Beyoncé dropped her album Lemonade: The Visual Album on the 24th May 2016 and it was released on iTunes yesterday for users without Tidal.
This album will blow your mind! It’s like we have never seen Beyonce before as she delves into other genres of music while still doing what we know and love from Queen Bey herself. We have decided to review her album track by track to make sure that we talk about every track and its genre. Originally Lemonade: The Visual Album was exclusive to Tidal, which is a paid online music streaming service, run by Beyoncé’s husband, Jay-Z.
The Lemonade album made its debut on HBO on Saturday night featuring an hour-long special of all Beyoncé’s music videos combined into one big music video, which is on the album on both Tidal and now on iTunes.
Lots of media outlets caused speculation as to whether or not Lemonade would make it to iTunes or not, with no official word from Beyoncé or her team. Media reports were saying that Lemonade would only be a Tidal exclusive which caused many fans to be upset. However, that upset was done away with yesterday when the album made its way to iTunes for £13.99 with all the same benefits as those playing through Tidal which meant that Apple users could listen to Queen Bey and watch her hour-long compilation music video. iTunes downloads also include a digital booklet filled with beautiful photos, including private polaroids of Beyoncé and Jay-Z, which we haven’t found anywhere on Tidal.
1. PRAY YOU CATCH ME
Sending chills down our spine as this was the first track we listened to, we knew to expect great things from Beyoncé and her new album. The harmonies in this track gave us life! PRAY YOU CATCH ME has been stuck in our head since the album dropped. This track makes for easy listening as an introduction to Beyoncé’s new album and is a chill out track on our chill out playlist.
2. HOLD UP
This track is the start of proving how diverse Beyoncé is with her music. She tells a story through her lyrical beauty. This sounds like a slowed down, relaxing ode to Reggae and it’s a song that seems so calm but in the music video Beyoncé is anything but calm as she smashes up a car with a baseball bat (the baseball bat has a Hot Sauce sticker on it!) and various other things. There’s also a lot of fire as Bey gets fierce and shows her crazy side a little. We love it!
The song addresses the issue of being walked over by the people we love. You’ll be singing along with this tune in no time and HOLD UP is our song for summer. Beyoncé displays her fierce side and she’s totally bad ass, we love fierce Bey!
3. DON’T HURT YOURSELF
DON’T HURT YOURSELF is a duet with Jack White and it’s perfect. Beyoncé from HOLD UP has just progressed in her badassery singing a more rock orientated song as Beyoncé continues to experience with various genres of music in one album. This song left us screaming the lyrics at the top of our lungs and when you hear it for yourself you’ll know why. This is the kind of track we never ever expected from Bey and it took us by surprise and we fell in love, we want to hear this live as she shows off a vocal range as we’ve never heard before.
4. SORRY
This is one of our favourites tracks on the album because it makes us feel so sassy and empowered and since the album dropped, whenever we’ve heard the word “sorry” this is all we think of! The track features a bit of techno and pop and Beyoncé and her dancers in the music video show us what they are made of and it’s amazing. We wish we had moves just like Beyoncé and her dancers and we must admit we’ve slipped “boy bye” into conversation a few times. We ain’t sorry for our love of this song!
Again, this track isn’t what we would expect from Beyoncé and her music video for this is fabulous and just be warned, there is a fair bit of middle finger action!
5. 6 INCH
The track features The Weekend who compliments Beyoncé’s track with his voice addition to the track. Beyoncé’s voice is so husky and sexy and she owns it in this track. Bey talks about self-worth and working her grind. The bridge to this song is a favourite part as Bey shows us how it’s done with her vocal ability, she showcases her amazing vocal range as we know and love her. The music video is on fire, literally, and a lot darker than we’ve seen the musical queen before. 
6. DADDY LESSONS
DADDY LESSONS showcases a New Orleans vibe with a band music introduction and an addition of country throughout the rest of the song. We never thought we would ever hear Beyoncé officially do country style music as she goes back to her Texas roots singing about her family. This might be one of our favourite ever Beyoncé song. The track is so easy to sing along to and we really want to hear this in the charts and on our radios. The video features a clip of Beyoncé and her father in her throwback to Houston, Texas.
7. LOVE DROUGHT
This track is another one for our chill out album and the music video is one that you must watch, it is so serene, artistic and beautiful. The track has a techno-pop sound with Beyoncé’s gentle and soothing voice, which reminds us of a lullaby. This track is where Lemonade takes a turn to be what we know of This track is where Lemonade takes a turn and her music. 9 times out of 10 we’re feeling you, Bey!
8. SANDCASTLES
Beyoncé sings a ballad and we feel every single word she sings with her beautiful voice. She’s so emotional and raw in SANDCASTLES and you feel the emotion deep within with every single lyric. We want to hear Beyoncé sing this in concert so bad and we know we’ll be reduced to tears. The way Beyoncé sings each melody takes our breath away and watching the music video we might have shed a tear as she sings to husband Jay-Z. Our neighbours might be mad at how much we’ve been belting out this song in our own personal duet with our Queen. The track is so emotional and one that tugs at the heart strings.
9. FORWARD
This duet with James Blake is touching. Their voices and harmonies compliment one another in their brief moment together. The music in this number is mysterious and leaves you on edge.
10. FREEDOM
This sounds like an old time anthem and we love it. The eclectic album needed an anthem like this on it. You’ll find yourself nodding your head to the beat as Kendrick Lamar lends his voice to this track and raps to perfection and you’ll try to keep up but you just can’t. Beyoncé fills this track with power and you’ll feel the strength in her voice lift you and inspire you to greatness. This would make for a great running track because Beyoncé gives you a surge of power with her voice. The music video features Beyoncé singing the introduction to this track acapella and it gives us chills.
11. ALL NIGHT
ALL NIGHT takes us back to the reggae feel and makes you want to dance and sing along with Bey. Beyoncé sings of true love and knowing when you’re in it. The lyrics in ALL NIGHT remind us of “XO” from Beyoncé’s self-titled album. The harmonies mixed with Beyoncé’s voice gave us chills and it’s nice to hear Bey sing something we expect of her amongst her collection of genres on the album. ALL NIGHT is a feel good song and gave us something to smile about. Hearing Beyoncé’s vocal reach takes us back to the classic Beyoncé songs such as Love on Top and Halo.
12. FORMATION
FORMATION was performed at the 2016 Superbowl halftime show and was unashamedly political giving a shoutout to get in formation for cultural identity and the Black Lives Matter movement and we couldn’t be more in support of Beyoncé’s decision to be an activist for equality. FORMATION is a great dance track speaking on empowerment and this needs to be played on the radio and in clubs more often! The track is a perfect ending with a message.
Fans are in love with the album and Lemonade has been the talk of Twitter which even Solange Knowles, Bey’s baby sister, repping her sisters’ album!
https://twitter.com/solangeknowles/status/724164875568685057
https://twitter.com/Bethguin/status/724066005987692545
https://twitter.com/ncolettemonroe/status/725007690146045952
Just a guess but I'm thinking use of the ?? emoji has exploded by approximately +400,000% in the last three days #LEMONADE
— Caroline Bauman (@CarolineBmn) April 26, 2016
We are in love with this album. Beyoncé has reached a new level of musical queenliness and has set the bar incredibly high for new music. We love how raw, real and relatable Beyoncé has been and she’s appealed to so many people through the art of different music genres while still being herself. Beyoncé has moved Forward with her music and she isn’t Sorry! This album is open about feelings and it’s like Beyoncé is a friend to us just speaking on her feelings and confiding in us. We love how Beyoncé is being more risque, just when we thought we couldn’t love you, even more, Queen Bey!
Have you heard Beyoncé’s new album yet? What do you think? Let us know by commenting below or by leaving us a Tweet @CelebMix or comment on our CelebMix Facebook page.