Discussion: Your Review? (Talk That Talk) - Page 5

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I'll write mine when I got my deluxe CD in 320kbps

alexanderBG

You Da One - 6/10
Where Have You Been - 9/10
We Found Love - 9/10
Talk That Talk - 10/10
Cockiness - 10/10
Birthday Cake - 10/10
We All Want Love - 9/10
Drunk On Love - 9/10
Roc Me Out - 10/10
Watch N Learn - 6/10
Farewell - 9/10

Ra2

My Review:

1. You Da One- I didn't like this song at first, AT ALL. It's grown so much. It's so cute. I like the dubstep though it's out of place. Love her vocals. 8/10
2. Where Have You Been Rihanna at her best. Epic song. End of. 10/10
3. We Found Love- comes off as inferior now that we have Where Have You Been; it's still very good. 9/10
4. Talk That Talk- Love the song even if Jay Z is on it way too much. 8/10
5. Cockiness - Good song, but not as good as the first half (this is where the album loses just a bit of steam). 7/10
6. Birthday Cake- Amazing, just too short. Picks up the slight decline that the prior song gave to the album. 8/10
7. We All Want Love- Less than stellar ballad. Cute lyrics. ****s up the album's pace again. 6/10
8. Drunk on Love - The best "mid-tempo" slash ballad on the album. Not my favorite track though. Solid. 7/10
9. Roc Me Out - Rude Boy v. 2.0; amazing song. I love the sexual energy in it. 9/10
10. Watch N' Learn - Decent. There are parts that I love, and parts that Ri-Ri loses me. 7/10
11. Farewell- Decent. Not much to say. Could easily be cut off the album. 6/10

Total Points: 85/110 = 77%

Solid pop album. 3/4 stars.

RobynYoBank

After listening to Rihanna's Talk That Talk on and off for several days, I'm left midway between satisfaction and disappointment. It's apparent on the first listen that the album stays true to Rihanna's winning formula: strong hooks, distinct vocals, sex and more than a little tinge of edginess. But, for an album that--like Rated R--tries so desperately to focus around a central theme (in this case, sex), it comes off as empty, forced and bewilderingly disorganized.

The opening track, You Da One is insanely catchy, perhaps to the point of irritating some listeners, and Dr. Luke even mixes in some dubstep to round the song out. Though the dubstep might seem initially out of place, it quickly becomes clear that it is only one ingredient working along with seemingly hard dance music, overly sexual lyrics, indie pop samples and lots of Rihannatude to make the album come off as edgy as possible while still remaining in the world of accessible pop music.

The second track, Where Have You Been is perhaps the peak in terms of the fun that Eurodance-influenced music can bring to us. It uses the same formula as the lead single, We Found Love, but ups the ante with even more memorable electronic buildups, breakdowns, and vocals. Something is definitely right here. It's like Calvin Harris sat down and slammed every epic dance sound imaginable into one song that somehow (Dr. Luke, maybe?) still manages to sound proper and polished even as its forcing your speakers to jizz all over the dance floor.

Talk That Talk (feat. Jay-Z) reminds me why Rihanna is featured on another rapper's song every two weeks: namely, because she so effortlessly feels like an essential part of the song. Jay sounds great on the track, and Rihanna puts forth an excellent performance. Another highlight for me, Drunk On Love, puts ridiculously over-the-top vocals over a sample of The xx's Intro and somehow comes out well. I've never been a fan of any of Rihanna's ballads or any of her soaring (studio) vocals, but her emotion in this song actually feels genuine and somehow not as overdone as it obviously is.

Songs like Cockiness and Birthday Cake were great novelties the first time I listened to the album, but I'm not sure I want to hear them again. In fact, the album so mercilessly beats to death the idea of sex that I wasn't even sure I wanted to have it anymore by the time I got to the much better Roc Me Out. It's classic Rihanna and feels like something we've heard before, but suffers from the fact that it's the same as half of the songs on the album before it.

Songs like Farewell and Fool In Love remind me of why I hate Rihanna's ballads and make me appreciate Drunk On Love even more. The vocals are so out of place and hostile to the ears, the melodrama is almost sickening on an album where she spends 80% of her time talking about turning boys into sex slaves and letting them bite into her cake -- assuming there's any left -- and I can't help but feel like there's no way Rihanna could sing either of these songs live.

Among the rest of the songs, Red Lipstick is by far the most aggressive experimentation with dubstep that I've seen by a major pop artist (and it's quite good) and We All Want Love sounds like a stolen song that should have been left in the hands of The Beatles.

The album is fun and it's always great to have new pop music, but something feels a bit tired. Maybe it's the fact that there's so much sex injected into the album that it loses its appeal midway. Or maybe it's the fact that even though Rihanna is trying to be an offensive badass, her dirty lyrics don't draw much more than an "ugh" from me by the seventh or eighth song. Don't get me wrong, I'll be jamming to Where Have You Been, We Found Love and crew for the next few months, but I'm not sure that I'm going to look back on this album a year from now (when we get new music from her) and still be ready to hit the play button like I did today with Only Girl and What's My Name.

6.5/10

Nait Phoenix

TALK THAT TALK

TRACK-BY-TRACK REVIEW:

Quote:

1. You Da One - 7/10
To say this song reeks of Ester Dean is an understatement. When you hear songs like "Rude Boy" and "What's My Name?", you can hear the same kind of lyrical content, melody styles, and themes. The song isn't bad, but it's one of those "whatever" songs. It's one of those "this could've went to anyone, but Rihanna is the closest to sounding like Ester so let's give it to her" songs. This wasn't how I would've started the album, but not my call (until I put it on iTunes and change the line-up myself

)

2. Where Have You Been - 6/10
This is a club song. This is only a club song. There is nothing that says "hottest song of the century". I think the only thing keeping this from becoming amazing is the lack of substance. This song lacks any substance and any real originality; she's basically screaming in the middle of a club, "Where the f%@& you at, n$##@? it's 2:30 and I need a quickie". So, yeah, this does nothing for me.

3. We Found Love (feat. Calvin Harris) - 5/10
I have been very verbal about this songs lack of substance, but I was somewhat mislead by the repeating first verse. The song's lyrics are not entirely cohesive, but they're not terrible. There's just so much more that could come from that song, but it's just sounds so short. I would want more, but that beat is so generic I'd probably leave the club before it reached four minutes.

4. Talk That Talk (feat. Jay-Z) - 5/10
Is it me, or do these songs just keep getting worse and worse? (Half this board will say it's me, but f%@& them

) Rihanna actually makes this song incredibly sexy, so what ruins it? That incredible bland first verse from mister Roc himself, Jay-Z. How do you come from consecutively making two of the most intelligent sounding albums (Tha Blueprint 3 / Watch the Throne) to making one of the dumbest sounding verses for your star pupil's title song. Jay, I'm sorry, but that's s#%& cray (or Kray, if you actually knew that).

5. Cockiness (Love It) - 8/10
I think this might come as a surprise (since I hate it when RihRih goes too hard for sex), but this song is so fun to listen to and I absolutely love it. I can't help sing to it. That beat is so ridiculous and weird, and the lyrics are so raunchy, but for some strange reason it works. This is one of those songs that could only go to one artist, and Rihanna is truly the only artist I could picture doing this song justice. Anyone else, the song would be ruined. She just adds urban and island flair that no other artist could ever attempt.

6. Birthday Cake - 7/10
So, yeah, children all around the world are never going to eat birthday cake again if they hear this song. This song is so "OMG" nasty that Madonna's Erotica album and Janet's "Would You Mind" would blush over the raunchiness that is this one-minute leak of a song. If they didn't fade it out, I'm pretty sure we'd see the first X-rating on an album ever. So, I don't know if I should thank The-Dream for fading out the song, or curse him out for not giving us a full version.

7. We All Want Love - 4/10
Um, okay, how did we get to the possible "nastiest" song in the world to the most "blandest" anthem in the world? This song states such an obvious fact that it's unbearable to consider this a track on this album. This sounds like it came from the A Girl Like Me session. I don't know what to consider about this album, but I know it's simple and stated. That's about it.

8. Drunk On Love - 6/10
This song is not necessarily good, but it is inventive. I do like a good metaphor, and love and drunken behavior goes well together. It's too bad it's only used for the chorus and not for the verses or, at least, the pre-chorus. The metaphors are misconstrued for addiction and inebriation, but neither takes the full lead. So, it's not a bad song. It's somewhat alright.

9. Roc Me Out - 6/10
So, yeah, I really have nothing overly positive to say about this song, except that it would've been perfect on Rated R as "Rude Boy" 's replacement. It has that dark element from Rated R, but it really does sound like a "Rude Boy" 2.0. Another throwaway.

10. Watch N Learn - 7/10
I think if there is one thing I know Rihanna can do, it's island-influenced songs. This song instrumental is obviously a reminder that she does hail from the island of Barbados, but that's about all the instrumental does. What really carries this song are the lyrics. As repetitive as the lyrics are, there are some seriously catchy moments. That pre-chorus is fire, although it's hard to differentiate what is the pre-chorus. Doesn't matter, 'cause up to the chorus is fire. The chorus is alright, nothing special.

11. Farewell - 5/10
This is not to be mean, but this song is a bore. I've tried, countless times, to listen to this song, but I keep clicking back to "Cockiness" to wake me back up. I've finally listened to the song and I have to say, Rihanna does not do closing songs well. Almost every closing song sounds like a closer and nothing else. It doesn't make me want more and I really just tolerate hearing it. I haven't really liked any of RihRih's closers, except "Skin" ('cause I don't count sequels). So yeah, this song basically says "the album's over, thanks for listening, bye" literally.

BONUS TRACK-BY-TRACK REVIEW:

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12. Red Lipstick - 9/10
I am disappointed. Do they not know how hard this beat goes? This beat goes hard, and they put this song as a bonus track. I am disappointed. You could've replaced any of those regular tracks with this song. This would've received a ten, but I still have a special place for Nicki's version. This song is so dirty, though, and it could've been a really good successor to "S&M" as dirty singles, but, as a bonus track, what chance does it have? (Probably the same chance "Super Bass" had

)

13. Do Ya Thang - 7/10
Fun, fun, fun. That's what this song is. But, the lyrics are sort of the bittersweet part of this song. They're somewhat depressing... I feel bad for a girl who allows a guy to be a guy (weird, huh?), but I guess that's not horrible. It just seems like the girl Rihanna is portraying in this song is not the same girl who took control of a situation. It's somewhat confusing, but it's a hit song to me.

14. Fool In Love - 5/10
Um, can't say I like this song. Mostly 'cause it just sounds like the opposite of "Stupid In Love". Like these women Rihanna are portraying are two totally different, but similar-in-a-way women. I'm sorry, but this song is a throwaway and not really epic as they make it out to be with the guitar and synths going on in the background.

All in all, the album is a'ight, but it leaves me to question "why release it?". The album, itself, sounds either incomplete or rushed, like all the substance could've went into it, but it was left on the back burner. To me, this is a definition for "a cry for rest". I think Rihanna needs time by herself, to reflect her many accomplishments, and rediscover herself, 'cause this route is spiraling down fast. This album should've been held back for listeners to appreciate the plethora of single releases that came from Loud, 'cause that album should've received similar treatment that Good Girl Gone Bad received. This album is not one of the worst albums, but this is her worst album to date.

All and all, this album deserves a 5/10 for not being good, but not being bad. For being rushed, but not being forced. It's just "eh".

Average score:
Regular: 6/10
Bonus: 7/10
All-around: 6.5/10
Personal: 5/10