RIHANNA - LOUD

[NeRD]

LOUD, the fifth album from international superstar, Rihanna, was released in November 2010.

To many, it was seen as "a return to form" at least regarding commercial success. The album spawned three Hot 100 #1s, two Pop #1s, an Urban Top 10. Other singles included Cheers (Drink To That) which was a Top 10 hit on Hot 100, and California King Bed, which reached Top 40. It has sold around 1.75 million copies in the US, and will likely overtake GGGB as her best-selling album in the UK (if it hasn't already).

Original plans had called for a re-release of the album, which was later scrapped for an enitirely new full-length studio album, Talk That Talk.

I just remember the domination like it was yesterday :'(


It seemed to be a fierce battle between Rih and Katy with every single release, and iirc, the S&M Remix was created to topple ET Remix from #1 on the Hot 100, giving S&M one week.

[Wave.]

YES YES YES for this era. "Raining Men", "Cheers(Drink To That)", "Fading", "What's My Name?" & "Man Down" were my favorites.
I still play 'em to date!

[Deleted]

This is probably her most dated album to date.

[Linnethia Monique]

Aug 18, 2015 15:38:06 GMT -5 Wave. said:

YES YES YES for this era. "Raining Men", "Cheers(Drink To That)", "Fading", "What's My Name?" & "Man Down" were my favorites.
I still play 'em to date!

I don't see Skin in that list. You lost.

[MiniMusic]

I love this album sm but the sound really does reek of 2010/11... Like it's an actual time capsule of that time in music and just in my life too tbh bc this dominated everywhere. I still live for Man Down and Skin. What's Your Name slayed too. Only Girl actually was always one of my least favs on the album, is that weird?

[Wave.]

Aug 18, 2015 16:29:35 GMT -5 Linnethia Monique said:

Aug 18, 2015 15:38:06 GMT -5 Wave. said:

YES YES YES for this era. "Raining Men", "Cheers(Drink To That)", "Fading", "What's My Name?" & "Man Down" were my favorites.
I still play 'em to date!

I don't see Skin in that list. You lost.

Tooo slow for me boo. I almost added "Complicated" though.

[wjr15]

I loved this album. It's the one that turned me into a Rihanna stan.

[Glove Slap]

I loved this era as a whole a lot more than I did the actual album. I hadn't been the biggest fan of Rated R, outside a few tracks that were among her best, especially with her side-stumbling "arty" pose. I just wanted her to get back to obliterating left and right, and this was it. I just personally really enjoyed her finally seeming to break through and establish her general presence in many ways. This was when her Rated R onwards performing strength increase finally met with the type of reception most of her previous #1 hits. In some ways, the OG-WMN one-two might actually be her peak of sheer popularity and positive reception. Although the TTT/U periods had some tracks that may not have done super well on their own, they didn't dull her celebrity one bit from this point on.

Revisionism may try to say it was Umbrella, and some might try to give Rated R credit that is not true, but really THIS was when she really hit megastardom. Rude Boy may not be super remembered, but the 1-2-3 of that being her first effortlessly big hit in a bit, then to one of the biggest songs of the year, and then delivering exactly what people had wanted from her for so long finally unlocked a level that she never really seemed to reach into. Umbrella definitely lifted her up, but there generally was no opinion of her as a personality, and the post-CB spokeswoman angle got dealt with a very mixed reception. But here, she was strong, consistent, believable, and most got with it. I remember her telling Billboard at the time of its release that her fans didn't really know her and that it was her goal to change that, but that is what pretty much happened.

Other heavyweights had come out since the GGGB domination days, but that didn't stop her from getting huge hits. Even if they weren't as big as say Katy's 2010-2011 monsters or something like RITD or Bad Romance/Tik Tok, Rihanna was huge, and would remain so. That she could score huge successes still with a new group of big pop acts after a difficult period with less consistency showed her longevity.

As for the actual album, I do think this is a milestone as far as her actual singing is concerned. More often than not, it's her who really makes material that isn't always the most creative or exciting on paper. For what it's worth, she sold whatever she was trying to sell a lot better than on Rated R, and possibly even GGGB. Other than that, it's really hit or miss. The tracks I still spin are WMN, Fading (Underrated), OG, Man Down, Complicated, and Skin (extremely underrated).

[FoolMoonz]

Jun 23, 2016 11:33:25 GMT -5 Glove Slap said:

Revisionism may try to say it was Umbrella, and some might try to give Rated R credit that is not true, but really THIS was when she really hit megastardom. Rude Boy may not be super remembered, but the 1-2-3 of that being her first effortlessly big hit in a bit, then to one of the biggest songs of the year, and then delivering exactly what people had wanted from her for so long finally unlocked a level that she never really seemed to reach into. Umbrella definitely lifted her up, but there generally was no opinion of her as a personality, and the post-CB spokeswoman angle got dealt with a very mixed reception. But here, she was strong, consistent, believable, and most got with it. I remember her telling Billboard at the time of its release that her fans didn't really know her and that it was her goal to change that, but that is what pretty much happened.

As for the actual album, I do think this is a milestone as far as her actual singing is concerned. More often than not, it's her who really makes material that isn't always the most creative or exciting on paper. For what it's worth, she sold whatever she was trying to sell a lot better than on Rated R, and possibly even GGGB. Other than that, it's really hit or miss. The tracks I still spin are WMN, Fading (Underrated), OG, Man Down, Complicated, and Skin (extremely underrated).

100% yes. I don't think it's musically her best, but as you said the era as a whole was pretty spot on. The singles were perfectly chosen, the music videos were all flawless, the media was literally praising her... this was basically the year that everyone loved Rihanna. I remember my stepdad saying back then that he actually enjoyed her three last singles (Only Girl, What's My Name? and S&M at the time) much to his surprise and that it seemed that she was finally becoming "an artist to take seriously" according to him. Say whatever you want but to me this was the first record of hers that really had an artistic personnality/deepness. As much as I love Rated R I really think she was still looking for herself with this one and she did find it with Loud. She kinda messed it all up with Talk That Talk and Unapologetic tho, they both were uninteresting and tasteless to me. Same for ANTI, I know she really wanted to give us a serious, more mature vibe but that didn't work in my opinion.

[Live Your Life]

There were some career highlights on this album for her ("What's My Name?", "Man Down"), but most of it sounds really cheap to me now. The red hair change was brilliant though; excellent branding.

[Choco]

I still like most of this album. What's My Name is one of her best singles to date, but I also really like Fading, Cheers, Only Girl and Man Down. S&M never clicked with me and CKB is still a bore.

[Ling-Ling]

This was an obvious and deliberate attempt to bring her back to the international singles stage after the tepid reaction to Rated R. It's always felt kind of cheap because of that. It doesn't work as an album at all, nothing really connects and makes this come together, it's really just a group of singles stuck together (even moreso than GGGB). It just wasn't her and looking back in hindsight, it's way more obvious now how much this album isn't her.

That being said, some of her career highlights are on here singles-wise and I don't hate any songs on it (although there is definite filler). And this is definitely the era that solidified her as an international superstar, so it was important. I just wish it came together to form a memorable experience. She looked so gorgeous during this era though too, that red hair. Ugh, iconic.

[Normi]

This era was so smooth
'Only Girl' #1 worldwide
'What's my name?' #1 US
'S&M' #1 worldwide
'California King Bed' Top 5 Europe and Oceania
'Man Down' #1 Latin America and parts of Europe
'Cheers' Top 10 wordlwide

And right after that WFL happened

Favorites: S&M, What's my name?, Only Girl, Man Down (they picked amazing singles off this)

[NeRD]

Jun 9, 2017 8:06:23 GMT -5 Normi said:

This era was so smooth
'Only Girl' #1 worldwide
'What's my name?' #1 US
'S&M' #1 worldwide
'California King Bed' Top 5 Europe and Oceania
'Man Down' #1 Latin America and parts of Europe
'Cheers' Top 10 wordlwide

And right after that WFL happened

Favorites: S&M, What's my name?, Only Girl, Man Down (they picked amazing singles off this)

Man Down also went top 10 Urban :)

[🇯🇲 lucy88 🇯🇲]

Love the album, era, and red hair! 🙌❤

[MilesW1998]

Love the singles, a few of the album tracks were okay, but Love The Way You Lie Part II was not all that good. I give this album a 7/10.

[kcdawg13]

A bit dated, but it's still a great pop record. Only Girl, What's My Name, S&M, Cheers, Man Down, and Skin are all fantastic tracks.

[Bwol]

Loooove this

[brady47]

Definitely her commercial peak.

She was on fire this era. Hit after hit.

Only Girl & S&M seemed like they could've fit Rated R, while Rude Boy seemed like it could fit "Loud"

[owenlovesmusic]

One of my favorite Rihanna albums. So many hits - Only Girl, What's My Name, S&M, California King Bed, Cheers, and many more.

[Mayman]

May 20, 2018 23:08:19 GMT -5 owenlovesmusic said:

One of my favorite Rihanna albums. So many hits - Only Girl, What's My Name, S&M, California King Bed, Cheers, and many more.

You can't forget the best song on the album, Man Down.

[owenlovesmusic]

Jun 9, 2018 16:22:55 GMT -5 Mayman said:

May 20, 2018 23:08:19 GMT -5 owenlovesmusic said:

One of my favorite Rihanna albums. So many hits - Only Girl, What's My Name, S&M, California King Bed, Cheers, and many more.

You can't forget the best song on the album, Man Down.

Of course!

[Deleted]

S&M
Man Down
Only Girl

I live for those 3

[#LisaRinna]

Disposable at best.

[Live Your Life]

Released 10 years ago today.

[back2blk]

I was a very resistant Rihanna fan until this album came out. She really elevated her style and swag this era, and I took notice, and have been a fan since.

[divasummer]

This album is/was great!!!
I was beyond into first single “Only Girl In The World”.
The chorus when the beat hits hard always gets me going.
“What’s My Name” was hot. So catchy.
I liked all the singles. It took me a second to get into “Cheers”, but I never hated it.
“California King Bed” was instant for me. I wish it did better.
Everything was basically a hit in my eyes eventually except for “Skin”. I never got into that track.
Great era and performances!!