Good Girl Gone Bad (The Remixes)

Album Review

The sticker affixed to the disc proclaims "Good Girl Gone Bad: Remixed and Reloaded." (Reloaded again? Maybe Rihanna's nickname should be Ri-Ri-Ri.) In a way, this remix-compilation companion to Good Girl Gone Bad is both a cash-in and a wasted opportunity. Having already released the "Reloaded" version, which trailed the original by a year, Def Jam compiles a dozen club remixes to further bleed the turnip, but the label opted to go with the radio edits. The edits, which are three to four minutes shorter than the superior full-length versions, were possibly favored to further emphasize the disc's alternate standing to the original set; after all, only two of the original album's songs are not represented here, so it plays out more like a proper album than a standard, disjointed remix compilation. If you've worn out the original album and don't know the remixes, the disc will certainly help pass the time before Rihanna's fourth album, especially if any of it is spent on freeways — but the ten best full-length remixes (at 80 minutes) instead of 12 edited remixes (at 45 minutes) would've been the better way to go.