Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. If I Were A Boy
2. Halo
3. Disappear
4. Broken-Hearted Girl
5. Ave Maria
6. Smash Into You
7. Satellites
8. That's Why You're Beautiful

Disc 2:

1. Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)
2. Radio
3. Diva
4. Sweet Dreams
5. Video Phone
6. Hello
7. Ego
8. Scared Of Lonely

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #235 in Music
• Brand: ColumbiaRecords
• Released on: 2008-11-18
• Number of discs: 2

Album Description
Deluxe two CD pressing containing five bonus tracks. One of 2008's most hotly anticipated album releases, I Am..Sasha Fierce marks the artist's first new studio collection since the Grammy-winning multi-platinum-selling B'Day debuted at #1 on charts around the world shortly after its international release on September 4, 2006. With all songs co-written and co-produced by Beyonc‚, the artist's third studio album is her most personal, reflective and revelatory collection to-date. 16 tracks.

Customer Reviews

At Its Best, Average
The album is split into two sides--the first side being "I am..." and the second side being "Sasha Fierce". "I Am..." is nothing less than 8 ballads thrown onto a cd while "Sasha Fierce" is 8 uptempo tracks thrown on another.

Simply put, the Sasha Fierce side of the album is garbage. I've followed Beyonce since her early days (97-98)with Destiny's Child and am one of the few who truly appreciated her talent then. But I find it amazingly hard to listen to this newer uptempo side of her music. With the exception of Single Ladies and perhaps two other tracks, this second half is a complete waste of time for the listeners--album filler that many are sure to skip. If the lackluster track production on some of these songs are not enough, surely, Beyonce's juvenile niche for writing senseless lyrics will distract those looking for substance. (i.e.: "A diva is a female version of a hustler... of a hustler..." is enough to make anyone shake their head in disagreement.)

On the flip side, the "I Am..." half is fairly decent. I especially enjoyed the first four tracks and can't quite get enough of "Halo" and "Disappear". The remaining tracks are so-so and would have to grow on most people.

To appreciate this album for anything at all, one may have to disregard Beyonce's uptempo approach to satisfying mainstream fans. Her faster tracks not only come off underdeveloped but with tracks like "Diva", "ego" and "Video Phone", they also give off a shallow vibe. If this is to be Beyonce's most personal album it then becomes clear that perhaps Beyonce has some out-of-studio maturing to do. With only a third of her tracks being radio-possibles, at its best this album is average.

Separate the wheat from the chaff......
Beyonce obviously has a problem selecting and writing good songs. This has been evident on all her solo releases and 'I am Sasha Fierce" proves the point eloquently. As with 'B'Day' and 'Dangerously In Love' it was necessary to separate the wheat from the chaff but this new effort is all chaff.

The title track was 'stolen' and an out of court settlement resolved the issue. Still, it must have been a shocker for a young unsigned singer to hear her song blasting out over the radio sung by the biggest and most successful pop star of the day. Another song on this 'double CD' is also reputed to be 'stolen'.

Most of the great soul singers know a good song when they hear it. Not so with Beyonce.

This album should be retitled "I Am...Trying Too Hard"
I don't have a lot of good to say for this album. "I Am...Sasha Fierce" appears to be an ambitious creative undertaking by the undeniably talented Beyonce, and in many ways it is. But it's that very ambition that nearly destroys this project.

From the first single off the album "If I Were a Boy" you get a distinct feeling that Beyonce is trying very hard to branch out into different territory. The song is quite understated for her, although her signature shatter every piece of glass within a 3 mile radius pipes do start in during the somewhat over-dramatic chorus. Still, it's a nice song and accessible enough.
The next track on the album is "Halo" which is one of the stronger songs on the whole album. It has a big sound and it really compliments Beyonce's style without sounding too much like her previous work. Unfortunately after that things start to go downhill. "Disappear" sounds interesting for the first 10 seconds, but then the generic drum machines kick in and the rest of the song is a slow, bland mess. "Broken-Hearted Girl" is almost indistinguishable from the track before it, and it's just as dull. "Ave Marie" has beautiful vocals and is a very nice song, but it's not something most people will listen to constantly. "Satellites" almost reminds me of some type of trance music. It's very understated, but it's also nearly lifeless. Just try staying awake listening to that over and over again.

Then comes disc 2, "Sasha Fierce". I expected this disc to really pick things up after a first disc full of disappointing slow songs that could barely even be deemed ballads. After all, Sasha Fierce is supposed to be the high-energy side of Beyonce that we're all familiar with from her "B'Day" album. Well, it turns out that this time around "Sasha Fierce" barely even has a pulse. Things kick off with "Single Ladies" which sounds like a "B'Day" leftover, (that's actually a good thing), and it really is what we expect from Ms. Fierce. But that turns out to be the only track that has anywhere near that much ferocity. Next is "Radio" which is a busy number, but still falls short somehow. I suppose it could go over well in a club with a bunch of flashing lights, but it can be quite noisy to listen to by oneself.
Next is "Diva" which just sounds like a female knockoff of Lil'Wayne's "A Milli". It's very street and pompous and will probably annoy anyone who isn't a fan of that generic hip-hop sound.
"Sweet Dreams" is a respectable track if for no other reason than that it's obviously different, but for some reason it's yet another song I can't bring myself to listen more than a few times. Honestly, it doesn't sound like it really fits in with the rest of the songs anyway.
The next track "Video Phone" is just too street for me. The production is uninspired and it's lacking energy just like the rest of "Sasha Fierce". And it's about making video phone porn. Great.
If you want the REAL Sasha Fierce you'll have to go listen to "B'Day" because this is honestly the ghettofied version of Beyonce in many respects. And it doesn't suit her well. Perhaps we have her new husband to thank for that.

I'd say if you have to buy this album then get the Deluxe version. The extra tracks "Ego", "Scared of Lonely", "Hello", "Smash Into You", and "That's Why You're Beautiful" are almost all superior to anything on the standard edition. I believe Beyonce knows this which is why she's releasing "Ego" as her next single.

I have to say that overall I feel the first disc from "I Am..." will bore many listeners, and the second disc will leave them wondering if Sasha Fierce is the woman they've seen strutting on stage to tracks like "Crazy In Love" and "Ring the Alarm" or a diva looking for street cred like on tracks "Diva" and "Video Phone". I'll give Beyonce props for trying something different with the first disc, but it's really not enough. Both discs are a mish-mash of sounds that don't gel together well and make it strikingly obvious that Beyonce was experimenting in the studio. Problem is, most of those experiments went awry, and those that didn't seem too safe and boring.

I say download:
Ego
Scared of Lonely
Halo
If I Were a Boy
Single Ladies
Hello
Ave Marie

None of those tracks are outstanding, but at least they're a cut above the rest of the mess.

A final note: I have NO clue why Beyonce decided to split this work into two disc. It was totally pointless, especially for the standard edition which only gives you 6 songs on one disc and 5 on the other. But even with the two standard discs conjoined, the extra tracks from the deluxe edition added, and the bonus tracks from Japan added as well, every song would fit on ONE disc with room to spare. The two disc thing proves to be little more than an annoyance and I hope Beyonce won't do it again. I do feel that the whole thing is about record sales more than anything else.