On the most arresting moments of her second solo album —including the anguished, Sixties-tinged ballad "Resentment" and the punk-R&B single "Ring the Alarm" —Beyonce sings with enough frantic, quavering intensity to make you believe she really is crazy in love. But in a spoken-word segment, B notes that this disc (which was inspired by her character in the upcoming musical Dreamgirls) came "effortlessly," and that's sometimes all too clear: While the mostly up-tempo disc never lacks for energy, some of the more beat-driven tracks (such as the throwaway "Freakum Dress") feel harmonically and melodically undercooked, with hooks that don't live up to "Crazy in Love" or the best Destiny's Child hits. But there is endless pleasure in the gliding transitions from Jay-Z's staccato rhymes to Beyonce's own honeyed flow, and there's plenty of seductive wit and charming Independent Woman feminism here. Over a blues-guitar sample on the Rich Harrison-produced "Suga Mama," Beyonce offers both herself and her checkbook: "Baby, what you want me to buy?/My accountant's waiting on the phone." B'day should keep her bank balance high.

“Youth Knows No Pain”

“Like on 'Youth Knows No Pain' — we are the ones that should demonstrate, because we can take it,” Likke Li said. “We can pierce ourselves, take Ecstasy, dance all night and still go to work at our McDonald's jobs.” Despite the hedonistic sentiment in the song, the Swedish singer also admitted in hindsight her youth had repercussions. “I remember when I was 18-19 and feeling that I know it all,” Li said. “I always feel that I know it all. But that song is about realizing you don’t, and reflecting, ‘Boy, if I only knew what would follow.’”