As a 23-year-old guy, I would not be considered in the core demographic of Justin Bieber's fanbase. And to be clear, I am not necessarily a fan. But neither am I a hater and dislike him either (I am neutral). As the Bieber Guy, I will explore the Justin Bieber phenomenon and understand why he may have lasting power in the biz.
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We've already been able to listen to a few of the songs off of Justin Bieber's Christmas album, Under The Mistletoe, in stores tomorrow (Tuesday November 1): "Mistletoe," "The Christmas Song," and "Christmas Eve." Now, how about listening to the album itself?
AOL Music has the Under The Mistletoe songs up on their website. But from the looks of it, it doesn't look like they have all of the songs up and they're not in the correct track order as you'll hear on the album. Not sure why. But at least we get to listen to most of the tracks, right?
I tried embedding the tracks into this article, but it kept embedding the same song over and over again. At least I tried. But click HERE to go to AOL Music and listen to the songs.
Here's the songs featured over there: "Only Thing I Ever Get For Christmas,"Home This Christmas" Feat. The Band Perry, "Fa La La" Feat. Boyz II Men, "Christmas Eve," "Little Drummer Boy," Feat. Busta Rhymes, "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" Feat. Usher, "All I Want Is You," "All I Want For Christmas Is You" Feat. Mariah Carey, "Mistletoe," and "Silent Night."
'A Very Bieber Christmas' will begin at the end of November here at Bieber Guy.
Under The Mistletoe will be released tomorrow, November 1, and is available to pre-order online in both standard, CD/DVD Deluxe, and CD/DVD Box Set editions, To pre-order a copy, below are the Amazon product links (or pre-order them directly from the Bieber Guy STORE).
Song: "U Smile" (Promo Single #2/Single #3) From Album:My World 2.0 Release Date: August 24, 2010
Almost half a year after My World 2.0 came out, the third and final single (though it was also released as a promo single right before the album) was released. The song: "U Smile." Let's take a look...
I'm impressed with Justin and his label for choosing top quality songs one after the other: "Baby," "Never Let You Go," "Somebody to Love," and "U Smile." Sometimes with artists, you may only have one or two great singles. But Justin's have all been excellent.
Before listening to the album for Bieber Guy, I had only heard three of the songs on the album before. And "U Smile" was one of them. I'm not sure exactly where I heard it; it might have been on TV sometime. And here we have yet another fantastic song. It has great mass appeal similar to "Baby" and "Somebody to Love," along with the hook and catchiness of them as well.
The chorus, "You smile, I smile / Cause whenever you smile I smile," is very simple, in terms of the lyrics. But the song is structured so that it can allow Justin's voice to really shine in a great way. Some songs are all about the beat or the hook. And "U Smile" has that hook, but it adds the vocal element as well, where we can just listen to his voice without any heavy use of instruments or anything else.
Here's what Justin said about what the song means to him and the connection to his fans (via MTV): "'U Smile' is one of the best songs I have ever recorded. It really is a throwback to the great records I listened to growing up. ... I wrote it for all my fans who got me here."
He continues by saying, "U took me from a small town in Canada to this amazing opportunity I am living now. I am so grateful for everything and so blessed for all of your support. I wrote 'U Smile' with my friend August with that in mind. ... So this one is for U. Enjoy it and know that u the fans give me my strength in a lot of this."
Now for the music video. The video is both similar to and different than his other videos. The similarity is that it's, of course, about a girl. But the difference is that it's set up sort of like a movie. There's a few opening credits. There's part of a scene before the music even starts. And the video goes back and forth between shots in black and white and shots in color. Also, it seems like a handheld camera was used quite a lot too.
Justin's leaving a building (I assume the theater that's featured later) and a group of girls notice him and want autographs and pictures and so forth. He meets with one of those girls later on and they hang out inside the theater.
Is life imitating art here? Does anyone else notice the similarity? Remember a month ago when Justin rented out (for free) Staples Center, and he and girlfriend Selena Gomez were the only two people there for a private screening of Titanic? In this music video, he and this fan of his have the theater all to themselves. I wonder if Justin ever thought of how similar it is?
But anyway, since the song is dedicated to his fans, it only seems appropriate that the video does that as well: "I took the opportunity 2 make a video 4 the fans, about a fan, and how we could fall IN LOVE." It's a good thing that this video is something not to be taken seriously, because really, if this was happening in real life, it's not the best idea. Justin picking up a fan and being alone with her? They're doing all these fun things, yet he doesn't know her at all. And to the girl: you shouldn't be alone with a star. Just kidding - we all know Justin's a good and wholesome guy (but if he were a rocker, not a good idea).
Next week, I will be reviewing Justin's book, First Step 2 Forever (and by the way, we're about a month away from "A Very Bieber Christmas" here at Bieber Guy; more details will follow later).
To stay updated on everything related to Bieber Guy and when the next blog article and/or review will be online, follow me on Twitter @Bieber_Guy.
Justin Bieberrecently talked to MTV about his next (non-Christmas) album, due out next year, and the new sounds they're trying out to make that transition from teen heartthrob into adulthood.
Now we've got some big news regarding that album. It has been confirmed that the new album will be called Believe! And he'll be working with some big names (via AceShowBiz):
"Very soon [it'll be released], after my Christmas album ... It's going to be coming out. It is called Believe. I'm working with a lot of cool people. I'm working with Kanye [West]. Drake is going to work on the album with me."
Justin's manager, Scooter Braun, has said that the album will be released by summer 2012.
We've already been able to listen to "Mistletoe" and "The Christmas Song" from Under The Mistletoe. Now, we've got a first listen for Justin Bieber's "Christmas Eve."
Check it out here:
There was a YouTube audio clip of Justin's rendition of "Drummer Boy" with Busta Rhymes, but has been taken down (were they forced to take it down?). So I guess you should hurry up and listen to "Christmas Eve" above before that's taken down as well.
Under The Mistletoe will be released on November 1 and is available to pre-order online in both standard, CD/DVD Deluxe, and CD/DVD Box Set editions. To pre-order a copy, below are the Amazon product links (or pre-order them directly from the Bieber Guy STORE).
Well, this is the second time during this first season of The X Factor USA that a contestant has performed Justin Bieber's "Baby." Tonight, the show went live for the first time, and the Top 17 performed. By the end of the night, each of the judges had chosen which 12 acts (three for each mentor) will perform for America's votes beginning next week.
Last time, it was 14-year-old Drew Ryniewicz performing "Baby," during her audition. You can check that out HERE. By the way, Drew is still in the competition and will be here next week. But she now just goes by Drew.
This time around, it's 13-year-old Rachel Crow. Her version was a mash-up of "Where Did Our Love Go" and "Baby." Check out her performance here:
So, what'd you all think? Personally, I think Drew did a better job with her version. But she wasn't half bad either.
Next Wednesday (8-10pm), the Top 12 (including Rachel and Drew) will perform, and America will vote for the first time. There will be five ways to cast your vote; find out the details HERE.
The other day we got a sneak peek of the song when a video was released of the duo in the recording studio. And now we've got the premiere of Justin Bieber's second Christmas single, a duet with Usher on "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)."
Here's your first listen of the song:
What'd you think of this second single? Is it just as good as "Mistletoe"? Better? Worse? I'm looking forward to reviewing it in December as part of 'A Very Bieber Christmas' here on Bieber Guy.
The song is not yet available to download on Amazon yet. But when it is, it will be added to the Bieber Guy STORE and tweeted out to all of you.
"The Christmas Song" will be featured on Bieber's upcoming Under The Mistletoe, which will be released on November 1 and is available to pre-order online in both standard and CD/DVD Deluxe editions. To pre-order a copy, below are the Amazon product links (or pre-order them directly from the T.W.O. STORE).
Song: "Somebody to Love" (Single #2) From Album: My World 2.0 Release Date: April 20, 2010
About a month after My World 2.0 was released, Justin released "Somebody to Love" as his second single from the album. So let's talk about it...
Let's say there's a show being performed and you have multiple performers coming out one after the other. You don't want to be the one that has to follow the showstopping performance of the evening, or follow the biggest star there. But somebody has to, usually, and that's the way it goes. I could say the same goes for Justin and "Baby." "Baby" is his most successful song of his entire career. How do you top that? I say, it's darn near hard to do. But Justin was able to match it.
The first time I heard this song was when it was covered during season 2 of Glee. When I did first hear it performed on that show, I thought, this is a great song. It's got a catchy hook. It's a song that transcends teen pop (since there's R&B influences once again), and can be enjoyed by people outside of his fan base. I always say that it doesn't matter whether you like a certain artist or not; a good song is a good song, plain and simple. Even if I were a full-on non-Bieber fan who couldn't stand him, I would still have to recognize the significance, quality, and hook of songs like this one as well as ones like "Baby." There's no getting around that.
The hook, what grabs you in where you go, that's a catchy song, is of course in the chorus. There's also some other moments during the song where you hear Justin singing the lyrics a little bit faster; those parts are used to great effect as well. And "Somebody to Love" received positive reviews among the critics, which solidifies the standing of the song further.
Apparently, "Somebody to Love" was originally supposed to be on one of Usher's records. But that was scrapped, and was eventually recorded by Justin. Usher provided background vocals to the song. And not too long after Justin released the single, the two of them did a remix of the song, and Usher ended up having considerably more vocal time. I listened to this remix, and enjoyed that version as well. I don't think any of the changes affected the quality at all.
And they did a music video for the remix version. With the storyline of the song, they could have easily translated that story into a music video. But instead, it was just as if they were performing on a stage; the focus was very much on the choreography and dance moves of Justin, Usher and the background dancers. And they pulled it off quite brilliantly, I thought.
At the start of this past week, "Mistletoe" was released. And now Beliebers everywhere will have another early Christmas gift a week later when another song from Justin Bieber's Under The Mistletoe will premiere. And it involves a certain someone named Usher. Never heard of him; he must be a newcomer....Kidding.
On Monday, October 24 at 10am ET/7am PT, Usher will be on On Air with Ryan Seacrest to premiere his and Justin's duet, "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)." You can listen to it live right HERE.
Even though that premiere is less than 48 hours away, I bet you can't even wait that long for a listen. So check out the below video to see Justin and Usher in the studio recording and mixing the song:
After listening to "Mistletoe" and watching this video, I'm trying to figure out when his voice changed and got so low. I guess it shows that I'm still back with My World and My World 2.0 (since that's where I am in the Bieber Guy Reviews).
Both "Mistletoe" and "The Christmas Song" (feat. Usher) will be featured on Bieber's upcoming Under The Mistletoe, which will be released on November 1 and is available to pre-order online in both standard and CD/DVD Deluxe editions. To pre-order a copy, below are the Amazon product links (or pre-order them directly from the Bieber Guy STORE).
Justin Bieber talked to MTV recently about his next non-Christmas album. When does he expect to have it out? Here's what he says:
"What's happening is: Get off this tour, and then my [holiday] album's coming out, so I have to go back out and promote that album ... and then after that ... it's almost time for my next album, so then everything starts over again ... We've already started [working on it], but we're going to be going in every day and working with new people and trying to find the best sound, because I'm going to be recording different styles, different things until I find a solid 15 songs that I love. ... I'm going to be recording as many songs as I possibly can."
There's no release date or anything like that determined yet, but he hopes to have it out "early next year."
I've mentioned this briefly here on Bieber Guy that as Justin moves into adulthood, he and his people will have to be careful with transitioning his public persona and music into something more mature as his teen fans begin to join him in that little thing called being an adult (or in their cases, young adults). And he talked about that as well:
"I'm trying to create a new sound that people aren't really used to hearing, so it might sound weird at first, but it's going to be like when Justin Timberlake did FutureSex/LoveSounds: It was a new sound ... acoustic guitar over hard drums. ... I want to find something that's going to suit me and my fans are going to love and older people will like and younger people will like. But I'm always trying to keep my core fanbase, because the young people are what make everything cool. Old people look to young people, so trying to keep everyone happy."
That's really smart of him that he's very much aware of this transition having to take place, and that they've got to do it in a way that doesn't alienate his core fanbase.
And using Justin Timberlake as an example on how they want to go about doing it is smart as well. After the members of 'N Sync went their own separate ways, Justin ventured out with his first solo record, Justified. But is was FutureSex/LoveSounds that really solidified himself on the stage as a solo act. It was a different sounding Justin, but one that everyone loved.
We've seen other teen stars fall by the wayside, popularity plummeting, and all that just in the last few years with Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers. With Miley, it was her image that put her in a negative light. With the Brothers, they just weren't strong enough when trying to go out on their own individually.
Will Bieber be different? Will he break that spell and pull a Justin Timberlake? I guess we'll find out next year. But between you and me, I think he'll do just fine.
On a related note, Bieber also told MTV that he hopes to star in a movie next year as well. His people are working on a script. We have no idea what kind of a movie or anything like that. But if he's going to do this, I hope he takes some acting lessons. I say that because his acting wasn't the best when he guest starred twice on CSI; it was little forced and not natural acting. He's had a hit on the big screen with his concert documentary, Never Say Never. Can he strike it big twice, but this time when he's acting? We'll have to wait and see.
Justin Bieber has been long-listed at the People's Choice Awards 2012. These are not the final nominees. What happens during this round is the public will vote on the choices (or nominate your own) that will then determine the final list of nominations.
If you want Justin to end up on that final list, here's your chance to make sure that happens.
Here's the categories he's eligible for:
Favorite TV Guest Star:
Debra Messing (Law & Order: SVU)
Gwyneth Paltrow (Glee)
Jim Carrey (The Office)
John Stamos (Law & Order: SVU) Justin Bieber (CSI)
Kathy Griffin (Glee)
Katy Perry (How I Met Your Mother)
Kristin Chenoweth (Glee)
Michael J. Fox (The Good Wife)
Tom Hanks (30 Rock)
Will Arnett (30 Rock)
Will Ferrell (The Office)
Depending on who the final nominees are, this looks like it could be a tough category to determine. There's so many worthy people, including Gwyneth Paltrow and Kristin Chenoweth. Even though Justin's fanbase is extremely strong and devoted, can he win this one, especially for the fact that his guest starring appearance on CSI didn't make an impact on the ratings of those episodes?
Favorite Male Artist:
Blake Shelton
Bruno Mars
Cee Lo Green
Chris Brown
Drake
Eminem
Enrique Iglesias
Jay-Z Justin Bieber
Kanye West
Keith Urban
Kenny Chesney
Justin's girlfriend, Selena Gomez, is on the list for Favorite Pop Artist. And mentor Usher is long-listed for Favorite Tour Headliner.
Click HERE to check out the full list of categories and potential nominees.
Like I said, the People's Choice Awards is voted on by the public. To vote for who will become the final nominations, click HERE. With each category, you can usually select up to five choices to vote for, as well as the option of nominating someone not on the list.
The final list of nominations will be announced on November 8. And the People's Choice Awards 2012 will air January 11, 2012 (9pm) on CBS.
The song was released the other day. And now, Justin Bieber has now premiered the music video for his Christmas single, "Mistletoe."
Check it out below:
"Mistletoe" is now available to download as an MP3 single. To buy your own copy, click on the Amazon product link at the end of this post.
And "Mistletoe" will be featured on Bieber's upcoming Under The Mistletoe, which will be released on November 1 and is available to pre-order online in both standard and CD/DVD Deluxe editions. To pre-order a copy, below are the Amazon product links (or pre-order them directly from the Bieber Guy STORE).
One of the other songs to be featured on Under The Mistletoe will also receive a music video. "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" will be attached to the upcoming film, Arthur Christmas.
Yesterday, we were able to listen to Justin Bieber's Christmas single, "Mistletoe." Today, we'll be getting the music video for that song. And now there'll be another video for one of his upcoming holiday songs.
Bieber's rendition of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" will be attached to the upcoming animated holiday film, Arthur Christmas. When you go to see the film in theaters, the music video for the song will play right before the start of the film and will incorporate footage from the movie. Then, the song will be heard during the end credits.
So what's Arthur Christmas about, you ask? Here's what the Examiner says:
"The 3D, CG-animated family comedy Arthur Christmas ... at last reveals the incredible, never-before-seen answer to every child's question: "So how does Santa deliver all those presents in one night?" The answer: Santa's exhilarating, ultra-high-tech operation hidden beneath the North Pole. But at the heart of the film is a story with the ingredients of a Christmas - a family in a state of comic dysfunction and an unlikely hero: Santa's youngest son, Arthur. When this amazing operation misses one child out of hundreds of millions, the least capable Claus embarks on a hilarious, exciting rogue mission against the clock to deliver the last present before Christmas morning dawns."
I wasn't aware of this movie before now. So maybe having Justin on board will bring attention to the film and possible cause it to go to number one at the box office? I guess we'll have to just wait and see.
Does a Justin Bieber music video and song included persuade you to go see it in theaters?
Arthur Christmas will premiere in theaters on November 23.
And "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" will be featured on Bieber's upcoming Under the Mistletoe, which will be released on November 1 and is available to pre-order online in both standard and CD/DVD Deluxe Editions. To pre-order a copy, below are the Amazon product links (or pre-order them directly from the Bieber Guy STORE).
"Mistletoe" is now available to buy and download as an MP3 single. Below is the product link for that as well.
Over a week ago, I posted a video of Justin performing "Mistletoe" live in concert. Now we are able to listen to the studio track itself (meaning, sans girls screaming in the crowd) of Justin Bieber's Christmas single, "Mistletoe."
You can listen to "Mistletoe" right here:
So what'd you guys think? Do you love it? I'm not sure when, but I will be reviewing "Mistletoe" and the entire album, Under The Mistletoe, eventually. I'm still deciding if I'm going to wait until December or not. So stay tuned to Twitter for that.
The music video for "Mistletoe" will premiere tomorrow, October 18. And the track will be available for download in the Bieber Guy STORE (via Amazon) tomorrow as well.
Under The Mistletoe will be released on November 1, and is available to pre-order online in both standard and CD/DVD Deluxe editions. To pre-order a copy, below are the Amazon product links (or pre-order them directly from the Bieber Guy STORE).
The nominations for the Youth Rock Awards 2011 have been announced. And Justin Bieber has received some nominations!
Here's the categories he's nominated in:
Rockin' Music Video of the Year:
Taylor Swift - Story of Us
Willow Smith - Whip My Hair Justin Bieber - U Smile
Chris Brown Feat. JB - Next 2 You
Demi Lovato - Skyscraper
Rockin' Artist of the Year: Justin Bieber
Taylor Swift
Bruno Mars
Chris Brown
Selena Gomez
As you can see, Justin's friend Taylor Swift and girlfriend Selena Gomez have been nominated as well.
Click HERE to check out the full list of nominations.
You can help determine the winners by voting for your favorites. Click HERE to find out how to vote.
The Youth Rock Awards will be held on December 7, 2011.
And now, here's the conclusion to my review of Justin Bieber's second music release, My World 2.0.
Track 9 is "Up." You always want your strongest songs to be released as singles. And I wonder if record company's ever struggle with if they should release a slower song for a single. Because slower songs, depending on how they sound, might not catch on. Now, obviously, that's not always the case. But we usually see the more upbeat songs promoted. I mean, just look at Justin. His more upbeat songs were singles ("Baby," "Somebody to Love,"). But then there's also "U Smile."
But sometimes amongst all the slower non-singles, you can find some pretty special songs. And "Up" may be one of them. It's definitely a slower song; I'm not sure if it would be considered a ballad or not, but anyway. To me at least, it's a very understated song. But it's that understatement that makes this song have meaning on My World 2.0. "It's a big, big world" is one of the standout moments, musically. And I think it's actually the start of the chorus, "Nowhere but up, from here, my dear," that has something about it that I can't quite put my finger on. Actually, these parts may in fact be the most mellow and understated parts of the song. They glide right through with fluidity.
The final song is "That Should Be Me." The feel of "Up" seems to be continuing on into this song. Sometimes on albums, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of thought put into the final track or two; it's almost like they decided to just put the weakest songs at the very end so we might not notice them as much. But I love when albums end on a high note. You want to start off the album on top and end at least near that same high. And "That Should Be Me" accomplishes that.
In my Part 1 Review, I said that before starting Bieber Guy, I had only previously heard three songs on this album before. But I guess I should bump up that number to four. Because I now realize that I have heard this song before, when he performed it as a duet with Rascal Flatts for a TV special. But I'll refrain from reviewing that duet for now, until I get to the Remixes release.
I have to say, this is one of my favorite songs on My World 2.0, and I think my favorite of all the non-singles on the album. "That Should Be Me" is a ballad, and Justin sings it with such conviction; he's standing his ground and metaphorically yelling out who the girl should really be with.
And while non-Bieber fans might roll their eyes at the story of the song, it's in the way that he sings it that makes it a brilliant song. The best example of that is in the latter half of the chorus. After he sings, "That should be me, holdin' your hand" etc., he repeats the title a couple of times in the middle. Then he really just goes all in and you can hear the strength and validity in his voice when he continues with "That should be me, feelin' your kiss" etc. There's much more of a vocal emphasis, almost like a pounding, on some of the words in that part of the chorus.
I can almost picture him singing this, watching a girl with another guy, and he stands there and puts all the emotion he can into the words and into his voice, pouring his heart out to the girl and telling her "That should be me."
That was the last track on the album. But there were two bonus songs released. The first is an iTunes bonus track called "Kiss and Tell." Musically and melodically, the strongest part of the song is at the start of the chorus: "Baby, I know that you cool with rockin' with me / But I can't have you tellin' everybody you got me all twisted." But outside of the chorus, it's more of a generic song. And for that, I can see why it didn't make the album.
The second is a Wal-Mart bonus song called "Where Are You Now." It's definitely the stronger song of the two. I actually wish they had included this on the standard release, because it's a beautiful song that really lets Justin show off his voice in a pure way without all the pumped up melodies. It's a very enjoyable listen. My favorite part, melody-wise is, "So take my hand and walk with me / Show me what to be / I need you to set me free." I've said this in previous reviews, but to those people out there who are very anti-Bieber, I would say to check out songs like this one, because if you strip everything away and just focus on the vocals, you will see that he can sing and does have good voice.
Just as with My World, My World 2.0 received generally positive reviews from critics. And it debuted on the charts at #1. Justin said that, "I wanted to do something that was a little bit more R&B and that could reach out to everyone. I just wanted to be able to show my vocal abilities." I agree with what he said there. There's R&B influences on the album, which gives it a lot of credibility. My favorite tracks are "Baby,""Somebody to Love,""U Smile,""Never Let You Go,""Up," and "That Should Be Me."
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 (just like it was with My World). So I'm going to round it up again, and give Justin Bieber's My World 2.0 an A-. Over the course of these two albums, I have been pleasantly surprised that his music is not strictly teen pop; there's heavy R&B influences, and he does a great job on ballads as well.
Just days after the album release, Sean Kingston released "Eenie Meenie" as his single. And a month later, Justin released "Somebody to Love" as his next single. So my next review will be an in-depth review of one of those two songs.
To stay updated on everything related to Bieber Guy and when the next blog and/or review will be online, follow me on Twitter @Bieber_Guy.
Justin Bieber will be premiering the music video for his Christmas single, "Mistletoe,"Tuesday, October 18 on MTV during MTV First: Justin Bieber at 7:54pm. Along with the video, Justin himself will be interviewed and will introduce the music video.
After premiering on MTV, the "Mistletoe" music video will be available to view online. The song is from his upcoming holiday album, Under The Mistletoe.
We're four days away from that very special premiere, but right now you can view a short preview of the video right here:
Under the Mistletoe will be released on November 1, and is available to pre-order online in both standard and CD/DVD Deluxe editions. To pre-order a copy, below are the Amazon product links (or pre-order them directly from the Bieber Guy STORE).
Last week, I reviewed the first third of Justin Bieber's My World 2.0, which included the songs "Baby," "Somebody to Love," "Stuck in the Moment," and "U Smile." So far, just by these four songs, it's a pretty good album so far. So let's get right back into it and take a closer look at the next four songs.
Next up is "Runaway Love." On any given album, no matter who the artist is, there will be songs that aren't those catchy single-worthy songs and songs that may not stand out for other reasons as well. And "Runaway Love" seems to be one of them. After a few listens, I've got the beat down and know the basics of what the song sounds like at this point.
At first, this was my feeling of the song: 'this song is, in some ways, kind of what I would call a filler song. It doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the song, but it's just there on the album and it's not the one on the album that people may remember above others. Then again, that may not even matter. Because I'm sure Beliebers have memorized every single song and can tell me why each and every song is recognizable in their own way.' That's what I thought at first of the song.
But after listening to it more and more, what stands out now is part of the chorus, especially moments like this: "I'm running out of time, where is my runaway love?" The hook of the song is obviously in the chorus where that lyric is located. The hook with the beat of the song is not too bad.
And on a non-lyric related comment, I was intrigued by the intro of the song when just the instruments are playing before Justin's voice comes in. That moment when it sounds like something's gone wrong and it's slowing down as if someone pulled the plug and it's turning off. It's little things like that that I find enjoyable.
On a final note, I will say this: The last time I listened to the song right before finishing this part of the review, I found myself singing along to the chorus. So I guess maybe the song does have traction in terms of catch-ability. But on an overall moment, it may not stand out as much as "Baby" or "Somebody to Love" or "U Smile," but it's not that bad of a song. Plus, it's got some pretty good R&B influences, which, again, are prevalent on this album. With the type of R&B infused into this song, I actually could easily see an actual R&B artist singing this song; it'd obviously be in a lower register, but no matter.
The 6th track is "Never Let You Go." Click HERE to read my in-depth review. In that review, I said that some of my favorite parts were: "It's like an angel came by and took me to heaven." Musically and lyrically, it's excellent. It's the mix of the words with how it's interpreted. Another standout part for me was here: "Let the music blast, we gon' do our dance." What stuck with me here is the vocal bounces, as I call them, where he take his voice up on certain words; they sort of bounce, if you will, with the vocal emphasis being on the start of "music" and on "do." Listening to "Never Let You Go" for this album review, I actually like it better now than when I reviewed it a couple of weeks ago.
Track 7 is "Overboard." What stands out with this song is the metaphor of being overboard and needing you to help me; I need you, and such: "I'm overboard and I need your love, Pull me up / I can't swim on my own, It's too much / Feels like I'm drowning without your love." I have to say, metaphors like this can be powerful. And they make an impact because it's so obvious what it represents. Even though most of the song is in metaphor, we all can tell what the song is about; we know what all that overboard stuff represents.
Now, I think the metaphorical nature worked up to a point. The part where I think the songwriter took it a tad overboard (pardon the pun) was the back to back to back (and on and on and on) use of "My life saver." Even though I understood the metaphor of that line, the repeated use of it back to back to back, etc. really didn't help the song. This part of it, in a way, took it into cheesy territory.
I hate to say this, but I found "Overboard" to be kind of a generic song. It didn't stand out to me. Actually, I think the musical beat of the song sounds like it's been done before in other songs; maybe that's why it doesn't sound new or anything like that to me. Outside of the overboard metaphors, there are some generic lyrics: "It's supposed to be some give and take, I know / You're only taking and not givin' anymore."
On a final note with this song, I have no idea who this Jessica Jarrell singer is. I had to do a Google search of her. Apparently, she's a teen singer. I found it a little odd that she's the one who opens the song and sings for a good while before Justin even starts in.
The next song, track 8, is "Eenie Meenie," with Sean Kingston. Until I did an online search of the song to find out more about it, I didn't know that it's actually a Sean Kingston song, not a Justin Bieber song. Four days after My World 2.0 was released, Sean dropped this song as one of his singles. And based on what we hear of the two of them in the song, I would certainly say that this is a Kingston song, not a Bieber song. But I'm glad that they included it on Justin's CD, especially since they're not label mates or anything like that.
I'm not going to go all in-depth or analyze the song or anything like that, because that's not the point of this song. "Eenie Meenie" is just supposed to be a fun song with a fun collaboration. It's a play on words, with the "Eenie Meenie Miney Mo" rhyme being played around with to fit a song about a girl. The girl they're talking about is indecisive, but don't look anywhere else because I'm Mr. Right.
Now that I've found out that the song is Sean Kingston's and was one of his singles, I may do a more in-depth review on it some other time. So stay tuned for that.
Now that I'm almost done reviewing the album, I can say that so far My World 2.0 is overall a strong album.
The other day, I reported that Justin's Under The Mistletoe single will be "Mistletoe," which would be released on October 18. We're two and a half weeks before that release, but at a recent concert stop, Justin performed "Mistletoe" live for the first time, which means we're getting our very first listen ever of the song.
Check out the video below: Even though we've now got our first listen at this song, I won't be doing a Bieber Guy Review of it until sometime after it officially is released as a single.
What'd you all think of the song? A great single? Disappointed? Leave your comments below.
Under The Mistletoe will be released on November 1, and is available to pre-order online in both standard and CD/DVD Deluxe editions. To pre-order a copy, below are the Amazon product links (or pre-order them directly from the Bieber Guy STORE).
We've got a few big pieces of news regarding Justin Bieber's upcoming holiday album, Under The Mistletoe. First, here's the tracklist for the disc, including the Deluxe Edition tracks:
1. Only Thing I Ever Get For Christmas
2. Mistletoe
3. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) [Feat. Usher]
4. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
5. Fa La La [Feat. Boyz II Men]
6. Christmas Love
7. All I Want For Christmas Is You [Feat. Mariah Carey]
8. Drummer Boy [Feat. Busta Rhymes]
9. All I Want Is You
10. Fa La La (a capella)[Feat. Boys II Men](Deluxe Edition)
11. Christmas Eve
12. Home This Christmas [Feat. The Band Perry]
13. Silent Night (Deluxe Edition)
14. Pray (Deluxe Edition)
15. Someday At Christmas (Deluxe Edition)
We already knew that Usher, Boyz II Men, and Mariah Carey were going to be included. But as we can see from this tracklist, Busta Rhymes and The Band Perry will also be featured as well.
The first thing I noticed when looking over this tracklist was some familiar songs we all know. I guess Scooter Braun must have jumped the gun early last month when he tweeted that all the songs would be original: "this christmas album is amazing. might be the best album yet. all originals...soon 2 b classics. every1 i play it 4 is blown away" (bold my emphasis). But not to fret; it does look like most of the songs are still originals, though.
I've been wondering lately when a single would be released. In a way, it's tricky because this is a holiday album, and that means a single would have to be released just outside of the main holiday time frame.
And Billboard announced that the single will be "Mistletoe," to be released on October 18 (that's before Halloween!)
As mentioned, there will be two versions of the album. The CD/DVD Deluxe Edition will include all of the above songs, plus the video for "Pray." As we all know, "Pray" is a song Bieber released on a previous release.
Under The Mistletoe will be released on November 1, and is available to pre-order online in both standard and CD/DVD Deluxe editions. To pre-order a copy, below are the Amazon product links (or pre-order them directly from the Bieber Guy STORE).
Have you been watching The Sing-Off, the singing competition where a cappella groups compete against each other? If you haven't, there's some amazing talent on that show!
During Monday night's episode, each group performed two songs, Current Hits and 1960's Favorites. For Vocal Point's Current Hits song, they went with Justin Bieber's "Never Say Never."
Watch it right here: So what'd you think of Vocal Point's rendition of the song?
As part of my ongoing Bieber Guy Project, I am exploring the Justin Bieber phenomenon by reviewing all of his music and other entertainment outlets. I will be reviewing the original "Never Say Never" in November, so stay tuned for that. (Follow Bieber Guy on Twitter @Bieber_Guy).
The Sing-Off airs Monday nights from 8-10pm on NBC.
We already know that Boyz II Men and Usher will collaborate with Justin on his upcoming Christmas album, Under The Mistletoe. Now we have word of another duet, this one with none other than Mariah Carey! One of Justin's dancers tweeted this: ":) RT @justinbieber @mariahcarey HONORED." As JustinBieberZone said, he followed up with this: "had to tweet that cause apparently people didnt believe me. haha justin bieber featuring mariah carey. believe it."
Boyz II Men will be great because Justin has looked up to them all his life. And Usher is a special one since he is Justin's mentor. But Mariah Carey is a big get for the album, since she's one of the best singers in the world, with one of the greatest vocal ranges ever.
Under The Mistletoe will be released on November 1, and is now available to pre-order online in both standard and CD/DVD Deluxe versions. To pre-order a copy, below are the Amazon product links (or pre-order them directly from the Bieber Guy STORE).
We're in full-on My World 2.0 territory now. I've already reviewed "Baby" and "Never Let You Go," which I will discuss again for the album review. And now, it's time for the overall review of My World 2.0. Since there are 12 tracks (including bonus tracks), I've decided to split it up into more than one review, so that I can focus on each song as much as I am able to.
My World 2.0 starts out with the lead single from the album, "Baby." And it's an extremely smart decision to be the opener of the album as well. Click HERE to read my in-depth review of the song.
Out of all the singles he's released up 'til this moment, "Baby" is by far the best of them all. It's extremely catchy, and will get stuck in your head. The catchy hook is in the chorus, with the repeated use of the word "Baby": "baby, baby, baby, ohhhh (I thought you'd always be mine)." Anybody can repeat a word over and over again in song. But it's a whole 'nother thing when the songwriters can make that repetition be the thing that makes the song stand out. So props to the songwriters.
In my in-depth review of "Baby," I said that I wish they hadn't included the Ludacris rap. But now that I've listened to the song more and more, I've gotten used to it. And I'm not totally against it now. Again, rap still isn't my favorite genre, but it certainly does work within the context of the song. And like I've said before, it gives both the song and the album more "street cred" among those outside Bieber's core demographic.
Speaking of "Baby," did you hear 14-year-old Drew Ryniewicz perform the song for her audition on The X Factor? Click HERE to watch the video and read my thoughts, and HERE to read what she had to say about auditioning and Bieber.
Track #2 is "Somebody To Love." After "Baby," we're pumped up and hoping that momentum is kept up with the next track. And "STL" keeps it up. The song eventually became the second single from the album, so I will be reviewing it more in-depth in a few weeks (including the music video).
Before starting up Bieber Guy, I always pegged Justin as strictly teen pop. And while his singles always stray down that road, I'm noticing more and more that there are a lot of R&B influences. And "Somebody to Love" has that as well. It does lend more credibility to him as an artist, and will hopefully only help him as he transitions in the next couple years into adulthood and having to keep his fan base without alienating them (a la Miley Cyrus).
I will say this: The first time I heard "Somebody To Love" was when it was covered on Glee during season 2. And when I first heard it performed on that show, I thought, this is a really good song. It's got a great hook. It's a song that transcends teen pop, and can be enjoyed by people outside of his fan base. I always say that it doesn't matter whether you like a certain artist or not; a good song is a good song, plain and simple. Even if I were full-on non-Bieber fan who couldn't stand him, I would still have to recognize the quality of songs like "Baby" and "Somebody To Love" (& "Down To Earth" from My World). There's no getting around that.
Okay, so we've now come out of two very catchy songs. "Stuck in the Moment" is next. Does it keep up that momentum? Not as much. But in a way, that's to be expected since this one's not a single. But I've always pointed out, and will do again here, that when a song of his doesn't stand out as much, we can always come back to the lyrics and see why it still works amongst all the other songs and why it can still be considered a success with his fans. The lyrics of the song, as usual, go hand in hand and fit right in with who his fans are and what they expect from a Justin Bieber song: "Now Romeo and Juliet bet they never felt the way we felt / Bonnie and Clyde never had to hide like we do." Infusing a little Romeo and Juliet doesn't hurt at all, does it? The epitome of love.
On a related note, did anyone notice that there's a couple moments in the song where the beat of the song sounds similar to Adam Lambert's "Whataya Want From Me": "Now you don't wanna let go, And I don't wanna let you know ... Now we don't wanna fall but we're tripping in our hearts." Click HERE to listen to Adam's song. The similarity starts at 00:51.
The fourth track is "U Smile." And like "Somebody to Love," "U Smile" was eventually released as a single, so I'll go more in depth in a future review. Before listening to the entire My World 2.0, I had only heard three of the songs on the album before. And "U Smile" was one of them. I'm not sure exactly where I heard it; it might have been on TV sometime. And here we have yet another fantastic song. It has mass appeal similar to "Baby" and "Somebody to Love," along with the hook and catchiness of them as well. The chorus, "You smile, I smile / Cause whenever you smile I smile," is very simple, in terms of the lyrics. But the song is structured so that it can allow Justin's voice to really shine in a great way. Some songs are all about the beat or the hook. And "U Smile" has that hook, but it adds the vocal element as well, where we can just listen to his voice without any heavy use of instruments or anything else.
I'm almost halfway through My World 2.0, but the beginning of the album is great so far. It has a great blend of teen pop, R&B, mass appeal, lyrics, and vocal arrangement.
