Even as a longtime (and shameless) fan of Justin Bieber, I admit I was skeptical about his new album Believe. I think we all knew he wanted to go in a more mature direction upon his 18th birthday, without alienating his already unparalleled fan base consisting mostly of teen girls. A reintroduction, if you will.
With his voice changing along with his style and dare I say -- swagger, it was clear Biebs wanted to step it up in hopes of one day hitting icon status a la his idol Michael Jackson. A feat most of us would laught at (and some of us probably have). But at the very least, perhaps he could cross over and grab a few more haters, most of whom have never listened to more than 3 seconds of "Baby" and have written him off as "the kid with the hair." Or whatever.
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In actuality, "Baby" never did him much justice. It was a perfect track to use as his first big single, don't get me wrong. With it's ridiculously addictive hook and a cameo by Ludacris, it was pretty much born for radio. Yet, it never showed off much of his vocal ability or talent. At all.
With Believe, he took an even smarter approach releasing "Boyfriend" as the first single. While it's not my favorite track on the album, by far, it succeeded in doing exactly what it was supposed to -- getting fans accustomed to the transition and setting Biebs up for a rebirth of sorts.
Because I'm not a huge "Boyfriend" fan, the rest of the album does nothing but get better. It's an easy listen start to finish, well-produced (obviously) and the lyrics are impressive especially considering Bieber penned nearly every song. With upbeat dance tracks like "All Around the World" (featuring Ludacris), "As Long as You Love Me" (featuring Big Sean) and "Take You" he's got the club scene on lock for a while.
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Then enters the dispersed mix of ballads like "Right Here" (featuring Drake), "Be Alright" and "Fall," the latter of which tells the tale of falling in love with his best friend. You can probably guess who that's about.
"Die in Your Arms" has a fun Motown feel and "Beauty and the Beat" does, in fact, have a damn good beat with Nicki Minaj dropping a somewhat predictable, but still hilarious verse about Justin's "weiner." Hmph.
But at the root of it all, is the most poignant song on the album -- the title track, "Believe," which is a thank-you to his loyal Beliebers. "Where would I be/If you didn't believe?"
It's sometimes easy to forget that Justin Bieber was born and bred on YouTube. A small-town, 12-year-old kid who was uploading amateur videos of himself singing for family members. And it was those people, the die-hard fans, who kept hitting "repeat" and brought him to this insane level of fame.
So as an album for the fans, the message of "Believe" is more than received.
Grade: A
What do you think of Justin's new album? Let us know in the comments!
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