Maps of Music

Beyoncé (2013)

Where the lyrics of Beyoncé take you, and where it was really made.

Beyoncé was released with no advance notice, first exclusively on the iTunes Store in the early hours of 13 December 2013.

Key places

Most of the album recorded at Jungle City (2013)

Recording site Jungle City Studios — The project was relocated to Jungle City and Oven Studios in New York City, where most of the album was recorded. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Oven Studios in New York City (2013)

Recording site Oven Studios — After the project was suspended, work moved to Oven Studios in New York City, where most of the album was recorded. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

XO recorded in Berlin (2013)

Recording site Tritonus — The track XO was one of the four songs not recorded entirely in New York studios, and it was recorded in Berlin. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

XO recorded in Sydney (2013)

Recording site Trackdown Digital Studios — The track XO was also recorded in Sydney, one of the four songs not recorded entirely in New York studios. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Beyoncé: fifth studio album by the American singer Beyoncé
• Visual album, surprise-released 13 December 2013 through Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records
• Songs and videos recorded in secrecy for the unexpected release
• Electro-R&B record with alternative R&B, electronic and soul elements
• Heavy bass, percussion and synthesizers build a textured, ambient soundscape
• Dark, personal lyrics address sexuality and monogamy from a feminist perspective
• Fourteen tracks paired with seventeen short films
• Reissued as the Platinum Edition on 24 November 2014

Background

• Preceded by the fourth studio album 4 (2011)
• First child Blue Ivy born 7 January 2012
• Mid-2012 spent in the Hamptons, stepping away from the public eye to begin the next album
• Work resumed in early 2013 after the touring schedule had interrupted the project
• Experimented with styles outside contemporary R&B
• Original plan was to finish the album in a month and a half; it took a year and a half
• March 2013: two-part track 'Bow Down/I Been On' released on SoundCloud, a clear departure from her existing catalog
• Through 2013 the media reported delays or a scrapped album; a spokesperson denied delay claims in July 2013

Recording

• Beyoncé rented a 40-bedroom mansion for the recording process
• Producers and songwriters invited to stay included Sia, Timbaland, Benny Blanco, Ryan Tedder and Justin Timberlake
• Opening track 'Pretty Hurts', co-written by Sia, was completed during these sessions
• Most of the album was recorded in New York City, at Jungle City and Oven Studios
• Superpower and Heaven were partly recorded in California; No Angel was composed in London; XO was recorded in Berlin and Sydney
• Eighty songs were recorded in total
• Mastered at Sterling Sound in New York City

Cover

• Cover designed by creative director Todd Tourso and a small team of designers
• Beyoncé asked for no pink on the cover
• Over three months Tourso considered more than a hundred options before returning to his first idea
• Inspired by the cover of Metallica's eponymous fifth studio album (1991)

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Rose to fame in the late 1990s as the lead singer of Destiny's Child, one of the best-selling girl groups in history.
• Solo debut album Dangerously in Love (2003) became one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century.
• Destiny's Child disbanded in 2005 after the Destiny Fulfilled... and Lovin' It tour.

Career

• Released B'Day (2006), I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008), 4 (2011), Beyoncé (2013), Lemonade (2016), Renaissance (2022), and Cowboy Carter (2024).
• Renaissance and Cowboy Carter form a trilogy highlighting the overlooked contributions of Black pioneers to dance music and country music.
• Estimated sales of over 200 million records; the most-certified female artist by the RIAA.
• Holds a record 35 Grammy Awards, 30 MTV Video Music Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award.
• Headlined Super Bowl XLVII halftime show (2013) and the Coachella festival (2018).
• Acted in films including Dreamgirls (2006), Cadillac Records (2008), and The Lion King (2019).

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Beyoncé received universal critical acclaim, scoring 85 on Metacritic from 34 reviews
• Many critics called it her magnum opus at the time of release
• Jon Pareles of The New York Times described the tracks as steamy and sleek, full of erotic exploits and sultry vocals
• Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone found the album strongest when it goes for full-grown electro soul
• Caitlin White of The 405 characterized Beyoncé as a feminist text
• Carrie Battan of Pitchfork wrote that Beyoncé was exploring sounds at the grittier margins of popular music
• NME described it as her most experimental work to date
• Neil McCormick of The Telegraph praised the vocal restraint absent from her previous releases

Reappraisal

• Often considered one of the greatest albums of all time
• Rolling Stone ranked it number 81 on its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list
• The Guardian placed it at number 9 on its ranking of the 100 best albums of the 21st century
• Credited with popularizing the contemporary visual album
• Its surprise release prompted the IFPI to move Global Release Day from Tuesday to Friday

Records

• Debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 617,213 digital copies in three days
• Fifth consecutive solo number-one album for Beyoncé on the Billboard 200
• Fastest-selling album in the history of the iTunes Store, as announced by Apple
• Peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart
• Reached number one in Canada, Australia and the Netherlands
• Certified six-times platinum by the RIAA as of December 2024
• At the 57th Annual Grammy Awards it was nominated for five awards and won Best Surround Sound Album, plus Best R&B Song and Best R&B Performance for 'Drunk in Love'

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Beyoncé was released without any prior announcement or promotion, and the singer said she was bored of music being marketed the old way
• Physical copies were initially not sold at Target and Amazon Music, which reportedly refused to stock them
• Flawless includes an excerpt of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's speech 'We should all be feminists'
• At the 57th Grammys, Kanye West briefly appeared on stage during the Album of the Year presentation to Beck, in protest of Beyoncé not winning
• The Platinum Edition was the first release of Beyoncé on Spotify
• The album's visual concept was filmed between June and November 2013 in various countries during her world tour

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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