The 22 year old Bajan beauty, Rihanna, has finally released her fifth studio album following on from last year's somewhat dark but brilliantly crafted "Rated R" record. This time around Rihanna herself promised a much louder, sassier, fun and flirty album. Things are looking up already from the high colour, bright album artwork. Fresh out of the video from her launch single, Only Girl (In The World), the artwork follows the same theme, big fields, colourful materials, bright make-up and Rihanna's new trademark red hair. Let's see if the music follows suit...
1. S&M - The opening track, a StarGate produced affair, kicks things off hard with a heavy dance beat and euphoric production. After the opening chants, Rihanna's distinctive vocals launch the verses which ooze attitude. Onto the chorus which has an addictive hook, and takes a popular playground chant and gives it a rather more adult theme, which is of course the theme of the track, S&M. For those who are rather wet behind the ears to this kind of thing, google it (maybe not google images first though, or whilst at work!) The whole ensemble is extremely danceable, addictive and gets things off to a great start. 9/10
2. What's My Name? (feat. Drake) - This is the second single from this campaign, with the video recently hitting the world wide web. Things are calmed down slightly from the previous track, but this still keeps up with it's heavy hip-hop beat and opening vocals from Canadian artist Drake. The vocals here from Rihanna are a highlight for me, as she sounds great and her Barbados roots shine through in her accent, akin to what we heard on Rihanna's earlier albums, "Music Of The Sun" and "A Girl Like Me". The pace of the track may be slower, but this certainly doesn't trip up for it, and should be another smash hit for Rihanna's assault on the charts. 10/10
3. Cheers (Drink To That) - Straight away this track opens with a familiar sample, namely Avril Lavigne's "I'm With You". I think this is supposed to be a feel-good, no cares tune, but it does come off a little low-mood and mellow to me. That being said, I can imagine this being one of the last tracks played in the club and getting everyone up dancing. The mid-tempo beats and lyrics of the verses and chorus don't do much to lift the mood of the track, and whilst this isn't a skippable track, it unfortunately falls a bit flat and is slightly unmemorable especially if the Avril sample wasn't there. Album filler, but still good album filler 7/10
4. Fading - This is a typical "Rihanna ballad", with the heartfelt lyrics, staple piano backing yet still managing to hold a top-tappable beat. Along the same lines as Take A Bow, the theme here is the break-up of a relationship. The extra production of the track makes it interesting, especially after the middle-eight section where this extra jazzy synth is added to the mix. The lyrics have a slight frustrated feel to them, making this not a sad song but a bit of a more positive affair. Rihanna sounds great here as well. 9/10
5. Only Girl (In The World) - After this track's domination of the charts recently, this is instantly recognisable as the launch single for this campaign and is currently being played everywhere. An up-tempo dance track, the production values are high, provided by StarGate again, the lyrics are catchy and the beat hits in all the right places. Rihanna bellows out the chorus and gives this track that extra power, that I think only she could provide. Euphoric, danceable, and has clearly been another smash hit for Rihanna worldwide. 10/10
6. California King Bed - The first "proper" ballad on the album, and the last as well. The opening guitar riffs always reminds me of Alanis Morissette's "Ironic"...but that's irrelevant I guess, for now. Rihanna chimes into the track with gentle vocals found similarly on her earlier ballads, for example "Unfaithful". There is a small vocal build-up to the chorus, where a beat joins the track and it turns into a bit of a power-ballad. The rest of the track plays out as expected and then electric guitar riffs intertwine in with the middle-eight and closing chorus repeats, making this quite memorable towards the end. The track does feel a little out of place between the previous track and the next, and may have been better suited towards the end. 6.5/10
7. Man Down - Sirens and a reggae sounding chords open this track up, and you know at this point that the track is going to get a bit crazy, which always seems to work for Rihanna. The reggae theme is kicked off again with the introduction to the verses and also the choruses as well, and Rihanna's vocal delivery reeks of her Barbados roots yet again, which suits the track so well. The infectious part of this song is the chorus and it's kicked off each time by Rihanna delivering a very fitting-to-the-theme "rum pum pu pum", of course mimicking the sounds of gun shots. This might be showing a bit of a nasty side to Rihanna though, but I like to think that the lyrics contain a metaphorical gun, and in actual fact Rihanna is singing about saying no to a man. Still, crazy and full of attitude, this is another highlight 9/10
8. Raining Men (feat. Nicki MinajMinaj who always causes a bit of chaos in a tune. This is by no means a bad thing, as the track is infectious and very catchy, with the playschool "eeny, meeny, miney, mo's", teasing chants from Rihanna, a heavy hip-hop beat and crazy lyrics in the verses. This is another clear highlight on the album and I really hope it will make a great future single as I can imagine the video similar to "Rude Boy" but cranked up to "hands-in-the-air-crazy", which is always a good thing too. 10/10
9. Complicated - This track starts of slow but grows into much more than typical ballad material. Rihanna's vocals here are loud and powerful, and almost verge on a bit shouty, but luckily just stop from falling over the edge into unpleasant. The backing track is fairly quiet to begin, yet by the time the second chorus starts the track comes into itself and adopts a slight electro dance beat. Saying this, the track is a little repetitive by the end but I think it realises this and comes to an abrupt stop just in time. Like "Cheers" found earlier on the album, this is a bit of an album filler, but a decent one none-the-less. 6.5/10
10. Skin - I can't help but feel this track fell out of the "Rated R" campaign sessions. It opens with a dark vibe and keeps it up through-out the remainder of what's on offer here. Unfortunately, to me it doesn't fit in with the feel of the album. It's a low-tempo, grungy track with quick, quiet vocals and minimal production. It feels wrong being on here, and would at best be album filler for her previous album. This is the only track I now skip on every listen. 5/10
11. Love The Way You Lie (Part II) (feat. Eminem) - Everyone will know the first "part" to this track, which was a huge hit for Eminem and featured Rihanna's vocals for the chorus. This time around, Rihanna switches it up with her own verses and re-recorded chorus, with guest vocals from Eminem. The beat is different from it's predecessor, yet goes with the track just as well and keeps it an interesting and fresh experience from Part I. Some of the production is recycled and helps keep the ties with its counterpart. Eminem's additional verse is basically an additional, unreleased part to his version and holds the aggression and theme of the track like the first time around. A welcome addition to the end of the album. 10/10
Overall rating: 8/10
A quick release hot off the heels of "Rated R", this album definitely has a much lighter feel to it but doesn't feel rushed. I wouldn't say it has all of the sass and fun that it was hyped to have, but it's clear Rihanna has transitioned from the darker times of her life and is now enjoying life again. There is a theme to the album, also reflected in the artwork and track list, but a few tracks pull it down for being a bit dull or throwaway. Additional tracks for different packages of the album include Love The Way You Lie (Part II) again but a piano ballad version, and also an awesome remix of Only Girl (In The World) which keeps all of the euphoric charm of the original track but pumps the dance beat up a bit. Does it top the almighty "Good Girl Gone Bad"? No, but I don't think it tries to. The single choices are obvious for this campaign and it contains a fresh enough selection of tracks for this to go down as another success for the ever progressing Rihanna.
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