Rihanna's "Loud" and we love her

If it weren’t for the grab bag feel it gives off in small measure, Loud would rival Good Girl Gone Bad without much argument from anyone. It’s a dynamic R&B and dance-pop record that feels neither tenuous nor overwrought, striking about as clever a balance as one can strike in today’s distracted music economy. The genre-hopping missteps certainly hurt, but overall, Loud is exactly the record Rihanna needed to make right now. Indeed, unlike the hack sexiness of Katy Perry and Ke$ha, the sensuality and compassion on Loud is believable, plenty so to make us forget about her all too public misfortunes. Something tells me Rihanna will be thankful for that.