Nothing Is Promised out now:

https://amp.twimg.com/v/52d563ad-729...7-d71badba0c2e

Interesting to hear as you can see the sort of album she was leaning towards with this and BBHMM. So glad she didn't go for that in the end. This sounds inferior to most of ANTI but is still enjoyable I suppose.

She was right to leave it off Anti. I do quite like it, though.

Do you have any theories why Kiss it better didn't connect with the public? I wasn't even aware Radio 1 even had it on their playlist.

I think the release strategy was a little flawed as radio stations were still playing 'Work' at the time and 'Needed Me' was doing very well on streaming. They were definitely reluctant to play it. Then we were hit with 'This Is What You Came For' which basically killed KIB as radio and the public jumped on that song instead. The video release was a wasted opportunity as it came out as soon as she announced it would be a single rather than when radio actually started playing it. So it never got a real boost from that. It deserved better treatment than it got really.

Looks like Rihanna is about to release yet another new single soon. It's a Sia written track called 'Sledgehammer' and is part of the soundtrack for the new Star Trek: Beyond film. She really is spoiling us this year.

Just seen the stories this morning about her Wembley Stadium show last night being half empty. I was a bit skeptical as the pictures seemed to me to show it as people were arriving. Just spoke to a friend who was there though and they said it was indeed half empty and that there were empty seats all over the place. He said Rihanna was good though. Maybe she should have done Wembley Arena instead of the stadium.

A stadium tour was always over ambitious given she'd had a 3 year break. I think if she'd promoted the tour here more recently then she'd have done better. I hope she learns from this when it comes to the UK market and has better promo for her next album.

Hopefully her reputation has improved after this tour in terms of her live capabilities as she was pretty much on time and seems to have impressed.

Sledgehammer is out and it basically sounds exactly like Sia. It's pretty awful tbh.

Was going to she even sounds like sia in places, I don't know why sia just didn't release it herself it's more her kind of tune and definetely the kind of song you would hear on this is acting over anti

I would disagree it's awful it's just a bit forgettable, it won't impact the UK chart too much

It has grown on me already but tbh I just don't see the point in Rihanna releasing it when she sings it in Sia's tone throughout.

She did the same with Diamonds.

I don't entirely agree with that as I think Rihanna sounds better on it than Sia. It's certainly nowhere near as obvious as this one.

Although what I have noticed is that Rihanna performs Diamonds live so much differently nowadays to when she first released it and has definitely put her own stamp on it much more as she got more comfortable with the song.

Compare this:
https://youtu.be/imxEW7Z7Kpg

To this:
https://youtu.be/lmPmKezTeiw

The Hamden Park gig was only about a third full.:
Her diva attitude turning up late all the time has done her no favours over here.

I don't think she's been significantly late to any show on this tour yet. I bet it's a wake up call for her seeing those empty seats but she still seems to be enjoying it and giving her all from what I've heard.

I think it's promo more than that though. She announced the tour and put tickets on sale before she had anything to promote. If she'd done some extra promo to try and sell some tickets she'd have done better. Even a couple of TV/Radio interviews/performances would've helped.

I was convinced she'd show up at Glastonbury to support Coldplay last night. Oh well. She deserves to headline there one day.

Her Manchester gig was about two thirds full and she was almost an hour late and cut tracks out the set list. Still, she was great whilst she was on.

Yes she cut FourFiveSeconds and Kiss It Better. I would've been gutted if I went. But I imagine the casuals would prefer having Drake perform than to see those anyway.

I like Sledgehammer a lot more than most of the songs on Anti. Anti is a huge disappointment to me. The only song I really like on that is Love On The Brain. Yes, Rihanna does sound a bit like Sia on Sledgehammer but that's fine, she still sounds like herself too. I think her singing has improved ten fold over the past couple of years. Just look at her vocal versatility on the aforementioned Love On The Brain. Brilliant! The video for Sledgehammer is really good. It seems weird, Rihanna and Star Trek in the same sentence, I don't know why, lol. I think she'd make a good Vulcan or Romulan in Star Trek actually!

I would have gone to Rihanna's current tour if she had been playing in arenas but stadiums, no way. I avoid them like the plague! I went to see her at the O2 on her Loud tour and enjoyed that very much.

I'd take Drake over FFS, but Kiss it Better was missed by me.

i love rRhanna... i think her vocals live are good i don't understand the criticism she gets but having seen her live three times - her performance can be off kilter. Sometimes, she shows limited connection to the music/audience and kind of goes through the motions. Maybe she is one of those artists that struggles to fake it if she isn't feeling it and just goes into business mode to get the job done. But it really does show. Recently I saw her anti tour at Coventry and she was the most alive and connected i had seen. I loved the show and how she walked through the crowd at the start to a ballad and had a cream minimal set. This was so anti and unpredictable to the normal predictable setlist and styling. Her vocals were also the strongest I have heard her live. The stadium was 96 per cent full. So its sad to hear that London and Glasgow have had different experiences.

Thought I'd bump this as Love On The Brain is the next single and is beginning to gain some traction. It has been playlisted by BBC Radio 1 and Radio 2. This surely has the best chance of being a real smash given the crossover appeal.

An X Factor Final performance would help.

iTunes:

US #70
UK #108

Love On The Brain update:

iTunes
US #35
UK #57

Still climbing nicely. Needs to be added by Capital really.

Hopefully she may perform at the AMA's this weekend. No news on a music video as yet. She's been busy filming Ocean's 8 and Bates Motel.

Just thought I'd post an update on this as it needs to become a hit .

BBC Radio 1 and 2 have dropped it. Love On The Brain is over. Looks like the ANTI era is over in the UK.

Looks like being a hit in the US though.

Its one of my favourite albums from her. I thought the UK was always her biggest market so this is surprising.

She looks like being around 17th in the UK year end album chart. That doesn't look all that awful but the figures themselves are really poor. I think if she'd have launched with KIB or LOTB as the lead she'd have sold a lot more here. Radio wouldn't have snubbed a Rihanna lead single whatever it was. 'Work' was a hit but the UK doesn't really support urban Rihanna so that wasn't going to sell an album here.

As for the US it's been a huge success and she's probably bigger there now than she's ever been before.

I'm really excited to see what she'll do next.