Rihanna

You can’t knock Rihanna for productivity. An album a year seems to be the order of the day at present. However it seems quantity is ahead of quality. ‘Loud’ felt a little too like ‘Rated R’ and now ‘Talk That Talk’ is a bit too like ‘Loud’ and ‘Rated R’. When the Calvin Harris track came out I was genuinely hopeful a corner had been turned, but no other track on the album sounds like ‘We Found Love’. Chase & Status also got some production time, but shamefully their efforts only appear on the deluxe editions.

The other problem with the album is the pseudo-eroticism that litters some tracks and is more peep show erotica. It is cheap and adds nothing.

The albums primary musical theme is a dancehall influenced R&B sound, but then again so were the last two albums. Calvin Harris tries his best on another track – ‘Where Have You Been’ but again the efforts on this track are lost in a bigger sea of blandness through most of the other tracks.

Previous smash hits like ‘Russian Roulette’, ‘Disturbia’, ‘Umbrella’ and ‘Take a Bow’ all had a certain uniqueness about them, however I really can’t see where the next singles will come from on this album, apart from the 2nd Calvin Harris track??

I think Rihanna should stop rushing these out a one a year, and instead focus some time on finishing her tour THEN concentrating on the song writing, recording etc. It will no doubt be the vehicle for a handful of singles, but it really feels Rihanna needs to stand back and take stock.