ARTIST: Beyonce 
TITLE: Dangerously in Love
YEAR RELEASED: 2003
CHART ACTION: #1 US, #1 UK
SINGLES: Crazy in Love (#1 US, #1 UK), Baby Boy (#1 US, #2 UK), Me, Myself and I (#4 US, #11 UK), Naughty Girl (#3 US, #10 UK)
OTHER SONGS YOU MAY KNOW: The Closer I Get to You
LINEUP: Beyonce, guest artists Jay-Z, Sean Paul, Big Boi, Missy Elliott, Sleepy Brown, Luther Vandross, and a whole lot of producers and session musicians.
WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: Debut from Beyonce isn’t that far off from the last Destiny’s Child record, except Beyonce does most of the vocals (layered over-dubbed).
SOME WORDS, PHRASES AND CLAUSES ABOUT THIS RECORD: Beyonce’s inevitable solo career started with a world-wide smash. The hits didn’t sound that far off from Destiny’s Child, to be honest. It’s hard to disguise that voice, really.
The deeper cuts show more of an R&B style, and there are more soul-type ballads on this effort. Those suffer a bit much, since the hits are full of energy and pep, including “Naughty Girl” which is a long way from some of the more wholesome fare from the beginning of her career.
It was inevitable that this would be a big hit, and set a blueprint for her career going forward. But her later albums have outshone this except for the debut single “Crazy in Love”
NOTES & MINUTIAE: “Signs” was about the signs of the Zodiac. Jay-Z is a Sagittarius and Beyonce said she was in love with a Sagittarius. Hmmm…
IS THERE A DELUXE VERSION: Yes, several editions for various countries.
GRADE: B-: Decent debut, but her ballads drag this down a bit.
But Is It Any Good? 