Good Girl Gone Bad - Rihanna > Reviews > SHE SAYS "SHUT UP&DRIVE" - I SAY "LISTEN" . . .

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	some great songs, great voice
Disadvantages:	some say co - written, i say sampled PLUS  a couple of clonkers, no lyrics provided

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

When it came to my 28th (TWENTY-EIGHTH!!) birthday last year, my former flatmate and good friend Bandcamp started asking me what I wanted. Despite me insisting that a bottle of wine was fine, she sent me a link to amazon to make a wishlist so I did so just to keep her happy. And when I came home from my holiday to Lanzarote, I had a brand spanking new copy of Rihanna's current album "Good Girl Gone Bad" to keep me company as per my request (well, I knew really that there was no way she was buying me Fall Out Boy's latest album hehe!)

And this album is great; I am currently in love with it. I hate to gush but it checks all the relevant boxes. Is it full of songs I can dance to? CHECK. Is it full of songs I can sing along to? CHECK. Has it only got a couple of fillers? CHECK. Sorry, let me expand . . .

First up, we have "Umbrella". People say this is overplayed and attribute the constant rain in the UK over the summer of 2007 to the fact that "Umbrella" was number one for so long. Um - hello? That's called global warming, peeps!!! Personally, i don't understand why. I think "Umbrella", although overplayed over the summer months, is an utterly fantastic song. It's addictive (as far as I'm concerned), has a great atmosphere to it, and is just brilliant - a moody tune but with a strong uplifting chorus.

Next up is "Push Up On Me" which is another r & B gem, but with a slight eighties vibe to it. Great tune. After this is Rihanna's venture into clubland tune "Don't Stop The Music", which samples Wacko Jacko's "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'". To be honest, I didn't like this track at first - I still remember the day my friend Sarah played the cd in her car and told me how much she loved the song and I really wasn't sure about it . . . but I swear to god, it works it's way under your skin and becomes pretty addictive.

"Shut Up And Drive" is the second biggest hit from the album after "Umbrella" and it's probably more rocky than anything Rihanna has done previously - think "Freak Like Me" (Sugababes") or "Only You" (Ashanti) if you've been living under a rock for the past few months and missed it. If yoy listen to the lyrics though, it could be construed as a little rude - she appears to be comparing her body to a car and encouraging someone to jump in to her . . .

"Hate That I Love You" which is a duet with Ne-Yo (who wrote the gorgeous "Unfaithful" from Rihanna's previous album) is also a grower, although it's slightly sickly sweet if you listen to the lyrics (the clue, admittedly, is possibiy in the title). Still, it's definitely a great track and one which I would thoroughly recommend you give a go if you like r & b at all.

"Lemme Get That", a Timbaland produced ditty, has a drum'n'bass/jungle vibe to it reminiscent of "Get Your Freak On" by Missy Elliot. It's, however , probably the last upbeat song on the album . .

And I know what you're thinking - "Paula doesn't like ballads, she always says so". And that still, generally holds true. But the slowed down songs on Rihanna's album are mostly fab. There's four of then and three of them are great. "Rehab" compares, like Kelly Clarkson before her, a relationship to addiction, and getting over it to going cold turkey, The music of this song will probably remind you of "What Goes Around" by good old J.T. And given that co-writing credits are given to him (and Timbaland) it seems more than a little suspicious. The same happened with the title track, which I have spent days trying to place, only on the way home tonight realising it sounded like Norwegian songstress Lene Marlin's "Unforgivable Sinner". This drove me to check the cd inlay, which didn't admit to sampling the song but listed an L Marlin as a co-writer on the song. Hmm. Go figure. Look, just listen to "Rehab" followed by "What Goes Around" and then "Good Girl Gone Bad" followed by "Unforgivable Sinner" and you'll see what I mean. I've not got an issue with it at all, I think the lyrics for both tracks, particularly "Good Girl Gone Bad" (a song about innocence lost - although it could also be about getting revenge on a cheating partner I suppose) are excellent but music-wise, let's call a spade a spade, alright?

The final song I adore on this album is "Cry", a song I've heard much praise for but only heard recently. Muscially it sounds similar to "Unfaithful" but lyrically it's more remiscent (in my opinion) of "Behind These Hazel Eyes" by Kelly Clarkson.

There are a couple of clunkers on this album though, and that's why it's not going to get the full five stars. "Say It" and "Sell Me Candy" are just too reggae in sound for my liking and "Question Existing" is just a bit bland with too much talking. They could have left these three tracks off the album and had a cd of ten winners instead - which sounds far more appealing to me. What about you?

The one thing I don't like about Rihanna is that she does not seem to have had any input re: songwriting. Does that mean she is a pop puppet like Britney? I suppose it does - BUT Rihanna has a far stronger voice than Brit, which is a good point in her favour. But Rihanna's voice is probably an acquired taste as it is quite nasal at times. I think it's a great voice though - because she does not sound like anyone else out there. She stands out from the other girl-singers around - AND, as far as I'm concerned, she has a bit more class too.

All in all, if you like r & b generally and enjoyed tracks like "Umbrella", then I would recommend you give this a go. It is definitely one of my albums of 2007 . . . and will more-than-likely continue to be well into 2008.

***PRICE GUIDE***

£7.97 from amazon.co.uk
£7.99 from play.com