Beyoncé B'Day Stars: 3/5 When your man is acting out of line, and you need some good old-fashioned girl power, Beyoncé's new album B'Day (Music World Music/Sony Urban Music/Columbia) has got it in droves. Beyoncé brings the women-on-top motif to a new level with punchy, take-charge songs inspired by her role in upcoming film Dreamgirls. B'Day is just the thing to listen to while pregaming with the ladies. Loaded with pump-it-up dance tracks (check out "Get Me Bodied"-aka your next ringtone), it is refreshingly low on power ballads. Beyoncé demonstrates an edgier style, especially with current single "Ring the Alarm," a surprising mix of vibrant beats and sirens that is sure to get things moving. With Ruff Ryders' producer Swizz Beatz and rapper Jay-Z (conveniently filling the boyfriend role with token rap interludes), B'Day has plenty of potential. However, not even Jay-Z can pull together the sloppy "Upgrade U." An exercise in lyrical failure, this song is definitely the weakest on the album. It's not just lines like "'Cause that rock on ya finger is like a tumor" (A tumor, Jay? Really?) that induce nausea. Beyoncé's bragging that she can "do for you what Martin did for the people" is also a little disconcerting, especially in a song that's mainly about making her boyfriend look like a baller. Will B'Day change your life? Not likely. But it's got bounce and is definitely worth at least a few 99-cent downloads.
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