A 100% Accurate Ranking of Beyoncé Albums

An album ranking from Dangerously in Love to Cowboy Carter

When Cowboy Carter dropped, I needed a good week to digest it. I had about five days, because we reviewed the album on Keep It:

But since then, I’ve been able to digest Beyoncé’s sprawling, sometimes messy, more often sublime Americana project. All of the “is this country?” conversation has been done to death (I’m sure it will resurface when the Grammy nominations drop), so I won’t be wading back into it. What I’m more interested in his how the songs have matured in the month since it dropped, and how it stacks up compared to Beyoncé’s other albums. There are songs on this album are stuck with me and I can already feel them imprinted on my soul. They’re not just the best of Cowboy Carter, but also top tier Beyoncé songs PERIOD. I also had to re-evaluate some of my prior rankings… I’ve been a 4 girl down, but is it really Beyoncé’s best? Let’s step into my brain (scary!!) and find out.

11 - I Am… Sasha Fierce

I don’t see it for Miss Fierce. I’m sorry! I could never hate the album that gave us “Diva” and led to so many iconic live performances, but this is just a collection of songs released at the height of Beyoncé’s mainstream appeal. This is an album the other pop girls drop. No cohesion, just songs engineered to be radio hits. And there are plenty! “Single Ladies.” “Halo.” “If I Were a Boy.” I also dislike each of those songs, so…

(I have a friend obsessed with the song “Hello,” which belongs on a Leona Lewis album…)

Essential: “Diva,” “Ego,” “Video Phone”