Music This week

Rihanna’s latest album opens with a warning. Ladies and Gentlemen,to those among you whore easily frightened,we suggest you turn away now. To those who think they can take it,we say Welcome to the Madhouse. What with the ominous opening lines,the punk-goth cover art not to mention the scarily adult album name youd expect a monster of an album,where Amy Winehouse meets Cannibal Corpse. But what you get is Rihanna,more grown up and edgier,though not quite as exhilarating as she was in her 2007 album Good Girl Gone Bad.

The album is more interesting in a biographical than a musical,sense. This is a statement on the abuse she suffered at the hands of her former boyfriend Chris Brown. She gives free rein to the emotions she must have gone through. What you did to me was a crime,she says in Cold Case Love,while in Stupid in Love,she rails against her inability to break away from a destructive relationship. Russian Roulette compares love to the deadly game and features the singers soaring vocals. By far,the best song in the collection. It shows off her wide vocal range and is an astonishingly intimate reliving of her abusive relationship. Firebomb speaks of the wronged womans anger,desperation and helpless love as she says,I just wanna set you on fire so I wont have to burn alone.

Other songs are less deeply felt. Rockstar 101,where the Barbadian singer teams up with former Guns N Roses guitarist Slash (one can barely hear his riffs here),has her doing a tough girl act. Rude Boy,despite being one of the few up-tempo songs here,has Rihanna do a very poor Beyonce imitation.