On March 24, 2024, Beyoncé’s new, country-inspired album, Cowboy Carter, hit music platforms, and it is all that anyone can talk about. Receiving relatively positive reviews all-around, here is my honest review of it.
In total, this album has 27 tracks and a runtime of one hour and 18 minutes. As for any artist, this number of tracks is a lot for just one album. I think that the amount of tracks is pretty interesting, however, considering that country is an entirely new genre that Beyoncé is trying. The album also features a variety of different artists on 12 of the 27 tracks, most notably Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Miley Cyrus and Post Malone.
Moving to the cover art, the imagery is similar to the art of her 2022 album, Renaissance and features her on the back of a white horse, wearing a red, white, and blue Cowboy Carter sash. The album also features a few interludes with some of the artists listed above. From the lead single “Texas Hold ‘Em”, people have been anticipating this album – but is it really worth the listen?
Beyoncé isn’t really one of my favorite artists to listen to, but there’s no denying that she makes some good music. As someone who is really passionate about music and does not like country/pop-country, I tried to keep my mind as open as possible and to give the genre a chance for the sake of the review. After my first listen all the way through Cowboy Carter, however, it’s safe to say that it’s a pretty mediocre album. While there are classic country aspects like different variations of guitars throughout the album, there are still hints of Beyoncé’s classic pop/house sound in certain songs like “Spaghetti” and “II Hands II Heaven”. As someone who isn’t really a fan of this type of genre, I didn’t necessarily enjoy the album. I thought it was kind of boring to listen to after a while, and 27 tracks may have been a bit much for it. By the time I was finished with it, it had felt dragged-on and maybe some tracks from it could have been cut. And if you’re wondering what track(s) I have in mind when I say this, I mean that her version of “Jolene” by Dolly Parton should have never made it on the album. I do not know who at Sony Music cleared this, but I believe that they should be fired immediately and excommunicated from the music industry entirely. Some songs should just be left to the original artist and not be redone/changed in any way, and “Jolene” was one of them. In my opinion, she absolutely butchered a classic (nobody wants your man, Beyoncé, trust me. He’s safe with you).
While I did not enjoy the album, there is no denying that most of the songs were well-written and executed (not “Jolene”) – just not my personal taste or anything really unique. Some of my favorites off of Cowboy Carter would have to be “Bodyguard,” “Tyrant,” and “Alligator Tears.” I would say these are some of the more pop-country sounding songs on the album, and that is probably why I enjoyed them more than some of the others.
Now for the answer to the question “Is it worth the listen?”: I would say no. There’s nothing too different or special about the album, and just didn’t feel very worth it in the end. Overall the album wasn’t terrible, just not really for me, and I wouldn’t sit through the entire album again. In my opinion, there’s nothing too interesting about it, and “Texas Hold ‘Em” will continue to pollute my For You Page on TikTok and cause me excruciating pain whenever I have to listen to it.
By Annie Maalouf ‘26, Contributing Writer
