It’s been almost a year since Beyoncé took the world by storm with the surprise release of her 5th studio album. BEYONCÉ monopolized iTunes and shook the industry up with its unconventional marketing strategy.
This year, Beyoncé is expanding the experience with a Platinum Edition, a collection made up of: the original album, 2 new tracks, remixes, footage from her top-grossing Mrs. Carter Show World Tour and even a 2015 calendar for the superfans. A collector’s item basically. Who wants, however, can just get the additional content on a digital EP on iTunes.
The two new tracks are “7/11” and “Ring Off.” The former has already made its debut via a viral music video shot on Beyoncé’s iPhone and showcasing the superstar’s goofy side. It will be serviced to radio tomorrow, so it’s going to be blessing the airwaves very soon and will potentially become to go-to party song for this New Year’s Eve. The beat is captivating and the lyrics are packed with one liners that are surely going to storm a whole lot of social network status updates for the next few months.
“Ring Off” is a tropical-based song which chronicles the end of the relationship between Beyoncé’s parents, Matthew and Tina Knowles. Beyoncé is narrating the story from her own point of view, describing how she saw her mother deal with the process of separation and sympathizing with her. The pairing of the subject matter and the sexiness of the instrumental is great, it feels very empowering and gives a positive perspective of where Miss Tina’s life is headed now. She took her wedding ring off and she’s now shining again. (We agree, she looks better than ever!)
The remixes of “Blow” and “Drunk In Love” are rather tepid. Pharrell Williams and Kanye West don’t add a lot to the respective original songs. The “***Flawless” remix with Nicki Minaj has been known by the public for a couple of months now, but it’s still a welcome addition and really the best of the bunch.
“Standing On The Sun” is probably the one track fans were waiting for more eagerly, since it’s been teased for over a year through Beyoncé’s H&M commercials last summer. It’s a vibrant, scorching hot track that will make you dream about your next vacation on a tropical sland so you can blast it out loud.
As for the video content, the performances are the same that were aired on HBO as part of the Beyoncé X 10 series, so that’s kind of disappointing. New performances would have been more welcome, since it’s always a pleasure to witness Beyoncé tearing up a stage with her captivating energy and showmanship.
Overall, the BEYONCÉ Platinum Edition will serve well as a place holder until Beyoncé’s next full project. Who knows what other surprises she might have in store for the world..
Grade:
70/97