Usher – Here I Stand
Usher – Here I Stand
Jive 2008
Rating: 4/10
Here I Stand, Usher’s first album since 2004’s uber-hit Confessions, is your standard Usher disc. Ridiculously built lothario with velvet pipes sings about sex, declarations of love, sex, contemplations of love past, and, uh, more sex. There is one little thing, however, that quite effectively separates Here I Stand from Usher’s earlier work: the ultimate bachelor is now the ultimate husband.
It’s a small distinction, as Usher still sings things like “you order Chinese food before you do me” and “I’m always on the top tonight I’m on the bottom / cuz we trading places,” but this is balanced with observations like “wash the car / I’m gonna walk the dog / take out the trash” on the same song (“Trading Places”). Usher’s still down to get dirty, but it’s a monogamous playground nowadays.
While not necessarily a bad thing, it does tend to stunt the album’s momentum with interludes like the embarrassingly sappy “Prayer For You [Interlude]” and the corny “Lifetime.” Usher’s more standard bedroom songs aren’t much better, with songs like the above “Trading Places” and “This Ain’t Sex” sounding mechanical and uninspired at worst, mediocre R&B jams at best.
The best and catchiest song on the record is the first single, “Love In This Club,” even though it does have Young Jeezy grunting “I’ll set you free / sexily, mentally, emotionally.” Sexily? Really?
Usher’s voice is as strong and assured as ever, and his choice of guest artists is spotless. Jay-Z’s cameo on “Best Thing” is particularly effective, breaking up the lover-boy monotony of the surrounding songs. The production is solid, but at a titanic eighteen songs and 74 minutes, the album could’ve used a more discerning editor to cut away some of the overblown ballads.
It was inevitable that the follow-up to Confessions would fall under the shadow of its predecessor, even after four years, but Here I Stand’s lack of distinctive hits and its unfortunate tendency to drag along makes it a step down for the king of male R&B. Marriage may be good for the man, but it sure makes for boring music.
Themocracy