Renaissance Review
In this article, Peter reviews the Beyonce album Renaissance in the greatest way possible, because he's the greatest of all time.
A Snazzy Renaissance Review
By: Peter Easterwood
Beyonce, also known as “Queen Bey” is a well-respected pop artist who started their career on June 20, 2003, with Dangerously in Love. Afterward, she released seven albums, the latest being Renaissance. Before the release of her latest album, she released Lemonade, a well-received album. On Metacritic, it received a 92 out of 100 “Metascore” and an 8.0 “User Score.” Lemonade was arguably her most experimental album, being calm yet eerier than any of her other albums released prior. The album included a film, putting it into the visual album category.
After the release of Lemonade: she was given a BET Award for Album of the Year, a Grammy for Best Progressive R&B Album, and a Billboard Award for Top R&B Album, with a couple of smaller awards with it. During this time, she went on tour for the album known as “The Formation World Tour.” Beyonce seemed to be on top of the world and disappeared, taking a 6-year hiatus. With no hints at an album to come out, she shocked the world with the release of “Break My Soul” on June 20, 2022.
The song gained worldwide recognition automatically, being all over Tiktok, Instagram, etc. “Break My Soul” brought back a more disco-esque, house music vibe. It laid the foundation for her newest album Renaissance, filled with multiple hits. Possibly her cleanest album production-wise, as well as gives off a more Prince-type lyricism.
Once released, Renaissance automatically came with positive reviews. On Album of the Year (a collection of multiple critics’ reviews, as well as regular peoples’) had a critic score of 88/100 and a user score of 81/100. Not only was it very well received score-wise, but it was also the number one album of 2022 lists across critics' lists (the big ones being The Rolling Stone and Pitchfork). Five out of the thirty-one ratings gave Renaissance a perfect score, while nine (ironically enough) of the critics gave it a ninety out of a hundred.
The album is one hour and two minutes long, with 16 songs to groove to; there are little to zero skips in the album. Although the first half is MUCH stronger compared to the second half, no listener will leave bored after they finish it. The first half (in comparison to the second half) hits the listener in the face with some fast-paced tracks, while the second half is much smoother, slowed down, and calm. Overall, Renaissance is a clean 8.7/10, a worthwhile listen.
