Rihanna: Rated R Album Review

 Not too long ago I review Rihanna's album, "Loud".  Today I'll be reviewing her fourth album, "Rated R".  "Rated R" is Rihanna's darkest album given it's production, lyrics, and the fact that the album was released the same year as the "incident" between her and Chris Brown.  Me being a fan of Rihanna, I was shocked when heard about that when it happened.  I was even more surprised that she was releasing an album later in the year.  So here's my track by track review:

1) Mad House: Given that this song is an intro, I won't grade it out of 10 points.  The intro is however, very dark which sets the mood of this album.

2) Wait Your Turn: Rumored to have been titled "The Wait is Ova", this song was the third overall single from the album, being released everywhere except the U.S.  The video was done in black and white and showed Rihanna in many different outfits.  One of which she was wearing a black eye-patch.  Although the song was different from the stuff on her previous three albums, I thought it was somewhat okay.  8/10

3) Hard (featuring Jeezy): The second single from the album.  This is my favorite song on the whole album and I love the lyrics.  It's different from Rihanna's previous singles as it talks about being strong and I loved the military themed video.  10/10

4) Stupid in Love: After the first two tracks being upbeat and in your face, we get to a ballad.  You can feel the sadness in Rihanna's vocals.  There are 4 versions of this song in total.  The version on this album, a remix, and two demo versions done by R&B singer "Brandy" and R&B singer "Ne-Yo" who co-wrote this song.  The song talks about the point where you've had it with the person you're with and although you still love them, you just can't be with them anymore.  9/10

5) Rockstar 101 (featuring Slash): The fifth overall single from the album.  I was surprised that this song became a single instead of "Fire Bomb".  While the guitar solos from Slash are good and the song fusing dub step with rock music is pretty cool, I think releasing the song as a single was a huge mistake.  8/10

6) Fire Bomb: One of my favorite songs on the album.  The guitar solo in the beginning is pretty cool and the song was a favorite not just from a lot fans of Rihanna, but it was also a favorite of Rihanna's herself.  It was rumored to be the fifth overall single at one point but that didn't happen, which is a shame because it would've had an awesome video.  10/10

7) Russian Roulette: The first single from the album.  The song was a dark ballad and a risk to release as the lead single.  Although it sends a chill down my spine with the gun shot at the end of the song, it is kinda a weak song.  The video however was great.  7/10

8) Rude Boy: The fourth overall single from the album.  When I first heard it, I questioned why it was on the album when it was poppier and happier than all the other songs on this album.  After awhile I got over that and thought it was a great song.  The video was a little strange though.  10/10

9) Photographs (featuring will.i.am): Apparently this song was supposed to be for "The Black Eyed Peas" album "The E.N.D." but Rihanna decided to record it for her album.  At first I thought the song was boring because it felt like it was repeating the same line from start to finish but after a couple listens I thought it was a pretty great ballad.  10/10

10) G4L: The title stands for "Gangsta For Life" and like "Hard" is a tough song.  In fact some of the lyrics scared me at first.  The opening line especially, "I lick the gun when I'm done, cause I know that revenge is sweet".  DAMN!  9/10

11) Te Amo: The sixth overall and final single from the album.  The song is much different from the rest of the album and was actually one of the earlier songs that leaked, except this one made the album.  "Te Amo", which is spanish for I love you, is about a woman who is falling in love with the narrator but the narrator feel the same way.  Who can relate to that?  10/10

12) Cold Case Love: The longest song on the album being 6 minutes and 4 seconds.  It was also a favorite of Rihanna's and was co-written by "Justin Timberlake".  Rihanna admitted that this song was about Chris Brown.  Despite that I feel the song is too long and I get bored of it quickly.  8/10

13) The Last Song: Funny enough this song was the final song recorded for the album.  While Rihanna's vocals are amazing on this song, the overall track is kinda weak but it was still a good way to end the album.  7/10

 "Rated R" was a completely different album than Rihanna's previous ones at the time and still remains one of my favorite albums.  My favorite songs on the album are: "Hard (featuring Jeezy)", "Fire Bomb", "Rude Boy", "Te Amo", "Stupid in Love", and "Photographs (featuring will.i.am)".  Out of 120 points I give the album 106 which is 88%, a B+.  Awesome!