You, me, everybody; we should all be a lot more annoyed with Rihanna.

Having dropped hit after irritating radio hit for the last nine months or so, our brief love affair with the Barbadian reggaeton princess should be reaching that point where we have one too many Shirley Temples, curse her out to all of our buddies and start smooching with her sister.

But while homegirl's burning up the charts with "S.O.S.," only the Soft Cell diehards seem buggered.

Though her songs may be built on cheap hooks, Rihanna's really got a voice on her, and it's the only thing redeeming her singles. She completely shucks the histrionics of Lady Beyonce and the limp coolness of Ciara for a refreshingly reserved middle ground.

The brain-epoxy of her radio songs notwithstanding, though, she's working a lot of vocal magic on tracks with no rabbits to be pulled from their hats.

Which makes A Girl Like Me, her latest, lousy.

"S.O.S." is great, because "Tainted Love" is great, and Rihanna's got enough brains to make it her own.

And the very necessary Sean Paul collaboration "Break It Off" is a joy for me personally, though less for the song and more for the fact that hearing Sean Paul's perplexing mumble makes me double over with laughter everytime I hear it. (At one point, I swear he says "Boohbah.")

But it's about 100 songs too long, all her ballads run together, and her electro-reggae makes those of us old enough to remember Shaggy miss Shaggy.

Besides, you know you're in trouble when remixes of the singles from your last record are among the best stuff on your new album.

Somebody give this girl some better songs! She deserves 'em.

Grade: D

-- Reviewed by Paul Thompson