Rihanna - Talk That Talk Review

A year after her hit album Loud, and her infamous appearance on The X Factor, Rihanna is back with a new album.

rating: 3.0

A year after her hit album Loud, and her infamous appearance on The X Factor, Rihanna is back. Not that she really went away, because Rihanna seems to be one of the hardest working women in pop music, with an almost constant touring schedule and three albums in three years. Personally I€™ve always really liked Rihanna. Her blend of dance, pop, hip hop and the odd bit of ska and reggae has always made her sound radically different from the rest of the music that takes up the rest of the pop charts. Rihanna€™s new album, Talk That Talk kicks off with You Da One, a song already confirmed to be the album€™s second single. "Yes I'm kinda crazy, that's what happens baby€ sings Rihanna, on a catchy song that is a solid piece of classic Rihanna. You Da One sounds like it is going to go somewhere, before ending suddenly. It€™s a good track but it makes you wonder why they ended it just before it was going to go somewhere and why they ended it so quickly. The second track on €˜Talk That Talk€™ is €˜Where Have You Been€™ which features a trance backbeat and a dancey almost dubstep breakdown in the middle. Listening to it, you just know is going to be a massive hit single, being pumped from every club and bar this side of Ibiza. It€™s a good dance record but once I€™ve heard it I feel like I€™ve heard it a million times before and it feels like it has been overplayed already. The Third track on the album is easily the best on the album, the Calvin Harris produced We Found Love. This has a lot in common with €˜Where Have You Been€™, especially with the trance beat and dubstep breakdowns but on €˜We Found Love€™ the balance is exactly right. This may be due to the presence of Calvin Harris or it may be simply due to it being a damn good track. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg00YEETFzg&ob=av2e €˜Talk That Talk€™ is the next track on the album, featuring Jay Z. His parts on the track feel samey and boring but when Rihanna actually sings the song really comes to life. Again, considering the song was written by Jay Z it seems to be the tracks where she collaborates where she becomes genuinely great. Cockiness features a hip hop beat with some repeated and sampled vocals, but they are far from the most interesting part of the track; the lyrics, featuring such subtle lines as €˜I Want You To Be My Sex Slave€™ and €˜Suck My Cockiness, Lick My Persuasion€™. These borderline pornographic lines aren€™t so much offensive or rude but really tacky. I get that Rihanna is a massive sex symbol and has a reputation to live up to, and I loved her performance on last year€™s X Factor finale as much as any dirty old man or twelve year old boy but this is almost as cringe worthy as 50 Cent€™s ode to romance €˜Candy Shop€™. The next track, Birthday Cake is no better. The next track that doesn€™t make me feel like a 70€™s lap dancer is €˜We All Want Love€™, a surprisingly modest and introspective ballad that reminds you that Rihanna is human and not some form of sex robot. I€™m not normally a fan of her slower tracks but this is really good. Maybe it€™s because it is such a contrast to the last two tracks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VlMH4_mEs4 €˜Drunk On Love€™ samples The XX€™s €˜Intro€™ (from one of my favourite albums of last year, by the way) and really uses this sample to its advantage; it has to be one of my favourite Rihanna tracks but I€™m not sure if this is due to the presence of €˜Intro€™ or not. Regardless it sounds like €˜Whats My Name€™ which is probably my favourite Rihanna track. As €˜Talk That Talk€™ starts to reach its conclusion, the next tracks are €˜Roc Me Out€™ which sounds like €˜S&M€™ and €˜Watch N Learn€™ the albums penultimate track. Both are Rihanna€™s trademark raunchy pop style, and both are quite enjoyable tracks. The closing track on €˜Talk That Talk€™ is €˜Farewell€™, a ballad that is as forgettable as it is cheesy. Overall, €˜Talk That Talk€™ is one of the most hit and miss albums I€™ve heard in a long time. Tracks like €˜Drunk On Love€™, and €˜We Found Love€™ are brilliant, catchy, well produced and all round great pop tracks. The rest of the album ranges from the boring to the corny and while I really do like and respect Rihanna as an artist, its difficult to say that I really love this album. Rihanna's new album Take That Talk is released on Monday.
Contributor

Haters gonna hate. Add me here. http://www.last.fm/user/FAC-93