Listen To Full Length Songs

Listening: Song-by-song review of Beyonce's '4'

It's no secret that Houston native Beyoncé works a little harder than most of her contemporaries. Partly because of that intense ethic, she's steadily risen throughout her 20s to full-on pop-icon status. She confidently moves between street-savvy modern styles and vintage influences, reinforcing the importance of full-length albums like few other radio popstresses.

As she approaches 30, the singer is finding a solid middle ground between the audacious soul of her first two solo albums and her Jekyll-and-Hyde double disc I Am ... Sasha Fierce . The just-released follow-up 4 whittles B down to one dynamic personality, and it's mostly a keeper. Here's my track-by-track take.

B and co-writers Chad Hugo (N.E.R.D.) and Jeff Bhasker pull off poppiness with the absence of major chords, which isn't always the easiest thing to do. A lot of this track's power lies in the vocals: Her bittersweet delivery of the chorus gets it there ("baaay-bee!"), but her pitch-perfect duet with a wailing guitar takes it to another level.

Hands down, a terrific pop anthem that works as a faded-love sequel to "Irreplaceable." Drawing strength from co-writer Babyface's killer songcraft and the inspired drum-machine bombast from Dallas trackmaster S1, Beyoncé knocks it out of the park on her delivery. And, props for working in the phrase, "you showed yo ass."

The co-producer of this track, Kanye West, has proclaimed publicly that he enjoys Beyoncé's work ("Ima letchu finish ..."). He gives her a nice, throwback hip-hop track with a Doug E. Fresh sample. She chills out on this one, but her tone is well complemented by André's eccentric rap at the end. When's his next album coming?

This is the one I'll skip in the future. I might even delete it from iTunes. The lyrics come from longtime ballad queen Diane Warren (eye roll), and the flagrant self-copier Ryan Tedder produces the track (double eye roll). Triteness defined. And the idea of someone like Beyoncé hemming and hawing about her personal legacy? Unnecessary.

The Major Lazer-sampling first single and album closer didn't make the lasting impact on pop culture that Beyoncé might've been going for, but it's still a fun and fresh empowerment anthem. She's unexpectedly convincing when she drops the "F you, pay me" line. And, if you haven't seen the video, get thee to a computer. The dancing pretty much defies physics.

Healing Music: Three Secrets that Startle Wonder | The Board Magazine

There’s a wealth of tools and processes available for you to do inner work. But over the last two months I’ve been working with select musicians to create what I call “Healing Music.” In short, this is music that does the sweeping in your unconscious house. The results are amazing.The beauty of this new form of healing is that you don’t have to do much more than relax and listen.Years ago Pat O’Bryan and I created a series of Clearing Audios that use subliminal statements recorded by me and original music recorded by him to help people “get clear.” These have been very popular.

Our first one, The Clearing Audio, is a hands-down all-time bestseller. It’s only ten minutes long, is easy to listen to, and does a great job of kicking out the limitations in the unconscious.But I didn’t want to stop there. I wondered if full-length, inspired original music, with audible chants or lyrics, could do an even better job at healing.I teamed up with two of my favorite people — modern Flamenco guitarist Mathew Dixon and singer/songwriter Sarah Marie — and urged all of us to create original healing music: full length audios that will do the job of helping to de-stress bodies and minds and guide us into a closer relationship with the Divine, and on to natural healing.I also threw my hat in the ring and challenged myself to create my first original music album, too. I hired Daniel Barrett of the band Porterdavis to guide me through the music producing process.We gave ourselves two months to complete our projects, starting from zero, and using the date of May 1 as our deadline. I was told I’d be on the cover of the May issue of Austin All Natural magazine — and I am as of today- so I figured all three of us could get exposure in the special issue.Cover May ’11 ‘Austin All Natural’We had our goal.We had our deadline.The next step was massive action.Could we pull this off in time? My first music CD: “Blue Healer”"Music is a moral law.

It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything.” – Plato

What are the results?

Sarah Marie’s Opera Mantra CDSarah Marie created seven mesmerizing songs on a CD called Opera Mantra. It’s heavenly music inspired by ho’oponopono (the Hawaiian system of healing I wrote about in my book, Zero Limits, coauthored with Dr. Hew Len). Sarah’s angelic, soaring voice, singing the healing phrases that have been proven to resolve problems, is unbelievably soothing. Her tracks invite repeated listening.I feel my soul brighten as I listen to Sarah sing. One track alone brings happy tears as it opens my heart to Divine love. The whole CD is enchanting. Daniel Barrett said Sarah’s voice is “pure love.” Sarah’s seven tracks are designed to invoke the Divine and then help you merge with it. It’s truly moving. You can hear a sample by going to Opera Mantra.”Music produces a kind of pleasure which human nature cannot do without” – ConfuciusMathew Dixon “From Zero” CD Mathew Dixon created ten tracks of inspired guitar playing, called Music from Zero, using his modern Flamenco guitar style to musically wipe out energy blocks and any negativity. He added my voice as a subliminal (below conscious awareness) saying the four phrases in my book, Zero Limits (“I love you, I’m sorry, Please forgive me, and thank you”). Just listening to his beautiful music makes me feel relaxed, at ease, and one with the Divine.He, too, was inspired by the ho’oponopono healing method to create his original music. No lyrics but plenty of enlightened vibe to free the mind and body to be here now.

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