I didn't say it was a reason to care about the album. It hasn't done anything for me after two listens, but it has definitely pushed her to the top of the charts. I say it's much better to get an album of half-decent'whatevers' quickly after a great album rather than her label forever mulling a strategy to strike back and THEN getting an album of average shit. At least now there's hope she does something crazy the next time around.
― abcfsk, Wednesday, 10 November 2010 00:06 (thirteen years ago) link
not crazy, interesting*
― abcfsk, Wednesday, 10 November 2010 00:07 (thirteen years ago) link
xpostdon't really wanna get into the sales=quality strawman again, but I hardly think the American public as of late is to be lauded for it's ability to discern between what's good or bad. The most likable thing about this album is when she puts her accent at the forefront(Man Down, What's My Name) two songs which I would actually listen to again. As someone else said, it's not terrible, but it leaves me feeling like, "Ok, I'm ready for the next album in 5 months." And yeah, her faux-nympho schtick is about as believable as her satan-fingers and 'rock star' stance.
― dancing wit my palm in my pants (Spinspin Sugah), Wednesday, 10 November 2010 00:20 (thirteen years ago) link
Well I wasn't remotely close to suggesting sales=quality. On the other hand I was definitely saying sales = good business.
― abcfsk, Wednesday, 10 November 2010 00:24 (thirteen years ago) link
Yeah. I guess we both came to the party for different reasons :/
― dancing wit my palm in my pants (Spinspin Sugah), Wednesday, 10 November 2010 00:28 (thirteen years ago) link
― dancing wit my palm in my pants (Spinspin Sugah), Tuesday, November 9, 2010 6:28 PM (11 seconds ago) Bookmark
well, no -- it was just a response to your post about the record company forcing her into recording another album
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 10 November 2010 00:29 (thirteen years ago) link
oh, hi there!
― dancing wit my palm in my pants (Spinspin Sugah), Wednesday, 10 November 2010 00:32 (thirteen years ago) link
Haven't heard it yet but am I right in thinking this is the Circus to Rated R's Blackout?
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 10 November 2010 10:15 (thirteen years ago) link
In commercial/record company logic terms, anyway.
Pretty much - tho circus seemed very tight/regimented/controlled - to its detriment - whereas loud is (surprisingly) v ropey and slapped together
― lex lex lex lex lex on the track BOW (lex pretend), Wednesday, 10 November 2010 10:19 (thirteen years ago) link
Circus was totally incoherent and cobbled together!
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 10 November 2010 10:30 (thirteen years ago) link
It seemed like quite a conscious attempt to recreate blackout to me, except w/o any of the panache or excitement? Whereas loud is "throw a bit of this and a bit of that at it, whatever"
― lex lex lex lex lex on the track BOW (lex pretend), Wednesday, 10 November 2010 10:43 (thirteen years ago) link
Yeah but it also had things like Mmm Papi and whatever those awful ballads were called. It felt like sub-Blackout with a few other things thrown in that broke up all the coherence.
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 10 November 2010 11:53 (thirteen years ago) link
"What's My Name" rockets from 60-1 to nab the Billboard Hot 100 top spot. "Only Girl" is still at #4.
― abcfsk, Wednesday, 10 November 2010 16:59 (thirteen years ago) link
LOUD should be renamed BLAH.
― altered boners (rennavate), Wednesday, 10 November 2010 17:01 (thirteen years ago) link
Only Girl is a Beyonce song that Beyonce passed on. I don't like Rihanna on it, even tho I kinda like the song.
― altered boners (rennavate), Wednesday, 10 November 2010 17:02 (thirteen years ago) link
Around the time of Good Girl Gone Bad I tended to assume every Rihanna song had originally been written for someone else and rejected.
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 10 November 2010 17:13 (thirteen years ago) link
Only Girl is a Beyonce song that Beyonce passed on.
what?
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 10 November 2010 18:07 (thirteen years ago) link
beyonce has nevvvvver been on a song that... european
unless that is actual fact, that beyonce passed on that song, but that would still make tons of sense, because it would be absurd for her to be on that song
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 10 November 2010 18:09 (thirteen years ago) link
don't really know why the concept of beyeuro is making you clutch the pearls but vocally speaking it's always sounded absolutely like the song was originally meant for her.
― r|t|c, Wednesday, 10 November 2010 18:42 (thirteen years ago) link
"radio", "sweet dreams", "telephone"? not to mention the sundry freemasons remixes which gained enough traction on their own to count, i think.
pleeeeeeeeease can we not turn this into the popjustice board where songs "rocketing" up the charts is considered an adequate defence of them
― lex lex lex lex lex on the track BOW (lex pretend), Thursday, 11 November 2010 05:09 (thirteen years ago) link
i don't think that was an argument for it? just stating a fact?
― dark side of the goon (The Reverend), Thursday, 11 November 2010 06:30 (thirteen years ago) link
Yes.. I'll be sure to use a different verb the next time. However, Stargate certainly wouldn't have been given three singles if Rude Boy hadn't "rocketed" up earlier this year, so why not mention sales?
― abcfsk, Thursday, 11 November 2010 09:33 (thirteen years ago) link
is it just me or do u.s. #1 singles "feel" less and less like #1 singles lately, whatever that means
― teledyldonix, Thursday, 11 November 2010 18:41 (thirteen years ago) link
it's like, i don't look at "what's my name" and think MOST POPULAR SONG IN AMERICA RIGHT NOW. i mean, sure, it had good first-week sales and has pretty decent airplay already, but neither is that outstanding. 235k is really not that tremendous a sum at this point, so it seems strange to me that a song could sell just that much and be just 16th in airplay and still be the #1 single. anyways this is less about rihanna than it is about billboard so i guess i'll stop.
― teledyldonix, Thursday, 11 November 2010 18:47 (thirteen years ago) link
omg what's my name is at no 1? imma throw a holiday
this album sounds very strong, and i enjoy many songs on it more than i have enjoyed songs in a while. i'm not in love with s and m, but that's about it.
― valerie (surm), Tuesday, 16 November 2010 19:28 (thirteen years ago) link
surm, do you have any thoughts as to why your opinion of this album differs so markedly from seemingly everyone else's here?
― r|t|c, Tuesday, 16 November 2010 19:50 (thirteen years ago) link
I'm with surm, "California King Bed" excepted.
I don't have any deep thoughts about the album, other than I think it's a tightly wound collection of some good and some great songs (and one very, very dire musical disaster).
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 16 November 2010 19:59 (thirteen years ago) link
i do not have thoughts on that at the moment, r|t|c, but i will think about it. i haven't actually read the thread, but i didn't realize the response was that bad. it does pique my interest though -- because i find the piece as a whole more convincing than anything else upon first listen.
― valerie (surm), Tuesday, 16 November 2010 20:07 (thirteen years ago) link
I need to fire up Soundforge and take a knife to this Drake verse, cause there's no way in hell I'm listening to it as much as I'm going to be listening to "What's My Name".
― dark side of the goon (The Reverend), Wednesday, 17 November 2010 06:25 (thirteen years ago) link
there are drake-less mp3s floating around if you google
― thomas smangalter (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 17 November 2010 06:27 (thirteen years ago) link
Yeah, and it's so much better.
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 17 November 2010 06:29 (thirteen years ago) link
http://defpenradio.com/rihanna-whats-my-name-single-version/
single of the year, perhaps
― Here we are in a sticky situation/ (Tape Store), Wednesday, 17 November 2010 06:34 (thirteen years ago) link
Between that and Rude Boy? Rude Boy wins.
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 17 November 2010 06:46 (thirteen years ago) link
I'm not even sure about that. I do find it interesting that her two highest-charting hits this year are her most carribean-inflected since her debut, and not just that, but completely out of step with what else is popular this year (with the on-trend "Only Girl in the World" stalling at #3). I suspect there is a vacuum of demand for the sort of mid-00s style lite-carribean pop that Rihanna rode in on in the first place that only she has figured out needs filling.
― dark side of the goon (The Reverend), Wednesday, 17 November 2010 17:23 (thirteen years ago) link
solo hits, I should say
― dark side of the goon (The Reverend), Wednesday, 17 November 2010 17:24 (thirteen years ago) link
I'm not really sure they're pimping the Drake-less version. When I hear it on the radio the Drake verse is there.
― dark side of the goon (The Reverend), Wednesday, 17 November 2010 17:26 (thirteen years ago) link
I suspect there is a vacuum of demand for the sort of mid-00s style lite-carribean pop that Rihanna rode in on in the first place that only she has figured out needs filling.
this rings true - i remember how the dancehall-lite summer jam used to be a summer staple, even when it wasn't the years when sean paul was everywhere, and they were rarely from "name" acts - but the past 5 years really saw a drop-off there (i guess gyptian's "hold yuh" brought it back this year).
― lex lex lex lex lex on the track BOW (lex pretend), Wednesday, 17 November 2010 17:29 (thirteen years ago) link
as well ive always loved the rihanna version of this style over pretty much any other artist of the 00s
― plax (ico), Wednesday, 17 November 2010 17:34 (thirteen years ago) link
(i guess gyptian's "hold yuh" brought it back this year)
which i'd never heard before this moment, so not sure how well it really did that. (this song is great tho)
― dark side of the goon (The Reverend), Wednesday, 17 November 2010 17:40 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah i thought that was just gonna be an underground hit but it appeared in the uk top 20 this week
― lex lex lex lex lex on the track BOW (lex pretend), Wednesday, 17 November 2010 17:44 (thirteen years ago) link
(if you like it, check out lady chann's "feel calm" on the same riddim too!)
― lex lex lex lex lex on the track BOW (lex pretend), Wednesday, 17 November 2010 17:45 (thirteen years ago) link
not that much of a fan of recent pop but cheers is definitely the best thing on this.
― nonightsweats, Thursday, 18 November 2010 02:53 (thirteen years ago) link
yeah, i'm pretty sure the comedy "don't let de bastuhds get u dunnn" number isn't the best anything on anything. think some of you need to double check what her old stuff actually sounded like before you congratulate her for hamming it up in 2010.
― r|t|c, Thursday, 18 November 2010 04:08 (thirteen years ago) link
anecdotes anecdotes etc etc but that gyptian joint was one of the biggest radio joints in miami last year cross all contemporary stations -- swear i heard it like 3 or 4 times a day + DJs would drop other dudes going over the riddim during mix shows all the time
v good song
― big smang theory (J0rdan S.), Thursday, 18 November 2010 04:14 (thirteen years ago) link
you may have noticed miami is much closer to the carribean than seattle is.
― dark side of the goon (The Reverend), Thursday, 18 November 2010 04:25 (thirteen years ago) link
I KNOW -- i was just giving an anecdote -- i wasn't all "OH MY STARS HOW COULD THE REV HAVE MISSED THIS GYPTIAN JOINT"
― big smang theory (J0rdan S.), Thursday, 18 November 2010 04:26 (thirteen years ago) link
just sayin
― dark side of the goon (The Reverend), Thursday, 18 November 2010 04:28 (thirteen years ago) link
k i havent actually heard this so bear that in mind but still. I think we rarely acknowledge on these threads the extent to which we are just vibing off a partic aesthetic. Like I think that surm was kindof primed to like this from the promo shots of her w/ the bright red hair. Ive had similar experiences, and i feel like that partic. *aesthetic* context of how shes pushing her visuals for eg. right now is framing the singles that is making me really responsive to them (xcept for girl in the world which come on is srsly blech)
basically i am telling you that i saw some pretty photos of rihanna and decided that i like that song w/ drake as long as u ignore drake.
― plax (ico), Friday, 19 November 2010 17:30 (thirteen years ago) link
is Rihanna way taller than I realized?
― steendriver dysphoria hoos (The Reverend), Monday, 5 May 2014 20:25 (nine years ago) link
Yeah, I had the same though. I'd always assumed she was kind of short(ish) for some reason, but perhaps not.
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 5 May 2014 21:04 (nine years ago) link
she's 5'8" and always in heels, so
― chillin' on an "awesome pretzel" hoagie (DJP), Monday, 5 May 2014 21:09 (nine years ago) link
orchestral "pour it up" <3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLcjTzDsJnc
― lex pretend, Tuesday, 16 December 2014 09:53 (nine years ago) link