Maps of Music

I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008)

Where the lyrics of I Am... Sasha Fierce take you, and where it was really made.

The album was built as two discs, one named after the singer and the other after her stage alter ego, and its two covers pair a bare-faced portrait with a heavily made-up one.

Key places

Recorded at PatchWerk in Atlanta (2008)

Recording site PatchWerk Recording Studios — Beyoncé recorded parts of the album at PatchWerk Recording Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, one of four Atlanta studios named in the recording notes. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at Silent Sound in Atlanta (2008)

Recording site Silent Sound Studios — Silent Sound Studios in Atlanta is listed among the studios where Beyoncé recorded the album, in the Atlanta group with PatchWerk and Tree Sound. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at Tree Sound in Atlanta (2008)

Recording site Tree Studios — Tree Sound Studios in Atlanta is one of the Atlanta studios named as recording locations for the album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at Chung King in New York City (2008)

Recording site Chung King Studios — Chung King Studios in New York City is named among the New York studios where Beyoncé recorded the album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at Electric Lady in New York City (2008)

Recording site Electric Lady Studios — Electric Lady Studios in New York City is one of the New York studios named as recording locations for the album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at GAD Studios in Ibiza (2008)

Recording site GAD Studios — GAD Studios in Ibiza, Spain is named as one of the recording locations for the album. The point sits at the city center of Ibiza, not the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at Mansfield Studios in Los Angeles (2008)

Recording site Motown Recording Studios — Mansfield Studios and The Campground are named as Los Angeles recording locations. The point sits at the city center of Los Angeles, not the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at South Beat in Miami Beach (2008)

Recording site South Beat Studios — South Beat Studios in Miami Beach, Florida is named as a recording location for the album. The point sits at the city center of Miami Beach, not the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at The Boom Boom Room in Burbank (2008)

Recording site The Enterprise (Burbank) — The Boom Boom Room in Burbank, California is named as a recording location for the album. The point sits at the city center of Burbank, not the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• I Am... Sasha Fierce is the third studio album by American singer Beyoncé
• Released November 12, 2008 by Columbia Records and Music World Entertainment
• Recorded over a nine-month period, from November 2007 to August 2008
• Production handled by Darkchild, Toby Gad, Jim Jonsin, Rico Love, Stargate, Tricky Stewart, Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic, and The-Dream, among others
• No featured artists on the main track listing; Lady Gaga and Kanye West appear on deluxe editions
• Structured as a double album that presents Beyoncé's dichotomous artistic persona
• Disc one, I Am..., holds slow and midtempo pop and R&B ballads
• Disc two, Sasha Fierce, is named after her onstage alter ego and leans toward up-tempo electropop and Europop

Background

• Beyoncé credited her husband, rapper Jay-Z, and jazz singer Etta James for inspiring her to push the limits of her songwriting
• Musically drew from folk and alternative rock and blended acoustic guitar into contemporary ballads
• In a Billboard interview, Beyoncé described the album as a double album: one side mainstream, the other her traditional R&B for longtime fans
• Beyoncé said the alter ego Sasha was born during the making of her 2003 single "Crazy in Love"
• She said the alter ego is strictly for the stage

Recording

• Beyoncé co-wrote or co-produced all of the material on the album
• Recorded over seventy songs during the nine-month period
• Decided during editing not to merge the two approaches onto one disc
• Twelve tracks chosen for the standard edition, five more for the deluxe edition

Cover

• Two covers, one for each disc, as a double album with two covers
• The I Am... cover shows Beyoncé with no visible clothing or makeup, described as "underneath all the makeup"
• The Sasha Fierce cover shows heavy makeup, a leotard, tall pointed heels, and a metallic cyborg-like glove
• Standard, deluxe, and platinum editions all shot by German photographer Peter Lindbergh

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Disc 1

Disc 2

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Rose to fame in the late 1990s as the lead singer of Destiny's Child, one of the best-selling girl groups in history.
• Solo debut album Dangerously in Love (2003) became one of the best-selling albums of the 21st century.
• Destiny's Child disbanded in 2005 after the Destiny Fulfilled... and Lovin' It tour.

Career

• Released B'Day (2006), I Am... Sasha Fierce (2008), 4 (2011), Beyoncé (2013), Lemonade (2016), Renaissance (2022), and Cowboy Carter (2024).
• Renaissance and Cowboy Carter form a trilogy highlighting the overlooked contributions of Black pioneers to dance music and country music.
• Estimated sales of over 200 million records; the most-certified female artist by the RIAA.
• Holds a record 35 Grammy Awards, 30 MTV Video Music Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award.
• Headlined Super Bowl XLVII halftime show (2013) and the Coachella festival (2018).
• Acted in films including Dreamgirls (2006), Cadillac Records (2008), and The Lion King (2019).

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Metacritic average of 62 out of 100 from 24 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews"
• Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani said the individual songs prove Beyoncé is one of today's most reliable singles artists
• Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani found the real disparity in the adult-contemporary schmaltz of I Am clashing with the edgier sound of Sasha Fierce
• The Observer's Adam Mattera felt both discs lack depth, with the first too busy chasing radio formats
• The Observer's Adam Mattera criticized the second disc's run of independent woman anthems
• AllMusic's Andy Kellman called the double-disc gimmick "flimsy" and favored the second disc's upbeat pop
• Robert Christgau named it "dud of the month" in his MSN Music consumer guide
• Rolling Stone's Christian Hoard said the slow songs are full of bland self-affirmation, but the Sasha disc boasts Beyoncé's most adventurous music yet
• PopMatters' Colin McGuire called the album a little rough around the edges, with the Sasha Fierce disc a far more compelling trip
• Entertainment Weekly's Leah Greenblatt said the album offers two compelling sides and might have been better served as one disc
• The New Yorker's Sasha Frere-Jones found the album something of a mess

Reappraisal

• Entertainment Weekly's Leah Greenblatt ranked it second on her list of 10 Best CDs of 2008
• Entertainment Weekly ranked it eighth on its list of 10 Best Albums of the Decade
• Rolling Stone's Reader's Poll placed it twelfth among the best albums of the 2000s

Records

• Debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 with 482,000 copies in its first week
• Beyoncé's third consecutive U.S. number-one solo album
• 1,459,000 copies sold in six weeks by the end of 2008, the tenth best-selling album of the year per Billboard
• Second best-selling album of 2009 in the United States
• UK debut at number ten, peaking at number two in August 2009; certified six times platinum by the BPI
• Certified quintuple platinum in Australia by ARIA in 2023
• Sold more than ten million copies worldwide
• Seven Grammy nominations at the 52nd ceremony, including Album of the Year, and five wins

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The alter ego Sasha Fierce was described by Beyoncé as born during the making of her 2003 hit "Crazy in Love".
• "If I Were a Boy" is the only song on either disc that Beyoncé did not co-write.
• Halo was initially intended for Beyoncé but was nearly recorded by Leona Lewis because of Beyoncé's schedule.
• The Video Phone remix features Beyoncé and Lady Gaga trading verses with one another.
• The deluxe track Smash Into You was originally slated for Jon McLaughlin's second album OK Now under a different name, then given to Beyoncé after it leaked online.
• The 2008 listening party in New York City was held by her father and then-manager Mathew Knowles on October 22, 2008.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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