Justin Bieber

i think the looser rhythms of this faux-tropical and actually tropical stuff complements his strengths very well for that reason actually

he can get by on lite rhythmically nimble records but is not so good at conveying passion thru strength of vocal performance

i agree on the latter which is why i don't think they work as well - they're quite understated production-wise and his vocal is pretty foregrounded, and he doesn't sell any of the songs especially well

he basically needs huge-sounding production ("as long as you love me") that makes him a cog in the machine

No I'm talking about why journals doesn't work ... On "what do you mean" his vocals are light as a feather, there's no sense of him over singing or reaching for some big dramatic r&b display

oh i was still talking about believe, never heard journals

light as a feather is part of the problem, he doesn't overreach and fail but there's not much there - undersinging when you can't get the nuances right is also an issue

Journals remains dope. Biebz just wasn't part of the conversation back then. There was no narrative to sell it.

he basically needs huge-sounding production ("as long as you love me") that makes him a cog in the machine

i.e. the Jack U song, which is where i think a lot of the crit reappraisal is coming from. personally i'll admit that i was more shocked than anyone that not only did a collab between Diplo Skrillex and Justin Bieber not make me want to hurl myself off a building I actually liked it

d-40 otm

lex stale aesthetic hobbyhorses zzz

my fave nu-biebz moment is towards the end of wdym when he ad libs "be more straightforward!", u rly feel the polite anguish

haha yes that part almost takes me out of it bc its a tell that he's not entirely certain he understands what the song is about

I'm not sure he can spell "straightforward"

even prettier than his grindr-twink haircut

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfGaX8G0f2E

album is fine

the second half of this is pretty garb

i straight up love at least two of the bonus tracks ("been you" and "get used to me") but prob bc they sound like lost songs from the recent derulo record

some of the bonus tracks are nice tho

"been you" is amazing yeah prob the best thing on here that wasn't put out in advance

really loathe the title track

on through the one with big sean i think this is pretty tight altho that one should be way better but bieber's voice can't carry it at all for whatever reason. but the travis scott song is a throwaway, the piano ballads suck and "children" sounds like legit parody (tho skrillex's riff is kinda nice). i like the halsey song a lot which seems impossible... i'm not sure i would've known she was on it if she wasn't billed. second half is really wayward from a conceptual & strategic standpoint.

the halsey song ("the feeling") ruuuules

also the sheeran co-write is just a dead stop after the build of "what do you mean" and "sorry"

if you kept the first 7 tracks, ditched the travis scott record, moved the halsey one up, kept "where are u now" and swapped the other three out with "been you", "get used to me" and "hit the ground" you'd have a great front back to album. almost there! oh well i might just do that myself anyway.

i like "love yourself" as a song but the sequencing is weird yeah. it's like 3-4 songs too early. also knowing that it's a sheeran record makes it seem a little craven. it's a good song tho.

yeah "been you" is such a breath of fresh air after all the dogshit preceding it, hard to believe it's the first bonus track

J0rdan is crazy. The Travi$ Scött song is great. As is most of this. It's about four songs too long and it has a Nas verse on it but apart from those things it's a pretty perfect pop album.

Halfway through this and really enjoying it, its like he's finally making material to justify his celebrity.

lol at the idea of Bieber advising a woman she needs to love herself.

this album seems awful whiny

"life is worth living" yikes

It's about four songs too long and it has a Nas verse on it but apart from those things it's a pretty perfect pop album

no idea what you're hearing

this album is not good and the sudden wave of critical goodwill for bieber is baffling

'Love Yourself' is immensely hateful and snide and really sets the tone of the first half.

as a fixture in a disco ball, he's sufficiently lubricious but i find Bieber unpleasant to my soul when he's doing his more thick than thicke "I'm just a talented lil' songwriter is all' schtick.

yeah, this Is a little bit disappointing. The first half Is good (except the travis one) and some of the bonus are nice. but too many fillers.
Surprisingly, i dont hate the ed sheeran one. I always laugh each time i listen "my mom dont like you and she likes everyone".

this album is not good and the sudden wave of critical goodwill for bieber is baffling

― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Friday, November 13, 2015 5:51 PM (48 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i liked your "market capitulation disguised as poptimism" line on TSJ v much

album is very boring, very whiny. idk why people are going on about how vulgar the house beats are, if only there was some vulgarity here. i don't require artists to be pleasant people but biebz manifesting adulthood as a sub-drake gaslighter is deeply irritating to spend time with

this album is not good and the sudden wave of critical goodwill for bieber is baffling

― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Friday, November 13, 2015 11:51 AM (53 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i mean it had a great set of lead-in singles

yeah -- I understand why bieber essentially has to play contrite and compare himself to jesus/gandhi, but the songs would only half-work if he didn't. (and if he could sing, but, well, yeah)

first half is solid, second half is super iffy although i like the nas song, sounds like a LTTP outtake

my only prob w/ jordan's alternate tracklist is 'no pressure' is one of those terrible oversung bieber records

okay, on my third pass through the album i finally let it play past 'where are u now' and i got to 'children' and what the fuck is this

like this is bad enough that it makes me reassess my enjoyment of 'where are u now' and 'sorry' and 'what do u mean' in that it is just a crasser more straightforward market share grab for people who found those songs too subtle
plus it allows beebs the opportunity to rah rah his vapid philanthropic pride for (if i am hearing this correctly) "making a difference"
*coughs out a throat oyster* ¡MILLENNIALS! *shakes fist at cloud*

serious lols at Purpose with his sub tuesdays with morrie life lessons
i am compelled to transcribe this for future generations:

i don't know if this is wrong because someone else is telling me that it's wrong
but i feel this so let me just like TRY my best not to let this happen again
we weren't necessarily put in the best position to make the best decisions
you can't be hard on yourself for it; these were the cards that you were given
so you have to understand that these, like, that's not who you are; you know you're trying to be the best you can be, but that's all that you can do
if you don't give it at all you got, you're only cheating yourself
give it all you got, but if it ends up happening, it ends up happening.
that's what's happening with me it's like: i don't giving it all i got, sometimes i'm weak and i'm gonna do it
and it's like, I'm not giving myself grace, I'm just understanding that's just how it is

it's like

one day future generations will figure out why we use "it's like"

WHAT DO YOU MEAN

we weren't necessarily put in the best position to make the best decisions
you can't be hard on yourself for it; these were the cards that you were given

now film me making a racist joke about chainsaws

"The feeling" is pretty awesome: "Sugar on your lips, it's hard to kill
/Jagged like a pill, so hard to swallow"

Best album he's released to date

low ba

bar, too

i dunno, i think purpose is kinda garbage except for the singles and not even all those
much prefer journals

too many of the good songs (the singles) are shoved toward the front of the album and even that section is poorly sequenced

hm maybe my expectations were unnecessarily high but the only keeper other than what was out before the album is "company" which i wouldn't be surprised to see as a radio single further down the line

the halsey collaboration threatens to be great for ~the length of its first verse but the brightness of the chorus doesn't contrast well

i'm sure the title track will make a touching closer to his live set, hopefully with the voice recording part scraped out lol