Fierce is also a split victory
musically. The two halves wouldn't necessarily sound better shuffled
together—both are pretty uneven. "If I Were A Boy" has boilerplate lyrics
that would fit perfectly in an old Hayley Mills vehicle, and "Broken-Hearted
Girl" sounds unfinished. But Beyoncé has a real flair for grandeur, and the
big, wide melodies of "Halo" and "Ave Maria" give her enough to work with that
it's easy to forgive a line like "Baby, I can feel your halo." And "Disappear"
features a delicate lead vocal and subtle, bewitching overdubbed harmonies.
The second half is iffier.
"Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" is fabulous, with glowing production, a
humongous hook, and beats for weeks. But it grows more disparate from there.
"Radio" sounds like shameless target-marketing aimed at programming directors,
"Video Phone" like a Missy Elliott outtake circa 2001. "Diva" is a blatantly
obvious attempt to write a distaff "A Milli." ("Better have a six-pack in the
cooler," we're warned. Yawn.) Too bad that between the two of them, the
bifurcated Beyoncés couldn't manage a better album.
