12/24/2022 0 Comments Usher full albumUsher understood that much of a great pop album is simply telling a good story. “Nobody knows who the fuck Billie Jean is. “We wanted the media to ask us questions,” the producer told Vibe in 2014, comparing their artistic license to that of Michael Jackson. II,” a saga about creeping and getting another woman pregnant, was based on Dupri’s life, not Usher’s. The album’s most salacious track, “Confessions Pt. A decade later, executive producer Jermaine Dupri said the song was indeed about her but admitted Confessions wasn’t just Usher’s experience, rather a compilation of its male creators’ infractions, promoted as one man’s expunging of sins. He said he co-wrote the album’s core breakup ballad, “Burn,” while he and Chilli were still together. While it was true that he wasn’t entirely sold on marriage, he told Rolling Stone in 2004 that he did once buy Chilli a 10-karat diamond ring and proposed to her in the most R&B way: in the middle of sex. In constructing the narrative around Confessions, Usher omitted certain facts. Album DescriptionBut the deception worked on multiple levels. See More Your browser does not support the audio element. © Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo More info Because of these two things, 8701 is more mood music than anything else, and while it does work fairly well on that level, it's not memorable outside of that mood. Overall, the record is probably his strongest yet, but he still suffers from a lack of really memorable material (the singles usually are pretty good, but the album tracks are filler) and a tendency to oversing. There's not much new here, but Usher does move further in both directions - the ballads are lusher, the dance numbers hit a bit harder - but not so much so that it's really noticeable. This has been true throughout his career, and remains true on his third album, 8701, a classy, seductive affair masterminded by Usher, Jermaine Dupri, and Antonio "L.A." Reid. He looks good, his material is smooth and seductive, and he has a nice voice, even if he tends to favor melisma. Usher has the reputation as a loverman, largely because he fits the bill so well. Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
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