53 replies to this topic

[brobee]

since when did rihanna grow a personality? this is her third album, and her third image overhaul. two years ago she was a lite female sean paul, last year she was a melodrama queen, a super sweet 16 chick, and now? first single umbrella seemed odd at first. jay-z's intro rap didn't help things, it felt out of place. for all intents and purposes, after several listens, the song revealed itself as a goth-y synth pop song. and now the full album leaks, and umbrella turns out not to be a one-off. aside from an okay mid-tempo duet with ne-yo, this song is one of the most consistent pop albums in recent memory, rivaling even future sex/love sounds in terms of cohesiveness. this isn't r&b, not really. this is a pure pop album, and a dark one at that. i really cannot recommend this album enough to anyone with an open mind. i mean, three albums in, and now she decides to get interesting. in terms of female pop, this is way closer to res than to beyonce. there are easily five or six potential singles here, and that's just after one listen. breaking dishes is especially awesome. this has been an especially good year for music so far, and while this won't replace dinosaur jr. or battles or spoon, this will get played just as often as those three, and come to think of it, gggb has more than a little in common with those last two. i think i have my summer album now... am i crazy, or can anyone second this emotion? i'm floored.

[Eskimo kisses]

Umbrella was all kinds of great so I'm intrigued by this. Any links knocking about for it?

[Artem]

it's a pretty good album. especially the first half of it. some of the songs feel like reworkings of some other big hits, for example "umbrella" sounds like tatu's "all the things she said to me", and "don't stop the music" is just a straight up house song, that could have been on the latest daft punk album. it's not a bad thing, cos i think she adds something new to those tracks with her vocals. i kind of like the way she sings. i need to listen to it more though to understand if it's an album or just a good collection of singles. by the way, i think "double up" is better than this album. that's the summer album of the year, for sure. you all need to listen to both of these.

[brobee]

it's a pretty good album. especially the first half of it. some of the songs feel like reworkings of some other big hits, for example "umbrella" sounds like tatu's "all the things she said to me", and "don't stop the music" is just a straight up house song, that could have been on the latest daft punk album. it's not a bad thing, cos i think she adds something new to those tracks with her vocals. i kind of like the way she sings.
i need to listen to it more though to understand if it's an album or just a good collection of singles.

by the way, i think "double up" is better than this album. that's the summer album of the year, for sure. you all need to listen to both of these.

artem, thanks for the tip. i downloaded double up and that's next on my to listen to list. good to know i've got something worth looking forward to. this rihanna album, though, will be hard to top. i'm on third listen and it only gets better. there's only one song out of place, and it's pretty tolerable. this is really really surprising.

and as far as links go, try shareminer.com, you should be able to find an active link there.

[Artem]

i suppose it depends if you're more on the pop side of things than rap side of things, cos i feel like r. kelly's album is 50% rnb and 50% rap music, at least production wise. but rihanna is more on the pop/rnb side.

[brobee]

i suppose it depends if you're more on the pop side of things than rap side of things, cos i feel like r. kelly's album is 50% rnb and 50% rap music, at least production wise. but rihanna is more on the pop/rnb side.

i'm normally more on the rap side of the r&b fence, which is why, i suppose, this album caught me off guard. the one thing i'm not expecting the kelly album to have is the level of cohesion that rihanna has. it feels like an album. just seeing rise up tacked onto the end of the album gives me pause. i like kells when he's upbeat, but despise the kiddy-pisser when he gets all sanctimonious. can't take that shit.

[Artem]

i suppose, the number of tracks on the album definitely plays in favour of rihanna. i know a lot of people would complain that "double up" is too long and has too much filler, but i sort of grew to like those 19-22 songs albums. i dunno, at least that's not the biggest problem for me. but "double up" is mostly upbeat, and it'll definitely make you laugh. i like that album for its humour.

[Eskimo kisses]

People who make 22 track albums should for the most part just accept that not everything they wrote during the sessions is strong enough to go on the album. Anyway, I'm a fan of this Rihanna album, she's one of few people who gets away with vocal gymnastics with me because she has a very undestated way of doing them and it makes the song better rather than come across all "look at how many octaves I can rip through." I'd be surprised if there are too many better pop albums than this one this year.

[Artem]

has anyone heard the new amerie?

[Eskimo kisses]

Breakin' dishes is great. Favourite angry chick pop song since 'Caught out there'. Some of the lyrics on this album are a bit questionable but "Is he cheating? Man I don't know, I'm looking for something to throw" makes up for it. This is better than FS/LS for me, quite comfortably. FS/LS was half an awesome album until Will i am showed up and then it nosedived, which I suppose makes sense. And haven't heard the new Amerie, I'm being slack with new releases this year.

[Duff.]

Anyway, I'm a fan of this Rihanna album, she's one of few people who gets away with vocal gymnastics with me because she has a very undestated way of doing them and it makes the song better rather than come across all "look at how many octaves I can rip through."

Exactly. Always sounds supercool, doesn't force it.

Only heard Umbrella and the new single, the New Order rip off. Might have to check the rest of this.

[Jigga]

yep this is a god album. this is her breakout album.

[st. park]

can anyone up this? i like "umbrella" a lot and am curious to hear the record.

[brobee]

People who make 22 track albums should for the most part just accept that not everything they wrote during the sessions is strong enough to go on the album.

Anyway, I'm a fan of this Rihanna album, she's one of few people who gets away with vocal gymnastics with me because she has a very undestated way of doing them and it makes the song better rather than come across all "look at how many octaves I can rip through."

I'd be surprised if there are too many better pop albums than this one this year.

ot fucking m. she doesn't have the best voice and she knows it. she goes easy on the histrionics, focusing on the hooks instead. it's a good move.

[Wolfgang]

can anyone up this?

I think it's in the rolling pop thread, which I didn't search for to post a link because I'm lazy.

[Alright Still]

travis barker did a remix to "umbrella." it's amazing.

http://www.defjam.co...news_id=103551#

[Ennui]

lulz jay-z <object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.c...></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.c.../v/X7bK4Vee36M" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object> ella ella ey ey ey i'm not goin to be able to sleep tonight with that on brain repeat.

[Woodland Runner]

"Umbrella" stands as a perfect example of what all pop music should sound like. Until now, i had Rihanna lumped in with a myriad of upandcoming r 'n b artists. With this one song she has proven herself and has now joined the likes of Gwen and Beyonce, the leading ladies shaping the face of modern pop music. It's really kinda funny, cuz the track itself doesn't really do anything wildly inventive. Thankfully (and as is usually the case) it doesn't have to. Instead, it does what it does really well. Extra kudos to Rihanna for the video for "Umbrella", which walks the line between classy and sexy beautifully. edit: ella ella ella ey... that Travis Barker remix is pretty tight as well.

[typical pickle conflicts]

god the front half or so of this album is super fucking top notch! i still don't get much of a personality off of rihanna tho, not gonna be replacing ciara as my favorite pop r&b chick anytime soon

[vurt]

Most consistently awesome pop album since Come and Get It.