2009: #10 - "Sweet Dreams"

When we first heard this song, we thought it sounded too much like Rihanna. It still kind of does, but only Beyonce can get away with ripping off the sound of a (slightly) lesser, younger pop star and making it better. And based on her latest album, it's safe to say Rihanna won't top this any time soon either.

Like last year's "Single Ladies", this is spare and minimalist-sounding electro-pop that somehow also manages to blow you away with huge chorus hooks and beefy beats. But instead of all those crazy keyboard stabs that screech all over the stuttering, stomping "Single Ladies", you get this thick, slick early 80's bassline that propels "Sweet Dreams" into more icy, menacing and, dare we say, dreamlike territory.