Usher

Billing is important, and if new husband and father Usher Raymond IV hadn't presented Here I Stand as some kind of important step into adulthood, it might be better received. As is, Usher's never been particularly sophomoric, and he's tended to come off as a nice guy even when trying to get your pants off, but he also hasn't presented a very thoughtful persona, and this album doesn't really change that impression. Nothing here is unlistenable in the slightest. The production is verdant, but it doesn't step into excess, considering the genre. The seduction songs, like "Trading Places," certainly play to Prince Charming fantasies, and Usher's voice is the same smooth instrument it's always been, but smoothness needs a little texture to distinguish itself from slickness, and there's no Lil' Jon on most songs this go-round to provide the necessary stubble.

It's a relief to hear Jay Z's heavy touch at the beginning of "Best Thing," because it presents the possibility of weirdness, failure, even ugliness, and Young Jeezy's growly "hey's" on the big single, "Love in This Club," serve a similar function. More variety, however, would improve the album, especially when one reaches the 50-minute mark and realizes there's plenty left to go, much of which is slow-paced and pretty but ultimately not very interesting.

—Hillary Brown
06.20.08

After the release of 2004's Confessions, an album that transformed Usher from an R&B star into a pop superstar, the singer became a husband and father. That grants Here I Stand more lyrical depth than the four previous Usher albums, but we're not talking fathoms. There's a two-minute lullaby for his son, and the noticeably increased talk of settling down and turning in his player card ("My search ends here," "This time love won't let me leave") now holds more weight since he has actually done it through the eyes of the law; he certainly never would have thought to use "Your mama and my mama want some grandbabies tonight" at any earlier point in his life. More seriously, and less noxiously, the changes in his life are most evident throughout "Before I Met You," a song that is more direct, sincere, and ultimately believable than "Confessions, Pt. 2.": "You got my life together and I thank you forever." Otherwise, Here I Stand is almost exactly the kind of release you'd expect a 29-year-old Usher to deliver in 2008, and while it is seriously doubtful the album will move more copies than the nearly diamond platinum Confessions, there is plenty to like about it. Beyond some tepid material that can only be expected with a 74-minute album, its biggest weakness is in what it does not contain, like the leaked "Play Me" and the briefly charting "Dat Girl Right There," both of which would have been major highlights. Perhaps these songs would have tipped the scale too far in favor of Usher's wild bachelor past, covered effectively enough through "Love in This Club" (present in its bleary original and sugary sequel forms), the thoroughly synth-lasered "What's Your Name" (the closest in make-up to "Yeah!," if not nearly as revelrous), and the dramatic whirlwind "Appetite" (a Danja-produced Clutch collaboration, the best narrative R. Kelly did not write). Out of the small handful of brow-raising moments, "Trading Places" takes the cake. Put together with Tricky Stewart and the-Dream, it's nearly surreal, with Usher putting equal fervor into several visions of role reversals, whether they are romantic ("You get on top/Tonight I'm on the bottom") or menial ("Wash the car/I'm gonna walk the dog"). Questionable omissions and a little oddness aside, the album leaves no doubt that the R&B male crown (30 and under division) should not change hands. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide