Rihanna - Music Of The Sun

Career beginnings of a superstar.

Spyke

So over the next few months I'm going to be reviewing each of Rihanna's albums. I can't think of another artist in my lifetime that has had such a speedy and successful output of music. Since 2005 we've received a new album (or re-release) every year! Becoming the youngest artist to score 10 US #1s and 5 UK #1s in consecutive years she has certainly come a long way since her debut. So I'll be reviewing the singles, misfires, missed hits and all.

The Singles

Rather surprisingly at this point I was really not a Rihanna fan; I thought that Pon De Replay was easily one of the worst singles of the year, with If It's Lovin' That You Want not far behind. There was just nothing in these early singles to convince me that she was anything but the latest in the string of Christina Milan, Ciara and Amerie's that were attempting to hit the chart. Incidentally two of the names in that list probably blame/resent Rihanna to some extent for their failed careers. (See the S&M video for some Ciara fan abuse and next month's feature to see which of the others turned down the wrong song - a bigger mistake than Leona saying 'No' to Halo!).

However it would appear that not everyone had the same opinion of the songs at the time as I did. Pon De Replay turned out to be quite the successful debut, hitting #2 in both the US and the UK. With Jay Z on board at this early stage he wasn't just going to continue to try and delve into this album which would have been completely dead in the water had they tried to get a third single out of it. If It's Lovin' That You Want proved a nice track to follow up the debut whilst Rihanna went straight back to the studio to work on finding another hit.

Highlights

Despite there not being a third single there is definitely one song on the album that holds a place in Rihanna's heart. Actually appearing on the set list for her most recent Loud tour, Let Me takes preference over the two singles from this album and even SOS! Listening to the studio version you may wonder why, but when performed live the song really takes on a life of its own. Below I have included the live version from the GGGB tour (which appears on the dvd Oli bought me for my 20th birthday!).



Overall

When Man Down was announced as a single, many critics referred to it as Rihanna returning to her Barbadian roots for the first time since her debut. There are essences of the track that would fit very well with this; but it does have tenfold the amount of production and finish of any of the album. Then again Man Down took 9 minutes to write and over a million dollars to market so you can see we're playing a very different ball game 6 years down the line. This album is filled with average to mediocre songs which aren't delivered with any of the swagger, passion and confidence that we see in every Rihanna performance now. I didn't like Rihanna at this point and for me Let Me is the only thing saving the entire project so for that I'm going to give this album...

Rating

★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
4/10

DJ Fresh ft. Sian Evans - Louder

The power of advertising



Spyke

It always seems bizarre when you see an unfamiliar song heading to the top of the chart in the midweeks, and yet actually you've clearly heard the track several times before. The X Factor is definitely guilty of this; playing the likes of Leona, Westlife and Joe McElderry in the background during the audition stages in preparation for a live performance to tie in with the single release a few weeks later. One of the clear winners last year was Ellie Goulding with her cover of Elton John's Your Song which you'd hear in its entirity at least twice in every show as part of a successful John Lewis Christmas advertising campaign. It's certainly one way to get yourself a platinum selling single.

The difference in this case (unlike say the Noisettes on the Mazda car ad) is that the music video and the Lucozade television advert are almost one and the same. I'm surprised you don't actually see any bottles of Lucozade Sport Lite for a bit of product placement in the official music vid. Superbly directed by Ben Newman the video emphasises the energy of the song, making it an ideal candidate for the Lucozade campaign. Plus with the second highest sales for an opening week (behind Bruno Mars' Grenade) the song really made a mark on our charts as it debuted at #1 last Sunday.

This has been quite the breakthrough for DJ Fresh and his Dubstep sound having only charted at #24 twice on Mo’ Fire and Gold Dust. I personally have been enjoying listening to the Flux Pavilion remix of the track which I do hope I hear on a night out sometime soon, and you can check that out here.

Linkin Park - Rolling In The Deep

A fantastic Adele cover



Spyke

When Linkin Park performed their live set at the itunes festival on the 4th July in London they broke tradition and actually performed a cover of someone else's track; and what a track to choose! 2011 really has been the year of Adele with Rolling In The Deep spending 7 weeks atop the Hot 100 and Someone Like You selling its millionth copy in the UK earlier this week. So choosing to perform Rolling In The Deep was a very relevant and apt choice for the band.

Earlier this year we saw the track being covered by John Legend and featuring on Glee. The track just sounds so powerful and emotive when it is stripped right back in this way. Chester Bennington really brings out the passion and pain of the track. As Oli pointed out earlier this year one of the great aspects of '21' is that it full of genuine timeless tracks which are written straight from the heart and hence the album could easily have been released at any point other the past 50 years and still performed as successfully. As much as I love the studio version of Rolling In The Deep I find the live versions just bring out the individual story that each performer puts behind the lyrics. If you've ever been through a break up then I'm pretty sure you can relate to something on the album; I dread to think how many of her tracks are going to get obliterated on the X Factor this year.

This version is currently sat top 20 on UK itunes which could be enough to see it chart top 40 later today; it just depends if they've made it chart illegible or not.

Matthew Morrison - Still Got Tonight

Mr. Shue's debut single

McLovin

Being quite the fan of Glee I was slightly disappointed that Matthew Morrison, who plays teacher Will Schuester, didn't get more solo opportunities during the second season. Whereas in the first season there were countless memorable Shuey moments (the Young Girl/Don't Stand So Close To Me mix, causing heart palpitations for both Rachel and Emma; the epic Thong Song cover; and his duets with Neil Patrick Harris), I'm struggling to think of any recent stand outs. In the season finale, titled New York, he performed his debut single Still Got Tonight. Cheekily acting as a platform to launch Morrison's solo career, it offered a moment to appreciate one of the more accomplished members of the Glee cast.

While I didn't think much of song itself to begin with, it has since grown on me thanks in no small part to my local Co-op. Some of you might remember how Pixie Lott's Broken Arrow got to me while I was lost in the pasta aisle last November. This week, having great difficulty determining which cereal bar offer was worth pursuing, Still Got Tonight blaring out of the intercom lifted my (muddled) spirits. Opening like a by-the-numbers Snow Patrol song, Morrison's breezy yet earnest vocals gently carry you through the verses to the surprisingly punchy chorus. Sure, it's so middle of the road it's hard to make out the pavements, yet I enjoy the song's sunny optimism, undoubtedly helped by Morrison's fine performance.

Like Joe Jonas's debut, I don't see this reaching beyond those who are already Morrison converts. However, I think this is the more successful debut in establishing what to expect from future singles. Let's hope he gets more opportunities to shine, both in season three and as a solo act.

Loick Essien Feat. Tanya Lacey - How We Roll

Song of the week!

McLovin

Unless you're a die hard Chipmunk fan (who he appeared on Beast with), chances are this will be your introduction to up and coming artist Loick Essien (it certainly is for me!). Looking to debut high this weekend, How We Roll is worth your attention for being the catchiest song for quite some time. In the past few weeks of Pitbull and Lazy Song dominance, I've found the charts to be a bit of a chore; Loick has kindly blown those cobwebs away for me.

That's not to say the song isn't stepping a little too close to the derivative dancefloor. The opening sounds like an off-cut from Kanye's 808 and Heartbreaks album, and on a first listen all the various elements - a bit of Akon crooning here, Derulo flourishes there - makes it hard to decide if there's anything unique to the single at all.

But after a few repeat plays, each of songs segments (intro; verse; pre-chorus; Tanya; chorus; amazing 'how we roll' bit of the chorus) reveals multiple nuggets of hooky moments. The synths are balanced well with the thumping piano chords, and his voice soars effortlessly over the high production value. It'll be interesting to see what's in store for his next single: it'll be a tough act to follow.

I would love How We Roll to hit the top five come Sunday, and get the audience it deserves to become a sizable hit.

Chart predictions:

McLovin: 5

Spyke: 4

Actual: 2

Joe Jonas - See No More

Jonas Brother Flies Solo

McLovin

At her current work placement, our good friend Rach ran into Joe Jonas; she described him swaggering down the corridor, one hand in his pocket, surveying the room he entered making seemingly aimless nods to whoever paid him attention. As he breaks free from his purity ring brothers, is his air of arrogance justified?

Well, yes and no. Joe certainly looks the part: stubbled and stained shirt, he seems to be trying to fill the (lets be honest, insurmountable) hole Justin Timberlake leaves as he persists with his movie career. His voice is pleasant and suits the RnB production style of the single. When there is a dearth of big-male pop stars (Bieber excluded), Jonas, with his established fan base, has the potential to be enormous.

However, I just don't think this is the song to do it. The self-vindictive and whiny lyrics are lathered on a little too thickly (that Chris Brown co-wrote it isn't a massive surprise in this respect). The main problem is that it doesn't feel strong enough as a launch single. While it's a departure from his band's more poppy history (I still love Burning Up), it doesn't do much to set him apart from the dozens of singers going down the melodramatic, uber-serious 'you hurt me so bad girl!' direction. I'm not exactly sure what would have worked as an alternative launch single, but I don't think this will attract much attention to those who aren't already Jonas-obsessed.

For these reasons, I think the single will chart no higher than top twenty. While I would be happy for it to go top ten (I like Joe and think he has good potential longevity-wise), I would be very surprised if it did.

I wonder if he'll continue swaggering down corridors if he's sent back to write songs with his brothers?

Chart Predictions

McLovin: 16

Spyke: 54

Actual: -

Pitbull - Give Me Everything ft. Ne-Yo, Afrojack, Nayer

My revision song of choice . . . surprisingly



Spyke

The demo version of this track just featuring Ne-Yo leaked several months ago and I was quite the fan. Though it seemed to lack the production to transform it into a masterpiece like Beautiful Monster or Closer (after hearing the latter on the radio yesterday I can announce that it still sounds brilliant three years on). So when I heard that the song was going to serve as the second single from Pitbull's album Planet Pit I was quite disgusted at the idea. However trying to do twelve hours of Maths revision a day can warp your music taste in weird way; I actually put California Gurls onto my ipod shuffle the other day and enjoyed it! So after realising I didn't own several of the most recent number one singles on my laptop I decided to download this and give it a chance.

I think Pitbull, Afrojack and Nayer all help to give the track the edge that it was otherwise lacking. They fill the gaps which just sound empty in the Ne-Yo version. There is just so much going on and I find it fascinating how all the different elements combine and work so effectively alongside one another. When you put so many artists on a record it sometimes becomes difficult to distinguish each artist's contribution (yes Gettin Over You I'm looking at you!). Having seen just Ne-Yo and Pitbull perform the track on The Voice a few weeks ago it really emphasised how much all the elements are required to make this track work to full effect.

After topping the Hot 100 last week it became our second Transatlantic #1 of the year. But after it bowed out to LMFAO this week we soon got our third.