Beyoncé (stylized in uppercase) is the fifth studio album by Beyoncé, released on December 13, 2013. The album is described as a "visual experience", due to every song in the album having its own music video. The lyrics of the album are much more darker than of previous Beyoncé recordings, including themes such as sexuality, feminism, motherhood and post-maternity problems.
Production of the album began in 2012 when Beyoncé invited musicians and producers to work with her in The Hamptons, New York. During The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour in 2013, the work started to be conceived as a visual project and to have an unexpected release. The recording sessions continued secretly with rock musician BOOTS, with the collaboration leading to experimental material, combining rhythm and blues with electronic music.
The album was unexpectedly released on December 13, 2013 in digital format on the iTunes Store, with no promotion or announcement, causing an hysterical reaction in the public. It debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 with 617k with only 3 days of tracking and over 1 million with 6 days, giving Beyoncé her fifth consecutive number one studio album and it sold 828,773 copies worldwide in three days, becoming the fastest-selling album in iTunes Store's history. The received positive reviews from music critics, who praised its production, themes and Beyoncé's vocals, and was ranked as the best album of the year by many lists. It has sold 12 million copies worldwide. Credited with changing the national music release day from Monday to Friday.
Impact[]
According to Billboard, as of 2022, Beyoncé is one of the 15 best-performing 21st-century albums without any of its singles being number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100. The surprising release of Beyoncé caused "hilarious, honest and hysterical" reaction among Beyoncé's fans, and "shock" among other musicians in an effect coined as "Beyoncé Syndrome" by the BBC. According to data provided by Twitter, the release generated over 1.2 million tweets in twelve hours.
Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield wrote: "The whole project is a celebration of the Beyoncé Philosophy, which boils down to the fact that Beyoncé can do anything the hell she wants to." Peter Robinson of The Guardian hailed the shock release as "Beyoncégeddon", describing it as "a masterclass in both exerting and relinquishing control". Henry Knight for the BBC said "Beyoncé's self-titled album not only proved innovative musically, it rewrote the business model of the industry." Forbes' Zack O'Malley Greenburg included Beyoncé on his "Music Industry Winners 2013" list, noting that the singer "didn't make use of any of the perks of [being signed to a large record label]—the 'machine' we're told is so necessary. There was no radio promotion, no single, no advance press of any kind". The marketing strategy of releasing an album with little or no notice was the subject of a case study at Harvard University School of Business. Beyoncé is credited with the popularization of the surprise album, and the act of releasing a project without prior announcement has subsequently been executed by many artists, including Drake, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Rihanna, Azealia Banks, Nicki Minaj, Miley Cyrus, U2, Frank Ocean and Eminem. Canadian musician Grimes named Beyoncé as one of the albums that changed her life, saying that it "revitalized the art of the album" for her.
After the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) announced Friday as the global record release day, Billboard's Andrew Flanagan thought the album release was among the influencing points in the decision, writing: "After seven months of semi-public back-and-forth, a conversation instigated in part by Aussie piracy and Beyonce's surprise release in December 2013 has resulted in the global recording industry accepting Friday as the release date for new albums." Time named Beyoncé as one of the most influential people of 2014 due to the album release, writing: "In December, she took the world by surprise when she released a new album, complete with videos, and announced it on Facebook and Instagram. Beyoncé shattered music-industry rules – and sales records".
Track listing[]
Standard edition[]
| Audio | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Producer(s) | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Pretty Hurts" | Ammo • Knowles | 4:17 | |||||||
| 2. | "Haunted" (contains hidden track "Ghost") | Boots • Knowles | 6:09 | |||||||
| 3. | "Drunk in Love" (featuring Jay-Z) | Detail • The Order • Knowles • Timbaland • Harmon • Boots | 5:23 | |||||||
| 4. | "Blow" | Williams • Knowles • Timbaland • Harmon | 5:09 | |||||||
| 5. | "No Angel" | Polachek • Knowles • Patrick Wimberly • Fauntleroy • Boots | 3:48 | |||||||
| 6. | "Partition" (contains hidden track "Yoncé") | Timbaland • Harmon • Timberlake • Knowles • Key Wane • Dean • Boots | 5:19 | |||||||
| 7. | "Jealous" | Detail • The Order • Knowles • Boots • Hit-Boy • HazeBanga • Proctor | 3:04 | |||||||
| 8. | "Rocket" | Timbaland • Knowles • Harmon | 6:31 | |||||||
| 9. | "Mine" (featuring Drake) | Shebib • Majid Jordan • Brown | 6:18 | |||||||
| 10. | "XO" | The-Dream • Tedder • Knowles • Hit-Boy • HazeBanga | 3:35 | |||||||
| 11. | "Flawless" (featuring Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie) | Hit-Boy • Knowles • Rey Reel Music • HazeBanga • Boots | 4:10 | |||||||
| 12. | "Superpower" (featuring Frank Ocean) | Williams • Boots | 4:36 | |||||||
| 13. | "Heaven" | Boots • Knowles | 3:50 | |||||||
| 14. | "Blue" (featuring Blue Ivy) | Boots • Knowles | 4:26 | |||||||
Total length: |
66:35 | |||||||||
| Visual | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Director(s) | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Pretty Hurts" | Melina Matsoukas | 7:04 | |||||||
| 2. | "Ghost" | Pierre Debusschere | 2:31 | |||||||
| 3. | "Haunted" | Jonas Åkerlund | 5:21 | |||||||
| 4. | "Drunk in Love" (featuring Jay-Z) | Hype Williams | 6:21 | |||||||
| 5. | "Blow" | Williams | 5:25 | |||||||
| 6. | "No Angel" | @lilinternet | 3:53 | |||||||
| 7. | "Yoncé" | Ricky Saiz | 2:02 | |||||||
| 8. | "Partition" | Jake Nava | 3:49 | |||||||
| 9. | "Jealous" | Beyoncé • Francesco Carrozzini • Todd Tourso | 3:26 | |||||||
| 10. | "Rocket" | Beyoncé • Ed Burke • Bill Kirstein | 4:30 | |||||||
| 11. | "Mine" (featuring Drake) | Debusschere | 4:59 | |||||||
| 12. | "XO" | Terry Richardson | 3:35 | |||||||
| 13. | "Flawless" (featuring Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie) | Nava | 4:12 | |||||||
| 14. | "Superpower" (featuring Frank Ocean) | Åkerlund | 5:24 | |||||||
| 15. | "Heaven" | Beyoncé • Tourso | 3:55 | |||||||
| 16. | "Blue" (featuring Blue Ivy) | Beyoncé • Burke • Kirstein | 4:35 | |||||||
| 17. | "Credits" | 2:34 | ||||||||
| 18. | "Grown Woman" (bonus video) | Nava | 4:24 | |||||||
Total length: |
78:00 | |||||||||
Platinum Edition[]
| More | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Producer(s) | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "7/11" | Knowles • Johnson • Sidney Swift • Derek Dixie | 3:33 | |||||||
| 2. | "Flawless (Remix)" (featuring Nicki Minaj) | Knowes • Hit-Boy • Rey Reel Music • HazeBanga • The-Dream • Dixie • Boots | 3:54 | |||||||
| 3. | "Drunk in Love (Remix)" (featuring Jay-Z and Kanye West) | Detail • The Order • Knowles • West • Dean • Timbaland • Harmon • Boots • Noah Goldstein | 6:35 | |||||||
| 4. | "Ring Off" | Caren • Knowles • Cook Classics • HS87 (Hit-Boy, HazeBanga, Preach Bal4) • Dean • Ariel Rechtshaid • Dixie | 3:00 | |||||||
| 5. | "Blow (Remix)" (featuring Pharrell Williams) | Williams • Knowles • Timbaland • Harmon | 5:09 | |||||||
| 6. | "Standing on the Sun (Remix)" (featuring Mr. Vegas) | Kurstin • Knowles • P. Williams | 4:33 | |||||||
Total length: |
26:44 | |||||||||
| Live | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 1. | "Run the World (Girls)" | 4:01 | ||||||||
| 2. | "Flawless" | 4:11 | ||||||||
| 3. | "Get Me Bodied" | 4:51 | ||||||||
| 4. | "Blow" | 3:59 | ||||||||
| 5. | "Haunted" | 4:47 | ||||||||
| 6. | "Drunk in Love" (featuring Jay-Z) | 4:07 | ||||||||
| 7. | "1+1" | 4:47 | ||||||||
| 8. | "Partition" | 4:23 | ||||||||
| 9. | "Heaven" | 4:39 | ||||||||
| 10. | "XO" | 3:54 | ||||||||
Total length: |
43:39 | |||||||||
Notes
- All tracks vocals produced by Beyoncé Knowles
- "Haunted" contains two parts – "Ghost" and "Haunted"; presented as one song on Audio, and two separate videos on Visual.
- "Blow" contains two parts – "Blow" and "Cherry"; presented as one song on Audio, and one video on Visual with two separate sections.
- "No Angel" is stylized as "
Angel" on the back of physical editions. - "Partition" contains two parts – "Yoncé" and "Partition"; presented as one song on Audio, and two separate videos on Visual.
- "Flawless" is stylized as "***Flawless"
- "Flawless" contains two parts – "Bow Down" and "Flawless". "Bow Down" was initially part of a previously recorded song entitled "Bow Down/I Been On".
- "Grown Woman" is presented after the credits on DVD, while it is presented before the credits in digital format.
- "Grown Woman" is written by Mosley, Kelly Sheehan, Knowles, Nash, Chris Godbey, Harmon, Darryl Pearson, and Garland Mosley. It is produced by Timbaland, with co-production by Harmon.
Sample credits
- "Partition" contains an interpolation of the French-dubbed version of the 1998 film The Big Lebowski, performed by Hajiba Fahmy.
- "Flawless" contains portions of the speech "We should all be feminists", written and delivered by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
- "Heaven" contains portions of "The Lord's Prayer" in Spanish, performed by Melissa Vargas.
- "Flawless (Remix)" contains a sample of "SpottieOttieDopaliscious" by OutKast.
- "Drunk in Love (Remix)" contains a sample of Kanye West's "Flashing Lights", vocals provided by Connie Mitchell.
- "Ring Off" contains portions of a speech delivered by Tina Knowles at the 2014 Texas Women's Empowerment Foundation Leadership Luncheon.