I Am…

“If I Were A Boy” kicks off Beyoncé’s half of the album with an open-hearted role-play, fitting her in the shoes of a lover. In the verses she explores this vantage point through various scenarios, making choices as a wiser consciousness. Ms Knowles reaffirms her vocal prowess as if battling detractors, effortlessly moving from near whispers to uncompromising belting across the breadth of her range .

“Halo” and “Disappear” take barely innovative approaches to the same tunes you hear on the radio. Whether it be a subtle removal of superfluous synthesizers or the addition of acoustic guitar accompaniment, the focus is on delivering the ‘Beyoncé: singer-songwriter’ persona. Though her stories/songs fall short of compelling, they will still entertain those hungry for anything from Queen B. As well, “Broken-Hearted Girl,” with it’s trudging piano and synthesized drums, will no doubt become the anthem of romantically abandoned adolescents.

The album returns to task with “Ave Maria”. In it the Houston native mixes the contemporary and the classical, weaving the third song of Schubert’s “Ellens dritter Gesang” (better known as “Ave Maria”) with an original ballad. From there Beyoncé channels her indie rock side for “Smash Into You” and “Satellites.” She seems more comfortable on these songs than the previous mid-tempo numbers which sound like Rihanna reject tracks; fitting since people generally feel the same way about Rihanna’s music.

Unfortunately, while I respect Ms Knowles’s sincere attempt to create a substantial album and re-establish herself as a singer/songwriter, the first five songs on the “I Am…” disc blend together a little too much; the rest, however, can grow on listeners. Regardless of the explorations from track to track, Beyoncé consistently asserts her talent so as not to be bumped from anyone’s list of prominent singers.

Sasha Fierce

I’m sure the “Sasha Fierce” disc will please the bulk of Beyoncé’s fanbase. Supposedly “Sasha” has served as Beyoncé’s stage presence since her solo debut if not before. Thus the throngs of those that usually hate it when their favorite artist tries something new will happily chant along with Ms Fierce.

“Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” immediately breaks away from the style of the first disc. Upbeat, club/radio friendly, ‘commanding-not-demanding’ Sasha tells it like it is and how it’s going to be. Her “your loss” attitude is quick to walk out of your life, each step more brazen than the antecedent; in much the same manner the song has strutted its way up and down the charts.

“Radio” idolizes the hit song mentality and falls right in line with the current post-modern movement in production. A sort of revitalized electronica experiment one might associate with Euro-pop or strobe lights. Stateside though, prominent producers TImbaland, Danjahandz, Kanye West, and Ryan Leslie have been toying with the triplet sixteenth-note pattern in padded synthesizer strings for the better half of the recession.

We learn the new definition of “Diva” on the track of the same title. Sasha lays out the female equivalent of a hustler and the her activities. Garnering comparisons to Lil’ Wayne’s “A Milli,” her diva feels perfectly at home over the track’s southern-style booming bass and kick. While “Sweet Dream” merely flirts with the electronica sound a bit more, “Video Phone” furthers the division in personas as Fierce seduces a suitor with sultry suggestions involving a cellphone–a side of Beyoncé I’m sure few behold. Overall this disc of the pair is as playful, rebllious and naughty as Sasha Fierce is reported to be.

Even if the entire release were on one disc with the same song order, the contrast between the two would be evident. If Beyoncé is Jekyll, then Sasha Fierce is her Hyde in both music and lyric. Understandably, there are things you do on stage that express inner creativity/lunacy and resonate with various audiences but don’t necessarily align with how you define yourself. Trust me. Complexity keeps an artist interesting and while I don’t know how Sasha Fierce feels, I’m definitely curious about the future of Beyoncé’s sound.