Rihanna ft Jay-Z - Umbrella

the weird thing about the vox in this (and matt dc otm upthread) is that they are totally cleaved from any sort of R&B ... signifiers? her performance is utterly POP. disaffected

good song

not signifiers. affectations

I've long viewed Rihanna as a bit more pop than R&B.

Her vocals here remind me a bit of Mutya from the Sugababes - in fact it's precisely the sort of song Mutya could and should do.

yeah, I was gonna say, has Rihanna ever been very R&B? the only song of hers that I ever heard a lot on R&B radio was "Pon De Replay" and even that was like Disney dancehall that got played on VH1. if anything I think throwing Jay on this song feels like a desperate move to get her on urban radio where she's never gotten as much support as pop radio.

i kinda sorta like this song now but still don't think very highly of it.

i guess her first couple were dancehall specifically tailored for the r&b market (a la sean paul).

read horrid comment on popjustice forums from someone hoping she's "left the reggae behind forever" ugh.

oh yeah! she's uk no 1! well done rihanna.

read horrid comment on popjustice forums from someone hoping she's "left the reggae behind forever" ugh.

is this like when you say how much you hate ska?

no it's more racist

Black people made ska too you big nazi.

At least until Bill Oddie ripped them off c. 1981.

Oddie's 'Ornithology Skank' still sounds pretty good today!

"if its lovin that you want" seemed to get r&b play around here
yeah, the reggae inflected ones did in general i think!

i guess her first couple were dancehall specifically tailored for the r&b market (a la sean paul).

I don't really view Sean Paul (at least the Dutty Rock singles) as tailored for the r&b market, so much as a fluke success. I don't think you could have honestly pegged something as strange and foreign as "Gimme the Light" or "Get Busy" for a massive hit. They certainly sounded like nothing I'd heard before, in my Jamaican-less locale.

AinB: Most of Rihanna's singles have gotten big play on the (wack) urban station here, although it took them forever to pick up on "Unfaithful", and when they did, it had additional, unfitting 808 beatz.

I think this song is really, really boring.

This song sucks. When I first heard it I was all "Wow, Nelly Furtado really hasn't got any good singles left to release from her album".

Yeah, I almost mentioned that "If It's Lovin' That You Want" got a lot of mix show spins on urban stations, but it wasn't really much of a hit either way(although it's probably my favorite single she's done). I'm glad I never listened to any station that played "Unfaithful."

What does ska expert Mark Lamarr have to say about this week's chart-topping disc?

"not ska, not rockabilly, not northern soul, therefore is shit"

Thanks to TV's Mark Lamarr for his valuable critical input!

Mark Lamarr also likes anti-semitic hip-hop outfit Public Enemy.

"If It's Lovin" is still my sentimental favourite Rihanna track. Loved the beach video, and not just because of the hott boys.

Conversely, "IILTYW" seemed to be the one hit of hers that only got played on top 40 here.

"We Ride" got no play on either station, which is all well, as it is on the bunk side.

ear ere.

hey there's this other thread where i ask about the greater fucking sparkley context of this umbrellahellahellaheheheheh song and no one answers - so like knock yrselfs out

no lovers rock this time around :(

Okay, so far this album is GENIUS.

Rihanna can do no wrong right now IMO.

hang on the lil' mama rmx hasn't been mentioned once on this thread yet??? the magic school bus, peroxide, those screaming synths in the background magnified amazingly, "the umbrella representing my shoulders, i'm a soldier", and she shoehorns her name into the chorus - ELLA ELLA ELLA (M) AY (M) AY <3

maybe this link still works: http://www.zshare.net/audio/umbrella-remix-mp3-r7f.html

The album mix of Umbrella is about 28 seconds longer, and every second is worth it.

The album is truly spectacular.

yep, this sucks

yep, this trolls

sweeeet remix there lex, thanks for the link.

The song is pleasant enough but I don't understand the hype. Rihanna's voice is pretty unpleasant...the tracks sounds like a sample you get when you buy Autotune. xpost give this song to Mutya...would have been a lot more fun that way.

Listening to the album...Breakin' Dishes is great! The intro to Shut Up and Drive isn't very good, which is weird being that the song samples fuckin BLUE MONDAY ffs! There's a bit of a standard to live up to.

i am indifferent about umbrella, but the car as fuck metaphor of shut up and drive is the best of that genre since grace jones pull up to my bumper

The chord progression rip of Blue Monday is fucking BRILLIANT.

I think "Rehab" is definitely a highlight. Wonderful vocal melody in the bridge and chorus.

havent got much positive to say about this album - wouldve thought a general chunky boshing europop vibe would have something less grim to show for it. of its apparently rapturous reception i'll say no more. (file next to ellis bextor etc yeah? "yay")

'lemme get that' is hot tho! buns is what i got? BUNS IS WHAT I GOT! (well that's what i'm hearing.) and no coincidence its the only one closest to a caribbean carnival. perhaps my darling polow is responsible?

I think "Rehab" is definitely a highlight. Wonderful vocal melody in the bridge and chorus.

-- Matt Armstrong,

never heard 'what goes around'?

I'm totally in love with Breakin' Dishes!! It's Maneater, except fun.

"I ain't demented,
well, just a lil bit"

"I'm roasting marshmallows on the fire,
and what I'm burnin', is your attire"

Is this any better than her first two albums? They were zzzzzz.....

ha ha i fergot about this here thread too. i am rub at using ilx.

so yeah, ditto. loving the album so far.

'lemme get that' kinda reminds me of 'london bridge' for some reason

"never heard 'what goes around'?"

50 times or so. They're similar songs in a lot of ways, but the vocal melodies are pretty far apart.

A bigger coincidence: they're both really good.

"if anything I think throwing Jay on this song feels like a desperate move to get her on urban radio where she's never gotten as much support as pop radio."

i guess it's working cuz i hear this shit on hot 107 every day

my only opinion on the song is that i would bang the hell out of this broad and also that lex is a homo

yeah i believe the lex is homosexual, kudos

uncanny!

i thought lex was just a really irritating str8 dude, my bad. i love real homos (no homo) (jk yes homo)

funny guy

hang on, do ppl find that pic on the umbrella single cover sexy? even though she's wearing massive control pants?

I belive that's a one-piece swimsuit (with a tank over it) and the answer is yes.

No one's answered my question: will I like this if I thought her first two albums sucked?

I belive I can fly

So... "Don't Stop the Music" is freakin' incredible. Anyone?

Absolutely. And so is "Sell Me Candy." This is so much better than I expected and that was knowing I loved "Umbrella."

'lemme get that' is hot tho! buns is what i got? BUNS IS WHAT I GOT! (well that's what i'm hearing.) and no coincidence its the only one closest to a caribbean carnival. perhaps my darling polow is responsible?

haha is timbaland. i love it too though! also finding 'question existing' oddly compelling.

'rehab' written by timba and justin, who does backing vox.

yr joking!!

well done danja.

i totally did not expect to uncover a weird ruefulness in that song on further listenings - "the truth is i would love you the same / but why complain, he buying gucci [somethings][frames?]" and then the random big floaty bridge with "nothing is free in this world / unless my love is your love"

dunno, this album might be growing on me.

No one's answered my question: will I like this if I thought her first two albums sucked?
No one's answered my question: will I like this if I thought her first two albums sucked?
No one's answered my question: will I like this if I thought her first two albums sucked?
No one's answered my question: will I like this if I thought her first two albums sucked?
No one's answered my question: will I like this if I thought her first two albums sucked?
No one's answered my question: will I like this if I thought her first two albums sucked?

Well, I haven't heard her first two, but those I know who have heard them and this one say this one is roughly 100000000000000000 times better than her first two albums. Although 100000000000000000 x 0 is still 0.

I like it...I don't even like Umbrella that much but I find the album to be solid, with some great high points (Shut up And Drive, Breakin' Dishes, Don't Stop the Music) and only a couple of truly dross numbers (Question Existing, the duet with Ne-Yo).

"No one's answered my question: will I like this if I thought her first two albums sucked?"

I've only heard the singles to her first two, but I didn't like those singles, and I love all the potential singles on this one.

I'm not sure it's really a departure in terms of sound; the songs may just be better.

So... I'd bet you'll like it.

FWIW I don't hear much elemental in it - in fact the worst thing about the record is the "umbrella" metaphor. It doesn't sound like Rihanna's protecting her man with an umbrella, it sounds like she's protecting him with a gleaming barrier of murderous robot syllables.

-- Groke, Wednesday, April 4, 2007 12:39 PM (1 month ago)

Hmm - I'm wondering if "stand under my umbrella" might be a metaphor for something else. The video does subtly hint at it...

I love the music video. Does anyone else find the song itself, though, horribly blah?

No one's answered my question: will I like this if I thought her first two albums sucked?

i didn't think either of the first two were exactly masterpieces of consistency, but so far i prefer both of them to the new one.

no one's answered your question cos that's not enough information. well for me.

haven't quite formulated a proper opinion on the new album, anyway, but i know this: 'umbrella' aside, the second half >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the first half

Lex I had a feeling you might not like it! Is it too UK pop? It strikes me as being the album Popjustice would want R&B artists to make.

This is not necessarily a bad thing - I've only listened once and so my opinions still exist in some unformed space beyond good and evil.

oh i haven't made up my mind whether i like it or not - i do like 'shut up and drive' a lot more than i thought i would. the cumulative effect of tracks 2-5 isn't so hot though; neither is the rapturous reception compared with rihanna's other two albums.

it's not an r&b album in the slightest.

Ha ha yeah the rapturous reception is a bit OTT. Sometimes I think an unbroken run of uptemp tracks on the first half of any R&B album just excites people automatically.

The first Rihanna album is pretty good! What's there to dislike? Apart from the singles and the reggae tracks, there's the great lover's reggaeton of the title track, the clanking "That La, La, La", the simply gorgeous winsome "There's A Thug in my Life"... Granted I don't listen to this album much, but I always enjoy it when I do.

The second album is weaker, yes, but "Unfaithful" is great and I really like "Kisses Don't Lie" - most of all, though, the awesome folk-ballad of "Final Goodbye", which is such a mindfuck.

I KNOW! i think i must have listened to 'final goodbye' about 10 times, assuming it was a sad ballad about, you know, saying goodbye, and then i listened to the lyrics and it's this wonderfully tender declaration of love, now and for the foreseeable future, complicated only by the narrator's obsession with...her mortality?!

i mean, neither of rihanna's albums have been bad in any sense other than "outside of the great songs, which make up the majority of the album, there is some filler"

A Girl Like Me just seems a bit ill-judged strategically between them the ballads and reggae tracks swamp the album, and while they're fine in themselves they make it seem like the album lacks anthems (I'm ambivalent about "SOS" but really there's no excuse for "Break It Off" not being better than it is).

I love the music video. Does anyone else find the song itself, though, horribly blah?

-- Mordechai Shinefield, Friday, 25 May 2007 09:00 (5 hours ago) Link

I find that it sounds good at first but gets boring halfway through, like it's not enough of a musical idea to carry a song. Still want to hear the album though.

Jay-Z looks awkward as fuck in the video, just like he did in the last few.

Haven't seen the video but I love this single. KC writer Danny Alexander has a thoughtful take on it here.

"She walked in da office, played me da tape, she look good, signed her dat day."

Typing it out really doesn't do it justice, but I love Howard Stern's description of Jay-Z telling him about the day he signed Rihanna.

yes, thankyou for bringing pj's name into this - i wz obviously gagging to do it but these days it just lacks novelty coming from me.

will get angry if i start comparing this to music of the sun, so i won't. suffice to say it is a huge favourite, and that people are useless.

(I'm ambivalent about "SOS" but really there's no excuse for "Break It Off" not being better than it is)

i have a real fondness for resolutely generic 'break it off'. it doesn't sound like anything else on AGLM which helps, on an actual sean paul album i suspect it would pass by unnoticed

Rihanna's first two albums aren't bad by any means, they just... like... besides the obvious singles and one or two other songs there's nothing special about them. They seemed really tossed-off, whereas this album is excellent all the way through and has tons of standout tracks. I'm surprised that you don't like "Push Up On Me" lex, it sounds right up your alley!

There is a bit of a divide between the first side, which is more retro POP and the second side which is more R&B/Pop circa-2007... My favorite song on the album is probably "Say It"... or "Breakin Dishes" ... Really, the songs may be "pop" but they still have that Rihanna "island flavor", which brings them to a totally different place.

the album is fucking fantastic!

"Umb-er-ella-ella-ella-ey-ey-ey" vs. "man, a man, a ma-hee-ha-ha-hayan"

I choose:
"blowww dis blowwwwww dis ho... blow dis blowwwwww dis i'mma blowww dis blow dis ho"

PS - I realized today that R. Kelly's "Real Talk" is a response to "Breakin' Dishes." "You gonna do WHAT to my attire???" (This is why it's hot.)

I've got a phoner with her next week! Zoinks!

I choose:
"blowww dis blowwwwww dis ho... blow dis blowwwwww dis i'mma blowww dis blow dis ho"

i really hate that bit because it should be so good and is so...not

(apply to entirety of 'breakin dishes' really)

"Don't Stop The Music" sounds like it's going to burst into "La Isla Bonita" at any moment.

Remixes are out:

Rihanna feat Jay-Z - Umbrella Remixes (2007)
1. Umbrella (The Lindbergh Palace Dub)
2. Umbrella (The Lindbergh Palace Radio Edit)
3. Umbrella (Seamus Haji & Paul Emanuel Radio Edit)
4. Umbrella (Seamus Haji & Paul Emanuel Club Remix)
5. Umbrella (Jody Den Broeder Lush Radio Edit)
6. Umbrella (Jody Den Broeder Lush Club Remix)
7. Umbrella (Jody Den Broeder Destruction Remix)
8. Umbrella (Jody Den Broeder Destruction Radio Edit)

Umbrella (Seamus Haji & Paul Emanuel Club Remix)

this one is my pick of the litter.

besides the obvious singles and one or two other songs there's nothing special about them

Exactly what I thought of her first two, but that equals "bad" to me, although they both have their moments, the first moreso than the latter. Actually, to be fair, the first is alright. I should relisten. I can't imagine going back to A Girl Like Me, though.

this album sounds 4843393 times better when one is drunk

"Breakin' Dishes" is great...just like "Ring the Alarm" and "Oh," it's best at really high volume.

I love the Youtube comments on the music video:

"w.e she can fucken sing and shes acting like herself shes fucking good. You dont know whos good. U prolly like oprah bitch. If you cant say nttn good bout her than dont fucken say anything k damn. i dont like the hair tho. j.k"

"yet another objectification of women"

"i love you Rihana God bless you sexy girl"

"ummm yea you know she could have made a really great music video with the idea of a couple going through hard times and her helping him out or whatever, but instead the whole video is just her having sex with an umbrella. really NOT a great video in my opinion"

The Lil Mama remix puts this in best o' the year reaches.
http://www.zshare.net/audio/202359896a718c/

ok i've got off the fence! there are some brilliant songs on this: lemme get that, the title track, cry, question existing, shut up and drive.

the rest kind of sucks.

finally heard this song.

love the buzzing, digital metal type guitarish keyboard thing that's going on....maybe some good came out of that Linkin Park/Jay-Z album after all?

jay's verse is pretty much garbage, the song was great on it's own, it just seems to be clogging up the works....love the weird way she says um-burr-ella with an extra syllable!

Come let's mix where Rockefellers
Walk with sticks and um-bur-rellas...

song is now #1 in america, fwiw.

still say the hi-hat spash on the 1 is the key to this song.

Lex to thread to explain what's wrong with dance pop plz.

nothing really! doesn't suit rihanna though and the songs are just...not great. static. forgettable. they don't lift off like dance pop should.

love love love 'lemme get that' and the (v conflicted, v odd) title track though!

i don't know whether i'm happy or sad that it's not BUNS IS WHAT I GOT but BONDS IS WHAT I GOT

I'd incline towards "sad" since BONDS IS WHAT I GOT makes her sound like Alan Sugar.

In the middle of the this...It's great! And I haven't even gotten to the tracks lex likes!

You know, it's easy to criticize her for releasing albums every year, but I really think she's grown with each one. I mean, sure, she's picked up better producers along the way, but vocally, I think she sounds more controlled and confident.

OHHHH and "Hate That I Love You" is soooooo Stargate (that used to be a compliment).

the this

I'm too lazy to see if someone posted this, but ctrl+f+blige did nothing:
FROM Telegraph

Robyn Rihanna Fenty has already had worldwide summer hits in 2005 and 2006, and she's about to have another one in 2007.

Rihanna: looks great, sounds divine and dances like an angel
She can remember the day she first heard this year's - not least because it was only three months ago. She also recalls discovering that rapper-mogul Jay-Z was a guest vocalist on the song, Umbrella, which is currently the UK's number one single. That news was revealed to her on February 21, the day after her 19th birthday. The intervening 10 days offer a window on how successful pop-R&B anthems are put together.

"It was so crazy," recalls Rihanna when I meet her in London, "because that particular record, it was a battle to get it."

On February 10, Rihanna was nearing the deadline for her third album in two years. Her debut, as a teen starlet from Barbados, contained one of the defining club songs of 2005, Pon De Replay. The follow-up featured last year's summer smash SOS, which sampled Tainted Love.

In early February, Rihanna was informed that a new song had been sent to her US label, Island Def Jam. Umbrella was apparently intended for a new girl group; the R&B smoothie Akon was also rumoured to have "auditioned" it. Then she learnt that Mary J Blige was also listening to Umbrella. As Rihanna puts it, "any songwriter would die for her to sing one of their songs. So I just prayed that we got it. It was perfect for me - it had a West Indian groove."

By chance, at a Grammy Awards party the next night, Rihanna ran into one of the three songwriters behind Umbrella. "I went up to him: 'Listen, Umbrella is my song.' He must have thought I was really pushy and laughed it off. But I held his face and I turned it back to my own: 'No, I'm serious: I need Umbrella.' Two days later we found out the song was mine."

A few days after that, Jay-Z decided he would rap over the intro to her freshly recorded version. "I was so honoured," she says.

SOOOO happy Blige didn't get it.

Or God forbid AKON!

"ummm yea you know she could have made a really great music video with the idea of a couple going through hard times and her helping him out or whatever, but instead the whole video is just her having sex with an umbrella. really NOT a great video in my opinion"

:D

The thought of Akon doing the "ella ella eh eh" part is filling me with nausea. And it's so easy to imagine, too!

What's wrong with this is that she has adopted Victoria Beckham's look.

"Lemme Get That" better be a single! It makes me dance.

I'm crossing my fingers a mix w/o Jay-Z on top will surface eventually.

not Victoria Beckham:

http://stomptokyo.dreamhosters.com/keiichi/images/flux2.jpg
http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j258/daveyxhavokxisxlife/mmmm.jpg

Okay this album is great and I love the first half but Lex is kind of OTM about it not quite suiting her voice (Push Up On It especially). In fact, huge swathes of the first half sound like the producers had got bored waiting for Britney to get well and thought "ah, fuck it, we'll give them to Rihanna".

Is "Shut Up and Drive" a cover? It sounds awfully familiar. (Possibly it's had radio play recently, but I don't think that's the cause of the ringing bells.)

Is it familiar because it's about 50% Blue Monday?

I was thinking more Shania Twain myself.

"I'm crossing my fingers a mix w/o Jay-Z on top will surface eventually."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25pfG6j-cuw

She makes Ciara sound like Whitney Houston. She's a total zero. The beats are ok but they're sucked into the black hole of her larynx.

"Man I Feel Like A Woman," maybe? A little bit in the intro, perhaps.

01. Umbrella (Seamus Haji & Paul Emanual Club Remix)
02. Shut Up and Drive (The Wideboys Club Mix)
03. Breakin' Dishes (Soul Seekerz Remix)
04. Don't Stop The Music (The Wideboys Club Mix)
05. Question Exisiting (The Wideboys Club Mix)
06. Hate That I Love You (K-Klassic Remix)
07. Push Up On Me (Moto Blanco Club Mix)
08. Good Girl Gone Bad (Soul Seekerz Remix)
09. Haunted (Steve Mac Classic Mix)
10. Say It (Soul Seekerz Remix)
11. Cry (Steve Mac Classic Mix)
12. SOS (Digital Dog Remix)

^^ highly disappointing uk bonus disc

has anyone commented on the makeup company sponsored video? (which logically enough looks just like a make up ad)

The only bad songs are the ballads.

Has anyone heard the remix with Chris Brown doing half the song? I only wish someone else did this song originally...I would have liked it a lot more...

you could be cinderella-ella-ella?

yeah... correcting the word so the 2nd syllable makes sense is kinda unfun tbh.

'umbrella' is the only song on the album i can't imagine anyone else doing better. wanting a more emotional performance or whatever is wanting a different song.

The only bad songs are the ballads.

that's not true at all. "Question Existing" has become my favourite track. Lex was right about it. It's the new "Unfaithful" in that it's lush but quietly outrageous in nonchalantly equating infidelity with murder. "Breakin' Dishes" is great and outrageous as well, but it't too obvious.

I mean the spoken word Dear Diary part is astonishing for many reasons. For one the lyrics are hilarious: "Entertaining is something I do for a living it's not who I am... I think I sssuck sometimes... I don't know who wants to date me for who I am..." But really Rihanna's performance is impeccable - she could easily have overdone it, despite its shameless I'm a poor pitiable popstar posturing, I actually believe her.

I love this song. It'd be great if she did it live with just her and jay z, a drummer and a keyboard player.

I just reviewed this, but the publication is holding it for a week. booo.

But, yeah, I loved it. My favorites = "Umbrella," "Lemme Get That" and "Question Existing." The worst is easily that Ne-Yo ballad. "Rehab" is forgettable, too.

hey this album is pretty good

"question existing" is so great...until her monologue near the end

I just started listening to "Umbrella" yesterday and it's fantastic! The Jay-Z part is terrible---a branding move I suppose to include it. But the synths make this song, they're so majestic, and whatever Rihanna's voice lacks in expressiveness, the synths fill that in. Anyway I'm not saying anything others haven't said, but I'm smitten.

Dearest little Chris Brown,

Do fuck off.

Sincerely,
Your friend,
The Reverend

OMG I love the Jay-Z-free mix. Yeah, now I'm really on board. Umbrella on baby.

I'm addicted to the album version..."It's pouring rain, ooh baby, It's pouring..."

So wait,,,, what is the umbrella supposed to represent? I'm confused.

How great is the Lil' Mama remix in which she spells out L-I-L M-A-M-A (Ella I Ella Ehm ay ehm ay) in the umbrella ella ella ay ay style? I die for it!

UMBUBERELLA! an extra syllable for every new rmx please

I do indeed enjoy the Lil Mama mix primarily because she put about a thousand times more thought into her verses than Jay-Z did into his craptastic intro on the originelaelaelaela.

"what is the umbrella supposed to represent?"

shield for two people during a golden shower menage a trois

this album is really excellent. well the first half is impeccable i think. im just listening to it properly (only been listening to various tracks in jumbled order before) now. the use of the MJ sample is quite genius!

ella ella eh eh eh ... to infinity

the use of the MJ sample is quite genius!

QFT

A lot of the first half of the album is really enjoyable but seems sort of clumsy in its execution. The second half feels far more 'natural' - 'Sell Me Candy' is the underrated gem here.

I guess I'm a bit late to the thread here, but having heard pieces of this song on the radio over the past couple of months, I'm still wondering what all the fuss over this song is about. It just seems kind of grating.

this sucks

No.

If it's grating to you I think that's just your own ear, because to me this is the best single I've heard this year, hands down. Not that you can't like it, of course, but I'm saying there's a reason people are really enthusiastic about it.

There's a mash-up of this with the Freemasons' "Nothing But A Heartache" and it is SO. GOOD. And this is coming from someone who doesn't think the original is really all that. Link is here, it's called "Umbrella (Pytski's Freemasons Heartache Mix)".

Boo frames. Here's the link to the page.

Not a fan...This remix strips away all of the original's meaning.

I was thinking about this the other day..."Umbrella" is quite a bit like the sister single to Robyn's "With Every Heartbeat." Sure, both are nice and catchy, and for that reason alone, they deserve to be hits. But for me, it's the emotional aspects that make them so captivating...and it's not just the vocal performances that are amazing and powerful. I find the instrumentals just as beautiful.

Whenever I listen to WEH, it seems as if every little note has some important significance. And I get that same feeling with "Umbrella" and its chord changes/snare hits...So, I guess it's for that reason that I haven't found a good remix of either (including that godawful Chris Brown one).

*hi-hat, i don't knowahsdfksdjf

Umbrella, Mandy Moore-ized: http://music.yahoo.com/promo-42778155-53-20070813

Thoroughly weird but Mandy's cute.

I find Rihanna to be a complete robot, devoid of any traces of personality, and I can't imagine finding any meaning or emotion in anything she could ever sing.

I also loved the mix with Chris Brown.

When did Mandy turn into an annoying rockist? David Sides' cover is still the best.

Wonder what that microphone cover smells like? Pepsi?

just when i think i've had enough of this song the reggae remix(es) come along

I don't think I've heard one remix I liked which sped up the vocal, so reggae has potential.

*hi-hat, i don't knowahsdfksdjf

yes. hi-hat on the one is at least 80 percent of the point of this song, so any remix that dispenses with it is an ASSAULT ON REASON.

s0ul rebels brass band doing this tune:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stY3Nv0X1Is

http://entertainment1.sympatico.msn.ca/Britney+Passed+On+Umbrella/Celebs/Dramarama/ContentPosting_Dramarama.aspx?isfa=1&newsitemid=513fbac8-adf2-43d3-9d07-d74d15503dfe&feedname=RYAN_PORTER_GOSSIP&show=False&number=0&showbyline=True&subtitle=&detect=&abc=a

Shit still sucks.

Rihanna may actually be the least sexy person in pop right now, including the dude from Maximo Park.

I love the arrogance of "Britney didn't take our calls, so clearly she's not interested in her career".

I'm certain that the Britney/Umbrella connection is untrue...it's common knowledge that it was shopped around to R&B singers, aka not including Britney, and Britney's name has only popped up recently while everyone's known about the MJB connection since the song first debuted. Plus, a friend at Jive tells me it's BS, which I would believe anyway.

And as the article implies, everyone is dying to work with Britney, so she's going to end up turning down tracks from lots of hot shots as she narrows down her options. Sheesh.

Rihanna was the best choice.

I hate how almost every cover/remix messes with the bridge; that's the most perfect part!

That's why I LOOOOOOVE this one

i don't hate you tape store.

You're crossing boards!

i am teh banned from noize.

does anyone remember which remix of this was pretty straightforward except it cut-out the jay-z verse and had an extended outro that wasn't just more than the beat (if i remember correctly)

swedish rapmetal cover here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PeEaNzg4os&feature=related

That wasn't official, right? Either way, you only need the album version. I agree with lex re: jay-z's verse

Same here.

Steve McLaren RIP

I haven't heard any of the other covers of Umbrella, and these things are usually awful, I know, but I was listening to the radio the other day and was ambushed by unexpected emotion when a version by a band called Mechanical Bride came on.

Paste this address into RealPlayer's "Open Location" and it should be there at 1hr1m50secs or so, for the next couple of days, at least:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/shows/rpms/radio1/dabank.rpm

Oh, it's on the Mechanical Bride myspace page too.

hell to the yeah

Ugh. I don't think I'd like that even if I wasn't familiar with the original. Piano xanax.

The worst is easily that Ne-Yo ballad.

I was wrong.

not really, it is the worst song but it isn't bad it's just generic.

the first half is boring, but that second half w/ all those amazing harmonies?? That raises it above a couple other GGGB tracks.

"Don't Stop The Music" is the first single I've heard off of this album that deserves the hype/kudos being flung at Rihanna.

is that version of "please don't stop the music" in the uk charts a remix? it's good and she's cute in the video. even so dan is rong as "umbrella" is STILL an amazing song.

HAI GUYZ HAVE YOU HEARD WHO RIHANNA IS PERFORMING THIS TRACK WITH AT THE BRITS?

Clue: dude who started this thread is gonna be all :-( about it.

you?

Gary Puckett and the Union Gap?

Says Klaxons frontman James: "It's been a bit of a funny one because she's in America and we're over here."

I for one can hardly wait for Paul McCartney's climactic performance of his new single.

http://music.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2257782,00.html

This is going to be very funny indeed.

omg Disturbia is totally fierce

take a bow

worst song ever.

so rong

that's my favorite belting song right now!

it's a bleh version of 'cry'. still ok though

'haunted' is properly amazing though

I like "Take a Bow".

madonnas take a bow was better.

true

that's my favorite belting song right now!

-- Tape Store, Wednesday, July 9, 2008 2:51 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

you like everything

true

-- The Reverend, Wednesday, July 9, 2008 3:58 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

"you like everything"

No.

I totally despised this song until i heard Priscilla Renea's version, which isn't even that much better than the original. Maybe it's her little hand motions or her voice. But it's probably because I'm attracted to recordings with a lo-fi (read: shitty) sound quality.

Reading upthread, I have to admit feeling shocked and alienated by the fact that the "ella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh" part of this song only seems to send ME into a numb rage every time I hear it. Maybe my ears need to be reset.

I find this only slightly more annoying than the million pop songs a few years ago that were forced by law or something to prominently feature "uh oh" throughout, creating an illusion that the world's three year olds all simultaneously dropped their sippy cups.

Usual Challops

I just (!!!) heard this song last week for the first time and thought it was pretty melancholy despite the mock-confidence in the lyrics. Also, she's cuet. :-D

!!!!

UC the ella ella ella ey ey etc is a running joke i think

otherwise shasta otm, its a great song

Okay And What; guilty, I guess. I have trouble warming to vocals that sound so seriously affected.

Deeznuts--thanks for not bashing back--I agree that otherwise, the song is good.

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ronald mcdonald wacks off to this shit....I LOVE DIS SONG

Also, she's cuet.

Yes. And a helluva song.

I like "Take a Bow".

-- The Reverend, Wednesday, July 9, 2008 8:24 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

madonnas take a bow was better.

-- titchyschneiderMk2, Wednesday, July 9, 2008 8:51 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

but i do like take a bow. it's soooo simple. disturbia i'm not so sure.

DISTURBIAAAAAAAA

take a bow is so bad and boring

take a bow is cool, I like it more for the lyrics than anything tho

i like all the zingers in take a bow

disturbia rules though!!

"Disturbia" is my #1 summer jam.

I'm really happy they released "Rehab" now. I was disappointed with it last year, but now that I've distanced myself from "What Goes Around..." it's my favorite song on teh radio.

this is still the best female R&B album of the last few years. perfect in so many places.

lol

:)

I'm loving this new song of hers "Hating On The Club". Such a pretty melody, and I love how it sounds kind of like a throwback to girl-groups without sounding retro...

Plus the lyrics are funny given the recent drama...

oh wow, the way it takes off in the middle 8! loving this.

and yeah if i were a cynical record label exec i would def be planning for this to be the next single...

"recent drama"

on a similar note it's good that the ever-ready PCDs have been pressganged into re-recording 'bad girl' - not only is the scherzinger's supervillain frenzy better suited to the song, but it means i can listen to it w/out getting all :( about cbreezy

yeah if they release this song now it will be the biggest hit of her career

2nd biggest

it actually has been getting a little radio play as has "bad girl"

this is awesome esp. when it goes into the "this is the sound of a broken heart" part

"Bad Girl" is a problematic song for Rihanna, it's good that they gave it to someone else. She sounds enough like a sheep without being given a chorus that goes "baa-ba-baaaaa."

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v134/tracerhand/JustlikeIsrael.png

otm

Oh that Ms. Allen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--ULzSO1Wjo

LOVE THIS

new rihanna record happens to debut in a few minutes, will listen and report back

do people even say "record" anymore?

omg

i don't know, i use "record" very sparingly

ew it's a ballad

ok "ew" is not a good reaction

did you like "unfaithful"? it reminded me of it quite a bit and that's my least favorite rihanna sound.

ehhhh

her voice sounds really dumb on that song

The new song is brilliant.. Not like Unfaithful at all. It's a ballad that doesn't find it necessary to lump on every kind of song, but it has an incredible, opressed, doomed mood to it.

SOUND*, not song

cool, I'll have to listen once I can get to a computer

and I liked "unfaithful" so

liking this a lot!

i'm not really :(

i guess i wanted something bigger from rih right now, this is meandering and sorta formless and boring, maybe itll grow on me

ddlovato LOVE Rihanna's new single.. so dark and haunting.
5 minutes ago from web

cosigning demi

of rihanna's back catalogue it reminds me most of a more populist version of the astonishing "haunted"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS_DNB5s1y8

think it's lame that they are continuing her dominatrix image w the screwed up nail & barbed wire... dress but have the song be some weepy ne-yo thing that has been written 56 times already. the single should've been on some head-basing "umbrella" pt 2 tip.

this cant be the single. seems like a low key leak thing. its a good song, i just dont like the kanye/808s-type production.

it's a bit too "musical setpiece" to be just another ne-yo track

for the past year i've wanted to like rihanna's image, but i haven't really been able to feel it

think it's lame that they are continuing her dominatrix image period...girl was so cute and sunny in 2005, why'd she have to go all grace jones. (xpost)

she should become a sunny dominatrix

YES

this song sounds like very middle of the road at this point

i really like Take A Bow - it has grown a lot for me! it's SO simple, with barely anything there beyond what's necessary. but the production is so clean and this is not necessarily a bad thing. i think it's sort of consciously quiet, and playful too. almost a whisper of a song.

Umbrella came on at my college reunion and it was like WOAH