Album review: Rihanna's 'Loud'

The first track on Rihanna’s strobe-thumping new album “Loud” is called “S&M.” Decades after Madonna made a pop-chart fetish of leather, whips and ball gags, this isn’t especially salacious. But it’s quite a spit-take of a title from a pop singer whose last album, “Rated R,” was a harrowing travelogue through the bleak corners of domestic violence. “Loud” is a rave-ready follow-up to that seething, gothic revenge tale, both a considered mission to reclaim Rihanna’s optimism and a hasty move to put tabloid nastiness behind her and get back on the charts.

“Loud” is, at points, a powerful reminder of Rihanna’s skills before the 2009 Grammys incident changed how we read her songs. The minor-key moments are still her best: “Only Girl (In the World)” revives the chilly trance of “Disturbia” with a newly vigorous vocal performance. “I want to make you beg for it, then I’ll make you swallow your pride,” she sings, adding psychosexual venom to an otherwise orthodox dance floor plea. “What’s My Name” has a disarming double-entendre chorus — a line like “Hey boy, I really want to see if you can go downtown with a girl like me” has come-hither undertones, but you can also imagine Rihanna wanting something as exotic as dinner and a movie out on the arm of a good guy. “Man Down” reasserts her Caribbean lilt with a swaggering murder ballad that one can’t help but hear as a warning shot across the radio dial to Chris Brown’s “Deuces.”

But cuts such as “Cheers (Drink to That) and “Raining Men,” as foamy and spunky as they may be, are such a dogleg turn from “Rated R” that they come off as little more than image recalibration. That’s her prerogative as an artist, and it’s certainly earned. But it underscores the one thing we’ve always wondered about Rihanna — what is she really feeling?

—August Brown

Rihanna
“Loud”
Def Jam
Three stars (Out of four)

Comments

[Rihanna Gaga Lover]

I bought the album this morning, and I'm loving every bit of it. California King Bed is my favorite so far!

[Big Grime]

From the way I see it she is a strong woman now. Sometimes you have to go through things and build your self up. She is very talented and creative. I get tired of artist copying other artist style. I think artist such as Rihanna and Lady GaGa is making it cool again to be different.

[R. Loza]

Ok- I love Rihanna so Im going to let her make it on the cd.And I have all her albums. But this one is not WORKING for me! I don't usually make post but I have to say something. I bought the cd today, was super excited to get my hands on it. Quickly ripped it to my Droid and went for a run. Because after hearing Only Girl- I was expecting club bumping dance music! WRONG, first off each track is too short. All are under 5 minutes, just as you get into it, its over.The whole CD is maybe 45mins. My biggest complaint is that she is all over the place on this cd. I don't think she knows if she wants to be Katy Perry Pop, Country Pop, Regagge, DanceHall, Dance or Rap! I mean come on. I love that she is singing out strong on the vocals on all the songs. That is a nice change,to hear her belt, but the music is just CANNED! That's right, I said it, CANNED and it sounds like KNOCK-OFF Rihanna.
What did I like, Well I can tolerate most of the songs individually well, it's just the collective disjointed group that is Whack! As a singer-songwriter myself, I get sometimes it hard, but I'm not happy. Vocally- she sounds very strong. I appreciate that.Lyrically- I like what I hear. She's got some interesting stories. Sadly I've already ABSORBED this CD, and am almost bored of it. Do you guys know what I mean by that? Just no Depth

[mark]

i disagree with you completely @ R. Loza. Great album. i like this woman because shes not afraid to experiment with different music styles and shes hands on. its loud.. and that doesnt mean its got to be all fast paced songs. i like the midtempo ones as well. if u wanted depth, rated r was your album. i feel this one had it, but it wasnt obvious. it was more of "11 great songs tailored for rihanna". i especially love the reggae tracks. its just .. musical bliss
great album. i can not complain whatsoever.

[matreiya]

This is what I am talking about...this CD is godawful. It's canned, it's auto-tuned and it's formulaic pop nonsense. She's not afraid to experiment because she doesn't write any of her "music". It's just 3 chords, 15 words, and filler. Every song has some variation of the following: "eh, nah, yeah, baby, oh, come on". I mean every single song. Heavy auto-tune, over production, it's just strings of words together that make no sense. What happened to real music? Music with soul? This crap here...this is garbage for the masses. Rihanna was the marytr last album now she's the survivor. She has copied so many artists that it's sickening. Here is the list: Madonna, Grace Jones, Patti Labelle, Tina Turner, Beyonce and Lady Gaga. The difference is these people actually have stage presence, whereas Rihanna get's on stage and stands there like she's confused. All in all, this album was one long ear busting face palm nail in the coffin and proof positive that the record companies do not respect us. This music only appeals to those that do not care about lyrics and actual singing ability. If you want to hear a good album Soldier of Love was phenomenal. This crap along with Teenage Dream and Pink Friday should be thrown on the nearest trash heap and burned.

[Goop Dirt]

I went to target one day to buy some groceries and passed the music section and saw Rihanna Loud on sale a few dollars cheaper. I was like what the hell and bought it. Its a great album and has many great tracks like "Only Girl in the world", Whats my name?, S&M, and Cheers (Drink To That). Every song on the album is awesome except "Skin" (i dont know why it just isnt a good song). Otherwise I recommend you to buy the album. And if your going to buy it and they dont have it see if they have Good Girl Gone Bad by her (Her second best).