Loud

It would seem that most music fans in this day and age believe Rihanna, Queen of the Charts, is unable to put a foot wrong. Her current global reputation is unfathomable, with a total of five number one hits to date and most surprisingly in this recent month having three top ten songs in the chart on the same day; ‘Only Girl In The World’, ‘What’s My Name’ and ‘Who’s That Chick?’ all ranking in the UK top ten. However, is her untouchable success really a result of her superb musicianship, or do we the public simply follow her now household name without assessing the music for its true worth?

It is undeniable that the lead single from Rihanna’s 2010 album _Loud_, ‘Only Girl in the World’ is brilliant. With its rhythmic, upbeat staccato intro that flows excitedly into an electrifying, enigmatically thrilling chorus, this debut single seem to pave the way for an original and innovative sound from the Barbadian singer. With ‘Only Girl in the World’, Rihanna increased the anticipation for the accompanying album, _Loud_, exciting fans and critics alike. This excitement is, however, short lived.

To the certain disappointment of critics and global fans, very few tracks on Loud live up to or even come close to the brilliance of ‘Only Girl in the World’ or even the high standard set by groundbreaking album _Good Girl, Gone Bad_. Before acknowledging the countless errors, pitfalls and misjudgements Rihanna has made on her latest album though, it must be recognised that amongst the sickeningly generic, there are some songs on Loud that are genuinely worthy of appreciation.

Opener ‘S&M’ is reminiscent of the intelligent song craftsmanship of ‘Only Girl in the World’ as it echoes in a rhythmic, climatic intro that ascends perfectly into an intense, pounding chorus with soaring vocals from the songstress. Upsettingly clichéd lyrics have the potential to taint this track, however, the creative music laid behind the clichés more than makes up for this.

The stand out tracks from this album, do not emerge until over half way through and many tedious, basic, uninspiring songs must be trawled through by the listener before reaching these treasures. The first of these being, ‘California King Bed’ which is just beauty in simplicity. The subtlety of the accompanying music is constructed perfectly to show off her vocal prowess for the first time on the album. This track takes you on a beautiful, melodic journey with just the right balance between the depth of musicality and the song’s content. Similarly, the track ‘Complicated’ achieves the same mesmerising effect, it’s beautiful and enchanting vocals create a song that immediately grabs the listener. Whilst ‘Man Down’ is an interesting song carried by an unpredictable layer of sounds and textures heightened by razor sharp vocals. The story that slowly unfolds on ‘Man Down’ over the interplay of different sound effects, successfully create an intimate vibe between the listener and the singer.

There is, however, no consistency in the album and against the splendour of several stand out tracks, there lies a multitude of throwaway cuts. The latest single, ‘What’s My Name’ ft. Drake has ‘album filler’ written all over it as the tiresome interplay of weak vocals fail to ignite any spark of energy. It is honestly surprising that this was a single release as it pales in comparison to many other tracks. This is not the album’s poorest moment though, that honour goes to, ‘Cheers (Drink to That)’ which is simply laughable. It is a tribute to the 90s, which isn’t an acknowledgement that Rihanna needs to make. For some bizarre unknown reason, Rihanna has decided to sample not only the now infamous Avril Lavigne, but also the now ridiculed R. Kelly, which begs the question, what was Rihanna thinking?

Overall, the majority of song’s on _Loud_ fail to justify Rihanna’s reputation as the highly-acclaimed artist that she is now known to be. Instead, it is an insight into how much Rihanna and her team believe they can just rush an album out, _Loud_ was written and produced in just under a year. They’re not wrong, _Loud_ debuted at number one in Canada and Switzerland, came 3rd in the American Billboard Top 100 and reached number 2 in UK Album Chart. Rihanna’s reputation growing reputation is so unshakeable that it seems anything she touches will be immediately gobbled up by the public for two words; it’s Rihanna, rather than for it’s relative merit, including Loud itself.