With Beyoncé’s latest two-disc album, I Am … Sasha Fierce, she publicly outs “Sasha,” the flashy on-stage alter ego who the rather boring star has name dropped in a decade’s worth of interviews.
“I want to be an icon. That’s why this is a double-album. One side has songs that are more mainstream and another has my more traditional R&B songs for my fans who’ve been there the whole time. Some of it sounds like Barbra Streisand, Karen Carpenter and the Beatles around the 1970s,” she explained to Billboard.
Sounds sensible — give fans both sides of the coin. But what happens when critics dig the material put forth by your other half more? It sounds like the plot of a new Charlie Kaufman flick.
After the jump, what they’re saying about Sasha, and why we think Beyoncé should watch her booty.
“But the Sasha disc boasts Beyoncé’s most adventurous music yet: She rides frothy techno on “Radio,” turns out modal-sounding hooks over 808 bass on “Diva” and juices the eerie, Nine Inch Nails-style beats of “Video Phone” with lines like “Press ‘record’ and I’ll let you film me.” [Rolling Stone]
“Disc two (the ‘fun’ disc, Beyoncé says) is harder, friskier and just better.” [Globe and Mail]
“As a vocalist, Beyoncé seems more comfortable in Sasha’s stilettos. Her performances on those cuts feel unforced and fun, as if she’s thinking on her feet.” [Seattle Times]
“This new Sasha Fierce character is more in synch with Beyoncé’s latest ambitions, including a starring role as Etta James, the original hellcat, in the upcoming movie Cadillac Records. [Boston Globe]