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Rating:  4.0/5.0

Despite the fact that its been over 2 years since Rihanna’s third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad was released; the Barbados-beauty has never the spotlight.  In between country hopping with her then-boyfriend Chris Brown to becoming the new celebrity poster child for domestic abuse, fans and others have become victim to the press’ latest obsession.  So, a chance to talk about nothing other than her original claim to fame-her music, is a welcomed change.  Rated R seems to be an extension of Good Girl Gone Bad, but edgier, that album showed the progession of Rihanna, from “sunshine-happy tunes” to urban.   She went from the suburbs to the inner city, and now with Rated R has stayed overnight in the hood (it shows too - with far more foul language than has ever graced any of her other albums).

The album starts out with “Mad House”, a synth-heavy warning telling sensitive listeners who are afraid of the dark to leave now, and telling all the strong to prepare for the ride.  London producers, Chase & Status come together to create magic not only on the intro, but also “Wait Your Turn” and “G4L”, two of the best songs on the album-its seriously hard to go wrong with dub-step.  On the former (“Wait Your Turn”), Rihanna pokes at the up-and-comers who are trying to make it to the top, and in the best “I’m a bad b!tch” fashion tells them the most they can do is wait.  This song is Fire!  On the latter song, “G4L” (Gangsta For Life), Ri-Ri tells of the lengths that true friends are willing to go through for each other, she talks about sweet revenge, and sings, “I’m down for life ….gangsta for life/till the day that I die …we driving by with them headlights off, we know where you stay…”  The song is beautifully dark, and once you get past the somewhat laugh-ability of Rihanna talking about being “gangsta” , its one that will be on repeat. 

“Russian Roulette”, the album’s first single, was met with a luke-warm reception; mostly in part of its departure from Rihanna’s previous sound, but in context with the album, it fits and is an alarming tale of a female too close to the edge. “Hard” featuring Young Jeezy, is set to be the second released single, and comes laced with production from Tricky Stewart and The-Dream.  The song does have a street feel to it, but behind “Wait Your Turn” loses something, listen to it on its own, you’ll like it more.  “Rockstar 101” featuring Guns n’ Roses guitarist-Slash is another winner, so full of bragging and naughty behavior you can almost visualize Rihanna wrapped in leather, middle-fingers in the air. “Rude Boy” is the closest that “happy” gets to this album.  The light dance track will have you singing along and moving your feet in no time.

The album does have some soft points.  “Stupid In Love”, “Fire Bomb”, and “Cold Case Love” all in some way or another talk about aspects of Rihanna’s relationship with Chris Brown and display a mixture of:  a deep sadness matched only by an immense amount of anger and confusion.  “The Last Song” (which is obviously last track on the album) features the guitar licks that play with your strings. 

The only forget-ables come in the form of “Photographs” featuring Will.I.Am, which sounds like a leftover from Black Eyed Peas’ album, The E.N.D., and “Te Amo”, which just doesn’t seem to fit in the darkness and isn’t really cheery.

Overall, Rated R is the best compilation that Rihanna has put together so far in her career.  Proving it true that:  Artists tend to come with their best while at their worst.  This album gives her fans a look at the effect the assault had; how it changed her and made her stronger, and giving them and critics something to look forward to in her next album.

# of songs on the album:  13

# of songs worth listening to:  11

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