Nearly Two Years Later, Can We Finally Call “Beyoncé” The Best. Album. Ever?

It's been almost two years since Beyoncé landed. Has enough time passed that we can call it the Best. Album. Ever? One of our member reckons as much.

I believe that the best album ever would have to be Beyoncé’s self-titled fifth studio album, released in the dying days of 2013.

Apart from the surprise release on iTunes that resulted in 5 million copies sold within 12 months, there are three main reasons I believe this album to be the very best: the lyrics, unique composition, and the short films to accompany their song counterpart.

The lyrics to the songs in Beyoncé are a lot more mature than preceding albums released by the former Child of Destiny. The album explores darker and more intimate themes of feminism, love, sexuality and relationships. The lyrics used in some of the album’s songs allude to her intimate life regarding her husband, Jay Z (explicitly “Drunk in Love” and “Partition”) and her daughter, Blue Ivy (in the song “Blue”).

The songs also explore her perception of loved ones dying (“Heaven”), social issues regarding pretty girls (“Pretty Hurts”) and also the power that can be achieved by women (“Flawless”).

The lyrics used throughout the album possess qualities no other album has explored, and has been able to reach out to millions of fans worldwide. (The mainstream success and ability to reach listeners far and wide has to be considered in any debate over the “best album ever”.) On the album, Beyoncé presents new ways of creating songs as well as featuring speech and foreign language to reveal an overall idea.

A few of the tracks are made up of two separate songs, to give two varying experiences on the same issue or topic presented by Beyoncé. These songs are “Haunted” (composed of “Ghost” and “Haunted”, as they’re described by their accompanying music videos), “Partition” (composed of “Yonce” and “Partition”), and “Flawless” (composed of “Bow Down” and “Flawless”).

Beyoncé also shows a new way to push an idea or motif in a song by featuring speech and foreign language in her songs. In “Flawless”, Beyoncé features an excerpt from “We Should All Be Feminists”, a speech by novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who explores the unfair treatment of women in comparison to men. The speech juxtaposed with Beyoncé’s lyrics of her domination of the music industry explores the idea that women can achieve anything they want to if they don’t depend on the male counterpart.

Lastly, the album features a graphic component. The album is largely referred to as Beyoncé’s visual album, due to the fact every song in the album had an accompanying video, artistically showcasing Beyoncé’s ideas. “Pretty Hurts” depicts Beyoncé losing at a small-town pageant to an albino woman, reflecting the idea that the pretty girl doesn’t always come first. “Rocket” shows a montage of sexual innuendos and shots of Beyoncé in revealing clothes reflecting her sexual nature, explicitly said within the lyrics of the song. And so on.

Beyoncé is the best album ever due to its exploration of adult themes not expressed in preceding albums of hers. The songs’ lyrics and ingenious composition that is also reflected in the accompanying videos to the songs proves this album to be the best.

Congratulations to Damon for winning this writing challenge, answering: Best. Album. Ever. Damon wins a $50 Westfield gift card for his submission. For your chance to win, check out our latest writing challenges in our Comps section. Also, be sure to follow this guide on how to win the writing challenge!