trey_stone's Full Review: Good Girl Gone Bad by Rihanna
It all started with Justin Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds. After reading a milli a milli a milli...on glowing reviews of that, I thought to myself "damn, is the guy who I thought represented the gayest, most testosterone-deficient music in middle school really that good now?" (not homophobic, just talking about my attitude then) and checked it out. And damn if it wasn't really that good. Granted, it's probably more because of the walking weirdcoolness that is producer Tim Mosley AKA Timbaland rather than any massive shift in Timberlake's vocal technique, but it was the beginning of my branching out from hip hop...into pop/R&B done by hip-hop producers. I know, I'm adventurous.
Still, picking up Rihanna's Good Girl Gone Bad was quite the risky move even considering that I'd attuned myself to the latest musical stylings of Timbalized Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake by that point. And bought Maroon 5's sleek new album even though my memory of them before that consisted of "She Will Be Loved" AKA The P*ssiest Song of All Time coming up as a candidate for senior prom dance theme I think. But Rihanna? I mean granted she's hot (though not as much anymore with the ugly short haircut,) but it's not just a random stereotype that 14-16 year old (rough estimate) girls are seen as her main fanbase. Needless to say I was a little concerned that by buying this my manliness would take an irreparable hit.
However, while there're definitely some moments here where if you're like me you'll think "OK, I'm not the audience for this," Good Girl is a pretty damn strong album. The easiest criticism of Rihanna is that she can't sing, but the poppy, dance-oriented arrangements here aren't designed for someone who's a Beyonce-style vocal powerhouse. She obviously has range issues, but my cons section is actually a little exaggerated, as I think she has a nice voice. Of course nice is different from great, but it works with the beats her producers give her here. There's also the fact that Rihanna has zero writing credits here, so if you're a rockist type that thinks that pop music is evil, manufactured and soulless that might be an issue here. However, it's clear that Def Jam hooked Rihanna up with some pretty talented songwriters here ("Umbrella" writer Terius "The-Dream" Nash and Ne-Yo among them,) so that isn't really a problem.
Speaking of "Umbrella," I'm not really gonna talk about it here. You've heard it, you love it, and if you're still acting like you don't a year later it's time to fess up. But let's focus on the rest of the album. My favorite stretch actually is from the middle to the end -- which makes, since Timbaland gets three beats in a row there. Before that though, Ne-Yo and production team StarGate hit another home run on "Hate That I Love You," a pretty, acoustic mid-tempo ballad that finds Ne-Yo and Rihanna trading off lines. Granted if you've heard Beyonce's "Irreplaceable" (and you have) you have an idea of what this sounds like before you hear it, but I actually like this one substantially better. Why? Not sure. Maybe I'm some kind of crazed chauvinist who likes traditional love songs better than over-emoted breakup women empowerment stuff...nah, I'm a nice guy. "Sell Me Candy" and "Rehab," meanwhile, are my two favorite Rihanna/Timbaland collaborations here. The former finds a Danja-less Tim getting back on his vintage spastic rhythms that're complemented by cascading piano, and while it doesn't use a traditional melodic structure like much of the rest of the album it's pretty damn cool. The latter meanwhile is an obvious riff on the acoustic/synth-enhanced template of Justin Timberlake's hit single "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around" (JT even writes the lyrics and contributes some background vocals here,) but I'm willing to excuse ripping yourself off if the song's almost as good. And to Rihanna's credit, while again she doesn't have a ton of range she does a good job of selling the troubled relationship/breakup lyrics well here. Also can I just mention that yeah, I like this way better than Amy Winehouse's annoying "Rehab" hit last year? I know I'm supposed to like her because there's a critical consensus that she's amazing...but I dunno I don't, either her obnoxious attitude (I realize she has serious personal issues to work out but still) or her music. Maybe I'm just too much of a youngun and I'll understand in time.
Back to the album, the front end of it is more straightforward dance pop, but damn if it isn't infectious. "Don't Stop the Music" is the best of the bunch, which is saying something cuz I normally hate anything techno-ish. Again though, it helps when the producers (StarGate again in this case...see, not everything they make sounds like "Irreplaceable!") actually have a sense of rhythm. The clicking synths/drums on the late-night vibe of "Push Up on Me" (further post-"SOS" proof that "J.R." Rotem should stick to pop and stop ruining Southern rappers' singles a la Jazze Pha) are cut from a similar cloth, and while "Breakin' Dishes" and "Shut Up and Drive" are the two songs on this album dudes are most likely to roll their eyes at (the latter is an adorable "I am woman, hear me roar" anthem that gets more laughable at the end, and the latter is a female empowering song that uses the obvious sex as driving metaphor...wait, is that empowering?,) they ain't bad either. They're not my favorites here, but you still may just find yourself nodding along, 'specially on the anthemic synth rock of "Shut Up and Drive."
While as I've mentioned this album doesn't represent any kind of knockout blow that'll make you go "damn, Rihanna's a serious artist," there's really no weak songs here...well, except "Say It." Swizz Beatz's musically untalented cousin Neo da Matrix (though who knows in the future...Swizz did go from "Ruff Ryder's Anthem" to "Bring Em Out"/"I'm a Hustla"/"Diamonds on My Neck"/"It's Me B*tches"/all that good stuff) loops a sleepy reggae sample here, and Rihanna's tepid, unconvincing singing doesn't help matters. I suppose it's better than the terrible ballad "Unfaithful" from her last album (when she performed it after "Take a Bow" at Kanye West's Glow in the Dark concert that was cue for me to get some drinks, pretty sure it's against the rules to do two lame ballads in a row,) but that's not saying much.
To me, Good Girl Gone Bad is an album you can't really deny once you get past any initial "damn, this is some girly sh*t/she's not a real artist maan!" bias and preconceptions. I'd be lying if I told you it takes up a permanent spot in my album rotation, but anytime you want some good, lighthearted pop music, you can pop (ha-ha...man I'm terrible) this CD in and be set.
Great Music to Play While: Thinking of boycotting Rihanna's next album no matter how good it is just based on that bad haircut. Seriously, check the "SOS" video and tell me that isn't way hotter. I know she's going for more of an independent in-your-face woman vibe now but still
Great Music to Play While, Pt. 2: Wondering why the hell Jay-Z has an S. Carter co-writing credit on "Question Existing." Let's just hope he didn't write the dramatic spoken part in the middle
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