After listening to it, I have to say that I was mildly impressed. When you have a such a mainstream singer such as Rihanna, you have to make sure that the music being put out is general enough to appeal to a mass amount of people. I think that she achieved this pretty well. Given the expectations of her role in the music industry, I really can't bash this album too much.
If you are looking for deep, thought-provoking lyrics, don't look here. But don't be surprised either because that wouldn't sell to her target audience anyway. Do you think that young girls and teenagers want to hear songs bearing social relevance? Of course not.
Listening through the songs, I noticed that a few had a flavor of her culture infused within it, and I was a big fan of that. I would love to hear more of that from her, but I'm not sure that would go over well. Anyway, most of this album is radio-friendly, which means generic beats and lyrics, but songs like "Skin" and "Man Down" were definitely pleasant surprises to hear from her. Unfortunately, there's a low chance that either one of these would get released.
As for collaborations with other artists, she had three songs featuring different voices. The first was "What's My Name" with Drake, "Raining Men" with Nicki Minaj" and "Love the Way You Lie Part 2" with Eminem. Loved the first two, but kind of hated the last one. I think he messed up the feel of the song. Their energy didn't match at all. That's all I'm going to say or else I would go on a tangent.
My only complaint and gripe is that she tends to bleat. Yes, like a lamb. I wasn't a fan of "Complicated" and "California King Bed" for that very reason.
Overall, the album was good for its purpose. It was simple, straight-forward, and enjoyable. I would listen to it again and I'm actually keeping a good number of the songs on my iPod. My rating: YES, 3.5 stars!
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