Album cover analysis - Rihanna

LOUD is the fifth studio album from Rihanna, we can see a dramtic change in image and in her music by just looking at 3 of her albums. Her first album ‘Music of the Sun’ uses the conventions of an album cover having used a simplistic colour scheme which also featured in her song "Pon de Replay." We get a close up shot of Rihanna gazing straight at us, from the album cover we do not know what is to come from the artist this is created by the imagery used as Rihanna poses with a ‘mysterious’ sort of face, this emphasises the fact that she is a new artist and we can never predict what will be to come, this indulges listeners as they are excited to hear what is next. Her name ‘Rihanna’ appears at the top left hand conrner of the album cover in a different colour scheme to the one used on the rest of the album, this is done in order for the image and the artists name to stand out and be more noticeable. 

 Rated R was the fourth album to come from the singer, looking at her first to the fourth there is an overwhelming and dramtic change to her image and possibly music. The album cover still has the conventions of an album but the colour scheme is dark and dull. Rihanna poses different as to that of her first album as here she is in a moody and contemplative pose, wearing a leather top with her hand covering her right eye and each finger wrapped in an intricate set of rings. The image was taken by fashion photographer Ellen von Unwerth who stated that "Rihanna was looking to create something a bit new for the look of the album.” Unlike all the other album covers ‘RATED R’ does not feature Rihanna’s name on the album cover, this could possibly due to the fact that the imagery of the album is so powerful anybody would easily notice her although the name of the album helps to understand who she is with the ‘R’. The strong image on the cover instantly gives away the sort of music which is to be expected in this album as at the same time there was the controversy of her abusive relationship with singer Chris Brown. The album shows another side to Rihanna that we have not encountered with yet, by using such forceful and strong imagery it instantly defines her and her work.  As Rihanna would be soon touring the album helped create a ‘buzz’ of what was to be expected with the costumes, background visuals and performances.

Recently Rihanna has released LOUD her fifth album, yet again we have a change of appearance as now everything is red. Rihanna braced us with her red hair in her video of ‘Only Girl.’  Her red hair can be seen in the corners of the album and noticeably her lips are also red. Her lips are in the centre of the album cover, this may have been done in order to emphasise that Rihanna is now becoming a very successful aritst and she has the voice to speak out. The name of the album; ‘LOUD’ is also powerful as it could be said that she now has the opportunity and voice to write about things that matter to her, she does not need to create this image no more. The red in itself is loud as her prior album was black and white.  Rihanna’s name does not appear on this album cover also, as now she is a well established artist who is known worldwide, it shows how powerful and successful she is.