Lemonade (album)
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Lemonade is the sixth studio album by American singer Beyoncé. Released on April 23, 2016, by Parkwood Entertainment and distributed by Columbia Records, the record was developed as her second "visual album" following 2013's Beyoncé. Unlike Beyoncé, which featured individual music videos for each track, a one-hour film was aired on HBO to coincide with the release of Lemonade. The concept was described by Tidal as "every woman's journey of self-knowledge and healing."[2] Lemonade features co-production from a wide range of artists, and includes guest vocals from James Blake, Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd and Jack White.
Lemonade was made available for online streaming on April 23 through Tidal, of which Beyoncé is a co-owner, and was released for paid purchase through the service the following day. It was later launched to the iTunes Store and physical retailers on April 25 and May 6, respectively. The record was preceded by the release of the single "Formation" on February 6, 2016. Beyoncé will embark on the Formation World Tour in April 2016 to promote the album.
Background
The album title was inspired by Beyoncé's grandmother Agnéz Deréon, as well as her husband Jay Z's grandmother, Hattie White. At the end of track "Freedom", Hattie White is heard speaking to a crowd at her 90th birthday party in April 2015. During the speech, Hattie says "I had my ups and downs, but I always found the inner strength to pull myself up. I was served lemons, but I made lemonade."[3]
Visual
The album was accompanied by the release of a 60-minute short film of the same name, which premiered on HBO on April 23, 2016.[4]
Music and lyrics
The Chicago Tribune described the album as not just a mere grab for popular music dominance, it is a retrospective that delves the listener into her personal circumstances, with musical tones from the southern United States, a harkening back towards her formative years spent in Texas.[5]
Critical reception
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 94/100[6] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
The A.V. Club | A–[7] |
Chicago Tribune | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Daily Telegraph | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Guardian | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
NME | 4/5[10] |
NOW | 4/5[11] |
Pitchfork | 8.5/10[12] |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Slant Magazine | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Lemonade received universal acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 94, based on 11 reviews.[6]
Alexis Petridis of The Guardian wrote that the album "feels like a success" and that Beyoncé sounded "genuinely imperious".[9] The Daily Telegraph writer Jonathan Bernstein felt it was her strongest work to date.[8] Nekesa Moody from The Washington Post called the album "deeply personal, yet is a bold social and political statement as well".[15] Writing for The New York Times, Jon Pareles praised Beyoncé's vocals and her courage to talk about subjects that affects so many people, but he noted that "the album is not beholden to radio formats or presold by a single".[16] Greg Kot from the Chicago Tribune noted how "artistic advances" seem "slight" in context towards the "more personal, raw and relatable" aspect the record contains, where it came out as a "clearly conceived" piece of music, meaning it had a "unifying vision" for what may have lent itself to being "a prettily packaged hodgepodge".[5]
Track listing
Credits adapted from Tidal.[17]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Pray You Catch Me" |
| 3:16 | |
2. | "Hold Up" |
|
| 3:41 |
3. | "Don't Hurt Yourself" (featuring Jack White) |
| 3:54 | |
4. | "Sorry" |
| 3:53 | |
5. | "6 Inch" (featuring The Weeknd) |
|
| 4:20 |
6. | "Daddy Lessons" |
| 4:48 | |
7. | "Love Drought" |
|
| 3:57 |
8. | "Sandcastles" |
|
| 3:03 |
9. | "Forward" (featuring James Blake) |
|
| 1:19 |
10. | "Freedom" (featuring Kendrick Lamar) |
|
| 4:50 |
11. | "All Night" |
|
| 5:22 |
12. | "Formation" |
|
| 3:26 |
Total length: | 45:49 |
No. | Title | Director(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Lemonade" |
| 1:05:22 |
- Sample credits[17]
- "Hold Up" contains a sample of "Can't Get Used to Losing You", written by Jerome "Doc" Pomus and Mort Shuman, performed by Andy Williams.
- "Don't Hurt Yourself" contains samples of "When the Levee Breaks", written by James Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham, performed by Led Zeppelin.
- "6 Inch" contains samples of "Walk On By", written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, performed by Isaac Hayes via "2Wicky", performed by Hooverphonic; and an interpolation of "My Girls", performed by Animal Collective.[4]
- "Freedom" contains samples of "Let Me Try", written by Frank Tirado, performed by Kaleidoscope; samples of " Collection Speech/Unidentified Lining Hymn", recorded by Alan Lomax in 1959, performed by Reverend R.C. Crenshaw; and samples of "Stewball", recorded by Alan Lomax and John Lomax, Sr. in 1947, performed by Prisoner "22" at Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.
- "Lemonade" contains a sample of "The Court of the Crimson King", written by Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield, performed by King Crimson.
Release history
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
North America | April 23, 2016 | Streaming | Parkwood | [17] |
April 24, 2016 | Digital download |
|
[18] | |
Worldwide | April 25, 2016 | [19] | ||
May 6, 2016 | [20] |
References
- ^ a b c O'Conner, Samantha (April 25, 2016). "Beyoncé - Lemonade". The 405. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
- ^ Coscarelli, Joe (2016-04-23). "Beyoncé Releases Surprise Album 'Lemonade' After HBO Special". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-04-24.
- ^ Stephens, Brittney. "Here's Why Beyoncé Titled Her New Album Lemonade". POPSUGAR Celebrity Australia. Retrieved 2016-04-24.
- ^ a b "Beyoncé Releases New Album Lemonade Featuring Kendrick Lamar, Jack White, the Weeknd, James Blake". Pitchfork Media. 23 April 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
- ^ a b c Kot, Greg (April 24, 2016). "Beyonce's 'Lemonade' contains singer's most fully realized music yet". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
- ^ a b "Critic Reviews for Lemonade". Metacritic. April 25, 2016. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
- ^ Zaleski, Annie (April 25, 2016). "Beyoncé's Lemonade pushes pop music into smarter, deeper places". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
- ^ a b Bernstein, Jonathan (April 24, 2016). "Lemonade is Beyoncé at her most profane, political and personal — review". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
- ^ a b Petridis, Alexis (April 24, 2016). "Beyoncé – Lemonade review: 'A woman not to be messed with'". The Guardian. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
- ^ Bartleet, Larry (April 25, 2016). "Beyonce – 'Lemonade' Review". NME. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
- ^ Ritchie, Kevin (April 24, 2016). "Beyoncé tastes the bitterness of marital strife". Now. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
- ^ Mapes, Jillian (April 26, 2016). "Beyoncé: Lemonade". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ^ Sheffield, Rob (April 25, 2016). "The queen, in middle-fingers-up mode, makes her most powerful, ambitious statement yet". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ^ Cinquemani, Sal (April 25, 2016). "Beyoncé: Lemonade". Slant Magazine. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ^ Moody, Nekesa (April 24, 2016). "Review: Beyonce again proves to be center of pop universe". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
- ^ Pareles, Jon (April 24, 2016). "Review: Beyoncé Makes 'Lemonade' Out of Marital Strife". The New York Times. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
- ^ a b c "Lemonade / Beyoncé". Tidal. April 23, 2016. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
- ^ Ryan, Patrick (April 24, 2016). "Beyoncé's 'Lemonade' hits music retailers tonight". USA Today. Gannett Company. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
- ^ Sisario, Ben (April 25, 2016). "Beyonce's 'Lemonade' Comes to iTunes". NY Times. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
- ^ "Lemonade (CD/DVD)". Amazon.com. Retrieved April 25, 2016.