Album Review: Usher "Here I Stand"

Having been four years since his record-selling album Confessions, Usher was finally ready to return to the scene with his fifth studio album Here I Stand. At first, it was with quite a bang, as the Young Jeezy-assisted first single "Love In This Club" hit #1 before a video was even out for the song. Like its predecessor, Here I Stand debuted atop the charts, but didn't manage to sell the astronomical amount Confessions had. Usher had a lot of success with his last album, which I enjoyed, but I didn't think it was life-changing. In my opinion, Here I Stand, as a whole, is at least as good, if not better, than its predecessor, but is not without its own problems.

Following the decent "Love In This Club" is the better "This Ain't Sex." It's a cool song, but would have obvious issues if released commercially. The next track, the slow jam "Trading Places," is quite excellent, but not exactly radio-friendly in content. One of the best tracks is the second single "Moving Mountains," which features sensational vocals & should remind us why we loved Usher in the first place. "What's Your Name," which features will.i.am, follows & is pretty fun.

Usher goes along pretty well, but then comes to a point where every track sounds like an album filler. While probably significant personally, "Something Special" is alright, but falls short. The latter can be said of "Love You Gently," which doesn't compare to the earlier "Trading Places." The Jay-Z-assisted "Best Thing" also falls flat. The album picks up then, with "Before I Met You" & the long-leaked "His Mistakes," before peaking (for the last time) with "Appetite," a song that surprises me (in a good way) with its content. "What's A Man To Do" is another decent midtempo.

Here I Stand finishes out with the sub-par "Lifetime," the add-on (but enjoyable) "Love In This Club Part II," which features Beyonce & Lil' Wayne, & title track "Here I Stand," an alright song vocally, but otherwise difficult to sit through. "Will Work For Love" is a hidden track & quite better than half of the album's other material.

Usher is an excellent vocalist, so Here I Stand has that going for it. I'm also happy for him, being married now & all, but if he's gonna sing so much about it, he needs to make it so that the listener wants to hear it. This project is definitely hit & miss, but makes itself worthwhile with the hits. If the right songs were chosen as future singles, Usher could have some decent success with Here I Stand, which he deserves, though I doubt he will hit it as big as the last go-round.

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars