Review: Debut Release - 'My World' EP

Album: My World (EP)

Release Date: November 17, 2009

After reviewing his first two singles, plus the two iTunes promotional singles, it's now time to look at Justin Bieber's debut release, My World EP. Since I've already reviewed four of the seven songs on the album, I already had a pretty good sense of what the album as a whole was going to be like.

My World starts out with his debut single, "One Time." Click HERE for my initial thoughts on the song (and HERE for the updated review). It's a great start to the EP. Even though each individual song should be able to stand on its own, especially in the digital age of downloading individual songs instead of entire albums, the order of the tracks is extremely important. There should be some sort of a progression as you're making your way through the album. And just as important is track #1 - the very first song you'll hear upon hitting play.

After having listened to "One Time" many times now, it really has grown on me over time. I mean, just look at my comments in the initial review vs. my updated review. The song is definitely catchy, and that's what makes it successful. Listeners will want to keep listening to the album after hearing this one.

Next up is "Favorite Girl" (HERE's my track review). "Favorite Girl" keeps up the momentum carried over from "One Time" and ramps it up even more. I would think that, to tween and teen girls, if "One Time" brings the Beliebers on board, then "Favorite Girl" keeps them aboard. I'm not a songwriter, nor could I ever be. But when a songwriter can do things to a song, whether that's in the phrasing, the tempo, melody, notes or range, that make it stand above other songs, that's a success. And FG does that when it comes to the melody in the chorus. I call them the bounces in the song: "My prized possession, one and only." His voice goes up on such words as "possession" and "only." That's what hooked me in. That's what kept me wanting to listen to the song again.

"Down to Earth" is by far the most poignant and heartfelt song on the whole album. Read the lyrics as he's singing them:

Whenever I've reviewed each of the songs, I always like to do a little research and read up on the background, what the songs are about, how Justin interprets them, etc. Justin co-wrote three of the songs on My World, including this one. "Down to Earth" is about his parent's divorcing, and having to grow up in the aftermath of it all. Knowing this, it really does bring a whole new meaning to the song. My World started off with fun, upbeat, catchy songs. Then we slow it down quite a bit on this one. It doesn't feel out of place at all, though. Since I came into the song knowing the background on it, I really payed attention to the words, what was being said. I paid attention to how he projected his voice to convey that meaning. I can't really compare it to the upbeat songs, since they're completely different types of songs. But "Down to Earth" is by far one of the best songs to come out of My World. There's no denying the power of words. And really, no matter who's singing them, we hope that the message is still conveyed. On a song like Miley Cyrus' "The Climb," I'm not a fan of Miley's voice, but I love that song and the theme within it. Same with Demi Lovato and "Skyscraper." Even for those who are not Justin Bieber fans, I hope they would be able to listen to "Down to Earth" and react in a similar way that I did.

I found this video on YouTube of Justin singing "Down to Earth" in concert. At times, it seems like he's a little uncomfortable singing it. Just pay attention to his facial expressions, his mannerisms, the way he moves around, and especially the way he completely embodies the song while singing it. The song does mean a lot to him, and you can tell in this video:

"Bigger" is up next. Is anyone else tired of hearing these "Mafia" tags? It's not just with Justin's (Mafia is heard both on "Down to Earth" and Bigger"), but many other artists. I have all of Fantasia's albums (Fantasia of American Idol fame), and I hear it on there too. Does Midi Mafia have to include it on every song they're a part of?

Anyways...sorry about that mini-rant there. I just had to get that off my chest. But "Bigger" is a decent-enough song to include, giving My World an R&B flavor with this one. The bounces I referred to with "Favorite Girl" are back again.

"One Less Lonely World," while not has catchy as some of the other songs, has lyrics that his female fans can connect to. In my review of this song, I didn't give it the highest rating. But I found out that there's a French Adaptation only on the Canadian release of My World. Justin goes back and forth between singing some lines in English and some in French. And I have to say, I prefer this French Adaptation over the original by far. What is is about certain foreign languages, like French, that can do that? I had no idea that he could speak French. Even though he's from Canada, I don't know if it's required for students to learn French or what percentage do. So I didn't know that he could. But I loved the French parts of the song.

Celine Dion is my favorite singer of all time. And she does have some songs on her American albums sung in French. And I love them. And I really want to get her French releases. So really, the French language seems to make things even better, doesn't it?

Regardless of what I said about "Bigger" and "One Less Lonely Girl," "First Dance" may be the weakest song on the EP. With similarities in tempo Michael Jackson's "You Are Not Alone," this one is mainly teen pop, and features Usher. But the R&B flavor infused near the end seems out of place. And in terms of the overall feeling I got from the song as a whole, I found it a little forgettable. The catchiness that I keep talking about in the other songs seems lost here. But since the song is about prom, it caters extremely well to his female fans.

I mentioned earlier that the first track of an album is critical because it sets the tone for the rest of the album. "One Time" succeeded on that front. And now that we're at the end, I will say that the final track is also important. You want to go out with a bang, if you will. Sometimes on albums, the best tracks are at the start and/or middle, and not much energy is taken into the ending. But My World again succeeds here with this. "Love Me" is a great way to end the album (read my review HERE). It brings the tempo back up, it's catchy, upbeat, and fun. And it's one of my favorites of all the songs.

My World received generally positive reviews from critics. I've given it a mostly positive review as well, and this is coming from a non-fan, though someone who isn't a hater either. And the album was a smash on the charts as well, having the best-selling debut of a new artist in 2009.

My absolute favorite tracks on the EP are "Down to Earth," "Love Me," "Favorite Girl," and "One Time." After those four, I would order these songs (starting with the best) as "One Less Lonely Girl," "Bigger," and "First Dance." There's was also another track included on this release, but only on iTunes, which was "Common Denominator." In terms of tempo and pacing, I would compare it to "First Dance."

I graded each of the seven tracks based on the GPA grading system (i.e. A=4.0, A-=3.7, B+=3.3, etc). After averaging it out, the final grade was between 3.5 and 3.7. I'm going to round it up, and give Justin Bieber's debut EP, My World, an A-. The songs cater to his core demographic of teen and tween girls. The R&B infusion into some of the songs gives it more credibility with other people. And with a song like "Down to Earth," Justin has shown that there can be deep layers to some of his songs and his music beyond just catering to girls.

This isn't an album I would normally buy. If you look at my CD collection, I don't have any teen/tween-type albums; the one that comes closest is Taylor Swift, but her music has transcended beyond just that fan base and into mainstream critical acclaim by people of all ages and backgrounds. As Justin becomes an adult and has to make that transition with his music as well, can he do the same? I can't wait to find out.

To find out the latest TV, movie and entertainment news, visit Bieber Guy's partner sites, TV Watch Online and the TV Watch Online BLOG (follow T.W.O. on Twitter HERE).

The next music review will be the kick-off of the My World 2.0 reviews, with "Baby." I might do a non-music review before then; I'm still trying to finalize the order of these next couple of reviews. So pay attention to Twitter for the latest on that.

To stay updated on everything related to Bieber Guy and when the next blog will be online, follow me on Twitter @Bieber_Guy.

Bieber Guy My World Reviews: "One Time" (Updated) / "One Less Lonely Girl" / "Love Me" & "Favorite Girl"