Ooh im all bronze! Could it be, ratings are showing up in the left hand column? it can't be working ...
Ooh im all bronze! Could it be, ratings are showing up in the left hand column? it can't be working - can it?!. All r/r/c's are much appreciated; I'm saving up for next year so can do with all the spare change I can get!!
Member since:27.07.2006
Reviews:237
Members who trust:88
- Introduction -
I've been a fan of Usher ever since I got a copy of his 201 CD 8701. I first heard his single 'You Make Me Wanna' in 1997, though I didn't bother to buy that album but I have previously enjoyed both the 8701 album and the follow up 2004 album, entitled Confessions.
Both of those albums I thought had good quality R&B/soul tracks, with a good balance between slower ballads and more upbeat, dance type tracks and I also like them for the fact that the production, I feel, is particularly good, its easy to put one track on and end up listening right through to the end of the album, as each track follows the other quite smoothly, if that, hopefully, makes sense(?).
Anyway, so here we are in June 2008 and with the latest album offering from Usher, this time the album is called 'Here I Stand'. As in Confessions, an album which he used to air some of his dirty laundry, this album also apparently features tracks where he speaks about things that he has had experience of himself, the main example of this that springs to mind being 'Whats A Man To Do'. Read on for more information...
Mainly R&B, with some soul and hip hop elements added. For more info. see under 'Track Listing'.
- Track listing -
1 - Forever Young (Intro) - This is like an introduction to the album, its more of a short story than a song itself, I think. It talks about Ushers search for a woman to make him 'forever young'. Its quite low-key, vocally driven with a good beat to it.
2 - Love In This Club - This is the first official single from the album and so has had quite alot of radio airplay/exposure. Its a dance track, its not as fast
as 'Yeah!' was but its still fairly uptempo, certainly during the (very catchy) chorus. This is a song thats easy to remember, it can get a bit annoying if you hear it too often too lol. The verses are all mid tempo but the chorus is more uptempo, with a catchy electronic vibe behind it too.
3 - This Ain't Sex - This song also has a pretty catchy chorus, with a good beat and again a bit of an electronic feel to it, though it is mainly vocal, which can be said for the rest of the album really. This is quite a fun and light hearted track.
4 - Trading Places - This track is slower and more subtle than the previous one. Again it has a good beat. This is a fairly racy track, as are most of the tracks really. Instead of any electronic type sounds, there's a piano playing notes in the background.
5 - Moving Mountains - This is also quite a slow ballad, which shows off Ushers vocals quite well during the chorus I feel. It is quite atmospheric, again with a piano backing. The beat is slower and it flows quite well, slowly building up to a pretty decent finish.
6 - Whats Your Name? - I feel this is one of the slightly weaker tracks that more annoys me than anything else by now (and ive only had the album for just under a week). It has quite an electronic feel to it again and is again mid tempo, with a big beat to it and it features some vocals by Will.I.Am from Black Eyed Peas. There is, of course, a story to it but it just seems to last too long and sounds a bit too repetitive/bland, to me, personally, I'm not so keen on it.
7 - Prayer For You (Interlude) - This is a shorter track, being an interlude and the novelty of it, is that it features some uh gurgles from his son, Usher Raymond V, who was born last November. In it, Usher sings as if he is singing to his son and tells him how proud he is of him and so on.
8 - Something Special - This is another light (as in fun and bouncy, not as in particularly throwaway bad, just to clarify) track, which is quite fun. It again has a nice beat, it has quite an upbeat feel to it, I guess thats the better way to word it. Its a fairly typical Usher track, he talks to his girl and explains that she's got something special and talks about the two of them.
9 - Love You Gently - This is another particularly racy track! It is quite slow, a 'slow jam' you could say. Its quite good but not entirely breaking new ground I suppose, I tend to skip this for the more uptempo tracks personally.
10 - Best Thing - This is much more of a hip/hop/rap track, featuring guest vocals by Jay-Z. It has quite a hard beat to it.
11 - Before I Met You - This is another slower atmospheric track, with a slower beat. Its not as catchy as some of the other tracks. This is another slightly weaker track, I feel. Its alright but nothing to really write about, to be honest.
12 - His Mistakes - This is again a mid tempo, its kind of understated, again with a piano playing in the background. In it, he talks about a girl who compares him to her ex boyfriend and how he wants to prove that he won't do what her ex did and that of course he doesn't want to pay for his mistakes. As an album track, its quite good, fairly atmospheric with a nice pause in the middle and a good slow-ish beat to it.
13 - Appetite - This starts off as a mid-tempo, which gathers pace and ends up as more uptempo, dance track. It also has quite an electronic/futuristic sound about it too. Its not memorably catchy though, unlike some of the other tracks, although the chorus is ok. Not bad but not the best track either, in my opinion...
14 - What's a Man to Do - This starts off with a foreign feel to it before the beat kicks in, setting it up as a mid tempo song. In it Usher talks about a man loving two women at the same time and what the right thing to do is in that situation? (sound familiar, hmmm?) I find this track quite catchy and I think its one of the better songs, personally.
15 - Revolver - This also starts off pretty low key, it again has a good beat. Its quite a light hearted track with a catchy chorus. This shows off Ushers higher pitch vocals.
16 - Love in This Club, Part II - This is a slower 'sequel' to the original Love in This Club track. It features guest vocals by Beyonce Knowles. It is mid tempo and has quite a nice sound to it, its a track you could slow dance to.
17 - Here I Stand - This is another slower track. Its not particularly memorable, other than for being the title track the album is named after (presumably anyway). It is quite slow, with, yet again, a piano in the background and an ok beat. Its pretty average really...
18 - Will Work For Love - This is one of, if not my one, favourite track from this album. Its very catchy, has a nice up beat feel to it and is easy to sing along to. Its a song you could find yourself tapping your toes to, its catchy, pretty memorable (if not perhaps slightly repetitive) and is definitely one of my preferred tracks from the whole album.
- Any Other Info.? -
The next single to be released from this album is Moving Mountains and the music video to go with this has apparently already debuted on MTV in the US. I also feel I should note that Usher has written, or co-written, all of the tracks on this album, they are all original tracks, to the best of my knowledge, which is pretty impressive.
If you want more information on the writers and producers for this album, simply search any of the main search engines for the album and im sure you can find plenty of information, there is of course a Wikipedia entry for the album, among other things but there's only so much information you can fit into a review and thats more information to find and read at your leisure, I feel, so I'll let you find and read that sort of extra information in your own time.
- Conclusions -
This is another decent album from Usher. If you've heard his previous albums, then you'll have a good idea of what to expect here, as its quite similar to both Confessions and 8701. The tracks flow quite well so you can easily sit through the whole album and although I feel that some tracks are more 'filler' than 'killer' (a bit weak and wouldn't work too well as singles on their own), in general I feel that this is a pretty good album and as such, is worth buying if your a fan of Usher.
Most of the tracks are mid or low tempo, with there being more ballads than dance tracks, though some of the mid tempos are quite light and fun.
If this sounds like something that would interest you, then I say go for it, you should enjoy it. At least you get more for your money with his albums, with there being more than the usual 12 tracks you get on most albums (or it used to be anyway, maybe thats changed and im getting old, I dont know?! lol).
I hope this review has been useful, I try to explain things as best I can and I hope that came across here. All ratings and comments are, as ever, greatfully received, thanks alot for reading!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Forever Young Love In This Club featuring Young Jeezy This Ain't Sex Trading Places ... more
Moving Mountains What's Your Name featuring will.i.am Prayer For You Interlude Something Special Love You Gently Best Thing featuring Jay-Z Before I Met You ...
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