Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Commentary (music and lyrics not included). Pages: 178. Chapters: 4 (Beyonce Knowles album), I Am... Sasha Fierce, 21 (Adele album), The Way I See It (album), B'Day, Fear of a Black Planet, Dangerously in Love, Illmatic, Black Ice (album), Daydream (Mariah Carey album), Irresistible (Jessica Simpson album), Blonde on Blonde, Music Box (Mariah Carey album), Imaginos, Stone Rollin', The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, Rainbow (Mariah Carey album), Butterfly (Mariah Carey album), The Basement Tapes, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Emotions (Mariah Carey album), Born in the U.S.A., Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Excerpt: 4 is the fourth studio album by American recording artist Beyonce Knowles, released through Columbia Records on June 24, 2011. The twelve-song set (eighteen on the deluxe edition) marked the singer's first release since severing professional ties with her father and manager, Mathew. In 2010, Knowles began a career hiatus, which she claimed helped reignite her creativity. In recording the album, she drew inspiration from Fela Kuti, Earth, Wind & Fire, and Lionel Richie, with additional musical influences from The Jackson 5, Florence and the Machine, and Adele. According to the singer, her biggest challenge on 4 was to record songs that were more subtle and natural. She expressed her creative freedom by incorporating 1970s R&B, 1990s rock and roll, and hip hop. The album's instrumentals included an array of horns and classic live organs, with the intent of creating a more musically diverse album. Knowles yearned to bring back the usage of live instruments and soul music, which according to her, were missing from the current music scene. In a further effort to produce an album with a more raw sound, she left a lot of the brassiness and grittiness in her voice, and chose not to polish over...