Beyoncé's newfound maturity in 4

The boys will love the video. After all, it is not every day that one sees the beautiful Beyoncé cavorting on screen in white lace undies. Really WOW! But believe me, it is the girls who will take the song and its message to heart. Produced by Babyface, Best Thing I Never Had from Beyonce’s latest album 4 is about the boy who broke your heart a long time ago and the later, liberating realization that he was not worth your tears after all. So amidst the celebration of her marriage to a man truly worth her love, she sings Thank God I found the good in goodbye. That is very nice and a turn of phrase that is uniquely Babyface.

And very nice too is the video for Best Thing I Never Had, with its gorgeous sets and Beyoncé looking even more gorgeous in a series of gowns, that females will describe as to die for. The gowns go over the sheer undies. I watch and I think of the astronomical production budget for the video and I think of how deprived our artists must be. On the other hand though, they do not sell over 300,000 copies of their albums on their first week in the market or score No. 1 in the hit charts of several countries the way Beyoncé has done with this new CD.

4 is titled as such because it is Beyoncé’s fourth solo studio album. It comes after I Am Sasha…Fierce, B-day and Dangerously In Love. I believe it is also her riskiest. I can’t believe she chose to go for the classic type of soul singing with 1+ 1 to open the CD. The song is no If I Were A Boy and is the sort of complicated soul ballad Aretha or the newly rediscovered Jill Scott would do. Then she closes the set with Run The World (Girls) which is a strong cut but is in the wrong place in the sequence. Don’t you think it would have made a better opener?

Sandwiched in between these two though are tunes that show off her newly found maturity as a singer. You know how it used to be. Diva-like with lots of high notes, melismas here and there, and catchy beats all around. 4 has varied rhythms but with intense, full-bodied vocals. This is Listen territory again and Beyoncé’s singing is at its best. The soul ballads at the start, 1+ 1, I Care and I Miss You, simply set the stage. Relish that voice. It is really with Best Thing I Never Had that things go full blast in the album and from there, it is one great cut after another.

There is the excellent Party featuring Andre 3000 and produced by Kanye West followed by Rather Die Young, Start Over, Love On Top, Countdown, End Of Time and the lovely I Was Here that was composed by the great Diane Warren. The CD costs P520, a bit pricey I must say. But it is a very good buy and even comes with a bonus extra disc that has assorted mixes of Run The World (Girls), plus Lay Up Under Me, Schoolin’ Life and Dance For You.

Beyoncé’s 4 debuted at No. 1 last week in the US charts and it was next reported that 4 also made it to the top in the UK and other countries. This is great showing for an album whose first single release, Run The World (Girls) is considered a flop because it only made it up to No. 29 in the Hot 100 list.

The other albums in the Top 20 listing are: 21 by Adele; Finally Famous by Big Sean; When The Sun Goes Down by Selena Gomez & The Scene; The Light Of The Sun by Jill Scott; My Kinda Party by Jason Aldean; This Loud Morning by David Cook; Dream With Me by Jackie Evancho; Hell: The Sequel by Bad Meets Evil; American Idol Season 10 featuring Scotty McCreery; Bon Iver by Bon Iver; Born This Way by Lady Gaga; Outlaws Like Me by Justin Moore; Planet Pit by Pitbull; Rave On: Buddy Holly by Various Artists; Gold Cobra by Limp Bizkit; Taking Back Sunday by Taking Back Sunday; Loaded: The Best of Blake Sheldon by Blake Sheldon; Now 38 by Various Artists; and The Harrow & The Harvest by Gillian Welch.