4

4
Information
Released	June 24, 2011
Genre	R&B
Length	46:28
Label	Parkwood Columbia

4 is Beyonce's fourth studio album that was released on June 24, 2011 by Columbia Records and Parkwood Entertainment.

Tracklisting

1. 1+1
2. I Care
3. I Miss You
4. Best Thing I Never Had
5. Party (featuring André 3000)
6. Rather Die Young
7. Start Over
8. Love On Top
9. Countdown
10. End Of Time
11. I Was Here
12. Run The World (Girls)

Album Background

Following the release of her third album, "I Am... Sasha Fierce" and a world tour, Beyonce took a career hiatus to "live life and to be inspired by things again."

During her hiatus, she "killed" Sasha Fierce, the alter-ego that she used in her previous studio album, as she felt that she could now merge her two personalities.

She also severed professional ties with father and manager Mathew Knowles, who had guided her career since the 1990s with Destiny's Child, noting that the decision made her feel vulnerable.

In an interview for Complex, Beyoncé expressed dissatisfaction with contemporary radio. and intended "4" to help change that status, commenting: "Figuring out a way to get R&B back on the radio is challenging ... With 4, I tried to mix R&B from the '70s and the '90s with rock 'n' roll and a lot of horns to create something new and exciting. I wanted musical changes, bridges, vibrata, live instrumentation and classic songwriting."

On her website, Beyonce wrote: "The album is definitely an evolution. It's bolder than the music on my previous albums because I'm bolder. The more mature I become and the more life experiences I have, the more I have to talk about. I really focused on songs being classics, songs that would last, songs that I could sing when I'm 40 and when I'm 60."

Beyoncé also sought to make more artistic music, rather than purely commercially oriented songs.

Chart Performance

"4" debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, making it Beyonce's fourth consecutive album to debut on top of the chart, making her the second female artist (after Britney Spears) and third artist overall (tied with Britney Spears & DMX) to have their first four studio albums debut on top of the Billboard 200.

The album was certified platinum by the RIAA in August of 2011, having shipped 1 million copies to retail stores. As of December 2015, it has reached sales of 1.5 million copies in the United States.

Critical Reception

"4" received positive reviews from music critics.

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, it received an average score of 73, based on 36 reviews.

Michael Cragg of The Observer called "4" Beyoncé's "most accomplished album yet".

Slant Magazine's Eric Henderson believed that it succeeds vocally as an album of mostly intimate and slow-tempo ballads.

Mikael Wood of Spin magazine applauded its ballads, mid-tempo songs, and evocations of late 1970s and early 1980s pop-soul.

In his review for Rolling Stone, Jody Rosen wrote that Beyoncé eschews contemporary production styles for a more personal and idiosyncratic album.

Jon Caramanica of The New York Times viewed the album as a good showcase for Beyoncé as a torch singer, because she convincingly sings about heartbreak and the strong emotional effect of love.

Pitchfork critic Ryan Dombal found it easygoing, retro-informed, and engaging because it shows "one of the world's biggest stars exploring her talent in ways few could've predicted".

AllMusic's Andy Kellman said that the quality of Beyoncé's singing and the songwriting compensate for the assorted arrangement of the songs.

Uncut viewed it is an exceptional album in spite of occasionally trite lyrics.

In a less enthusiastic review, Adam Markovitz of Entertainment Weekly said the first half of "4" is marred by boring ballads and the songwriting in general are not on-par with Beyoncé's vocal talent.

In his review for The Guardian, Alexis Petridis was ambivalent towards the album's 1980s influence and argued that, despite well written songs, it is not very consequential.

Time magazine's Claire Suddath said the songs lack lyrical substance, even though they are performed well.

Greg Kot, writing in the Chicago Tribune, called the album "inconsistent, short, and unfinished."

NME magazine's Hamish MacBain felt that Beyoncé did not progress from her past work and that "even the OK bits here" sounded "uninspired".