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MSN Consumer Guide (Robert Christgau)If opulence can signify liberation in this grotesquely materialistic time, as in hip-hop it can, then Beyoncé earns her props with a bunch of songs she says were inspired all in a rush by her "Dreamgirls" character. [Feb/Mar 2007]
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Indifferent production bogs down about half the songs, but the best tracks are so thrilling that they buoy you through the dullish patches.
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BlenderB'Day never cools down, and swaety up-tempo numbers prove the best platform for Beyonce's rapperly phrasing and pipe-flaunting fireballs. [Sep 2006, p.138]
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Apart from a few pop-R&B space-fillers, there's not much to dislike about B'Day.
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Throughout, she romps with creative abandon, thankfully unafraid of stretching the boundaries lyrically and musically.
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[It] firmly places her at the cutting edge of modern pop.
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While Beyoncé does sound like she's in a bit of a hurry throughout the album, and there are no songs with the smooth elegance of "Me, Myself and I" or "Be with You," it is lean in a beneficial way, propelled by just as many highlights as the overlong Dangerously in Love.
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Some of the experiments don't click, but by reconfiguring and repurposing century-spanning components of black music, she's aligned herself more with Gnarls Barkley than Mary J. Blige, and if she's risking a drop-off in hits, she's gained an artistic high ground in return.
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Beyoncé has a presence, a character which is totally unique to her, and B’Day’s utterly imbued with it.
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B'Day sounds like an entire album of third and fourth singles, which is still better than an album of filler.
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Whereas Beyoncé's debut was accomplished in its diversity, albeit a sure sign of a new solo artist trying to find her voice, B'Day sounds like the album "Crazy In Love" initially forecasted.
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VibeA generally exhilarating marriage of pop songcraft and state-of-the-art rhythms... But the compact and caffeinated B'Day also sounds calculated, as if it were A&R'd by a nervous number cruncher. [Oct 2006, p.137]
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B'Day is a joyous uptempo album full of vibrant vocals, fierce production, and boundless energy. The only complaint is that it's over too soon.
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“B’Day” isn’t an ingratiating or seductive album, but it is nervy and fascinating.
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There are more winning moments on B-Day than there are weak moments.
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It's still a career high, but B'Day could have been released at any point in the last three-and-a-half years and, in a year which has given us tracks like Justin Timberlake's 'SexyBack', it already sounds stale.
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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.
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Q MagazineHarmless fun. [Nov 2006, p.149]
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Beyoncé’s an artist who’s not sure how to sell her full personality and craft in lieu of selling what she thinks we want.
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New Musical Express (NME)Occasionally... she does hint at her past genius. [2 Sep 2006, p.21]
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UncutB'Day sounds oddly de-energised. [Nov 2006, p.100]
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Appallingly not so good.
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Too bad only the icily sardonic Irreplaceable has any real weight or relevance.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 550 out of 722
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Mixed: 50 out of 722
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Negative: 122 out of 722
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MichaelHSep 2, 2006The most amazing album of 2006, she is the #1 R&B or Pop female out right now hands down.
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Aug 3, 2012
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LilyGSep 13, 2006