Rihanna: Loud (2LP) [DEF JAM]

Why you'll love it

This 2LP set comes in a gatefold jacket. Loud topped the charts in Canada and the UK, sold more than 8 million copies worldwide and was the eighth best-selling album of 2011 around the globe.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Gatefold jacket

About the album

After the dark, stormy Rated R, Rihanna made a hard turn back toward the sun, and Loud is exactly what the title promises. She recorded it in 2010 while on tour and filming Battleship, working with Stargate, Sandy Vee, The Runners, Tricky Stewart and Alex da Kid, with L.A. Reid co-executive producing.

The hits are wall to wall. "Only Girl (In the World)" is a euphoric dance-pop rush, "What's My Name?" with Drake is smooth and flirty, "S&M" bounces, and "Cheers (Drink to That)" borrows a hook from Avril Lavigne's I'm With You. "California King Bed" is a big rock ballad, "Man Down" heads home to Caribbean reggae, Nicki Minaj jumps on "Raining Men," and Eminem returns for "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)."

It debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 with 207,000 copies, the biggest opening week of her career at the time. Seven singles from one album is the sort of productivity that makes our own to-do list look rather sheepish.

Also at Kops: more Rihanna on vinyl · browse Hip Hop / R&B

Tracklist

Listen

On Def Jam / SRP (cat# B0025453-01), a reissue of the 2010 album.