Can you handle more Sasha? - I Am... Sasha Fierce Deluxe Review

I reviewed the standard edition of Beyoncé's new album back when it first leaked, but I didn't give my impressions on the seven new tracks included in the deluxe edition. So, here we go.

Smash Into You nudges its way in between Ave Maria and Satellites to make for a welcome addition to the better of the two discs. It's an almost saccharine sweet ballad, but Beyoncé sounds earnest enough that you believe the emotion. The chorus is just a touch reminiscent of Whitney's Run to You; a masterful touch. Unfortunately, the other additions to disc one are not as impressive. That's Why You're Beautiful and Save the Hero, while inoffensive, do little to better the album. Compared to the rest of the first disc, these songs are basically unnecessary filler.

Disc two nearly doubles in size between the standard and deluxe editions. Listening to Hello and Why Don't You Love Me, you start to wonder why Beyoncé bothered to release a deluxe edition at all, as again you're overwhelmed with the feeling that while these songs aren't awful, they aren't necessary either. But, then you hear Ego and Scared of Lonely. These tracks really redeem the second disc as a whole, even though Scared of Lonely sounds like it belongs to Beyoncé rather than Sasha.

Ego portrays Beyoncé's alter ego extremely well; finally Sasha Fierce is someone we care to know. The lyrics, like those in Diva and Video Phone, are cocky, but they actually work this time. "I don't need no beat, I can sing it with piano" is the kind of tongue-in-cheek line that makes Sasha personable and it's nice to know that the whole split personality gimmick has a solid foundation in at least one song. Scared of Lonely, while better suited to the first disc, is lovely. The strings are hypnotizing; leaving about a minute at the end of the track for just the instrumentation alone may have been the best decision Beyoncé made in regards to this album. While Beyoncé's restraint on the other tracks on the first disc is welcome, the instrumentation builds into such a grandiose production on Scared of Lonely, I wish she would have stepped it up a notch vocally. When she does try to inject more emotion into the lyrics, she growls, and it clashes with the delicacy of the lyrics and strings. Beyoncé likes to say she's a singer before she's a dancer or a performer or an actress, but throughout the entire CD she never really shows us what she's capable of as a vocalist. I think it's regrettable.

Oh, and bad news. Diva is the next single. Apparently that dumb b**** Sasha is driving the car.