Black Eyed Peas fans certainly can’t complain about their lot during the past year. “The Beginning” follows “The E.N.D.” — weighing in at 11 million copies sold worldwide with smash hits such as “Boom Boom Pow” and “I Gotta Feeling” — by just 18 months, and with both standard and deluxe editions that will keep the Peas’ pod pretty crowded with tunes. The quartet’s sixth album comes with its own flavor, too, a kind of sequel to “The E.N.D.” in which the energy that never dies flags a little, sometimes steering the Peas in a more melodic direction and occasionally yielding lengthy, plodding tracks such as “Don’t Stop the Party” and “Do It Like This,” which make a lot more sense as club fare than listening experiences. “The Beginning” also isn’t as carefully crafted as “The E.N.D.,” though at its best, it captures the vibrancy of a group on tour, immersed in music and hungry to continue creating. That can certainly be heard in the first single, “The Time (Dirty Bit),” which uses the “Dirty Dancing” hit “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” as a jumping-off point for a frenetic exercise in nightclub braggadocio. “Light Up the Night” brings some Latin flavor to the mix, while “Someday” is propelled by a thumping tribal vibe and “Fashion Beats” channels Chic’s “My Forbidden Lover” into an infection disco gem, complete with Fergie flaunting French. “Whenever” gives the fairer Pea a smooth pop ballad, and she and will.i.am bounce off each other on the even prettier “The Best One Yet (The Boy).” “Play It Loud,” meanwhile, lets will.i.am close the album with a ringing, U2-like anthem on which he declares “I’ll pledge my allegiance to rhythm and sound ... Let the rhythm pound.” And the rhythm continues to rule, and rock, the Peas’ world, not always to the best effect but usually good enough to engage us from “The E.N.D.” to “The Beginning.”