Rihanna LOUD album too soon?

[revolver8]

I was very surprised to learn that rihanna was to release her 5th studio album less than a year after her previous. I think as an artist you should let your fans enjoy your music for some time and just let them miss you which actually builds anticipation and ultimately success for your next work,i like rihanna but i think she's shoving her voice down our throats. Beyonce started way before her and has only 3 albums...and you wonder the difference in their achievements

[SrChulo]

Hmm. I'm not a huge fan of Rihanna's. I don't think she can really sing, and lyrics like "Boy can you get it up?/Is you big enough?" are just stupid in my eyes. She sounds terrible live.

Beyonce on the other hand.... just watched some of her Thanksgiving special world tour thing... absolutely incredible. She doesn't even have any new songs!!!! ...but she OWNED the stage nonetheless. Her voice was impeccable and she was dancing the whole time, singing live.

I'm not even a huge fan of B, I am just a music lover and can appreciate a good voice and performance.

[marshlander]

There are several ways of viewing this. An artist may be supported by the fans, but real artists do what they do whether fans buy any resulting product or not. On the other hand management companies take on artists and exploit the life out of them till they are sucked dry and have nothing further to give. If a fan chooses to buy the work of an artist it is a business transaction. The artist does not "owe" the fans anything. Strange how fans sometimes imagine they do.

In 2008 a band I had followed for thirty-six years played twenty-one concerts in London over the period of a month. Until then I had bought every single and every album on its release and attended live shows as often as I could afford, but certainly at least one (and often several) every time they toured this country. However, although I might have been able to beg, borrow or steal the £300 it would have cost for a "Golden Ticket" to attend each show, there was no way I could have afforded not to earn for a whole month as well as buy food and accommodation in London during that time. It was a hard lesson to learn, but if we follow an artist, we do it on their terms.