Rihanna is unapologetic as she wins the battle of the divas
By Adrian Thrills|
RIHANNA: Unapologetic (Island Def Jam)
Rating: 
You can't accuse Rihanna of taking it easy. She's just released her seventh album
This is the 24-year-old’s seventh album in as many years. And, when she isn’t in the studio, she seems to be either touring or shaking her booty at a street carnival in her native Barbados.
Unapologetic is very much her party, too. Despite the usual array of guests — David Guetta, Emeli Sande, Eminem and Chris Brown all feature — Rihanna is not the sort to cater to the whims of her collaborators. She imposes herself with vim and vigour here.
The album is a game of two halves. The first is dominated by booming electronic dance music, while the second (and far more interesting) finds the singer lowering her guard in the most soul-searching songs of her career.
First, the dance numbers. In embracing shuddering techno and dubstep, Rihanna sometimes submerges her powerful, Bajan-tinged voice under a barrage of rhythmic effects.
That is certainly true of Fresh Off The Runway and Right Now, two rattling club tracks produced by French maestro Guetta. With both enlivened by subtle hooks, though, Rihanna still deserves credit for pushing boundaries.
She does so again on Jump, a liaison with British dance duo Chase And Status marred only by a laughable lyric: ‘My saddle is ready / Darling, jump on it.’ Another early highlight is single Diamonds, a melodramatic ballad that recalls Princess Of China, last year’s single with Coldplay.
The tone changes dramatically around the halfway mark. Attention will inevitably be paid to Nobody’s Business, a disco romp that features a musical reunion with former boyfriend Chris Brown, the American singer convicted of assaulting her after the 2009 Grammys.
The mood darkens appreciably on the album’s two-song centrepiece, Love Without Tragedy and Mother Mary, which give a glimpse of the lonely girl at the centre of a celebrity whirlwind.
Stay is a McCartney-esque piano ballad that showcases Rihanna’s stunning voice. And bonus track Half Of It, written by Emeli Sande, strikes a forlorn final note: ‘This is the life I lead,’ sings Rihanna. ‘And that’s just the half of it.’
It’s a brief wallow in self- pity, before getting back to business. The seemingly inexhaustible star is already promoting Unapologetic with a world tour taking in seven countries in seven days.
A game of two halves: The first is dominated by electronic dance music while the second sees the singer lowering her guard
Christina Aguilera is another diva who has endured a bumpy ride in recent years. Her last album, Bionic, sold poorly, while her marriage to music executive Jordan Bratman ended in divorce.
The former Disney Channel Mouseketeer has also faced jibes about her weight, and even fluffed her lines when she sang The Star Spangled Banner at last year’s Super Bowl.
Like Rihanna, however, Christina is no shrinking violet, and she comes out fighting on Lotus, an album that consolidates a rejuvenation that began when she became a judge on the U.S. version of The Voice and continued with her starring role on Maroon 5’s global smash Moves Like Jagger. ‘This album is about self-expression,’ she says. ‘I have gone through a lot personally and this is my rebirth.’
No shrinking violet: Christina comes out fighting on her album entitled Lotus
The dance-pop tracks, like Let There Be Love and Army Of Me, are generic, while the Celine Dion-style power ballad Blank Page is overwrought. The title track is punctuated by therapy-speak.
But, with the Cee Lo Green collaboration Make The World Move an early highlight, there are also plenty of reminders why Christina was once the only artist under the age of 30 to feature in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 best singers of all time.
Lotus ends intriguingly with Just A Fool, a bluesy duet with country singer Blake Shelton. Since launching her career 13 years ago, Aguilera has sold 30 million albums. By abandoning the dancefloor and exploring different genres, she could yet sell many more.
Getting back to basics: Christina Aguilera adopts a more traditional approach to her new album which she says is about 'self-expression'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2233737/Rihanna-unapologetic-wins-battle-divas.html#ixzz2CNy1Ex6q
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