Rihanna was a big name in music at this point in time. Her singles and earlier albums both had reached a high position on the charts, and she had a solid international fan base. This album itself was a bigger seller upon its release, and was critically praised for the most part. It was a monumental effort to make this album, and it had a huge array of recording locations. This album was produced by: Alex da Kid; Mr. Bangladesh; Calvin Harris; Chase & Status; Cirkut; Da Internz; Dr. Luke; Ester Dean; Gareth McGrillen; Hit-Boy; No I.D.; Rob Swire; Stargate; and The-Dream. Reportedly, Rihanna’s schedule was so jam-packed between recording and touring at this time that she ended up suffering from exhaustion. This was recorded in so many different locations that they are too numerous to list in this review. The album was released on 18 November 2011 on Def Jam Records. Its running time is just over 37 minutes in length. Let’s take a listen to this album by Rihanna, and we shall hear if it is any good.

1. You Da One begins with some muffled sounding vocals and some rather annoying vocals throughout. Soon enough, this launches into a parody of what Rihanna was at the time. Seriously, this is very awful to listen to. This may have been popular at the time in a music sense, but it sounds dated already, even at the time of this review. It is downright awful. Was Rihanna falling behind in her music ambition? Seems like it. This trashy song sounds like a terrible mixture of Indian Music and Reggae, which sounds ultimately awkward. Some rather sexually explicit lyrics are present on this tune as well. Nonetheless, this is a failure. Straight up. Fortunately, it is only three minutes long.

2. Where Have You Been is a moody ballad that continues the music mediocrity throughout. Seriously, if this is how bad Pop Music is nowadays, this is very disappointing to reflect on. In addition, there is a ton of autotune on Rihanna’s voice, which isn’t necessary at all. There is no structure to this song, just a poor mixture of EDM and other Electronic sounds that is like polishing something that doesn’t need it. The instrumentation is interesting, but this is a real disappointment so far. Enough to send one to sleep. Some of the textures sound good, but this is quite clearly a missed music opportunity by Rihanna and those who were producing and mixing the album. The wannabe EDM sections in the second half do not really match Rihanna’s music, either. A disappointment from start to finish. Just not great. It ends with piano and Rihanna’s vocals, which are actually quite good for a change.

3. We Found Love is a combined effort with Calvin Harris. It begins with a melodic keyboard style sound, and has Rihanna singing a passionate and personal Pop Music piece that is very good for a change. Rihanna sounds on the ball, and this is likely her most popular song, at least from this album. It builds up into a great frenzy of sound and 4/4 beats. All in all, this is really very good to hear. A fantastic listen that has power, beauty and grace. It is awesome to hear both Rihanna and Calvin Harris at their best on this tune. A solidly upbeat and emotional piece about finding true love. This is worth hearing from this album, even if the album itself is fairly inconsistent, to say the least. A very nice listen from start to finish. Awesome stuff.

4. Talk That Talk features Jay-Z. This enters into an extremely average song that, again, for a postmodern tune, lacks originality and consistency. Also, why is Jay-Z here? This tune is horrible musically and lyrically. With lyrics about disgusting sexual matters, Jay-Z puts his ego throughout this junk track. If this album is the best Rihanna could do, this is a hugely disappointing result. A failure of a track, and Rihanna’s part of singing isn’t the greatest. The best thing you could do is turn this off and throw your album out of the window. This is a terrible song, with explicit lyrics about sex. The sounds and music are very poor. Do not listen to this track. It is sonic garbage.

5. Cockiness (Love It) sounds absolutely shockingly bad. It is about oral sex, and unfortunately, this song is an absolute disaster throughout. It seems that Rihanna had lost the plot with her music around this time. No matter if you are male or female, this sexual sexism on this track is not very appealing at all. A real disappointment musically, this is certainly worth avoiding. This is so outdated today. Even the attempt at humour in the chorus isn’t the greatest. Go on, skip ahead if needed.

6. Birthday Cake sounds awful from the start. The Electronic sounds and textures are truly bad, and Rihanna slides further into mediocrity on this tune. A weird tune that is as stupid as it is generic. Avoid this nonsense. Fortunately, it is only just over a minute long.

7. We All Want Love begins with a rather awful set of Fender guitar playing and has some atmospheric sounds, before launching into a track that sounds actually okay. This, again, is not musically consistent nor groundbreaking at all, given this music and its overall impact. Rihanna sings well throughout, but it is very clear that the “celebrity with a laptop” trend was well and truly alive at this point. Again, you can likely skip ahead. You aren’t missing out on an absolutely great deal on this tune. The guitars and other sounds throughout do not assist the listening process at all. Rihanna seemingly is a singles-based artist, as opposed to being an album-based artist. This music present is just boring. This is also quite lengthy from start to finish for such a simple song. It wraps up with more bad sounds from the intro.

8. Drunk On Love continues the mediocrity with some awful Electronic sounds and the same style of music that the likes of Taylor Swift and others have put out for years now. This is a deep listen, but sadly, this is still junk. The music and sounds ruin a perfectly good chance for Rihanna to shine through as a musician, or more specifically, as a singer. This is just trash, period. The music is a real drag to get through at the best of times, and Rihanna has definitely done much better than this before. A really poor listen, although it is about love and similar emotions. There is just nothing exceptionally unique or different that this album offers. This song ends after three and a half minutes. Awful.

9. Roc Me Out sounds absolutely awful from the beginning. Rihanna hits a new low musically, and she details her desire to get it on in quite an explicit way. In any case, this may seem lyrically interesting, but musically, it stinks. The music, melodies and sounds just do Rihanna zero justice. Sadly, the mainstream of music has become even worse for the most part since this album was released. A really sad listen as Rihanna has herself shot in the foot on this album. If need be, do skip ahead. This is the sound of Rihanna being controlled by dirty, thriving corporations musically. The sexual lyrics are interesting, however. It wraps up after three and a half minutes. Not good.

10. Watch n’ Learn is a poor take on Reggae Music from the get-go. This music is absolutely horrendous throughout. Projectile vomiting is in order after hearing this junk. In any case, you really don’t need to listen to this album further. There are no really great songs on this album in general. If you need some better R&B, there are a huge number of other artists to choose from instead. This is a better listen, but not by much. Rihanna needs to rethink her music, that is, if she ever records another album again. This music drags on an extra minute or so past its welcome. Boring.

11. Farewell begins with some treated drumming, other electronic sounds and is actually quite a good listen. Rihanna sings softly and sweetly about missing a lover in her life. A wishful and decent tune, it makes the listener wonder why this album wasn’t as consistent as this tune. In any case, the chorus is uplifting. The music and sounds throughout are better than most of the other songs on this album. In any case, this is okay. However, it is a case of too little, too late. A good listen with Rihanna singing deeply and emotionally on this song. This sounds a little like No Doubt or other female artists out there. In any case, this music is delicious and sweet for the most part. The sounds and music light this one up. A good song to hear if you are away from your partner for some time. This could have been cut down lengthwise, however.

This is a hugely disappointing listen for an album. What did you expect, though? Rihanna sells out to the wrong crowd here and makes an awkward, textural album that has no real longevity or appeal. Therefore, this album overall is a total failure. Should you listen to this album? Nope. Most Rihanna fans would not bother with this, either.

Could have been improved on, big time.

3/10