Rihanna Rated R Album Free Download Full Version

In fact, the pop star fails to re-create nearly every positive aspect of her 2007 album on this much-anticipated effort. There are no songs that could ever be as catchy as "Umbrella" or as scathingly vitriolic as "Take a Bow," no tracks as club-ready as "Shut Up and Drive" or sensually seductive as "Rehab." Instead, "Rated R" suffers under the weight of Rihanna's bruised heart, as she channels her very public break-up with fellow pop star Chris Brown into a number of awkwardly moping break-up songs and puffed-up tracks touting her own self-worth.

That's not to undercut what Rihanna has gone through since February, when her violent encounter with Brown thrust their relationship even further into the spotlight — and, of course, scrutiny. Couple that with months of his increasingly pathetic apologies, rampant gossip blog fodder and her interview with Diane Sawyer a few weeks ago about the incident, and we can understand that she's stressed out and ready to vent. In fact, we respect her more than ever for maintaining a strong front through the media firestorm.

But on "Rated R," she's trying so hard to be badass — with hyper-self-centered songs about being a "gangsta for life" and "the hottest bitch in heels right here" — that the whole thing comes off phenomenally forced and far less compelling than her former work, when she was just naturally awesome, sheltering guys under her umbrella with one hand and bitch-slapping them with the other when they cried. In the past few years, numerous No. 1 singles have made Rihanna basically the princess of running this town, and she often looks like Aunty Entity while doing it.

But must she be so fanatical about shoving that braggadocio down our ears?

A look at the album's cover is a glimpse of what you're getting into: A dark, brooding Rihanna with lots of leather and a perfectly manicured, numerously accessorized hand covering half her face. In fashion-talk, the cover is fierce. In music-talk, the album — which translates that picture into overly aggressive tracks that obscure Rihanna's true talent — is not.

The album kicks off with "Mad House," which takes a note out of Michael Jackson's book by mimicking Vincent Price's "Thriller" soliloquy. An intro warns, "Ladies and gentlemen, to those among you who are easily frightened, we suggest you turn away now. To those of you who think you can take it, we say, 'Welcome to the mad house.'" Layered synths and Rihanna's repeated coos of "Come on, come on, come on in" then beckon you into the album's next 12 tracks, which are all defined by a commonly defiant, almost belligerently assertive theme.

Unfortunately, that doesn't mean all the songs are exciting.

"Wait Your Turn" has a bunch of random sports metaphors ("Fumble, don't you fumble / There's a flag on the play," for one) as Rihanna declares "that's just the way the game is played" and proclaims herself not only the winner of said game, but also "such a fucking lady." However, the song's chorus is repeated far too many times as the song drags on, and slows the dragging pace down even further. Similarly, "Hard" featuring Jeezy is less a song and more a list of Rihanna's accomplishments, as she practically raps about being "tougher than a lion," receiving "fan mail from 27 million" and needing "it all — the money, the fame, the cars, the clothes." While some lines, such as "They say whatever / I'mma do whatever / No pain is forever," are an honest glimpse into Rihanna's confidence in rebuilding her life and public image, others — like "Where them bloggers at? / Where your lighters at?" — are a bit silly, and when coupled with Jeezy's subpar verse about how he "run my whole block like Obama did," the song falters.

Instead, the songs that work best on the album are the ones where Rihanna strips aside the ego and lays her emotions on the table — with that level of sincerity, the tracks come off as truly genuine. For example, the piano-heavy ballad "Stupid in Love" is quite possibly a thinly veiled hate letter to Brown, as she makes it clear, "Let me tell you something / Never have I ever been / A size 10 in my whole life" (we're taking that as a clue about who the figurative boyfriend in this song may have figuratively been seeing behind her back), and recounts how friends gave her a "new nickname — 'You're an idiot.'" The song, though sometimes almost uncomfortable to listen to, is definitely Rihanna at her most impassioned — and that bravery gives the track an edginess that ultimately works.

On "Te Amo," Rihanna pulls a Katy Perry and puts together a lusty take on an obsessed female fan; the song doesn't rely just on the same-sex flirtation, though, but incorporates clapping portions, twang-y guitars and what sounds like hand cymbals to create a slow, tension-filled instrumentation.

With "Cold Case Love," Rihanna again seems to reach back to the incident with Brown as she sings about how "what you did to me was a crime" and all she wants to do is have someone "Wake me up when it's over / It don't make any difference." Though the song is written by Justin Timberlake, Rihanna delivers it with heartbreaking believability, and a string section and softly tapped drums add a melancholy, regretful tone that randomly brings to mind "In the Air Tonight."

And lastly, "Rockstar 101" seems like the album's most bankable single, as Slash's guitar skills put a hardcore spin on Rihanna's self-praising lyrics about she's "rocking these diamonds / These chains / This skirt / This fame." We get it, we get it.

But those few tracks aren't enough to stand up to others like the overly serious, almost Celine Dion-like first single "Russian Roulette," completely forgettable "Fire Bomb" and utterly silly "Rude Boy" (which has the album's most goofily inappropriate lines in "Come on, rude boy, can you get it up / Is it big enough") and "G4L" (yes, that stands for "Gangster for Life").

Although Rihanna may have come out as the far better person in the situation with Brown, the same unfortunately can't be said for the unevenly put-together "Rated R." We wish we could have our good girl back.

Written by Express contributor Roxana Hadadi
Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/express/wp/2009/11/23/rihanna-rated-r-review/

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