Well, it happened — the inevitable leak that plagues just about every major artist right before their LP officially drops. Welcome to the club, Rihanna! You’re in fine company. The cheeky diva has been one of the most prolific ladies in the biz of late, as we got “We Found Love” (along with the stylish, cinematic vid and some tantalizing remixes) along with follow-up single “You Da One.” Now Talk That Talk has found its way to impatient fans in its entirety. Is it, as VH1 claimed, the dirtiest pop record since Madonna’s Erotica? Listen to the Jay-Z featuring title track and the Dr. Luke/Calvin Harris-produced “Where Have You Been” to find out.
Yes, Talk That Talk certainly has its fair share of sex talk, from the dirty but fairly typical come-ons in “Roc Me Out” (“I’ve been a bad girl, daddy”) to Jay-Z’s unsurprisingly potty-mouthed contribution on the title track.
But beyond The-Dream’s “Birthday Cake” (which dances around naughty but none-too-appealing cake puns before Rihanna just comes out and says “I wanna f*ck you right now”) and the Bionic-esque lack of subtlety in “Cockiness” (we have a feeling RiRi’s “I love it when you eat it” refrain isn’t referring to, um, birthday cake), there isn’t a whole lot to be scandalized by. (We’ve heard too many blatant references to oral sex in pop music lately to bat an eye at anything here.) And there are still a number of love songs that are tame as tame can be!
So instead, let’s talk that talk about “Where Have You Been” — a worthy follow-up to “We Found Love” (also produced by Calvin Harris). That lead single had primed us for an album that might be a bit more clubby than Talk That Talk actually is. “Where Have You Been” is actually the only other song that sounds anything like “We Found Love” and, at first listen, is probably our favorite new cut from the LP.
Also notable — the downbeat ballad “Drunk On Love,” which is lush and lovely (thanks largely to its sampling of the xx’s “Intro”). Beyond these few standouts (and having not heard the bonus tracks in their entirety), our take is as follows: Talk That Talk is a perfectly decent pop album that doesn’t quite live up to the high hopes built by its lead single “We Found Love,” but should leave most Rihanna fans reasonably pleased (and will have us giving it a few more spins to see what grows on us).
What do you think of Rihanna’s latest Talk That Talk tracks? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter or in the comments below.
Thanks for the restrained take on an album hyped beyond control! I worried that it would prove hard to hear the music under all the roar of the buzz.
Most of the credit should goto Calvin Harris, he’s so underrated and deserves more attention.
Rihanna Talk That Talk album review #exclusive. http://www.nextinshow.com/2011/11/rihanna-talk-that-talk-album-review.html
You wouldnt even know who the f he was if he didnt get featured on the single. And what artist features production on a single? A NICE, talented one that recognizes a great contribution. You should return the favor moron, she did great too and without her it wouldn’t be number 1 everywhere. So tired of people belittling talents just because they’re sucessful and somehow undeserving of any recognition. Only happens to female pop artists too, and mostly Rihanna.
I don’t know what Idolator is talking about “doesn’t quite live up to the high hopes built by its lead single” ?? I’m sorry but that would mean you were expecting a whole dance album but now the question is: when has rihanna done an album that has the same sound? Yeah, never!
All her 6 albums have different sounds and that is refreshing! Where Have You Been is better than We Found Love, and Talk That Talk is her best album to date! It’s full of Urban pop and dirty sounds that make exquisite!
I’m sorry to the other fanbases but Talk That Talk is better than Born This Way, Femme Fatale and 4 in matter of sound, and in matter of depth well the four albums aren’t precisely “deep” so let’s enjoy the albums! But Rihanna is clearly the winner this year.
i hate the comparison between erotica and TTT because erotica is an awesome album with POETIC lyrics that covered the “dirty” with intelligent metaphors and perfect use of words, TTT is totaly explicit with no good lyrics and melody what so ever. these dumb lyrics aren’t worthy for a comparison with madonna
lol dd i here yu jus compar hianna to real artists except brittany spears she’s a hater
to RYK101 : Thank you!!! u are sooo right!
Can we please talk about how Talk That Talk sounds remarkably like Black and Yellow? To me, that is some lazy production from Stargate. Jigga is always appreciated, though!
Another garbage album from a garbage singer. She’d be dead in the water if it weren’t for the internet and twitter.
I like any song sung by Rihanna Rihanna’s important I do not care if they are beautiful or not
i thought the exact same thing, the rapping sounds almost identical