything’s good, but not everything’s great upon first listen.) That said, I’m currently obsessed with “Summer Renaissance”— that couplet where she rhymes Givenchy with “Beyonsee” is probably my favorite moment on the entire album.
Other standouts for me were “Pure/Honey,” “Church Girl,” “Thique,” and “Alien Superstar.” Can’t wait to give this some more listens.
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Mike
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Post by Mike on Jul 29, 2022 22:55:16 GMT -5
That graphic lol. "Only woman having 5 #1 albums in Apple Music US (Taylor Tie)"  |
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kimberly
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Post by kimberly on Jul 30, 2022 1:50:51 GMT -5
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kimberly
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Post by kimberly on Jul 30, 2022 4:01:32 GMT -5
the US & Global Apple Music Daily Charts:
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Ty
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Post by Ty on Jul 30, 2022 4:30:46 GMT -5
Top 5 so far: Cozy
Alien Superstar
Plastic Off the Sofa
Move
ThiqueUpdate after day 1. It's a phenomenal project, a tastefully done Urban/dance/pop mix with rich details and Beyonce trademark. My only complaint is that it feels a bit too long towards the end. I'd tighten it up a bit by dropping 4-5 songs or leave them to a side-B EP (like they did for her self-titled). Hard to predict what would be the next single, but I genuinely hope it won't be "I'm That Girl". I Love: Cozy
Alien Superstar
Plastic Off the Sofa
Thique
Cuff It
Move
Virgo's Groove
America Has a ProblemOkay: Break My Soul - the throwback beat jumped out a lot more in the context of this very modern album. Summer Renaissance Church Girl Heated Energy Hmmmmmmm: All Up in Your Mind - the only track that gave me the urge to skip. Pure/Honey - it's a bit messy... I'm That Girl - I get why she wants to open this album with something like this, but it's not a great song. |
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wavey.
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Post by wavey. on Jul 30, 2022 7:30:06 GMT -5
First listen, everything jumps out. Definitely vogue esque songs all through the album(never got into ball culture, but the songs fit that setting). I'll be back for a later review. House of Dereon should make a comeback.
Also, I'm curious on how the other 2 Acts are gonna sound.
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R.K.
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Post by R.K. on Jul 30, 2022 7:33:15 GMT -5
43.25M opening day streams on global Spotify, not spectacular but not disappointing either. Still on track for 300K SPS.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2022 8:04:27 GMT -5
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wavey.
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Post by wavey. on Jul 30, 2022 8:34:35 GMT -5
Comeback ON! Metacritic is at 88!
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elementd5
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Post by elementd5 on Jul 30, 2022 9:58:38 GMT -5
In no world is this better than 4, self-titled, B’Day, or her debut. It could be a vibe for the moment for sure, but better? With these structures/lyrics? Just no.
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HEADOFTHEPACK
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Post by HEADOFTHEPACK on Jul 30, 2022 10:12:08 GMT -5
I've listened a fair few times and I think it's fantastic. The production/influences are just insane. I see some of you are disappointed but this is really working for me. The sequencing is perfect.
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Ivy Leegue™
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Post by Ivy Leegue™ on Jul 30, 2022 10:23:25 GMT -5
Still waiting for my box to ship but I contributed more to her sales by surprising my friend with a copy yesterday, since I was near Newbury Comics in Boston.
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Enigma.
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Post by Enigma. on Jul 30, 2022 10:30:49 GMT -5
I really love how the album SOUNDS, but not sure íf I will keep returning to it very much. Pure/Honey is my favourite as of now and Break My Soul sounds super fresh here (as it is the most instant track with serious hit potential).
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Ling-Ling
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Post by Ling-Ling on Jul 30, 2022 10:40:07 GMT -5
I get the reviews for this. It's an incredibly ambitious project where she's basically distilling 50 years of black dance music (disco, post-disco, funk, house, hip house, bass, afrobeats, ballroom, etc). And she pulls it off pretty damn seamlessly IMO. And I get the complaints about the lyrics and song structure too. But that's always been a hallmark of dance music, it's about freedom and feeling, it's the genre most likely to deconstruct lyrics and melody and play with structure. Some of the greatest dance songs are literally just people riffing and adlibbing for 10 minutes.
That being said, as much as I like the album and admire it, I'd probably rank it fifth in her discography. Behind B'Day, 4, S/T and Lemonade.
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Post by Fat Ass Kelly Price on Jul 30, 2022 10:55:46 GMT -5
In no world is this better than 4, self-titled, B’Day, or her debut. It could be a vibe for the moment for sure, but better? With these structures/lyrics? Just no. You’re really placing her debut over this? Outside of the singles, her debut is pretty mid (with only a couple exceptions). |
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Post by Mayman on Jul 30, 2022 11:05:49 GMT -5
In no world is this better than 4, self-titled, B’Day, or her debut. It could be a vibe for the moment for sure, but better? With these structures/lyrics? Just no. You’re really placing her debut over this? Outside of the singles, her debut is pretty mid (with only a couple exceptions). I agree, the only album track I really like off her debut is Speechless. Everything else is meh. |
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kalmanta
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Post by kalmanta on Jul 30, 2022 11:13:24 GMT -5
Something shifted after the last minute of Heated.
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Mike
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Post by Mike on Jul 30, 2022 13:54:45 GMT -5
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kimberly
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Post by kimberly on Jul 30, 2022 15:29:20 GMT -5
“Be Alive” performance at the Oscars in March teased “I’M THAT GIRL”
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wavey.
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Post by wavey. on Jul 30, 2022 16:08:08 GMT -5
That's great sales for a 7th album, and 25 year career like whew!
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Sir Benji
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Post by Sir Benji on Jul 30, 2022 16:36:08 GMT -5
Ok so I've listened to the album a few times and it's definitely an album that should be listened to in one sitting.
My favorites as of now (in no particular order) are:
Cuff It/Energy (The latter is honestly just the former's outro)
Heated
Church Girl
Alien Superstar
Summer Renaissance
Honarable mentions:
Move
Virgo's Groove
Great:
America Has A Problem
Thique
Break My Soul
This record really is infectious and I couldn't sit still through most of it.
Alien Superstar has grown on me immensely definitely not the worst song on the album (what was i thinking lmao) she was definitely inspired by Vanity 6/Prince for this track. America Has a Problem sounds EXACTLY like a Ciara song.
Pure/Honey is VERY "slay queen hunty mama charli xcx snatch my wig versace boots the house down" or whatever that tik tok sound says lmao. I could see it being used in a lot shows.
The rest of the songs are decent/good but they haven't fully clicked for me. Plastic off The Sofa is the only skip for me which is unfortunate for me because I like all the artist that were involved in writing it
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2022 17:22:29 GMT -5
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bat1990
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Post by bat1990 on Jul 30, 2022 19:04:06 GMT -5
Wow! This is great!
America Has a Problem is the only dud for me. Otherwise, it's solid and i love how practically every song has an unexpected production shift and then a smooth transition into the next track.
Cozy and Thique are the two I'm gravitating toward most so far but there's so much to come back to with further listens.
I love how Cuff It through Church Girl is a walk through the decades of dance. Church Girl gave me sped up Snap teas - i kept thinking of Everytime Tha Beat Drop.
At first, i thought she was giving something like 7/11 with Thique but then beat switch came in and I was hooked!
The bassline in Cozy also goes hard in a way that makes me want to dance like a heaux.
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kimberly
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Post by kimberly on Jul 30, 2022 19:27:32 GMT -5
the way I haven't been able to listen to anything else since this dropped... Maggie Rogers I'm so sorry you will have to wait in line like all the others
my favorites keep changing but I'm still team "CUFF IT" & "VIRGO'S GROOVE," those would be my priorities if we're looking at a second single.
people aren't appreciating "ALL UP IN YOUR MIND" and "AMERICA HAS A PROBLEM" enough so let me show them some love.
edit: also, my vinyl shipped earlier today but no activity on the box set yet. hmm
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kimberly
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Post by kimberly on Jul 30, 2022 20:04:02 GMT -5
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J'back
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Post by J'back on Jul 30, 2022 21:34:21 GMT -5
the way I haven't been able to listen to anything else since this dropped... Maggie Rogers I'm so sorry you will have to wait in line like all the others my favorites keep changing but I'm still team " CUFF IT" & " VIRGO'S GROOVE," those would be my priorities if we're looking at a second single. people aren't appreciating " ALL UP IN YOUR MIND" and " AMERICA HAS A PROBLEM" enough so let me show them some love. edit: also, my vinyl shipped earlier today but no activity on the box set yet. hmm My Rankings right now: 1. CUFF IT 2. America Has a Problem 3. All Up in your Mind 4. Church Girl 5. Summer Renaissance 6. Thique 7. Alien Superstar 8. Heated 9. Pure/Honey 10. Move 11. Break my Soul 12. Virgo’s Groove 13. Energy 14. Cozy 15. That Girl 16. Plastic Off the Sofa Love: 1-13 Like: 14-15 Meh: 16(I know, blasphemy) 8. |
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🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲
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Post by 🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲 on Jul 30, 2022 21:39:55 GMT -5
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elementd5
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Post by elementd5 on Jul 30, 2022 23:24:27 GMT -5
In no world is this better than 4, self-titled, B’Day, or her debut. It could be a vibe for the moment for sure, but better? With these structures/lyrics? Just no. You’re really placing her debut over this? Outside of the singles, her debut is pretty mid (with only a couple exceptions). Beyond the five singles (including the title track), absolutely . . . Yes, Speechless, Be With You, The Closer . . . are absolutely better than pretty much anything on this album. That’s at least nine really strong songs right there. |
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🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲
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Post by 🇯🇲 dollybaby 🇯🇲 on Jul 30, 2022 23:32:24 GMT -5
You’re really placing her debut over this? Outside of the singles, her debut is pretty mid (with only a couple exceptions). Beyond the five singles (including the title track), absolutely . . . Yes, Speechless, The Closer . . . are absolutely better than anything on this album. That’s at least eight really strong songs right there. Shoot, Signs and That How . . . are arguably even up there as decent filler/album tracks. I loved "Signs". I would also add "Be With You". "Dangerously In Love" as a whole just feel feel more classy and timeless in a way that it has songs that actually made me want to revisit and relive those moments from that era. Not sure if I would ever feel that way about "Renaissance", to be quite honest. 🤷🏾♀️ |
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kimberly
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Post by kimberly on Jul 31, 2022 2:17:24 GMT -5
Lady Gaga stanning (once again)
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