Survivor

Sure, it's "of it's time", but streets ahead of other "pop girlbands". Sass, harmonies, style and the singles are all still great to listen to 20+ years later (holy christ, I'm old).

Does it drag a little? Could they have lost a few tracks and kept it tight? Yep, undoubtedly. But there will be groups of bridesmaids dancing with me to these tracks at my grandkids weddings, and I am very grateful for that.

Generic RnB pop with bland hyper commercial production and an only ok vocal performance at best (harmonies are good, but Beyonce's voice is so bad on this, so nasal and thin - really piercing). There was way better, more fun, more soulful, more interesting sounding RnB in the late 90s than this. If your whole album is constantly returning to a theme you're ripping off from Gloria Gaynor, you really have to do better than this. Opens with three ubiquitous singles that have wormed their way into the collective unconscious through sheer repetition, the rest is pretty boring filler - it just gets worse and worse as it goes on, and it goes on for a while. The most interesting thing is the incoherent psuedo feminist messaging pairing anthemic odes to independence via commodifying your body with demands to put some clothes on to please men. A telling artifact of it's time, but musically there's just nothing to it - this is mostly notable as a footnote in the Beyonce story arc.

Survivor was actually a really good album. This album's structure kinda reminds me of the Christina Aguilera album Back To Basics with it starting with a very hip-hop/electronic like production kinda like the way DJ Premier did it in the album i just mentioned and with it later becoming a more ballad sort of album with some slower, more romantic vibes in contrast to Back To Basics' more moody vibe. This album does switch back to the other style though and even the slower songs still had more pop elements. I would typically dislike this but the pop elements actually helped the album feel more focused. The songs are still very catchy and memorable which does help make this album a really good listen.
Best Song: Survivor
Worst Song: Happy Face

Kinda fun

Certainly an album that has music on it. It starts off relatively strong, by virtue of having all its hit singles up front, but the album gets worse and worse as it goes on. It's all servicable and enjoyable enough to keep it from a 1 star but there really isn't much to this album otherwise. I don't really care for Destiny's Child and this certainly didn't motivate me to look further into their music. The runtime is also a bit too long and the album overstays its welcome.

First four tracks were banging. If it kept that quality it’s easily a 4-5 star. Unfortunately it dipped after that and I HATED Brown Eyes and everything that cane after.

Talk about front-loaded - it begins with three all-time bangers, but then gets a bit patchier (and surprisingly slut-shamey).

This is really cheesy early 2000's RnB pop, zero depth whatsoever. Beyonce in particular has to be the most overrated vocalist of the last twenty years

Almost un-listenable and definitely not my kind of thing

The htis at the front go pretty hard, but the rest is kinda bland, R&B of its era, drags. 4*
The outro where they all circlejerk each other hasn't aged well, has it?
Highlights: independent women p1, survivor, bootylicious

I’m at a 4.5 that I’ll bump up to a 5.

Honestly, I don’t really feel like I have that much to say in terms of fully justifying that rating – I’m a lot more prone to like this stuff than the average user of this site, and I’m unabashedly a sucker for late 90s / early 2000s pop like this, in all of its vaguely overproduced & self-important / self-indulgent glory. It’s what I grew up on, and it’s just my sort of style, I dunno. One of these days, I might absolutely tear into one of these types of albums, but only if it’s so aggressively bad or mediocre that it overrides any love I have for this stuff. It might be a toxic bias, but it is obnoxiously fun to me, and I won't apologize for it.

I do feel like I have to talk about the music, and I think there’s a bit of warranted praise in giving this the bump to a 5 – obviously, Beyonce steals the fucking show here in a way that foreshadows her superstardom (& by foreshadowing, I mean it’s about as subtle as a solar eclipse), but Kelly Rowland & Michelle Williams’ vocal harmonizations deserve some love too. When they take lead, they don’t really miss a step, and each track generally has a really nice flow to it that feels seamlessly smooth.

Instrumentally, this is my style of production, and while there’s not necessarily a lot of variety, each track does bring its own kind of mood that still feels sort of distinct. Lots of heavy melodies on the more ballad-y tracks; Brown Eyes, in particular, is from the same guy who did all of Mariah Carey’s big 90s hits, and his fingerprints are all over that – wouldn’t surprise me if that’s a reworked Mariah track. In terms of the hip-hop influence, this album sort of succeeds in its simplicity; Independent Women, Pt. 1 is the prime example here – it’s just a few orchestral-ish hits, strings & some drums, but it’s incredibly effective. By the way, shoutouts to the Edge of Seventeen sample on Bootylicious & the Tarzan Boy / Push It interpolations on Nasty Girl.

Lyrically, I think this album *really* hits on its choruses, which all noticeably feel really good when they come in the second time; I’m not sure what this phenomenon is, but every great pop artist has it, where the brain sort of subconsciously downloads the melody / flow of a good chorus the first time, and really vibes with it the second time. It’s in spades on this album, and that’s partially why I enjoyed it as much as I did. On the flipside, of course, is Independent Women Pt. 2, which is honestly pretty good save for the Tom & Jerry-sounding sample in the chorus, which just murders the vibe of the track in a bad way. As far as the verses go, they’re generally pretty good, though a few tracks are certainly a bit more basic & repetitive (or horny) than others, and a few of them feel a little overly petty by today’s standards.

That last track felt a little awkward knowing that Destiny’s Child basically went on hiatus right after this album’s promotional stuff, and it did rub me the wrong way, sort of like the self-indulgent track on Christina Aguilera’s album we got about a week ago, but at least it’s showing love to each other & not sort of proclaiming your presence forever while fans say your praises. As far as why I’m not at a flat 5, that sort of plays into it, but there are a few tracks that go a little too long, or overdo the production in a way that buries the vocals & lyrics in a way that didn’t click for me… but I enjoyed this a lot. It’s certainly not enough to bump it down to a 4, and I feel good about giving it a 5. As I said earlier, it might be a toxic bias for me; I can understand this getting a 3, or a 2 if it's THAT grating. I will, however, lament that some of the reviews on this site can’t find the same enjoyment that I can out of these turn of the century pop albums, but c’est la vie, I suppose.

This is good for a song or two, but wears thin upon listening the whole way through. Favorite song was Survivor.

This isn’t my usual genre, but I gave it a fair shot. In short, the album starts strong but gradually loses momentum. It’s far too long, with too much filler weighing it down.

Favorite song: The opening trio—Independent Women, Survivor, and Bootylicious—are the undeniable hits. Great pop tracks!
Least favorite: Everything from track 4 onward, with Nasty standing out as one of the weakest.
Album artwork: A cool cover, at least!

I liked this more than I thought i was going to, though it's ridiculously front-loaded and tails off a bit after that. The first three tracks are pretty great though.

This was fun. The first half has a lot of bangers and although I don't like the sound of 2000s pop, this was a fun listen

Lol what a wild ride this was. Pure early 2000s cringe but I really enjoyed it!

The album opens with a few bangers in a row. I'm instantly transported back to my younger years, brushing my teeth with my Destiny's Child singing toothbrush lmao

Some of the lyrics did not age well. And also got to laugh at them having Independent Women - yas slay queen, and then 3 songs later Nasty Girl - slut shaming lol. Sending mixed messages here 😂

Feeling very bootylicious after listening to this album

4 ⭐️

shows it’s age production wise, but it’s a well made album. was not expecting the edge of seventeen sample on Bootylicious

The serendipity on this project continues, as I have had the most physically painful 24 hours of my entire life. Dont shave with dull rotorary razors children. This album has so many goddamn bangers. The really bad lofi synth samples are a little outrageous but its goddamn beyonce on this. She kills it. Though I am docking a star for the two god songs back to back. blegh.

The first two songs have held up surprisingly well. After that....eh.

2/5

Aika huonosti vanhentuneet aiheet kyllä tällä levyllä. 2/5.

This album seems confused on its own personality, and man if that isn't a turn off for any sort of R&B. Slut shame here, but my ass is too fat for you there. I need to be respected, but that guy is so fucking HOT. I don't carry an issue with any of the songs on there own, but as a whole package it is clear there is no actual message to any of these songs. Just what the songwriters came up with so the three could strut their stuff. Except, that isn't great either, as the album is so front loaded there is nothing to speak on in the last half-an-hour. You may as well skip it. The album is just a time capsule into the musical scene in the late 90s and early 2000s, and I see no reason to listen to it in any other aspect. The hits aren't even catchy compared to other R&B hits from the time, and it just leaves the album feeling soulless. Inoffensive, but soulless, and like a cash grab.