Beyoncé's solo debut blasts out of the gate with "Crazy in Love," a fist-pumping R&B-hop anthem built on screaming horns and a Jay-Z cameo. Elsewhere, Beyoncé works out a slithering Middle Eastern melody on "Naughty Girl" and dabbles in dancehall on "Baby Boy." 

 The soulfully funky opener "Déjà Vu" and the drumline bounce of "Get Me Bodied" show the artist’s range, but the standout is “Ring the Alarm," in which Beyoncé explores anger, tenderness, regret and confusion in the space of three minutes and 23 seconds.  

 Beyoncé split her third album into two parts: six songs representing Beyoncé the balladeer, and five embodying her finger-wagging onstage alter ego Sasha Fierce. Both sides yield stellar examples of her maturity into one of the most innovative and reliably excellent pop icons of the...