Rated, N

Today's blog will be once again a bit different than usually.

You'll get to read about a good album that I've bought.

Rihanna's Rated R.

I do not own any photographic material this blog might contain. I do not intend to break copyright laws.

Music samples linked to YouTube. I do not own the material and I am not responsible for any copyright infringements the video uploaders might be committing.

Rated R

Rihanna's newest CD album consists of 13 tracks. So far there have been two singles, Russian Roulette and Hard.

This album has a variety of musical styles. Even though the music is R&B and pop, the album contains traces of hip hop as well as rock.

Lyrically speaking, it could be said that Rihanna's lyrics have "grown up". She's no longer singing about partying and going out.

The lyrics can be a bit grim at some points and she doesn't refrain from using profanities. This is the reasons why there are two available versions of the album. The explicit and the censored version.

Most of the songs talk about love, lost and failed relationships. This could have something to do with her ex-boyfriend assaulting her, even though it's highly circumstantial. Any lyrics written for her after the abuse could point at it.

Rhythmically some of the songs (Mad House, G4L and Wait Your Turn) try out something new.

It's called dubstep. It's basically a genre of electronic music, which is used to bring dark and grim vibes to the songs. I won't go more into it since I don't really know how to explain it. I'll sound either too knowledgeable to be legit or it'll look like I've copied it from somewhere. I'll give you the Wikipedia link if you want to read more about it (it's actually kind of hard to understand, even for me, and I have studied music for years).

[LINK]

I thought of presenting one or two songs of the album. Then I started to think which I'd present and I came up with a problem. I couldn't decide. Guess I'll tell about each one of them.

The songs will be listed in the order they appear on the CD. Enjoy. I'll link you to each song so you can listen to it if you like.

1. Mad House 1:34

This song is like a small intro to the album. There isn't much lyrics. There's a man voice that warns that the material might be too much to handle for some and that he suggests to turn away now.

"To those of you,

Who think you can take it, we say

Welcome to the Mad House"

The rest of the song is Rihanna chanting "Come on, come on, come on in".

2. Wait Your Turn 3:46

This song is interesting. The beat is cool and the melody is catchy.

The lyrics could refer to a baseball game and as we well know, baseball has some sexual connotations. I would understand it that way; she's singing about waiting your turn. In love, in a baseball game. Especially the parts in which Rihanna chants "The wait is ovah" are really, really catchy. You almost have to sing along.

Oh, WYT is actually the only song in this album in which Rihanna herself has played a part in producing.

3. Hard 4:11

This song would be irony to her boyfriend's abuse. Maybe he thought he could bring her down? But naaah, she sees you aiming at her pedestal, so she think she's got to let you know... That she's hard.

Nothing will bring her down.

"And I want it all

It's gonna take more than that

Hope that I know you got"

This song features a pretty unknown name (at least for me) Jeezy. I thought he was Jay Z (I think I've mentioned it was Jay Z in one of my previous blogs, so I'm sorry for the misunderstanding) but it's not. The featuring artist is Jeezy.

4. Stupid in Love 4:01

Stupid in Love tells a story about a girl and a boy who have broken up. The girl still has hopes up for the relationship and gives the boy chances to make it up. But each time the boy ends up cheating and telling lies. Nothing works out and the girl ends up "stupid in love".

5. Rockstar 101 3:59

If nothing more, Rockstar 101 has a hell of a beat! It really blows your mind.

The lyrics aren't that great. As the name might hint, the song is about being a rockstar.

"Big city

Bright lights

Sleep all day

Up all night"

That's basically the song in a nutshell.

The song features the great legendary guitarist Slash!

6. Russian Roulette 3:49

This is the first song I heard from Rated R. I really liked it from the first listen on.

The plot has been a mystery for me and I haven't really figured it out yet.

This is probably one of the darkest and gloomiest songs in her album.

It tells the story about two people who are playing the Russian roulette and the thoughts that are going through the head of the protagonist.

The thing that bothers me is whether the protagonist dies or wins the game in the end.

7. Fire Bomb 4:18

If I had to choose a surpriser from this album, this would be it. I really didn't like this song when I heard it first. It was... somehow dull compared to the other song's beating and pounding rhymes.

However, now that I've heard it a few more times, it makes sense. It's a beautiful slow(ish) song.

I really don't get the lyrics though. Actually, I hadn't read them like "really" read them until today (since I had to recall what it said). I should spend some time decrypting it sometime.

8. Rude Boy 3:43

Lyric-wise I don't like this song at all. It's kinda, well, profane. And suggestive, if you look at it that way.

But the rhythm saves the song. I don't like liking Rude Boy, but I can't help it. It could be just that I want to like them all songs. Guess I could be blinding my sight and neglecting the suckyness of this song ;)

9. Photographs 4:46

My favorite number one! I started to like this song the moment I heard it. The lyrics are perfect, the melody is perfect, and the lack of a pounding rhythm in this case seals the deal.

All the proportions seem to be carefully thought of. I really like the song: it makes sense.

This one is a cooperation of will.i.am and Rihanna. will has written part of the song and he raps a strophe that completes the song. I just can't find a bad side to this beautiful piece of music :)

10. G4L 4:00

Gangster FOUR Life. It took me a while to understand why the song was called G4L. One time I heard her say it and it just popped to my head.

Guess I'm just dumb.

This one is awesome, the rhythm, to be exact. It's a good (I don't know, really, I just like to think it is) example of how dubstep can be used! The drums in the verses are enchanting.

"I lick the gun

When I’m done

Cause I know

That revenge is sweet

So sweet"

That part is God smackingly glorious, seriously. The last two words are like... a chromatic descend and I just have to love it! So the beginning and the end of this song are extraordinary!

11. Te Amo 3:28

Latin rhythm! Me likesss it! Te amo means "I love you", most of us know it. But the guy that is the protagonist of this song doesn't know that!

I'm really attracted to the plot of this song since I can't figure it out! This one is a mystery for me, going besides Russian Roulette.

"I said te amo,

would somebody tell me what she said?"

It's like the guy is undecided or then I missed something. I need to check it out someday. And I still don't know why Rihanna sings as a guy.

Without doubt a good one. And different from the other. Special, spectacular and delightful.

12. Cold Case Love 6:04

A sad love ballad. How can it get better? Well, this song is about cold case love. A love that's never been solved, that's how I think about it. The lyrics would seem to back me up.

I don't know what to tell about this song. It's really sentimental in an expressive way.

The rhythm is pretty basic, since it's a slow song. The melody goes pretty high at some points but it's splendid nevertheless.

Jesus that YouTube version is grotesque! You need to hear the real version!

13. The Last Song 4:16

Ironically, The Last Song is the last song! I know.

I think the lyrics compare the last song to love. I can't explain why I feel that way, I might be totally wrong.

This is the last song and therefore it's probably the slowest. Compared to the other songs it has less words and it's in other ways also a bit less complicated.

And that's just fine, it's like a soft landing. You don't want to break your neck falling, aye?

"But it's time to turn up

the last song

ooooo

The last song

ooooo"