Beyonce's "4" getting a split vote

(CBS) It doesn't really matter if Beyonce's new album, "4," is good or bad. She's Beyonce and she's a big deal and she's going to sell. Did you see her Glastonbury performance?

Because every singer needs a record to tour behind (until a healthy back catalog exists), here's what the critics are saying about the singer's latest offering.

Pictures: Beyonce
Pictures: Beyonce and Jay-Z

Rolling Stone: "'4' might be [Beyonce's] strangest rec¬ord. It's a big-budget megapop album with an A list of guest stars (Kanye West, André 3000) and songwriter-producers (Tricky Stewart, the-Dream, Diplo, Ryan Tedder, Diane Warren). Yet it's as eccentric - as unmistakably personal and quirky - as anything that Sufjan Stevens ever cooked up in his bedroom."

Washington Post: "On Tuesday, Beyonce drops '4,' as in her fourth album. It's also her fourth-best album, as in her worst. Both cool and low-key, its subdued tone suggests that she's turning an intimate new leaf. Surprise! She isn't. Instead, Beyonce sounds more precise and distant than ever, making these mid-tempo tunes feel vexing at first, then dull."

L.A. Times: "'4' is a surprising, confident turn, even if the surprises are of a subtler variety."

EW.com (giving it a "B"): "The album is an every-song-for-itself welter of conflicting ambitions: It wants to be cutting-edge but familiar, accessible but artistic, hot-blooded but strictly impersonal. Those tensions hurt most in its lumbering first half, a defiant bird flipped at anyone expecting out-of-the-box radio killers."

USA Today: "[A]fter ["I Am Sasha Fierce's"] duality, Beyonce does not seem to need to make a cutting-edge statement. This time, she's content to stay in her comfort zone."

New York Times: "[O]n this new album, she has always been a torch singer in waiting, anticipating the day when she could just get down to business.

On that count, '4' is impressive, though it's executed in perplexing fashion."

What about you? What do you think of "4"? Let us know in the comments.