Rihanna - Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded
|
List Price: Our Price: $6.79 You Save: $7.19 (51%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $4.94 (click here) Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded
Free Music Review: Three and a half stars for the beautiful Rihanna!
Hit: 4 Stars
Upon picking up "Good Girl Gone Bad," the third album by the excruciatingly beautiful 19-year-old Barbados dancehall reggae singer Rihanna (born: Robyn Rihanna Fenty), I slightly cringed at the album's title, thinking she had gone the route of most pop diva starlets (i.e., Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Lindsay Lohan, Jessica Simpson, etc.) by thinking that growing older means one has to flaunt and exploit sex and sexuality in order to showcase how much older she's become. When's it gonna sink in, ladies? Growing older and more mature does not mean you have to talk dirty and dress in skimpier outfits. Luckily, although there are a few songs on this album that have many sexual innuendo, upon listening to the title track, "Good Girl Gone Bad," the last track on the album, I'm relieved to hear that the title doesn't mean what most audiences would think it to mean. And that's the exact theme that Rihanna uses throughout "Good Girl Gone Bad." Not only is this green-eyed Bajan one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen (she should be People Magazine's top most beautiful person), but she's also shown with each album release that she's growing not only in age but artistically as well.
Anyone who's listened to contemporary pop/rock/R&B radio knows Rihanna from her earlier hit singles "Pon De Replay," "S.O.S.," "Unfaithful," and "Break it Off." Her first album, 2005's Music of the Sun was chock full of summer dance anthems, headlined by the reggae dance tune (in the tradition of Sean Paul or Daddy Yankee, both of whom I despise) "Pon De Replay" (which I surprisingly enjoyed) that would most likely be played in any teenage girl's radio with her convertible top down and on the way to either the mall or the beach. 2006's "A Girl Like Me" wowed many critics who passed off Rihanna as merely another pop teen sensation. The album blended the summer dance jams that most of her fans enjoy with ballads such as "Unfaithful," penned by Ne-Yo.
The first song and also the first single, "Umbrella," features Def Jam president and rapper extraordinaire Jay-Z in an intro that only lasts a little over thirty seconds, thusly not really deserving his "featuring" title in the credits (but he still gets this title because he's the president of the company and/or he's a big name in the music business). Supposedly, Mary J. Blige turned down the chance to record this song, and, after hearing Rihanna's version, I'm sure she's kicking herself for that. After Jay-Z's intro, drum beats bring on Rihanna's voice, which doesn't go as far as it could go in this song. But that's a good thing. I have the feeling that if she had tried to project her voice as high and as loud as she could, the song would've come off as some Mariah Carey-wannabe knockoff. This song is her best single to date and it's one of the best pop songs on the radio right now! Unfortunately, we're brought next to a song that starts to touch into that overtly sexual territory that I was talking about earlier. "Push Up On Me" is exactly how it sounds: a song littered with 80's beats and sexual suggestive lyrics that are a mere excuse to make a dance song so that girls can grind into guys' groins. The one good thing about this song is it automatically transitions into the - one I'm guessing will be - the next club hit, "Don't Stop the Music." With its techno beats and a sample of Michael Jackson's "Wanna Be Startin' Something," "Don't Stop the Music," reminds me of the club beats I used to dance to back in the day. And I can already picture many remixes of this song on those Ultra Dance compilation albums (maybe volume 10?). Its infectious beats make me want to just move and dance; a good, catchy song.
Track four is "Breakin' Dishes," which I wasn't too impressed with (although it is catchy). Starting with gratuitous unifying girl-shouting chorus, the song just seems like some girl singing about her bravado in wanting to try and show how tough she is by saying she's not going home until the police show up and that she's gonna fight a man. Plus, the lyrics don't make much sense. I enjoyed the following track, "Shut Up and Drive," so much more. The song begins with a sample of New Order's "Blue Monday" guitar riffs before going into synthesizer beats and notes. The song has enough driving-and-sex metaphor to make even the most hardcore nasty rapper blush! But Rihanna sings it in her usual come-hither voice, automatically making a dance hit. The next track is a duet with her "Unfaithful" writer Ne-Yo, called "Hate That I Love You." It's a song starting off with acoustic soul guitar where each of the singers are addressing each other about the playfully annoying ways that they get on each other's nerves but recognize that that's exactly why they care so much for each other. The song is decent in a laid-back R&B acoustic soul way, but singers like Ne-Yo start to get all my nerves. I mean, take my generation's new jack soul R&B singers, who sound just like Ne-Yo: Tevin Campbell, Brian McKnight, R. Kelly, and Babyface. Look where those guys are now, Ne-Yo. 'Cause you'll soon be joining their ranks in obscurity.
"Say It" is a mediocre song about a young woman's pleading to the man she loves to open up to her by talking more about his feelings and thoughts. The music stands out with an oriental-sounding influence (which is Mad Cobra's "Flex"), and with the multiple vocals (all supplied by Rihanna), sounding like En Vogue or Destiny's Child. The lyrics are so idealistic (almost to the point of naïve) that it's easy to recognize that Rihanna didn't write these lyrics; they were written by older men who have this conception of how young women her age feel. It should be noted that unlike her first two albums, Rihanna didn't do any songwriting on this album. "Sell Me Candy" again peeks into that naïve, sexual innuendo territory with Rihanna trying to convince this man she likes to drop his current girlfriend and hook up with her by singing sexually suggestive lyrics with candy references. Luckily, this song only runs a little over two-and-a-half minutes, and it goes into the extremely catchy "Lemme Get That." This song returns Rihanna to her dancehall reggae roots and it's a welcomed reception with the perfectly positioned use of horns. The lyrics speak of a woman who's using her sexuality to get the material possessions she wants. Ironically, near the end of the song, she sings "I'm not a gold digger." Well, actually, if you are using your body and sexuality to get material things and/or money, then you are. The song is catchy and good to dance to, but, sadly, I can see most young women embracing this song and "Sell Me Candy" as their anthems, blaring them in their cars as they sing along to the lyrics at the top of their voices.
From the dance-crazed oblivion of "Lemme Get That" to the next song, "Rehab," written by Justin Timberlake (who also supplies a few barely-noticeable background vocals), the album makes a sharp turn into more serious, profound subject matter. This song is about a girl realizing how wrong she was to devote her life and love to the guy she's dumping. She loved this man so much he was like a drug to her and the song is her getting over him, hence the title. This song is a slightly slower song and this is the song most women should be embracing. There are too many women today (particularly, young women) who date or go out with the biggest jerks who deep down are selfish and only want them for their own purposes. And the fact that this song both identifies that, but also delivers up proof that these women aren't alone and that they can get over these guys, is why this song is so much more important.
Next is "Question Existing," featuring a slow, sweeping beat and Rihanna's voice slightly digitally altered as if she's speaking in some dream. I admire her honesty and insight into her personal life and feelings. Even though she didn't receive any songwriting credit, I'm sure the singer gave some input to the writers for this song; especially with lines like: "I'm just like you/Do the mistakes I make make me a fool/Or a human with flaws/Admit that I'm lost/Round of applause/Take the abuse/Sometimes it feels like they want me to lose" and "Dear diary, it's Robyn/Entertaining is something I do for a living/It's not who I am/I like to think that I'm normal/I laugh/I get mad/I hurt/I think guys suck sometimes/I don't know who to trust/I don't know who wants to date me for who I am/Or who wants to be my friend for who I really am." Again, this isn't so much a song as it's a journal entry, with Rihanna unabashedly speaking her thoughts and feelings, and, in the process, showing other young women that they're not alone in their insecurities and doubts. After "Question," we come to the title track "Good Girl Gone Bad," which isn't about Rihanna transforming her image. No. It's an acoustic guitar-filled warning for all boys/guys/men out there that they should start being more respectful and gentlemen-like to girls/women. 'Cause if they don't, as Rihanna warns, "once a good girl goes bad, we gone forever." In her own way, she's saying that not all girls are the superficial, gold-digging sluts that most likely once hurt them. I like this song and even though it's not the strongest song on the album (that goes to "Umbrella" and "Don't Stop the Music"), it's still enjoyable and a suitable finish.
If I had to rate this album from one to five stars, I'd give it a three-and-a-half. Rihanna is growing with each album release as each one showcases her ever-growing maturity; I can't wait to see what she's releasing in the next two to five years `cause I think her music will not only master the dance club genre but delve deep into the ballad territory. Even the unlikeable or questionable songs are catchy. Just like any teenager, she's got more to learn, but, unlike most teens, she knows it. And as long as she keeps out of the craziness of "celebrity" (i.e. marrying young to some deadbeat dancer, shaving her head, getting addicted to drugs/alcohol, partying all the time, making a sex tape only to have it leaked on the Internet, etc.), she'll do great with her voice and the songs that come her way. Unfortunately for her, she did get involved in the Chris Brown drama, but she's come out of it a strong, graceful young woman and it hasn't hurt her career in the least. It seems like she's putting music out there that best personifies what she's currently going through in her life. As a musician and music lover, what more could you ask for? While "Good Girl Gone Bad" is not for everyone, it still doesn't keep it from being some catchy music and great to dance to.
Free Music Review: This good girl is pretty bad; that is, bad meaning good...
Hit: 4 Stars
Some say that Rihanna is just a gimmick. I actually had a debate with some friends recently on Rihanna and Beyonce, trying to decide who the better singer was. Don't get me wrong, in all technical terms Beyonce has the better voice, but I hate the term technical for it has no emotion attached to it. Technical is just a lazy term we adopt to try and give our opinions validity. You either enjoy listening to Beyonce's blandly familiar vocals or you don't. Honestly, she has pipes, but her pipes sound like everyone else's pipes. To me she doesn't stand out. Rihanna on the other hand has a voice all her own. Sure, she may not be able to hit the Mariah octaves, but she has this sultry spunk in her voice that engages me much more than Beyonce.
So, with that said I decided to give her latest album another listen and give it my grade. I was meaning to do this with Beyonce as well, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I imagine my review for her album will start out pretty much the same as this one.
So let's look at `Good Girl Gone Bad' track by track, shall we.
`Umbrella' has such a catchy and infectious beat; one can't help but love it. You just want to move to it, sing along with it, and a song like that is worth its weight in gold. There's no question as to why this song has been adopted as the anthem of this past summer.
`Push Up on Me' has a club ready beat complete with Rihanna's inviting vocals that drive the song from beginning to end. The track may not be suited for listening to while driving in your car, but it is prime dance music; as is `Please Don't Stop the Music', which I was less than impressed with until I actually heard it played in a club and the beat took over my body. Now I have a better appreciation of this track, for while I may not just sit and listen to this, I hope they play it every time I'm at a dance club.
`Breakin' Dishes' may be the best track on the album, and like `Umbrella' the beat is so infectious that one cannot help but get lost in it. Also, like `Umbrella', `Breakin' Dishes' is not strictly dancehall fun. Sure, the song is tailor-made for the club, but I enjoy listening to this song in the car, at work, in my house; pretty much anytime it comes on I stop and enjoy. `Shut Up and Drive' was one of the singles from the album that caught everyone's attention. The rock-and-roll vibe to the song is a lot of fun and the lyrics are flirty and suggestive and a lot of fun to recite. The song is just enjoyable, even if it is nothing short of pop fluff.
`Hate That I Love You' is a nicely done ballad featuring Ne-Yo. I like Ne-Yo sometimes, but his congested sounding voice can get on my nerves at times, and in my opinion Rihanna should have went with her real life leading man Chris Brown instead. The song is a nice track, but it could have been better in my opinion.
`Say It' is the first annoying track on the album. I like the beat, which is bouncy and fun, but Rihanna gets on my nerves in this song. It's just poorly constructed in my opinion. I skip it.
`Sell Me Candy' is kind of corny in parts but is ultimately engaging. The whole bridge part saves the track, Rihanna's vocals caressing our eardrums beautifully. It's a great club song (as you can tell, the album is littered with them) but it is also engaging enough to be listened to outside of the crowded dance floor. `Rehab' is a nice club/ballad; Rihanna's vocals move softly against a beat that sounds lifted from Justin Timberlake's last album. It's silky, and I like that. It's an easy song to listen to, and it sounds fresh when placed alongside the albums heavier hitting balance.
`Question Existence' is a strange track to say the least. It was a nice effort, but ultimately I think it fails at what it sets out to do. I carries a darker message when compared to the balance of the album, and the way Rihanna goes about it, the beat, the lyrics, the structure; it just doesn't quite work that well. `Good Girl Gone Bad' is another deeper track in the vein of `Question Existence', and it fares better thanks to a more standard delivery; almost sounding soulfully folksy at times. I don't particularly care for the track all too much, but it is not technically `bad'.
The album picks up with `Lemme Get That', a island influenced track that thrives on hard hitting beats and Rihanna's sensual vocals. Thankfully she embraced her background, bringing flare to this track that is not really seen on the rest of the album. This is probably my favorite track here; for she brings the islands to the states with power, spunk and charisma.
And then there are the three bonus tracks included on this version of the CD. Of course we all know and love `Disturbia', or at least we all should. It may not be as great as `Umbrella' but seriously, it's awesome. `Take A Bow' is yet another attempt at the ballad, and Rihanna really should stay away from these (thankfully this album is club heavy as apposed to ballad heavy). She doesn't have a very strong ballad voice, but her slinky accented voice is very comfortable with club hits. Her duet with Maroon Five is a definite highlight, and she really seems right where she belongs. Great choice; really.
So, gimmick or not, Rihanna has the goods. Yes, her songs don't broach any new territory (the majority are about relationships) but they are fun and fresh and enjoyable. Her unique vocals are instantly recognizable, and it's nice to listen to someone who sounds like herself, and not a carbon copy of every other (superior) diva out there.
Free Music Review: Only 4 stars, cause only 3 bonus tracks, still didn't make it better!
Hit: 4 Stars
When "Good girl gone bad" first came out i got it, and wasn't to impressed with it! Her first two CDs were great, but this one wasn't impressing! The case that came the normal edition came out the case it was in was bad, what i mean by bad is every time i would remove the disc it would leave a mark on the bottom of the disc! So i decided to pick up this one, and well it was almost the same! The plastic case is really good to have, but the song list doesn't improve. The 3 new tracks on there really don't fit the album! my favorite is the remake of "If i ever see your face again" with rihanna in it! The other two are good but to good for this CD! If you already own the normal edition of this CD Don't even bother getting this one, just download the 3 extra tracks!Free Music Review: Good Girl Gone Bad - Reloaded
Hit: 4 Stars
Wasn't a big Rihanna fan when she first burst on the scene. Once I found out she was hooked with Jay-Z, became more interested in her music. This album validates that she is a superstar pop talent who can test the boundaries of the music. It also doesn't hurt that Ne-Yo wrote some of her songs. "Disturbia" is ABSOLUTELY my favorite Rihanna song to date(with "Take a Bow" next on the list). Rihanna's songs always have slamming beats, she is obviously beautiful and she is fierce. This album proves it. I love it.Free Music Review: Rihanna - Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded (GGGBR)
Hit: 4 Stars
In Good Girl Gone Bad, Rihanna produced a couple of decent hits that made this album a worldwide success. However, in GGGBR, she pushed the envelope once again and introduced 3 major hit tracks, all of which have given the world good music to listen to. Unfortunately, there are some tracks on there that, because of all of the WONDERFUL track on the rest of the album, seem to me to be filler track...but still great!!!