RihannaBest Rihanna Albums Ranked

ANTI

rollingstone

8.0

“For much of 2015, repeated delays and a lack of solid information started to make Rihanna’s Anti feel like pop’s mythical creature. Now that we know it’s real, we can hear the singer’s eighth LP for what it is: a sprawling masterpiece of psychedelic soul that’s far more straightforward than its tangled rollout. The three full years since 2012’s Unapologetic – the longest break between releases in ”

ANTI

exclaim

8.0

“While the sentiments of Rihanna's eighth studio album are multiple, and sometimes contradictory, the overarching theme is one of agency: the unilateral power to choose, to define, to determine. This downtempo, deterministic slant is the most intriguing aspect of ANTI — her first LP since 2012 — as it stiff-arms conformity, dabbles in nihilism and fuels itself by way of mood-shifting empowerment.  ”

Rated R

rollingstone

8.0

“The cover of the new Rihanna album features a severe black-and-white head shot of the star. She has her hand clapped over her right eye; her left eye, surrounded by a raccoon ring of mascara, glares back at the viewer. The context here is no secret: It is impossible to look at those eyes without […]”

ANTI

pitchfork

7.7

“Anyone hoping that ANTI might be Rihanna’s opus, some grand declaration of intent, is likely to be underwhelmed. ANTI is a fun and conflicted pop record, at its most interesting when it’s at its smallest and most idiosyncratic. If the album has a narrative arc, it’s about disappointment: the ways in which the people you trust can still come up short in the end, and how lonesome that can feel.”

Loud

pitchfork

7.6

“After responding to staggering emotional and physical trauma with the melodramatic Rated R, Rihanna returns to making effervescent pop.”

Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded

pitchfork

7.4

“Def Jam star and Jay-Z protégé's new album has a lot more to like about it than just its summer mega-hit "Umbrella".”

ANTI

vctreynoso

6.8

“Kiss it better being the best song on her entire career.”