Rihanna – all six album cover reviews!

Review #13 (a new review every two days in July!), not really a music review. This is the post I would prefer to post as a Spring Cleaning post, but I have been thinking of it for a while, so finally did it. I will make up for it with another music review in August!

Back in the day, in this case the 1960s and 1970s releasing albums in a short span was not uncalled for. The Beatles for instance managed 12 albums in around 8 years (perhaps 10, as they had been playing many songs well before they were released)! Of course, the ‘album’ was new back then, and they were clearly innovators along with many other artists. Going on fifty years later, many things have changed.

Fast forward to today, I think Rihanna is the artist who has released the most albums in the past few years. She of course has a team of people behind the album, so it is completely possible. On her own, or even with four or five others, who knows what her career would look like.

This post will not really review the music, but the album covers. I could say album artwork, as actual artwork can still be found, but I think in most cases these days, it is just album covers. The picture of just her can certainly be artwork, but I do not think albums covers are given as much importance these days.

Debut, August 12, 2005

Sophomore album, April 19, 2006

Her first album, Music of the Sun, was recorded when she was 16/17 years old. Still a kid really! I think the album cover shows that. Her second album, A Girl like Me, was recorded very soon after the release of her first, as it was released a mere 8 months after her debut. She would have been a mere year older at that point, and again, it shows in the album cover, the photos could have been taken a few days apart!

Her third album, May 30, 2007. It would end up being her most sold album worldwide.

Album 4, November 20, 2009

Good Girl Gone Bad, again, recorded one year after her previous album, and it was released 13 months after. On the cover she would have likely been 19, definitely growing up, and maturing. As the catchy debut single “Umbrella” would tell. A ‘Reloaded’ version was released a year later, and along with the original album, she released a lot of singles! Seven to be exact that were official singles with accompanying music videos!

The time between albums 3 and 4 would be the longest in her career to date (just under 2.5 years). The aforementioned Good Girl Gone Bad Reloaded edition was released, and a certain incident with Chris Brown happened. This incident no doubt made her sound darker and heavier, as is how her fourth album cover looks for Rated R (the title says a lot too) (although, on a completely unrelated note, I would take the Queens of the Stone Age Rated R over this one). Rated R is also the least colourful.

Album 5, November 12, 2010

Album 6, her latest, November 18, 2011

Album 5, Loud (released one year after Rated R) is Rihanna being herself again, having moved on from the incident. If one was judging based on the cover alone, it is Rihanna grown up, very much a young woman, and quite sexy at that! Judging with the music it is her showing a bit of her side as a rebel as well.

Again, a year later sees the release of her sixth full-length, Talk That Talk. A bit of cockiness (track 5, “Cockiness (Love It)”!), her dark side, and the rebel all in one! The same applies for the deluxe edition!

She is a solo artist, despite having many many people helping her out, credited or not, therefore SHE is the focus of the album cover. Yet, they pretty well define the music found within. My favourite album cover is Good Girl Gone Bad, with Loud in a close second, even if it is a wig (based on some footage from the DVD that came with it).

Six albums in just over six years! My guess is her next album will not be until 2013 with her other ventures (acting, and whatever else) going on.

Talk That Talk Deluxe edition