Releasing her third studio album in three years left Rihanna in danger of spreading her material much to thin, and unfortunately that is very true about Talk That Talk.
It is a big ask for anyone to put out three quality records in three consecutive years, and although the first two (Rated R and Loud) were big albums, this one fails to capture the imagination anywhere near as well as those last two records. It is not an inherently bad release, but it is just not up to her usual sky high standards.
As an album, it lacks any real anthems to cling to, other than the enormo single We Found Love. It almost feels that the shadow of that song overpowers everything else on the record, apart from the fantastic Farewell (that comes right at the end of the record), and the Jay-Z collaboration of the title track. The latter two are the best on offer alongside the lead single.
As good a tune as We Found Love undoubtedly is though, it is been hammered these past few months and has been considerably overplayed to the point of saturation. It will remain an anthem though for a long time to come, even once all the hype has died down.
The opening You Da One rides a staccato beat, but is nothing to write home about, and Where Have You Been (sampling I’ve Been Everywhere by Geoff Mack) is a listenable tune, even if it isn’t as electric as she is capable of.
The lyrical content of Cockiness (Love It) and Birthday is also pretty embarrassing, and not a patch on some of her best work.
Everything else sort of passes by in an uninspiring flash, somewhat listenable, but hardly any of it can be considered groundbreaking. Even RiRi has misjudged this one, and there was really no need to release this as a record. The highlights could easily have been slotted in on previous output.
It seems that 3 in 3 was a step too far, even for her. She is still an undoubted megastar, and she will be back, but this is far from her best work.
5/10
No comments:
Post a Comment