4. 'Good Girl Gone Bad' (2008)
Rihanna had become one of the most hotly-tipped young stars without a solid 'hit' album that had given her the significant boost she needed to make it as a full-on popstar. Fortunately third album 'Good Girl Gone Bad' more than provided this with plenty of singles including lead single 'Umbrella' that launched her into the pop stratosphere with its R&B sound and pop hook. Rihanna jettisoned her previous dancehall and reggae leanings, instead opting for mor of an R&B-pop sound with singles such as the MJ-sampling 'Don't Stop the Music', aggressive 'Shut Up & Drive' and Justin Timberlake-guesting 'Rehab' becoming successful songs in the eyes of the music-buying public. Even so, the album tracks began to catch up to the strength of the singles - Timbaland's impressive production on songs like 'Sell Me Candy' and 'Lemme Get That' elevate the songs while the R&B production by contemporaries such as Ne-Yo, StarGate and Justin Timberlake made this a much more cohesive listen and a more enjoyable LP as a result. Point in fact, the success of 'Good Girl Gone Bad' lead to a re-release with several new tracks, leading to hits such as 'Take A Bow' and 'Disturbia' enjoying the same level of success as their predecessors. The 'Reloaded' edition of 'Good Girl Gone Bad' saw the beginning of a more mature side to Rihanna - 'Take A Bow' is very much the sequel to 'Unfaithful' with Rihanna this time taking on the role of the wounded woman and becoming a brilliantly ballsy, independent woman who tosses the possessions of her cheating lover out the door with a smirk. Best of all might be 'Disturbia', an inventive and excellent pop song that saw Rihanna dip her toes into the dark image that she would later full-on adopt, with a song that incorporated mental illness metaphor and romance into a danceable song that was the spiritual precursor to Lady Gaga's 'Bad Romance' a couple of years later. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1mU6h4Xdxc 'Good Girl Gone Bad' was not a hugely exciting album, when it all comes down to it, singles aside - it was certainly solid, but there were no real standouts or experiments that made anyone consider her a true artist, for example. However, it was a crucial and vital stepping stone in Rihanna's musical career and was the first album to offer a solid foundation for her to begin her career with the eyes of the world watching and considering her as someone that the world of pop should be keeping a very close eye on the immediate future...