The huge single ‘Umbrella’ gives the album an irresistibly catchy start which is followed by the provocative ‘Push Up On Me’. ‘Don’t Stop The Music’ stands out as a song to dance to, perhaps because the lyrics “mamma say, mamma saw, mamaco saw” are as ridiculous as “under my umbrella, ella ella eh eh eh eh eh-eh”. The intro to ‘Breakin’ Dishes’ is an instant reminder of Nelly Furtado’s ‘Maneater’ and has a similar theme, which seems like a powerful statement until you remember Rihanna is only 19. 

‘Shut Up and Drive’ features more repetitive lyrics and a similar dance beat but things slow down as Ne-Yo appears on the self explanatory ‘Hate That I Love You’ and the tempo continues through ‘Say It’, while a provocative feel and lyrics returns on ‘Sell Me Candy’ and only increases on ‘Lemme Get That’. 

Return to a slow rhythm, enter Justin Timberlake and ‘Rehab’ sounds like his ‘Cry Me A River’ meets ‘What Goes Around...Comes Around’. Fortunately the title is a metaphor rather than an actual reference to the facility where other young stars have recently been residing. The lyrics of ‘Question Existing’ are a lot less superficial than other songs on the album, a self critique using her real first name Robyn to make it seem personal. The album ends with the rather uninspiring ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’ which states “'cause once a good girl goes bad, we die forever”. 

Unlike Music of the Sun which Rihanna co wrote it appears she hasn’t done the same on this album, instead big names like Jay-Z, Timbaland feature frequently in the credits, four tracks also contain samples and elements from artists such as Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson. Although this is probably common practice in many areas of music including R&B it further enforces the feeling that Rihanna is just singing someone else’s songs. 

All songs sit in two distinct categories, except the last one, which are either slow or  dance, with ‘Umbrella’ being the most upbeat of all, while other notable tracks are ‘Don’t Stop The Music’ and ‘Question Existing’. Good Girl Gone Bad is catchy and provocative at times however overall it is a less than solid album, but given the current number of mediocre young male R&B artists this album may be enough to keep Rihanna on top for another 6 months.

Reviewed By: Emma Wilson
Available in-stores: NOW