What I know about R&B and hip-hop can be summed up with the following words: “it’s not my thing really.” So when my friend, Calum, forced his ear phones on me and made me listen to the current single “Umbrella”, from Rihanna’s third album Good Girl Gone Bad (GGGB), I was surprised to find that I liked it. A Lot. In fact, that afternoon I went home and downloaded the entire album.

GGGB is loaded with dancey, hip-pop tracks that run the gamut from the Euro-dance electronica of “Please Don’t Stop The Music” – easily the best track on GGGB — to the guitar driven, Prince-esque sex romp “Shut Up And Drive”.

“Umbrella” feat. Jay-Z – what doesn’t Jay-Z feature on these days? – is the dancey, hooky first track from GGGB. Although Rihanna’s voice lacks the emotive qualities I usually prefer, electronic production makes-up for it with interesting vocal manipulations, giving her voice a knife-edged sex appeal. The song is helped in no small part by the addictive lyrical hook “You can stand under my umbrella… ella… ella… eh, eh, eh” It draws you in and says “sit down for a good listen.”

The dancey, sexual tease of “Please Don’t Stop The Music” is far and away the hottest track on GGGB. Brought to you by the Norwegian production team StarGate, famous for writing electro-pop numbers for British pop sensations like Atomic Kitten and Blue before moving to US-based artists; producing hits like “Beautiful Liar,” the duet with Beyoncé and Shakira, and “So Sick” by Ne-Yo. “Please Don’t Stop The Music” is a Euroclub-feel dance track with overpowering beats, sensual electro-dance hooks and a sample of mamasay-mamasas (from Michael Jackson’s “Wanna Be Startin’ Something”) that perfectly blur’s into the track, complete with Jackson’s signature high pitched “woo hoo” scattered throughout. This track is more than memorable, it’s manifestly unforgettable.

That Prince-esque, explicit and carnal, high-powered sex romp “Shut Up And Drive”, is a mind blowing guitar driven track that will bring back memories of Princes “Little Red Corvette”. It will inspire women to hand their keys over to the man-of-the-moment as they lipsync the hotter than hot lyrics “Cos I'm 0 to 60 in three point five/ Baby you got the keys/ Now shut up and drive”.

Other tracks of note are the funky snare-drum-march, a la Missy Elliott, “Lemme Get That”, and “Rehab”, penned by Justin Timberlake, both produced by Timbaland. Both excellent fare from the JT and Timbabland duo, with “Rehab” featuring JT’s distinctive falsetto as backing vocals. “Push Up On Me” and “Breaking Dishes” fills out the choicest picks from this very solid album. Although it does fall flat with “Questioning Existence”, “Say It” and bonus track, “Cry” — which manages to be both over-sentimental and emotionally barren at the same time.

Overall Good Girl Gone Bad is more than worth the purchase price. When it’s good it is scorching and when it’s bad the CD is not worth standing your drink on. Thank god for MP3 players so you can chose the best tracks and throw the shite away.