Critics give Renaissance a B-Side Breakdown of 90 (Heavy Rotation), from 16 reviews at outlets we track. Scores run 80 to 100.
The verdict on Renaissance
16 of 16 critics liked it, and they mostly agree.
- Highest 100 Northern Transmissions, Exclaim! and Riff Magazine
- Lowest 80 NME, The Guardian and Slant
- Career #2 of Beyoncé's 9 albums with a Breakdown
- By the numbers Beyoncé's best-reviewed album here since Lemonade (2016). The fourth best-reviewed album of 2022 we've tracked.
| The gist | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Transmissionsby Sam Franzini | 10/10 | 100 | 2022 | “RENAISSANCE by Beyoncé album review by Sam Franzini. Beyoncé's first solo project in six years, is a testament to fun, creativity, and passion” |
| Exclaim! via Wikipediaby Vernon Ayiku | 10/10 | 100 | 2022 | |
| Riff Magazine | 10/10 | 100 | “On 'Renaissance,' Beyoncé boldly reinvents her sound with extensive collaborations, bouncing and trap-influenced beats. Six years of waiting was worth it.” | |
| Entertainment Weekly via Wikipediaby Maura Johnston | A | 93 | 2022 | |
| The Line of Best Fit | 9/10 | 90 | 2022 | “Renaissance is one of Beyoncé’s best albums to date: it doesn’t walk in the footsteps of its predecessors but instead makes its own path, going to places we didn’t think…” |
| Rolling Stone via Wikipediaby Will Dukes | 4.5/5 | 90 | 2022 | |
| AllMusic via Wikipediaby Andy Kellman | 4.5/5 | 90 | 2022 | |
| Spectrum Culture | 90/100 | 90 | “Renaissance is a next-level embrace of myriad dance sub-genres (including disco, house, techno, Afrobeat and bounce), one that’s delivered seamlessly and with genuine revelry.” | |
| Clash | 9/10 | 90 | “It took four years. Beyoncé tells us during a narratorial vignette that it it took four years to bring the now record-breaking Renaissance World Tour to” | |
| Pitchfork | 9/10 | 90 | 2022 | |
| PopMatters | 9/10 | 90 | “Beyoncé's Renaissance repackages traditional marketing and 1990s-inspired dance music, creating the ultimate combination of streaming sensibilities and feel-good anthems.” | |
| musicOMH | 4.5/5 | 90 | 2022 | “With a consistently hedonistic vibe from start to finish, here is your invite to a party as opulent as it is debauched” |
| Beats Per Minute | 87% | 87 | “Music News, Reviews, Interviews, Videos and MP3s” | |
| NME via Wikipediaby Kyann-Sian Williams | 4/5 | 80 | 2022 | “The superstar’s first studio album in six years is indebted to house music and New Orleans bounce, keenly reclaiming gentrified genres” |
| The Guardian via Wikipediaby Tara Joshi | 4/5 | 80 | 2022 | “On her unapologetically escapist seventh album, the pop superstar unleashes everything from disco bangers to global house hedonism” |
| Slant | 4/5 | 80 | “Beyoncé's 'Renaissance' displaces us from both history and the present and situates us in her unique ecosystem.” |
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Renaissance in Beyoncé's catalog
How these critics usually treat Beyoncé
- Slant Harsher than usual11 points below the other critics here. Usually 2 points above on Beyoncé's other albums (4).
- AllMusic About usual for themLevel with the other critics here. Usually 6 points above on Beyoncé's other albums (8).
- The Guardian About usual for them11 points below the other critics here. Usually 5 points below on Beyoncé's other albums (7).
- Entertainment Weekly About usual for them3 points above the other critics here. Usually 5 points above on Beyoncé's other albums (7).
- Pitchfork About usual for themLevel with the other critics here. Usually 2 points above on Beyoncé's other albums (7).
- NME About usual for them11 points below the other critics here. Usually 12 points below on Beyoncé's other albums (7).
More from Beyoncé
← Earlier The Lion King: The Gift (2019)Later → Cowboy Carter (2024)
More Pop from around 2022
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How the Breakdown works
Every outlet’s score is converted to 0–100 (2/5 is 40, 5.9/10 is 59) and averaged. A letter grade counts as the star rating it matches across thousands of reviews of the same albums, so a B+ is 75, like four stars, and a B is 65. Verdicts: Heavy Rotation is 85 and up, Keeper 70–84, Mixed Bag 55–69, Back of the Crate below 55. Approval is the share of critics who scored it 70 or higher (7/10, three and a half stars); the Breakdown shows green at 70 and up, red below. Divisiveness asks a different question: not how many critics liked it, but how close their scores are to each other. Five critics who all give it 50 are Unanimous, even though none of them liked it. The labels run Unanimous, Broad agreement, Some debate, Divided, and Contentious. Replay rate comes from listeners, not critics: yes counts fully, a few tracks counts half, no counts zero. The gist quotes each outlet’s own summary of its review. Published is the date on the review itself, read from the outlet’s page, so you can see whether an album’s reputation came at release or years later. Scores marked est. come from reviews that publish no number. Scores marked via Wikipedia are archive ratings, mostly for older albums, taken from the “Professional ratings” box on the album’s Wikipedia page (published openly through Wikidata); each links to the original review when we can find it online, and to that Wikipedia entry when we can’t. When an outlet reviewed an album twice, years apart (often for a reissue), both scores count, each labeled with its year.
A-Side marks the critics’ top tier. An album earns it automatically, from its numbers alone: a Breakdown of 90 or higher, from at least 5 reviews, with at least 75% approval. Nobody hands it out and nobody can buy it; if new reviews pull an album below the line, it loses the badge.
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