I Am… Sasha Fierce is the third studio album by American R&B recording artist Beyoncé. It was released on November 18, 2008, by Columbia Records. The album was released in dual disc format, in which both discs represent a contrasting facet to Knowles' personality and musical style. The first disc, I Am..., incorporates slow and mid-tempo R&B and pop ballads, while the second disc, Sasha Fierce, named after Knowles' on-stage alter ego, contains uptempo dance songs that blend Euro and electropop genres. A deluxe edition of the album was released simultaneously alongside the standard edition
Production and Recording
The recording of the album took place over an eight-month period. Beyoncé recorded the album in sessions at Tree Sound Studios in Atlanta, Georgia; Chung King Studios, Electric Lady Studios, Strawberrybee Productions in New York; GAD Studios in Ibiza, Spain; Mansfield Studios and The Campground in Los Angeles; South Beat Studios in Miami Beach; and The Boom Boom Room in Burbank, California. Beyoncé either co-wrote or co-produced all material on I Am... Sasha Fierce.She collaborated with several record producers and songwriters, including Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Stargate (a production duo composed of Tor Erik Hermansen and Mikkel Storleer Eriksen), Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, Terius "The-Dream" Nash, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, Sean Garrett, Solange, Jim Jonsin, Rico Love, Ryan Tedder, Shondrae "Bangladesh" Crawford, Ian Dench, Dave McCracken, Wayne Wilkins and Elvis Williams. Beyoncé also collaborated with some musicians she had never worked with in the past, including Toby Gad and BC Jean on "If I Were a Boy", and Amanda Ghost on "Disappear".
"I'm a human being. I cry. I'm very passionate and sensitive. My feelings get hurt. I get scared and nervous like everyone else. And I wanted to show that about myself. It [The album] is about love. I'm a woman, I'm married, and this portion of my life is all in the album. It's a lot more personal. I'm very private and I don't talk about a lot of things, but there are certain songs that are on the album that are very personal. It's [The album] my diary. It's my story... I still have my album of fun songs." —Beyoncé on the development of the album.
For the I Am... disc, Beyoncé was influenced by folk and alternative rock genres, while incorporating other instruments she had not normally used previously, such as the acoustic guitar. Tedder specifically assisted Beyoncé with crafting the album's balladry. The ballads were crafted in a way to combine "the best elements" of pop and soul music, while simultaneously "expanding the possibilities of both genres". Beyoncé attempted something different as people had strong expectations from her; she experimented with stronger lyrics. Beyoncé worked with Ghost to re-write Franz Schubert's "Ave Maria" after having co-written "Disappear" in London. Ghost told The Daily Telegraph that they were both inspired by their then-recent marriages and had walked down the aisle to "Ave Maria".
During the eight-month period, Beyoncé recorded over 70 songs and decided during the editing process that she did not want to reconcile the two approaches into one disc. If a song was meaningless to her, she cut them off during the process of elimination for the final track-listing. Making comparisons to a magazine, Beyoncé further elaborated that the record was a double album and that it had two covers. The black-and-white artworks for the standard, deluxe and platinum editions of I Am... Sasha Fierce were all shot by German photographer Peter Lindbergh.
Track Listing
- If I Were A Boy
- Halo
- Disappear
- Broken-Hearted Girl
- Ave Maria
- Smash Into You (Deluxe Track)
- Satellites
- That's Why You're Beautiful (Deluxe Track)
- Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)
- Radio
- Diva
- Sweet Dreams
- Video Phone
- Hello (Deluxe Track)
- Ego (Deluxe Track)
- Scared of Lonely (Deluxe Track)
- Poison (Bonus Track)
- Why Don't You Love Me (Platinum Edition Track)
- Save The Hero (Platinum Edition Track)
- Honesty (Platinum Edition Track)
- Ego Remix ft. Kanye West (Platinum Edition Track)
 |
I AM... SASHA FIERCE | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|