When we hear the name Rihanna, our brain usually switches over to a picture released by TMZ of a bloody and battered girl who had just gotten into a physical debacle with her then-beau Chris Brown; or you might think of a sweet little girl in a tiny black ensemble prancing around in the water, umbrella in tow, singing a hit that has stood the test of time and almost anyone older than 8 can sing all the words to. But after listening to Rihanna’s 5th album, Loud, all previous conceptions of this modern musical icon will be quickly forgotten. You’ll quickly forget the cheery pop princess you heard in Good Girl Gone Bad as she quickly pulls you in with “S&M”, a slightly-naughty song that you’ll have blaring out of your speakers when your parents aren’t home. “What’s My Name?”, featuring other mega-start Drake, “Raining Men”, featuring Young Money vixen Nicki Minaj, and “Only Girl (In The World)” will also be songs that you’ll be dying to sing into your hairbrush when you have the house to yourself.

Loud isn’t just another overrated album full of club bangers that are void of emotion. “Complicated”, “Fading”, “California King Bed”, and “Love The Way You Lie, Pt II”, featuring hip hop god Eminem, will seem as though Ri-Ri picked our brains and made songs out of some of our worst and most intimate relationship problems. “Love The Way You Lie, Pt. II” is like “Love The Way You Lie” ‘s emotional twin brother. This beautiful ballad is sung entirely by Rihanna, until Eminem interjects at the end to throw in his own musically brilliant two cents. If you buy Loud on iTunes, you can get the piano version of “Love The Way You Lie, Pt. II” (which is basically the same as the original, only without Eminem) and the “Only Girl (In The World)” music video.

I highly recommend this album to everyone. Songs from this album will definitely make you think more of Rihanna that just the girl who sung a catchy karaoke essential way back in 2007.