Albums to watch

Anti

Rihanna

Anti

Eighth studio album from pop/hip hop/r&b superstar, the longest gap between albums of her career so far

ADM rating[?]

6.7

Label
Virgin EMI
UK Release date
05/02/2016
US Release date
05/02/2016
  1. 8.3 |   A.V. Club

    Anti’s tracks combine to create a picture of Rihanna at her most relatable and enthralling
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  2. 8.0 |   The Music

    Considered, nuanced, and grows on you with each listen — brewing excitement for what direction she'll take next
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  3. 8.0 |   Tiny Mix Tapes

    See review
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  4. 8.0 |   The Arts Desk

    Feels like a step forwards into fascinating new territory
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  5. 8.0 |   Exclaim

    Perhaps her most complete and confident record to date
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  6. 8.0 |   Rolling Stone

    After years as a singer largely defined by her production, it finally feels like Rihanna is in charge of her own sound, remaking pop on her own terms
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  7. 8.0 |   FasterLouder

    After ANTI, it’s truly impossible to predict where Rihanna will go next. And that’s even more exciting than the album itself
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  8. 8.0 |   All Music

    By the end of Anti, Rihanna may not arrive at any definitive conclusions about her art but she's allowed herself to be unguarded and anti-commercial, resulting in her most compelling record to date
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  9. 8.0 |   Clash

    While it’s easy to complain that Rihanna could have been a bit more daring, ‘ANTI’ is a bold statement
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  10. 8.0 |   Mojo

    Contrary and compelling. Print edition only

  11. 7.7 |   Pitchfork

    Some of ANTI’s most striking tracks are also its nastiest
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  12. 7.5 |   Consequence Of Sound

    Rihanna takes risks and disregards convention in a way that only a true superstar could
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  13. 7.5 |   Pretty Much Amazing

    There’s still plenty of that classic Rihanna magic beneath the record’s funhouse aesthetic
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  14. 7.0 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    As a whole, Anti might not be as provocative of a statement as Rihanna hopes for it to be, but it’s still fascinating to see an artist in the midst of a metamorphosis
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  15. 7.0 |   The 405

    She's come back on her own terms, rewarding fans who've adorned her despite the musical hiatus by opening the mystery veil and showing us exactly what she’s thinking and feeling when the spotlights are lowered
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  16. 7.0 |   Crack

    Despite its missteps, ANTI never sounds fake
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  17. 7.0 |   Spin

    ANTI is Rihanna’s first aesthetically personal album, and throughout its disorderly roaming, it remains revelatory in a strict sense; it’s a musical step sideways but an artistic step up
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  18. 6.0 |   NME

    An intriguing soundtrack to an era of change
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  19. 6.0 |   State

    Bitch Better Have My Money’ is pretty much better than everything on here, and if that’s the direction she ditched in favour of this edgy, ballsy but ultimately very uneven soundscape, we can’t help but think what might have been
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  20. 6.0 |   Q

    Patchy and beguiling, it never feels quite sure of itself. Print edition only

  21. 6.0 |   Time Out

    She certainly makes this banger-free album pretty gripping
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  22. 6.0 |   Digital Spy

    There's filler, there's flashes of genius, there's an attempt at that classic album. But ultimately, we can't help but feel it's a slight Anti-climax
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  23. 6.0 |   Evening Standard

    A confused collection that doesn’t merit the years of build-up
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  24. 6.0 |   The Guardian

    Sprawling, uneven, exploratory and opaque: the sound of an artist who’s worked out what she doesn’t want to be, without really deciding what she does
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  25. 5.5 |   Beardfood

    One for Rihanna fans only
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  26. 5.0 |   Slant Magazine

    The ultimate impression the album leaves isn't just that of an artist who failed to follow through on her vision, but who never bothered to conceive one in the first place
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  27. 5.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    Sonically, Anti is defiantly low key with very little to quicken the pulse
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  28. 4.0 |   PopMatters

    After a three year absence, Anti is a massive letdown. It’s the first major disappointment for an artist who so far has turned everything she’s touched into gold
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  29. 4.0 |   The Observer

    If only more of these songs could actually carry the weight of Rihanna’s bid for freedom – a bid that is, ultimately, half-baked
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  30. 4.0 |   God Is In The TV

    There’s no doubt that it’s the exactly the album Rihanna wanted to make at this stage in her career. It’s just too bad her vision seems utterly lacking in focus
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Rihanna: Anti

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  • 5. Desperado £0.99
  • 6. Woo £0.99
  • 7. Needed Me £0.99
  • 8. Yeah, I Said It £0.99
  • 9. Same Ol’ Mistakes £0.99
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