Whatcha Say: Rihanna-Palooza & Lana Del Rey’s ‘Paradise’ Got Readers Talking
Rihanna‘s 777 Tour stole all the headlines this week, but it was our Pop Report Card on her discography and her Chris Brown collaboration “Nobody’s Business” that everyone wanted to make their business. Not surprisingly, our reviews (and review roundups) of the big releases from Lana Del Rey, One Direction and Christina Aguilera also had you guys wearing out your keyboards. We’ve gathered this week’s best comments from all those posts and more, so read on, proud citizens of Pop City.
:: Evan took issue with the grades we handed out in Rihanna’s Pop Report Card: We Grade Her 7 Albums. “Rated R should not have been graded lower than Good Girl Gone Bad and Loud,” he wrote. “Just because it didn’t do as well commercially, doesn’t mean it was not the better album…Rated R was Rihanna’s most artistic and personal album and it’s better as a whole. Also, even though I’m a Rihanna fan, A+ is too generous a mark for any of her albums.”
:: Kaye went on an anti-RiRi screed after reading and listening to Rihanna & Chris Brown’s “Nobody’s Business,” which included this barb: “I’m interested in hearing her album, cause I admit she puts out some good music…but Rihanna the person. She is old news. Over-saturated. Resulting to this.”
:: In our review of Lana Del Rey’s Paradise, mikey put forth an intersting theory about the difference between Born To Die and the new EP. “If you look at the music she was making before the release of born to die (including video games) and the music she makes now it makes me think some producer just slightly messed up that album,” he said. “Most of the songs on there are actually really good and a lot of them have earlier versions that sound better but the production on that album makes them sound really dull and all the same.”
:: Philippe threw our Lana reviewer some love, quoting him and saying, “Holy. Toledo. You just made the reasons behind my 18-month Lana obsession painfully clear.”:: Russell Duckett, however, was none too pleased with our criticism of the most cringe-worthy lyrics on BTD: “For the reviewer to even make fun of her lyrics is ridiculous. Simple is complex because not every artist can do it.”
:: Our Review Revue of Christina Aguilera’s Lotus spawned a (healthy?) debate, with Adam saying Xtina “needs to go back to Linda Perry and DJ Premier… Keep Sia though, and bring back heather Holley and Robert Hoffman!!”
:: dooby threw an age-ist attack at our Take Me Home reviewer, saying “I truly dislike it when old people review songs targeted for young people because they just don’t get it! The album brings pure joy to Directioners everywhere and that’s all we care about! Old people like this reviewer will never understand that.” The bigger issue here, of course, is how does dooby know Sam’s age?!
:: Kara thought Lady Gaga was heading for a nadir after watching Lady Gaga’s “Cake” Teaser: “This is what jumping ship looks like, y’all. Observe it very carefully…It’s like she doesn’t even care anymore. She’s about to have a true ‘Glitter’ moment and I’mma laugh.”
:: While we were a little disappointed with the new Ke$ha track “C’Mon,” Sam (not to be confused with our elderly reviewer Sam Lansky) was all “C’mon, man!”: “I think I actually prefer this to ‘Die Young.’ Aside from the verses, ‘Die Young”s lyrics seemed a bit safer and sounded a bit too like Flo Rida’s ‘Good Feeling.’ ‘C’Mon’ is a bit more straightforward structurally and production-wise, but the verses sound way more like the actual Ke$ha.”
:: Kelly Clarkson‘s powerful new pop anthem “People Like Us” prompted Kaye to make another fiery comment: “This proves how sad Top 40 music is right now…No, not because of Kelly. But because of the LACK of Kelly. Get that Flo-rida crap off. The *new* Maroon 5 that has become a record label manufactured band. And put on some real pop/rock/dance music like THIS!”
:: Kelly Rowland’s hot “Ice” video was a hot topic, prompting Guest to rail against the clip’s promoscuity: “Well, she just keeps getting raunchier and raunchier and honestly I am highly disappointed…I tried to hang with Kelly and give her the benefit of the doubt, but I am now officially OFF this bus. When it becomes apparent that you will do ANYTHING for worldly success, you lose my respect and my support.”
Which stories had you talking this week? Let us know in the comments, or on Facebook and Twitter.
