Friday, October 30th, 2009

Rihanna – Russian Roulette

Analogy time!…



[Website]
[6.60]

Dave Moore: The porno fake-guitar squeal intro suggests some 90’s meta-pulp flick centering on a softcore threesome (where is that Wild Things VHS?) but no, Rihanna is grim, grim, grim. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love for her to write the song about how being in an abusive relationship is like toying with death every day, but this song is way too literally about an actual game of Russian Roulette, with such groan-inducers as “you can see my heart beating through my chest” (no we can’t!) and “I know that I must pass this test” (no you mustn’t!) and and “it’s too late to think of the value of my life” (no it’s not!) and, and, and. I don’t necessarily expect playfulness from someone as resolutely humorless as Rihanna, but does she really not understand that there is no possible way for this not to read as a little campy? What hath Heath Ledger wrought?
[6]

Edward Okulicz: Out of the mouths of babes; after this song’s first play on my local radio station, the DJ asked a caller what they thought and they said: “It sounds like Roxette.” If only, though it is as deathly humourless. Anything Chris Brown does is going to be seen as odious in light of him being an abusive bastard, but we shouldn’t cut Rihanna and her writers slack for a dense fog of a production hiding nothing compelling whatsoever.
[5]

Chuck Eddy: The production is a stained-glass goth window, almost in the Mylene Farmer or Jeanne Mas sense. The vocal is so-what cabaret R&B that never quite engages. The words, if inspired by something newsworthy that happened in real life, feel artistically detached regardless — which is not necessarily a bad thing. The ending gunshot is a nice but unsurprising touch. The tempo’s too slow.
[7]

Kat Stevens: After a few years of phoned-in guest spots and automaton euro-dance hits, I’d almost forgotten that Rihanna was capable of the levels of emotion she once delivered on “Umbrella”. Her performance here is spine-chilling: shorn of auto-tune and nasal congestion, she sends the chorus soaring clear of the dark shadows only to return to a shivering but equally determined whisper. Both the subject matter and the predator-stalking production are a big risk for a 2009 comeback single — Rihanna could have easily played it safe with a electro’n’b copycat or something ft. Lil Wayne, and no-one would have blamed her — but luckily for us she likes games of chance. Shame about the wanky guitar solo at the beginning.
[9]

Alfred Soto: She’s singing better all the time, and someone should shoot whoever’s encouraged her. I don’t hear any vocal filigrees in this Beyoncé-esque track that match the controlled raunch of the opening guitar solo. Imagine Ri injecting herself into a contemporary “Maggot Brain.”
[5]

Martin Skidmore: The song is kind of scary, with a great killer line at the end of the second verse. I like Rihanna’s voice, and her strained tones work for the tension of the song, though the flattening on the last line of the chorus doesn’t work for me. Still, a genuinely compelling single.
[8]

Frank Kogan: Rihanna, who doesn’t have the lungs to go over the top, has found a way to do so anyway, using the part of her voice that’s a thick pool of ashes and then she’s absolutely unrelenting, “Unfaithful” even more than this. And although the Chris thing makes her seem genuinely at risk, there’s a part of me that treats this as camp and starts making wisecracks. When I hear her sing “Take the gun and count to 3,” my mind involuntarily proceeds to, “Or 4… on the floor”. But maybe that’s ’cause I’m nervous.
[8]

Anthony Easton: Slightly more problematic then the Crystals’ “He Hit me and It Felt Like A Kiss” — talks perfectly about the profound ambiguity of being in love with a boy who will do you nothing but harm; the self-awareness is what destroys one.
[8]

Alex Macpherson: Ever since her abandonment of dancehall, Rihanna has excelled most when performing increasingly dark ballads: the melodramatic “Unfaithful”, the shellshocked “Cry” and — most of all — the terrified “Haunted”, which is the most obvious precursor to “Russian Roulette”. It’s a beautifully paced and crafted single: a noirish processional in the verses, mills of God grinding slowly but surely with a straight-outta-808s tread, and a full-on theatrical set piece in the chorus. Rihanna’s stately pleading lends itself well to conveying the Victorian gothic heart that beats within — the hint of hysteria concealed under the ice, behind the shadows, in genuinely spine-chilling lines such as “that he’s here — means he’s never lost”.
[9]

Ian Mathers: Overly dramatic? Maybe (and we really didn’t need the resolution we get at the end – if it had stopped with the sound of the chamber spinning that would have been perfect), but “Russian Roulette” is also darkly suggestive of all kinds of interesting things, and from the subtext to the vocal performance to the production, it’s the best ballad Rihanna’s done yet. Having this be your first single back after being the kind of tragic tabloid fodder she’s been is a sign not just of a willingness to take your work to interesting, uncomfortable places: it also shows a lot of guts.
[8]

Matt Cibula: All the love and sympathy for the R, but this ballad could be outrun by an ankylosaurus.
[3]

Anthony Miccio: Ne-Yo didn’t give Rihanna a tearjerker so much as a soggy handkerchief, but that’s no excuse for getting upstaged by the bass.
[5]

Alex Ostroff: This is pleasant enough, I suppose, but for a project supposedly Rated R, it’s surprisingly tepid. “Russian Roulette” relies on the subject matter and the kitschy track-ending gunshot for shock value, rather than seeking out something genuinely compelling or dark. The consistently strong Good Girl Gone Bad earned Rihanna goodwill to spare, but also proves that she can, and has, done better.
[5]

Doug Robertson: A soulful, epic song, just begging to be performed on a darkened stage. Obviously with that incident still fresh in people’s minds, this could be weighed down by the search for double meanings in the lyrics, but ultimately lyrically this is a pretty standard “Falling in love’s a bit of a risk, eh!” song, and, while ultimately the song itself follows pretty a similarly familiar pattern, they’ve spent enough on the polish, and Rihanna herself manages to strike the right balance between bold and vulnerable, so as to lift it above what could, in other hands, be a quite average performance.
[6]

John Seroff: Obsessively and oddly literal, “Russian Roulette” offers up rattling bullets as castanets, a whirring pistol barrel and an ending marked by a single abrupt shot. As a theme for The Deer Hunter: The Musical it’s sensible; as the opening salvo from one of the year’s most anticipated pop albums, it is, shall we say, interesting? Is Rihanna comparing the suicide pact to an abusive relationship? If so, she’s going out of her way to veil the biography: I’m more inclined to chalk the song’s hyper-dramatic morbidity up to Ri-Ri’s “Disturbia” goth streak and the Halloween season. There’s a certain constant emotionlessness that removes her from this track. As with the best of Rihanna, “Roulette” is Broadway musical catchy, sliding off the ear cleanly and without bitter aftertaste. For a song about shooting yourself, that’s a tough order.
[7]

25 Responses to “Rihanna – Russian Roulette”

  1. THIS ISNT EMOTIONLESS

  2. Seemed that way to me.

    Frank K: I can’t hear the “i’m sweating now” line without mentally subbing “i’m sweating balls” for much the same reason.

  3. It’s tempting, but I’m not sure Chris Brown parallels are really appropriate…this kind of dark, obsessive take on relationships is one that Rihanna’s explored more often than not before. It’s not really a curveball in any way – though I definitely admire her for opting this type of comeback over the easy “better off without you” upbeat track, and not just because I don’t trust her taste in dance material any more.

    “Humourless” is an odd complaint to lay on a ballad about suicide. As great as “Unfaithful” was, I’m glad she’s progressed beyond that sort of hamminess. I mean, do you want jokes or something in this? Why can’t pop be serious?

  4. And yeah, it is definitely not emotionless.

  5. Wait, you think that “Russian Roulette” “progresses beyond hamminess”?! I think this one is way hammier than “Unfaithful,” which at least strikes me as legitimately disturbing (not sure on which levels, mind, but it’s basically a [10] anyway). The conceit alone basically is ham, and if she somehow did even an ounce of work to turn the conceit into a metaphor for something (not just Chris, as you say she’s been here before) I’d probably have a better idea of what exactly she’s going for. As is, it does strike me as humorless, (1) because it’s not about suicide, it’s about a game of Russian Roulette and (2) PORNO GUITAR, LEX. Also, plenty of it is ridiculous and super-self-serious at the same time, which rubs me the wrong way. Except when Shakira does it.

  6. PS, did we review the Spanish or English version of “She Wolf/Lobos”? Because Shakira totally out-Mariahed everyone this year with:

    “I’m starting to feel just a little abused like a coffee machine in an office / So I’m gonna go somewhere cozy to get me a lover and tell you all about it.”

    The English lyrics are stunning things, google them! (And that says nothing about how awesome the neo-disco-chintz is anyway.)

    Uh, so the point here is that Shakira can destroy Rihanna in a WTF-off, a self-serious-off, OR an emotion-off. All three at the same time, in fact. (Digging this Shakira album…)

  7. Kudos to Matt for probably being the only person in existence ever to use the word “ankylosaurus” in a music review.

    One last thing to irk Lex: “that he’s here — means he’s never lost” is maybe the worst line in the whole thing. The only thing it brings to mind (at all) is Christopher Walken at the end of The Deer Hunter, making money as a skilled brainwashee on the booming Vietnamese Russian Roulette circuit. (That was stupid, too.)

  8. We reviewed ‘Loba’ – the spanish version, which out-Mariahs even the English version, Dave. Although you are OTM about the Shakira album which is really something awesome.

    The roughly translated lyrics (apologies for length) to demonstrate that they are the ultimate in bonkers:

    “Who has never desired a werewolf goddess in the ardour of a romantic night? My howls are the call – I want a domesticated wolf. Finally, I have found a perfect solution to erase the guilt. I do not think I will stay by your side, watching TV and listening to excuses. Life has given me a voracious hunger, and you only give me candy. I am going out, with my legs and my youth, even if jealousy kills you.

    There’s a she-wolf in the closet, and she wants to get out. Let her devour the neighbourhood before you go to sleep.

    I have magnetic stillettos to drive the herd crazy. The moon, full like a fruit, neither gives advice nor listens to it. I bring with me a special radar to locate bachelors, and in case I get in a jam, I have the firemen’s phone number. Neither prettyboys, nor Divos, nor rich kids. I know what I want – to have fun and behave badly in the arms of a gentleman.

    (And the bonus third verse that the English version leaves out!)

    When it is almost 1 AM, the she-wolf, in heat, greets the moon, unsure whether to go down the street, or enter a bar to try her luck. She’s already sat down at a table and is has sight of her prey. Poor guy, caught off guard and not expecting something like this.”

    The second verse is pretty much intact, if much more awkward, but the first verse is a thing of beauty and I have a soft spot for the magnetic stillettos.

  9. If anything I’m baffled why the English translation was “Let it out so it can breathe” as opposed to ” Let it out so it can FEED”

  10. FYI, I will now pray to Shakira before I go to sleep. Trust not your false idols — Mariah’s pretending like a throwaway Lil’ Wayne one-liner is a chorus and SHAKIRA WILL DEVOUR HER. As I assume she lives in a neighborhood somewhere. Damn, if it wasn’t for Wyclef etc. (i.e. everything that isn’t totally batshit awesome) this would probably be my #2 album of the year after Dream, whose semi-bonkers (not in the same league tho) pathos I relate to a bit more.

  11. “Breathe” so she could do the sexy panting thing w/ a bit of exposition? (The non-Danish “Kun for Mig” over-literalizes and dulls down stuff, too, boo Anglophone hegemony.)

  12. ‘RR’ is neither WTF nor dramatic really; it’s more high school literary journal caliber goth poetry. She just wears it well.

  13. I don’t know about Shakira, I like the album fine and I can see exactly how and why she’s insane and amazing but she just doesn’t push me to that extra OMGOMG level where I become a quote machine à la Electrik Red. I’m just happy she’s there and then I never think about her.

    “Russian Roulette” doesn’t have any moment as ridiculously inappropriate as “I don’t wanna be – A MURDERERRRR!”, I think it’s genuinely chilling at points!

  14. You’ve read HS-literary-journal-caliber goth poetry that’s neither dramatic nor WTF?

  15. See. I love the Wyclef track. Ways it is also bonkers: Alternate universe James Bond theme. The way Shakira uses her voice to like…beatbox…but for horns? It’s like…a standard spy theme trumpet line but it’s vocalized and…gah. The disco strings, turned up to 100 from the subtlety of She Wolf. Wyclef’s rap is unfortunately mediocre, esp. compared to Hips Don’t Lie, but his production on the number is ace.

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  17. Def. right on about the disco strings. There’s one crazy line they do that blows my mind, didn’t even remember it was from the same track! (I think, IIRC, that the song itself has a pretty weird structure, that’s basically “let’s try this” on top of “let’s try that” but I need to listen again).

  18. OK, OK, that Wyclef song is awesome. More structured than I remember it tho. Should be sequenced earlier in the album, though, so it doesn’t suffer so much from WTFatigue.

  19. Have you guys seen the new Did It Again video? It’s even better than She wolf with its bedroom acrobatics and a Korean women’s drum band!!!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqhkTsZzL6s

  20. A majority underrated ‘Umbrella’ when it was released. They’re underrating this and they will underrate ‘Wait Your Turn’. Fact of life when it comes to this girl, I guess. They’ll come around.

  21. This may be so, but I loved loved loved “Umbrella” from first listen, and the same is true for “Take A Bow”, “Shut Up And Drive”, “SOS”, “If It’s Lovin’ That You Want”, and, er, pretty much most Rihanna singles. This one just sounds like a big overblown mess that doesn’t hang together at all well.

  22. “Take A Bow”, “Shut Up And Drive” and “SOS” suck though.

  23. WRONG

    I’ve never understood why everyone seems to hate “Take A Bow”. Okay, it’s derivative, but eh, it works. Also, “Shut Up And Drive” might just be a low-speed version of “Tout Ces Mots” by Nadiya, but I heard the lyric as “I’m a fine-toned supersonic spaying machine” and that counts for something… something other than R’s dodgy diction maybe.

  24. Ugh, I take like a week off from hating on everything and you give this one a pass? This is why this place needs me.

  25. save that hate for ‘good morning’