Noticing this blog is mainly reviews, i decided to include the only 'proper' review i have ever written. As i dabbled in Journalism last semester one of our assessments was to review ANYTHING we wanted, ha! well let me tell you i was in heaven. Having recently (then) become addicted to Rhianna's album 'Loud' i couldn't not review it.
So here goes:
Beautiful Barbadian twenty two year old Rihanna’s career could have easily taken a hurtling nose dive following reports in early 2009 suggesting abuse at the hands of her boyfriend ‘Kiss Kiss’ singer Chris Brown. The ensuing 12 months should have been enough to force, even the most brazen star into hiding; photos surfaced of the stars stunning face bruised and bloodied and with countless court battles it seemed, to many, unlikely that new material would follow. However the incredibly talented singer has refused vehemently to become a victim and her new release Loud reflects her fierce attitude perfectly.
After the release of Rated R in late 2009 it was clear Rihanna had taken a step away from previous hits like ‘SOS’ where she begged ‘come help me, it’s not healthy the way you make me feel’. The star reinvented herself as somewhat of a sexual icon, with lyrics such as ‘come here rude boy, can you get it up’ clearly the turbulent year had unveiled a new persona for the star. Loud follows many of the sexual themes from Rated R displaying the star as in control of her relationships and having power over men, it would have been obvious for the album to reflect some of the issues faced by the singer recently especially as they were ignored in Rated R. Yes, it is true the album does have some references to domestic violence, most notably in the duet with acclaimed rapper Eminem ‘Love The Way You Lie’. But these references do not come across as a contrived cry for sympathy, they are simply statements showing, how some relationships really can be.
The album is club friendly relying on heavy bass and catchy beats to over shadow the sometimes slightly boring subject matter of the songs. How cliché is ‘Cheers (Drink To That)’ a repetitive, bass fuelled attempt at a club track, with the original and shocking subject matter of getting drunk! This song can’t even be salvaged by a sample from Avril Lavigne’s hit ‘I’m With You’. Thankfully the rest of the album does not follow the same monotonous theme, saved by the staccato beats of raucous anthems such as ‘S&M’ and ‘What’s My Name’ emphasizing another of Rihanna’s reinventions punctuated by her new bright red hair. These tunes, feature the albums trademark heavy bass line and catchy chorus’ making them sure hits, a point already proven by ‘What’s My Name’ hitting number 1. ‘S&M’ sounds something like a Ke$ha or GaGa reject song, but Rihanna’s husky tones save this song from sounding contrived and bring an original form of sexuality to its controversial lyrics.
It must also be noted that this album does feature some ballads, although ‘Fading’ and ‘Complicated’ fail to find their feet in such an otherwise strong album ballads like ‘California King Bed’ and ‘Skin’ manage to hold their own. More original than your standard pop ballads, these songs flow and move beautifully held by the tone of the stars fascinating voice.
Overall this album is a must buy, the weaker tracks are held above the surface by the strength of the sure hits featured on the album and many of the collaborations would be a shame to miss. Loud shows us a new side to Rihanna, still as ‘Hard’ as the Rated R singer, but also not afraid to show her softer side.
