Rihanna
“Loud”
Def Jam Recordings
Released: Nov. 12
6.7/10

If there was ever a perfect description for Rihanna, it probably would be “Loud.”

The pop superstar’s music, hair, style and presence have all in some way been sonically amplified since “Pon de Replay” hit the clubs back in 2005, and never like before on the club-ready music of “Loud,” Rihanna’s fifth studio album in five years.

And like any Rihanna album, the musical gems that are sprinkled throughout “Loud” hit hard and fast indeed, aside from filler missteps that happen to have their loud moments too.

Heavy snare machines dominate the unrestrained “What’s My Name?,” a playfully catchy little tiger of a number featuring Drake (who has probably the best verse on the album), while “Only Girl’s” synth epic-ness of a sing-a-long chorus leaves no doubt as to why Rihanna is today’s queen of the radio. Such are the sonic wonders of Rihanna’s long-time production team Stargate, whose creations (from “Unfaithful” to “Don’t Stop the Music”) have practically carved out the singer’s success.

As such, Rihanna’s sonically empty guitar ballads “California King Bed” and “Fading” fail because they are not Stargate productions along the lines of previous hit “Take a Bow,” which succeeded due to its minimalist production.

Overwrought production makes the ballad follow-up to her Eminem collaboration “Love the Way You Lie” strangely fall into overdramatics, without Eminem skillfully leading us through the song’s destructive psychology until the final verse.

But it’s about time Rihanna took us out of the dark, scorned recesses of her rough, “Rated R” mind and somewhere back on the singer’s yellow brick road of club bangers and reggae-synth dancehall.

Rihanna’s twisted-ness further spills over from the last record (which, remember, had songs like “Rude Boy” and “Te Amo”), though, so this rating doesn’t exactly drop down to a PG-13.

She whines with an opener of “It’s so good being bad/ there’s no way I’m turnin’ back” on “S&M,” as if there happens to be greater meaning beyond that of the song’s context of sexual gratification.

Sexual fetishes and explorations a la Janet Jackson’s “The Velvet Rope” are to be found aplenty, whether coming from an insane guest verse from Nicki Minaj on “Raining Men” (which, as a side note, has nothing at all to do with the original disco hit save a little one-liner from Minaj) or from Rihanna setting things straight, all teasing aside, on “Skin.”

As if again taking a page straight out of classic Janet’s book, this is an unintimidated, vampy Ri-Ri, who gets right down to the facts with lines like “Wanna take control, ain’t nothin’ wrong with that,” and acts as if there’s not a problem saying such things nowadays.

— Alex Ewald, journalism sophomore

Robyn
“Body Talk”
Konichiwa
Released: Nov. 22
8.3/10

The final installment of Robyn's “Body Talk” album trilogy beautifully continues the unifying trend of electro-dance jams with confessional lyrics. Since each album only contains a few songs, it has allowed listeners to digest the entire series in short bursts, as well as building momentum over the months (“Pt. 1” was released in June).

Though every track is most certainly eligible for a spot on your dance party playlist, the strongest song is “Indestructible,” the uptempo dance version of the same song that appeared acoustically on “Body Talk Pt. 2.” The Swedish fembot demonstrates her versatility by releasing these two versions of this song, a lovely ballad about deciding to move forward with love fearlessly.

At only 19 minutes long, “Body Talk Pt. 3” merits repeated listens. What sounds like a simple dance record at first listen reveals itself to be highly personal and empowering upon replay.

Robyn addresses various lyrical themes: infidelity, honesty and broken promises in “Call Your Girlfriend,” self-doubt and inner change in “Get Myself Together” and celebration of love in “Stars 4-Ever.” Despite serious subject matter, the synth-pop beats turn every song into a pop hit worth dancing to.

— Annika Larson, professional writing junior