Daveportivo's Cultural Evaluation Facility

Expectation can be the death of you sometimes, you get yourself all excited, you build up a real sense of anticipation and then it's never quite what you hoped it would be, your left suddenly deflated, it's such a horrid sensation. In many ways being a disappointment is much much worse than actually being outright awful, it's a shame because as good as Russian Roulette is, it just can't help but feel like a major letdown. Rihanna is following in Beyonce's foot steps by making her big return not with a powerhouse single but with a emotional ballad. It's a shame because Rihanna has successfully snatched Beyonce's crown as pops major hit maker, nothing is more sure fire than a Rihanna single. She's managed to sublimely blend musical quality with insanely addictive (annoying?) hooks on smash hit singles: SOS, Umbrella, Shut Up And Drive & Disturbia that the thought of her returning with a slow burning ballad can't help but leave us all shrugging our shoulders. Russian Roulette starts with a lick of Princeske guitar and for a second you think your in for a sexy stomper, but instead your treated to an emotional trudge. That said it's a damn good ballad, it burns slowly with some clever writing playing off the songs title, and it picks up a workman like sense of moment before it abruptly ends. The chorus is a very well pitched harmony, that has a strained power but never threatens to impose or grate, it's a remarkably well judged affair. It's all very sleak, very sharp, very precise, with a succinct emotional punch but it never threatens to dazzle, it's not an Umbrella, it's not a classic single, but its a good edition to her back catalogue. However when it comes to this little lady and singles, you expect something a bit better than solid, more than mere competence, we expect something majestic, we expect diamond studded brilliance; Russian Roulette doesn't fall far short but as is so often the case, close doesn't quite cut the mustard.