This week marks one year since Beyoncé’s record-breaking “RENAISSANCE WORLD TOUR” visited Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium, and today the 32-time Grammy Award winner celebrates her 43rd birthday. With several months to process the singer’s latest LP “COWBOY CARTER,” the Daily Bruin delves back into Queen Bey’s legendary discography to determine which of her albums reigns supreme.

“B’Day”

Beyoncé’s “B’Day” is an all-out cause for celebration.

The artist’s second studio album stomped out any inkling of a sophomore slump by delivering an electrifying collection of energizing club hits and passionate ballads. Released in 2006 on Beyoncé’s 25th birthday, the spirited 11-track LP features irresistible vocals and mesmerizing fusions of pop, R&B, funk, soul and dance that keeps listeners on their feet. As her first LP after Destiny’s Child’s official disbandment, “B’Day” capitalized on Beyoncé’s solo power and launched her further into pop superstardom.

Beyoncé wastes no time in brandishing “B’Day” as her most dynamic work by using live instrumentation to create a high-charged, rhythm-focused album. The bewitched artist’s wavering uncertainty in seeing her lover on opener “Déjà Vu” introduces funk and soul elements that are maintained throughout the album, such as bass, drums, horns and hi-hat. Thrilling crescendos in “Freakum Dress” and signature sirens in “Ring the Alarm” alert listeners to the LP’s ever-changing landscape of sound and storytelling. Outside her fiery hits, Beyoncé’s sincere balladry in “Resentment” as she scorns over her lover’s infidelity cements her as a vocal powerhouse, solidifying “B’Day” as one of her most vocally intense works.

Female prowess and sexuality is also embraced across “B’Day,” with tracks like “Kitty Kat” and “Get Me Bodied” prioritizing the songstress’ sexual pleasure. The album’s 2007 deluxe edition expands upon these themes, with its tantalizing Shakira duet “Beautiful Liar” emphasizing power reclamation amid romantic woes.

Fueled with youthful vibrance and groovy rhythms, “B’Day” is simply “Irreplaceable.”

– Aisosa Onaghise

[Related: Concert review: Beyoncé showcases stunning skills at spectacular SoFi Stadium show]

“BEYONCÉ”

Beyoncé more than lives up to her name on her eponymous fifth album “BEYONCÉ.”

Courageously rejecting the EDM-heavy soundtrack of the early 2010s, “BEYONCÉ” takes on an edgy alternative R&B illustration of womanhood. Released as a visual album with music videos accompanying every song, the record is raw in its uncensored lyrical and emotional intimacy. “BEYONCÉ” rewrote the boundaries of popular music’s genres and themes, painting an exceptional landscape where the haunting synths of the seductive “Partition” meander beside tender love ballads such as “XO.”

The album’s surprise release in December 2013 was just the beginning of its brilliance. “BEYONCÉ” is a full-blown narrative of sexuality – “Blow” in particular is overflowing with suggestive innuendos – and seems to take back the power, placing Beyoncé firmly in the driver’s seat. On the JAY-Z collaboration “Drunk in Love,” she unabashedly spells out her desires, proving that “BEYONCÉ” is a rhapsody on pleasure founded in monogamous love.

Continuing her masterpiece, the powerhouse artist took feminine independence to new heights in “Pretty Hurts” and “***Flawless,” outlining the trauma inflicted on young girls to live by patriarchal standards of beauty and success. “***Flawless” expertly samples a TED Talk by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: “You can have ambition, but not too much … otherwise, you will threaten the man,” she quotes, calling out the double-standards and hypocrisy pervasive in society. As Beyoncé’s first release after becoming a mother, “BEYONCÉ” represents an elegantly erotic, powerful woman taking control of her destiny.

An unapologetically real account of the female experience, “BEYONCÉ” is definitely flawless.

– Puja Anand

“COWBOY CARTER”

In the high-stakes game of ranking Beyoncé albums, “COWBOY CARTER” takes the pot.

The 2024 release seamlessly incorporates country charm – with guitars, accordion, washboard, harmonica and foot-stomping percussion to clap along to. But in Beyoncé’s own words, “This ain’t a Country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album.” As listeners have quickly realized, “COWBOY CARTER” has easily galloped past the status of being just another Beyoncé album.

The revolutionary LP is a compelling anthology of struggle and hope. Beyoncé’s melodic rendition of “BLACKBIIRD” – a cover of The Beatles’ “Blackbird” – featuring Black country artists Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy and Reyna Roberts encapsulates this unbroken spirit. The famous lyrics, “Take these broken wings and learn to fly” possess reinvigorated meaning in the quintet’s harmonious adaptation for the white-dominated genre of country.

Likewise, “COWBOY CARTER” is innately intimate, inspired and already influential. The first song on the album, the genre-bending “AMERIICAN REQUIEM” challenges listeners with chill-evoking gospel vocals that call for change because “now is the time to face the wind.” Simultaneously, “PROTECTOR” heals hearts by beginning with Beyoncé’s youngest daughter, Rumi Carter, asking for a lullaby, nurturing through its honeyed lyrics and lilting production. By closing the album with the prayer-like “AMEN” and its auspicious lyrics “We’ll be the ones to purify our Fathers’ sins,” Beyoncé masters the rebellious attitude of country music with an enthralling defiance against musical boundaries and industry barriers.

“COWBOY CARTER” takes a spur-laden step toward Beyoncé’s dream of an artist’s race being irrelevant in relation to the genre of music they release.

– Mia Tavares

[Related: Album review: ‘COWBOY CARTER’ redefines genre through inventive renditions, collaborations]

“RENAISSANCE”

On “RENAISSANCE,” Beyoncé ushered in a new era while conveying the artistry and complexity of dance music.

The songstress’ first release after the COVID-19 pandemic, 2022’s “RENAISSANCE” delivered on listeners’ need for escapism by intricately blending beats from across disco, house and R&B soundscapes. The 62-minute record excels through its meticulous production, with all 16 tracks playing seamlessly in a non-stop party. The euphoric energy bursts on the danceable Grammy-winning hit singles “CUFF IT” and “BREAK MY SOUL” – and the irresistible track “ENERGY” linking them – exemplify the exuberance, joy and rhythmic precision radiating throughout the album.

“RENAISSANCE” includes plenty of tracks that stand even with Beyoncé’s most empowering lyrical work, particularly on the house-infused “COZY” where she sings “Dancin’ in the mirror, kiss my scars / Because I love what they made.” Similarly, the ascendent “CHURCH GIRL” sees Beyoncé rejoicing without worry for what others might think: “Nobody can judge me but me / I was born free.” On an album dedicated to her LGBTQ+ fans, these emotive messages offer invaluable doses of self-love while emphasizing the liberation of Black queer music.

Later, the career highlight of “VIRGO’S GROOVE” – a sensual six-minute stunner complete with soaring disco strings – arrives as the crown jewel of the LP, as Beyoncé’s heavenly vocals, romantic lyrics and a delightful funk edge combine to create an impeccable sonic fantasia. Immediately after, the album’s strongest collaboration – the Afrobeats-influenced “MOVE” with Grace Jones and Tems – tells listeners “I want to make you shine,” just before the scorching dancehall number “HEATED” launches into the fiercest outro of Beyoncé’s discography.

With the masterful grooves of “RENAISSANCE,” Beyoncé once again demonstrated her unrivaled ability to reinvent and stay “ALL UP IN YOUR MIND.”

– Reid Sperisen

“Lemonade”

Writers’ consensus

Without a doubt, “Lemonade” is Beyoncé’s magnum opus.

As her second consecutive surprise-released visual album, the expectations for 2016’s “Lemonade” were sky-high. A conceptual record, the album’s 12 songs chronicle the near-collapse of a marriage almost broken by infidelity. Simultaneously, Beyoncé manages to meld her story with those belonging to generations of Black Americans, catapulting “Lemonade” from being one woman’s emotional journey to an unforgettable 45-minute statement on Blackness, Southern culture and feminism.

More than any of Beyoncé’s other works, “Lemonade” is expansive in both genre and song structure. The deceptively buoyant “Hold Up” embraces pop and reggae while the rousing “Daddy Lessons” laces together bluegrass, zydeco and country. Elsewhere, “Sandcastles” shines with soul, and the album’s most visceral collaboration – the defiant Jack White pairing “Don’t Hurt Yourself” – thrills through hard rock. Even the endlessly catchy “boy, bye” anthem “Sorry” packs several dramatic tonal shifts into less than four minutes. Fittingly, “Lemonade” made Beyoncé the first artist to be nominated for Grammy Awards across four genres in the same year.

Of course, part of the vitality of “Lemonade” is its enduring social and political impact. Lead single “Formation” continues to electrify with the Black Lives Matter imagery of its lyrics and Grammy-winning music video. Recently, Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign began using the stirring Kendrick Lamar collaboration “Freedom” as a rallying cry. To say “Lemonade” has dramatically shaped American culture – especially ideas about race and womanhood – in the past eight years would be a colossal understatement. Few albums can claim to have prompted extensive academic discourse across the nation’s top colleges, with institutions from the University of Pennsylvania to Harvard University offering curriculum or resources to dissect the gravity of the LP.

Crucially, the emotional depth imbued throughout “Lemonade” would not be possible without the message of reconciliation found on the album’s back half. On the magnificent penultimate number “All Night,” Beyoncé delivers a passionate ode to forgiveness and hope. When Beyoncé earnestly sings, “They say true love’s the greatest weapon / To win the war caused by pain,” the words ring with countless layers of meaning. In the context of the album’s overarching marital narrative, “All Night” provides a powerful epilogue while forging a new path forward. As a statement for the resilience of the human heart, it is the most cathartic song Beyoncé has ever recorded.

Thanks to its thematic ambition, sonic experimentation and raw humanity, “Lemonade” has cemented itself not just as Beyoncé’s greatest artistic achievement to date, but as one of the best albums of all time.