Usher

Confessions

Starts Out Strong But Loses Steam In The End (3.5 Stars)

Review Score:

(6/10)
Usher Raymond is, in several ways, quite underrated. Think about it: aside from his current singles how much attention did his other songs actually get? Usher's latest offering, "Confessions", is an album that most people believe to be autobiographical however, in interviews, Usher himself said that the songs are not all about him but other people as well. Either way, the album is good in places but at an hour in length, it could have been cut down a little. Some albums benefit from being that kind of length but unfortunately this is not the case with this album. Instead, there seem to be quite a few songs that should have been left off which would have made the album more powerful. Nevertheless, Usher really shines on the ballads and the other songs are decent enough to pull through. However, it would be nice if there were either more stunning ballads or if Usher would just sound better on the upbeat tracks.

The album starts off with a short, spoken intro, which serves as a nice start to the album. Then comes the first actual song on the album, the single "Yeah!" with Lil Jon and Ludacris. This is one of the more upbeat songs that Usher actually sounds pretty good on however I don't like all the "gangsta" slang he uses. I never really liked Ludacris, and his rap here is no exception. Not to mention the fact that he mispronounces Usher's name for no apparent reason and puts odd emphasis on random words. "Throwback" follows and has that kind of old-school sound to it (think Alicia Keys' "You Don't Know My Name" style) and Usher pulls it off wonderfully. The song talks about how Usher wants his girlfriend back after they break up and the last few lines sound particularly sweet even though they are spoken instead of sung. ("I'm sittin' by the phone, realizing she ain't ever coming home").

The overplayed but impressive "Confessions Interlude" and "Confessions Part 2" are up next. If you don't know already, the interlude is that spoken/sung part in the beginning of the "Confessions" video. I actually wish the song itself sounded more like the interlude, but it is great nonetheless. The song talks about Usher confessing everything he's done to his girlfriend and hoping she will still accept him. After that comes a definite album highlight "Burn". The lyrics are nothing too special but Usher's delivery is truly impressive. I actually couldn't listen to this song for a while because of how overplayed it got which is too bad because it is a great song. "Caught Up" took a while to grow on me since (once again) the lyrics aren't too impressive. However, Usher delivery truly saves the song from being a complete mess. "Superstar Interlude" follows and is not nearly as good as the other interludes however it does serve as a decent intro to the next song, "Superstar" talks about the tables turning, and Usher's girlfriend being the superstar while he's the groupie. The song is more of a metaphor gone wrong however, and fails to really capture any attention.

"Truth Hurts" is somewhat hypocritical of Usher, who demands in this song that his girlfriend tell him where she's been and accuses her of cheating. It's hypocritical because didn't he just confess to have cheated on her? I realize that songs on an album are not always consistent, but this is a little ridiculous. Fortunately, the album quickly redeems itself with "Simple Things", a somewhat overdone topic that Usher manages impeccably. In this song, Usher advises guys that they shouldn't just buy gifts to compensate for not spending time with a girl. Vocally, and even message-wise this is a definite highlight. Unfortunately, this is where the album begins to falter. "Bad Girl" is a lame, unconvincing attempt to gain street cred. It leaves you wishing that Usher had stuck with the ballads he was so good at. "That's What It's Made For" is no better as it is a little too explicit for my taste. The spoken part in the middle of the song adds absolutely nothing to the song and should have probably been left out.

"Can You Handle It?" is a little better but is still far from exceptional. Vocally, the song is great (Usher is anyway, the girl singing in the chorus kind of ruins it) and lyrically it is far more tasteful then the previous song. Not a highlight, but not terrible either. "Do It To Me" reverts back to the unnecessarily explicit style that "That's What It's Made For" used and though Usher's vocals are much better (usually), he still fails to pull of the style. His falsetto sounds very out of place and the lyrics are weak in many places. "Take Your Hand" is forgettable and the vocals sound awkward over the sped up beat. This song is mediocre at best but we know that Usher can do much better. Lastly there is the mediocre "Follow Me" which fails to stand out at all and really would not be missed had it been left off the album completely.

Overall Mark: 3.5/5

There is no doubt that Usher has vocal talent but he always suffers from the same problem: lacklustre material. Instead of settling for just any fast song that would be a potential hit, Usher should have been more selective and chosen quality material instead of just a whole lot of filler. The album starts out strong but falters once Usher tries to act like a "gangsta" or overly explicit. Instead, he shines on the touching ballads though much of the material does not seem to fit with the title of the album. Where most fans expected touching, personal songs, Usher gives mostly average mid-tempo songs. It's too bad because Usher really could pull off great dance tracks. In all honesty, he should have cut the number of songs because the ones that are good (which is still a fair majority) are awesome.

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