Album Review: Anti by Rihanna

Let me get this out of the way: I find the artwork for this album particularly ugly. Okay, now that we got that out of the way...I dunno. This wasn't an album I was particularly excited to listen through. The songs I've heard so far don't really impress me. But, who knows? I feel like this is the last big album from 2016 so far I have yet to cover aside from Kendrick (which I'll get to at some point). If there's any others I've missed, feel free to let me know. Okay? Okay. Now, here goes. Rihanna's latest album Anti. 

1. Consideration (ft. SZA)
Rihanna's performance itself is actually good. The instrumentation on the other hand is kinda crap. Partly sounds like music in an NES shovelware game. It's also a little hard to tell the difference between SZA and Rihanna.

2. James Joint
And then we move to Sega Genesis bass. Is that gonna be a theme throughout this album? Anyway, this is short and weird, but it does come together nicely. It's engaging enough and Rihanna sounds great.

3. Kiss It Better
The guitars create an unsettling yet fascinating atmosphere. Rihanna's still pretty awesome on this song. She just throws herself into the music and lyrics and it creates an oddly fun song. So far my favorite on the album. Though it does run a little longer than I think it needs to.

4. Work (ft. Drake)
I feel like I've heard this song way more times than I need to. It's grown on me slightly. I still think it's a sloppy, boring mess, but it could be worse.

5. Desperado
This is dark, menacing production done right, as far as I'm concerned. For one it doesn't overwhelm the song, and Rihanna manages to match it while still sounding great. And people wonder why I hate The Hills so much.

6. Woo
Good god what is this? Drowning Rihanna and even the beat in autotune was just about one of the worst ideas the producers could have had. The guitar riff also sounds like it cuts out several times a second, which is annoying. This is really bad.

7. Needed Me
I still hate this. It's an improvement over Woo because Rihanna's at least trying. But the beat, the bass in particular, just murders this. It's not involved enough during the verses and overwhelming on the chorus. Kinda like The Hills! Okay fine I'll try to avoid bringing that song up for the rest of this review.

8. Yeah, I Said It
This one's just okay. The production should've been much more than it is and leaves very little impression. Even Rihanna's performance feels choppy throughout. But this one's just more boring than it is bad.

9. Same Ol' Mistakes
Now here's a song with a bass that actually has some groove! Novel concept, I know. It does feel a bit weightless, but Rihanna sounds fine enough. Overall there's more good than there is bad, though it's not perfect. It drags for one.

10. Never Ending
Here we get a stripped-back acoustic guitar song. Honestly, this is one of the best-produced songs on the album because it focuses more on a melody than on random stuff. It sounds freaking beautiful.

11. Love on the Brain
For me this softens back to the days of 90s soft rock and pop. Stuff like Dido, you know? And it actually works pretty well. The guitars are a little more muted than I'd like them to be at times, but it's beautifully composed and Rihanna puts on a good show.

12. Higher
This song does command a certain level of elegance and class. And you know, it's actually somewhat well done. It's a bit more abrasive than it should be, but hey, it's serviceable.

13. Close To You
And we end on a piano ballad. And a good piano ballad at that. It's vulnerable and tight. Pretty much the perfect end to this album.

Final verdict: This was better than I expected. Though it's a bit messy, it does have some consistent strengths. With the exception of a couple tracks, Rihanna's performances are great. Most of the production is appropriately dark, with varying degrees of success in execution. Despite its weaknesses, it did provide some stand-out gems.

Rating: 6.5/10
Best songs: Desperado, Close To You, Love on the Brain, Kiss It Better
Worst songs: Woo, Needed Me, Consideration