I really like these dudes...
Monday, March 29, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Raymond v. Raymond: A Disappointment?
Usher's 6th album drops on March 30th, but you already know how the music game is these days...it leaked last week.
I don't know whether to start with the good or the bad...so let's just start with the basics. The album cover is cool. Usher looks great. Although, it's kinda confusing to me why someone would try to differentiate between something that's the same. When I first heard that the album was going to be called "Raymond v. Raymond," I thought that we were going to see two sides of Usher battling within one person. I thought it was a double CD... like "T.I. vs. T.I.P" or the whole Beyonce vs. Sasha Fierce thing. Ummm...no. You can barely tell the difference between the two Ushers on the cover...and the music is the same. He should have just named the album "Raymond." But even that would have been misleading because the album, collectively, is not that personal. It's certainly no "Confessions" ...and I mean that in every possible way that can be interpreted.
The first time I listened to the album in its entirety, I didn't like it. I found myself skipping through the songs, trying to figure out which one I thought should be the next single. The first problem was that I had heard many of the songs before and it's not because I downloaded them. "Papers" was released as buzz single in October 2009. It was a #1 single...for some reason. I guess the content is interesting but let's be honest, that's not a great song. Then there's "More" which is the another "not-so-great" song that's been embraced by the NBA and appears in a few commercials. They even asked him to perform that during the 2010 All-Star Game, which shouldn't have happened (I haven't heard anybody say that they liked that performance.)
And then there's the actual singles. "Daddy's Home" is cool...it's a song that grows on you. I didn't love it at first but that first line of the song makes you start it over. LOL. I don't know if it should have been the first single but it wasn't a terrible choice. In my opinion, "Lil' Freak" was an obvious choice for a single. It's kinda catchy, the beat is hot, and obviously, nowadays, anything with Nicki Minaj on it is going to get a lot of attention. The third official single is "OMG" which is produced by and features Will.I.Am. I had to listen to it a couple times to figure out if I liked it...and I do. There's a little part at the end of the song that won me over. (What can I say? I'm a sucker for slow breakdowns in fast songs lol)
So let's get to real question here. If you think you have a great album, why would you release FIVE singles before the album drops??? (For comparison purposes, Trey Songz just released his 6th single and his album dropped in August.) Here's why: Usher needed to convince people to buy it. I don't mean that in a marketing sense. I mean it in the sense that he needed to prove to people that he could still make a good album after "Here I Stand", which was lackluster to say the very least.
And after hearing the three official singles, I knew that this album would be better than the last, but would it really be a GREAT album? The answer is no. Out of the 15 tracks, I like 8, but 3 of those 8 are the singles, which means that I usually skip them while listening to the album. Now, I'm down to 5 new songs that I like. And of those, I only LOVE one.
"Mars vs Venus" is hands down the best song on this album. "This is the big bang...step into the ring of fire" that I was hoping the album would be. Whatever mind frame Usher was in when he made this song, he should have stayed in it, made about 10 more like it, and put them on the album. With Marques Houston trying to make "Mattress Music", Songz's "Anticiaption" and Willie from Day26 releasing his "Sextape Mixtape," Usher could have really killed the game and shown them how this whole baby-making music thing is done.
I like "There Goes My Baby"...it's a nice song and his vocals are amazing, which I must say is fairly consistent throughout the album. (But that's not really impressive. Everybody already knows that Usher is great singer.) The other 3 songs that I like are "Pro Lover," "Okay," and "Guilty." My only problem with these songs, (and much of the album) is the content. Seriously, Usher, how long are you going to make the "Oh my god, this girl is so bad! I gotta take her home from the club even though I'm guilty of cheating on my girl" type of songs? That's what I hear from my 21-25 year old guy friends. You're divorced with 2 children. Get it together. One of my friends said that if Usher tries to make the excuse that this album is a reflection of his life, his life is "pretty lame." (C. Jaggon)
Nonetheless, those are decent songs. Other than that, there's "Monstar," "She Don't Know," and "So Many Girls," which might be my least favorite Usher song EVER. And "Making Love (Into The Night)" reminds me of the song he did for the Disney Tarzan Soundtrack. I'm sure that somebody will really like some of these songs, it's just not me.
So...back to the original question: Is Raymond v. Raymond a disappointment? Well, it depends. If you're comparing Usher to other artists, then no, it's not a disappointment. 8 good songs out of 15 is not that bad...especially when there's still time for the rest of the album to grow on you.
BUT, if you're comparing the new Usher to the old Usher, this album is definitely a disappointment. With the exception of "Here I Stand," fans are used to more than half of the songs being good on an Usher album. In fact, we're used to most of the songs being GREAT and then a couple of them being CLASSIC. We're used to starting with the first track and not having to push any buttons until the last song is over.
Don't get me wrong, it's not a terrible album. It's just not what I thought it would be. And how ironic is it that the album is called "Raymond v. Raymond"...since the real issue here is that Usher can't seem to win against the better version of himself.
Les, ladies and gentlemen, is More. ;)
(as I put "Mars vs. Venus" back on repeat)
I don't know whether to start with the good or the bad...so let's just start with the basics. The album cover is cool. Usher looks great. Although, it's kinda confusing to me why someone would try to differentiate between something that's the same. When I first heard that the album was going to be called "Raymond v. Raymond," I thought that we were going to see two sides of Usher battling within one person. I thought it was a double CD... like "T.I. vs. T.I.P" or the whole Beyonce vs. Sasha Fierce thing. Ummm...no. You can barely tell the difference between the two Ushers on the cover...and the music is the same. He should have just named the album "Raymond." But even that would have been misleading because the album, collectively, is not that personal. It's certainly no "Confessions" ...and I mean that in every possible way that can be interpreted.The first time I listened to the album in its entirety, I didn't like it. I found myself skipping through the songs, trying to figure out which one I thought should be the next single. The first problem was that I had heard many of the songs before and it's not because I downloaded them. "Papers" was released as buzz single in October 2009. It was a #1 single...for some reason. I guess the content is interesting but let's be honest, that's not a great song. Then there's "More" which is the another "not-so-great" song that's been embraced by the NBA and appears in a few commercials. They even asked him to perform that during the 2010 All-Star Game, which shouldn't have happened (I haven't heard anybody say that they liked that performance.)
And then there's the actual singles. "Daddy's Home" is cool...it's a song that grows on you. I didn't love it at first but that first line of the song makes you start it over. LOL. I don't know if it should have been the first single but it wasn't a terrible choice. In my opinion, "Lil' Freak" was an obvious choice for a single. It's kinda catchy, the beat is hot, and obviously, nowadays, anything with Nicki Minaj on it is going to get a lot of attention. The third official single is "OMG" which is produced by and features Will.I.Am. I had to listen to it a couple times to figure out if I liked it...and I do. There's a little part at the end of the song that won me over. (What can I say? I'm a sucker for slow breakdowns in fast songs lol)
So let's get to real question here. If you think you have a great album, why would you release FIVE singles before the album drops??? (For comparison purposes, Trey Songz just released his 6th single and his album dropped in August.) Here's why: Usher needed to convince people to buy it. I don't mean that in a marketing sense. I mean it in the sense that he needed to prove to people that he could still make a good album after "Here I Stand", which was lackluster to say the very least.
And after hearing the three official singles, I knew that this album would be better than the last, but would it really be a GREAT album? The answer is no. Out of the 15 tracks, I like 8, but 3 of those 8 are the singles, which means that I usually skip them while listening to the album. Now, I'm down to 5 new songs that I like. And of those, I only LOVE one.
"Mars vs Venus" is hands down the best song on this album. "This is the big bang...step into the ring of fire" that I was hoping the album would be. Whatever mind frame Usher was in when he made this song, he should have stayed in it, made about 10 more like it, and put them on the album. With Marques Houston trying to make "Mattress Music", Songz's "Anticiaption" and Willie from Day26 releasing his "Sextape Mixtape," Usher could have really killed the game and shown them how this whole baby-making music thing is done.
I like "There Goes My Baby"...it's a nice song and his vocals are amazing, which I must say is fairly consistent throughout the album. (But that's not really impressive. Everybody already knows that Usher is great singer.) The other 3 songs that I like are "Pro Lover," "Okay," and "Guilty." My only problem with these songs, (and much of the album) is the content. Seriously, Usher, how long are you going to make the "Oh my god, this girl is so bad! I gotta take her home from the club even though I'm guilty of cheating on my girl" type of songs? That's what I hear from my 21-25 year old guy friends. You're divorced with 2 children. Get it together. One of my friends said that if Usher tries to make the excuse that this album is a reflection of his life, his life is "pretty lame." (C. Jaggon)
Nonetheless, those are decent songs. Other than that, there's "Monstar," "She Don't Know," and "So Many Girls," which might be my least favorite Usher song EVER. And "Making Love (Into The Night)" reminds me of the song he did for the Disney Tarzan Soundtrack. I'm sure that somebody will really like some of these songs, it's just not me.
So...back to the original question: Is Raymond v. Raymond a disappointment? Well, it depends. If you're comparing Usher to other artists, then no, it's not a disappointment. 8 good songs out of 15 is not that bad...especially when there's still time for the rest of the album to grow on you.
BUT, if you're comparing the new Usher to the old Usher, this album is definitely a disappointment. With the exception of "Here I Stand," fans are used to more than half of the songs being good on an Usher album. In fact, we're used to most of the songs being GREAT and then a couple of them being CLASSIC. We're used to starting with the first track and not having to push any buttons until the last song is over.
Don't get me wrong, it's not a terrible album. It's just not what I thought it would be. And how ironic is it that the album is called "Raymond v. Raymond"...since the real issue here is that Usher can't seem to win against the better version of himself.
Les, ladies and gentlemen, is More. ;)
(as I put "Mars vs. Venus" back on repeat)
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