Less than a year after releasing her chilly,post-domestic abuse album Rated R, Rihanna returns to sun-baked dance-pop onher fifth album, Loudshe even brings back her Barbadian accent. It’s likelymany of these songs were holdovers too chipper for Rated R, and the albumcertainly feels slight compared to that one, but slight is always what Rihanna’sdone best (even Rated R’s biggest hit wasn’t one of its many moody lamentationsbut rather the unburdened dancehall jam “Rude Boy.”) Loud finally distancesRihanna from the domestic-violence incident that has unfairly shaped herimage, so it’s a shame the label made her tack on as the last track a redundant remake of hersummer hit with Eminem, “Love The Way You Lie (Part II),” one final (orhopefully final) attempt to exploit that incident for all it's worth.
The secret to Kid Rock’s longevity isn’t really all that much of asecret: Over the last decade Kid Rock has gradually tamed his brasher impulses to broaden his appeal to notoriously loyal country-music audiences. Hislatest, Born Free, completes his transition from rapping nu-metal cowboy torespectable Bob Seger/John Mellencamp-styled heartland rockerhe’s purgednearly all traces of rap, with the exception of a brief, inoffensive verse fromT.I., who’s in full-on inspirational mode here (fans of Martina McBride, also featured on the same track, will find him a charming young man). Unglamorous as it may be, tameness suits Kid Rock. This is the most dignified album he’s ever made.
I’m usually skeptical of compilations, especially the ones being released inthese twilight days of CD sales, but EMI’s new Norah Jones comp, …FeaturingNorah Jones, is actually a useful one. It compiles 18 of Jones’ guestappearances on albums by artists as diverse as Talib Kweli, Willie Nelson,Q-Tip, Dolly Parton, Ryan Adams, Ray Charles, Herbie Hancock and Outkast,testifying to the singer’s versatility in a way her own albums can’t.
Also out this week:
Bryan Adams – Bare Bones
Cassidy – Cash
Curren$y – Pilot Talk II
Josh Groban – Illuminations
Nelly – 5.0
The Pipettes – Earth vs. The Pipettes
Rascal Flatts – Nothing Like This
Bruce Springsteen – The Promise
Stereolab – Not Music
Keith Urban – Get Closer
