Just my luck that 3 highly anticipated albums come out on the same day (Purpose, Midnight in the A.M. & Know-It-All). I'm starting off with Purpose, for no particular reason, Saturday I'll have Midnight in the AM and Sunday I'll review Alessia Cara's debut album! This review is chalked full of my interpretation of his lyrics/meaning. If I'm wrong, oops.
01. MARK MY WORDS
Let's talk about the name of this song, to begin with. Bieber hasn't released a studio album in years. His music has often been criticized for being, well, terrible. I don't think this his music was ever terrible, I just thought it was so specifically tailored to young teenage girls that he didn't really take a minute to add much substance to his lyrics. "Baby, baby, baby oh. Like ba.." you get it. Bieber, in the title alone, is telling you to "mark [his] words" that he is here to prove something. He's hear to show the audience that his music is more serious now and that he's here to do him. Not do whatever the heck it was he was doing before. You can see in little glimpses that this audience is starting to tire him, whether it's the fact that they won't allow him to clean a part of the stage because they are so hard pressed for that damn rag/shirt or because clapping off beat. He's beginning to grow up and his music is evolving and, boy, so is his voice. Just in the first ten seconds of the song, to hear how in touch he is with the instrumental (I don't know if that's a keyboard making those noises he's singing along with, someone help me be less ignorant) is gorgeous because his tone has evolved (and he's finally reached puberty). 8/10
02. I'LL SHOW YOU
I'll Show You is the meaningful intimate song I was looking for. Just from the first line "My life is a movie, and everyone's watching so let's get to the good part and pass all the nonsense." Immediately as he gets past this part, the production drops the beat. I think this is the first music I've heard from him that can be considered a pop/hip hop crossover, and I mean that in a good way. As Bieber tells the audience, "I gotta learn things, learn them the hard way. Gotta say what it feels like, no matter what they say" highlighting how hard it is "to say the write thing." The music video for this song also allows the song to be very intimate by just highlighting him and nature. It's impossible for him to be "perfect," which he says in the song" but all he can really do to make up for it is continue putting out music like this that really respects his audience. I love the fact that his music is not only evolving musically, but it's also evolving lyrically and he's maturing. 7.5/10
03. WHAT DO YOU MEAN?
It's crazy to see how much his music has transformed since "Baby," the song that made him a household name. What Do You Mean actually has something adjacent to a message and, while the production isn't exactly my cup of tea, it's wonderfully produced to cater to the audience it's trying to reach itself to. The song simply begins with a keyboard and guitar and slowly transitions to a clearly Skrillex produced track. His vocals may not absolutely soar into the stratosphere, but his voice smoothly spreads onto the song like butter, His softer register shines on the song and his background vocals hit the higher notes I was hoping to hear. Overall it's a beautifully produce and wonderful song, but I was just looking for something more meaningful from this very promoted track. 7/10
Sorry is the meaningful track I was hoping for. It wasn't intimate or anything, but it was definitely meaningful. Listening to the lyrics of the song, I can't tell if the song was written for a past girlfriend (I'm looking at you, Selena) or if this was actually his apology to the audience. I understand that he says "missing more than just your body" but that could've just as very well been filled in just to rhyme. Clearly Justin isn't a stranger to taking from black culture, and Young Money (Lil Wayne, Drake & Nicki Minaj) have made careers off of randomly rhyming words together in their songs that have nothing to do with the meaning of the song, so it's possible that's what Bieber. I especially enjoyed the part where he says "and by once or twice I mean maybe a couple of hundred" because no matter if he was apologizing to us as an audience or Selena Gomez, he royally screwed up several hundred times to I cackled as he corrected himself as I thought that apologizing once or twice was not enough. I really love his voice on this track. I think it compliments his voice very well and I can hear a lot of emotion in the delivery of it in his voice. 8.5/10
I have to be biased to this sing, simply because of the simplistic production on it. I complimented I'll Show You for being intimate, but this is the closest thing we've come to an acoustic song on his album so far. His voice is just album to be very raw, as it's just him and a guitar. First I have to get into how hilariously shady it is that "my mama don't like you, and she likes everyone." I can't tell who this song is about. It's mostly because I don't pay attention to Justin Bieber in the media, but hasn't he been quoted several times saying he's still in love with Selena Gomez? This song is just so reminiscent of him being so regretful of this past relationship, I just can't tell. Okay, blah blah, this song is meaningful and everything and gee willickers he's really sticking it to this girl by telling her to "go and love yourself!" But can we just talk about the musical break that brings the trumpet in? This song is a testament to how talented Bieber is. He's so in tune with the instrument, matching every not it does with pure ease. I'm just such a big fan of the tone of his voice. I think this is a very powerful representation of his album. 9.5/10
06. COMPANY
This song takes a break from the rest of the album's sort of depressing turn it had taken. I don't want to say depressing because there is a sense of redemption in the music prior to this song but it sort of takes a break from that just to tell you that "you ain't gotta be [his] lover for you to call me baby" so, I mean, why not just "keep each other company?" The production on the song is great and when the beat drops you just want to dance. 6.5/10
07.NO PRESSURE (feat. BIG SEAN)
I think this is the first true throwback R&B track we get to experience on the album. From the guitar in the background as we hear sounds reminiscent of a siren, Bieber comes in with his vocals sounding as smooth as silk. It's a very laid back and chill and the type of song you want to listen to when you're in bed (I imagine as Bieber sings "you ain't gotta make your mind up" Jane over on Jane the Virgin is breathing a heavy sigh of relief as she listens to this in bed. I think Jane's a chill belieber). As his voice transitions to a lovely falsetto, Big Sean drops in. When I listen to rap, I literally just listen to the beat. What I got from this song is that Bieber's in either some sort of a love triangle or the girl is just very unconvinced in being with him as Sean calls her "cold" saying he gets "frostbite" whenever she touches him. Also Bieber repeatidly telling her "you ain't gotta make your mind up" and "don't rush." The songs production saves the song, I didn't really see anything too special to run home about. I enjoyed "eating the Cookie, like Luscious." Although, Cookie is too damn good for Luscious. So. 7/10
08.NO SENSE(feat. TRAVIS SCOTT)
It was at this point listening to the album where I saw where this was all heading. I guess Bieber really wanted to do and R&B album. I think that it's a very good start because his voice fits this music just as well as it did with his pop star stuff. I prefer his acoustic music because it really gives him a chance to showcase his vocals. This genre doesn't necessarily allow him to show all that he's got but it's by no means bad or unfulfilling. Travis Scott literally creeps in. There is so much autotune that I didn't pay attention to what he was saying. The song wasn't terrible, once again just not very memorable. 7/10
09. THE FEELING (feat. HALSEY)
I absolutely love the instrumental to this track. Halsey's voice fits the production amazingly. There were some points where I didn't know if it was her, or the backing track. I liked the message behind the song. I didn't know if it was about Selena, with him going "Am I in love with you, or in love with the feeling?" If it wasn't, then he made an excellent track that his fans can relate to. It's hard to distinguish whether or not you have true feelings for someone when it just feels good to be young and in love. I say young because even if Bieber is going in a different direction with his music his (unfortunately) loyal followers are still with him and probably going through this. Probably more whitely but... 7.5/10
10. LIFE IS WORTH LIVING
Okay, the title may be a little cringe-inducing (we get it, you want us to like you. it's cool telling us we matter) but I absolutely loved this songs for selfish reasons. I've clearly established how big I am a fan of Bieber's vocals. The tone of his voice is just so beautiful, and the stripped back, intimate tune allowed for his vocals to shine. I think it was a very strong moment of the album. The phrasing was beautiful. The only part I didn't like was anytime he said "living." It sounded like an impression of A Great Big World, or some other indie artist, I don't know. I just didn't like that part. Everything else was beautiful. The message was very lovely and it gives us a little incite into his mind. It's a very genuine song, probably the most genuine song to come from him on the album to this point. 8.5/10
11. WHERE ARE U NOW
This was the first look we got into the type of album Bieber was going to be releasing. It came as a bit of a shock because it had...substance to it. This is the guy that sung about the beauty and the beat while air humping Nicki Minaj in a pool. This song was just the introduction into the second string of his career and as the beat drops you just want to dance your ass off. The substance comes from each individual lyrics, him asking "where are you now" after he "gave the shirt off his back" and "gave the key when the door wasn't open." Where are you? Now? In all seriousness, it was a nice song and a nice way to introduce us to the type of artist he wants to be. 8/10
12. CHILDREN
As he asks "what about the children" in the first verse, I groaned because this sounded like his attempt at an Earth Song esque record. As the song moved on, it didn't get as cheesy as you would have expected it to be and by the time the beat dropped I was dancing to hard to think of anything else. 7/10
13. PURPOSE
Immediately as saw this was the final track, I assumed it was going to be some power ballad about how his experiences have shown him his purpose in life. There's somewhat of a pressure especially coming from his "comeback" record. It delivered, in my opinion (if not just because of the intimate feel, which we all know I love). It was exactly the record I expected, but it wasn't as cheesy as it could have been and his vocals soared. Granted, the little blurb at the end of him talking as a pre-pubescent was cringe-inducing. It was literally him saying "like, literally you're good. give it your all, if it like doesn't happen then like it's cool because you're fine and you have to understand...". Good for him growing up, and it was the end to album you basically just had to expect. 8.5/10
I'll do a review of the bonus tracks later. Overall this is clearly the best album he's ever released. His voice is finally at it's peak, his lyrics have substance and the production is absolutely wonderful.
GRADE: A-
No comments:
Post a Comment