Album: Never Say Never: The Remixes
Release Date: February 14, 2011
Release Date: February 14, 2011
After reviewing "Never Say Never" the song and Never Say Never the movie, it's time to finish off the NSN trifecta with Never Say Never: The Remixes.
And you know what I just realized? Speaking of NSN, we're in an anniversary period here. Two days ago was the one year anniversary of the film first being released in theaters, and tomorrow will be the one year anniversary for The Remixes album release. And I swear I didn't plan it this way.
And you know what I just realized? Speaking of NSN, we're in an anniversary period here. Two days ago was the one year anniversary of the film first being released in theaters, and tomorrow will be the one year anniversary for The Remixes album release. And I swear I didn't plan it this way.
As I did with My Worlds Acoustic, I'm going to compare the original versions of these songs with the new renderings, in this case, with the remixes.
Never Say Never: The Remixes starts off with the title song, "Never Say Never," featuring Jaden Smith. If you read my review of this single a couple weeks ago, you know that I love the song. It may be one of Justin's strongest songs, up there with some of his biggest hit singles like "Baby."
Now, I listened to the first version, which was released on My Worlds Acoustic, and the one on this remixes album, and I can't tell any difference. There might be the slightest change in the way it starts, but overall, it sounds exactly the same. I don't know, maybe they weren't trying to change it since this was selected as the main song to promote the album and film with. But still a great song.
"That Should Be Me" was originally on My World 2.0. This time, Justin's joined by Rascal Flatts, one of my favorite bands. Incidentally, the very first time I heard this song was when they sang it together during a Rascal Flatts TV special. Listening to both versions back to back, it doesn't sound like much of the arrangement was changed, which is good, because this is such a great song already, strong and powerful. Gary LeVox, the lead singer of Rascal Flatts, provides a fantastic complement to Justin's voice. He doesn't overwhelm Justin, but just provides a certain blending that works and at times a sort of background harmony. I don't think I can pick which version is my favorite; both are great.
The music video for "That Should Be Me" starts off with Rascal Flatts arriving at some sort of a studio and meeting up with Justin, and they start singing the song. Then they move over to another part of the studio and get all prepped and ready for the music video. Then we're in full music video mode from this point on, while still seeing a little of the BTS aspect. Who would have thought they'd make a great pairing? Well, I guess, never say never, right? Oh, snap!
"Somebody to Love" featuring Usher is next. I won't go too much into it because I mentioned it briefly in my original "Somebody to Love" review way back when. But I will say this. I really enjoyed the addition of Usher. His voice, as we all know, is soft and fluid, and he brings that with him to this recording.
Next is "Up" featuring Chris Brown. When I re-listened to the original to refresh my mind of what it sounded like, I immediately could understand why they chose Chris Brown as the collaborator for the remixed version. I don't know much of his music, but the R&B sound to it made me see why he'd be a great fit. And I'm not a fan of Brown, per se, but his voice sounded very smooth on "Up." Justin was still very much at the forefront, and Brown's voice was there to complement it, essentially.
Before I go any further, I have to make a comment here. I thought these were supposed to be remixes. At the end of this review, I'll explain further what I mean and why Justin's team doesn't really know what acoustic or remix means in the common way we know it as.
The original version of "Overboard" featured Jessica Jarrell, whoever she is. For this remix album, they decided to use the live duet that Justin did with Miley Cyrus at his MSG show, which we saw on Justin Bieber: Never Say Never. If you recall, I criticized that performance because they made it more sexualized of a performance than it should be, especially when you consider the meaning of the song. And I'm no fan of Miley Cyrus, so you can see where I'm going with this.
I wasn't a big fan of the original. The metaphors are way overused and it's a pretty generic song. I'm not trying to purposefully hate on the song -- I'm sorry -- but I can't figure out which version I can't stand the most. Miley's voice is grating on the live one. And the original is so generic sounding.
I hope Justin doesn't do any other collaboration with Miley or any other Disney star. The Disney stars of today aren't that big (Miley and the Jonas Brothers, the two biggest, have fizzled out), and Justin was able to make it majorly big on his own without the help of Disney.
Then there's "Runaway Love" (Kanye West Remix) featuring Kanye West and Raekwon. Back when I first reviewed the original, I said that it grew on me over time and I was eventually able to appreciate it. But the Kaye West additions to this remix do not help the song in any way. It made the song sound terrible. What is with Kanye? He interrupts Taylor Swift at an awards show; he interrupts Justin's voice on this track. Go away, Kanye!
The album closes out with a new song, "Born to be Somebody," written by Diane Warren. It's a nice little song that gives it a good feeling to close out the album. It's inspirational and has a great message. It's not that catchy or memorable, but still a nice way to close everything out with.
I'm a little confused by Justin's team here. With My Worlds Acoustic, for an acoustic album, there wasn't much acoustic of anything going on. And then here with Never Say Never: The Remixes, there isn't much remixing going on. It seems like they just did this album so that they could add in other singers. That doesn't mean it's a remix. I think Justin's producers need to look at what acoustic means and what remix means, in the sense of what the common interpretation of those words mean.
This wasn't Justin's best album. If we're grading it on the basis that it's a remix album, the grade I might give it may be a C. If I'm grading it just as an album, I might give it a B or B+.
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Bieber Guy My World Reviews: "One Time" (Updated) / "One Less Lonely Girl" / "Love Me" & "Favorite Girl" / My World EP
Bieber Guy My World 2.0 Reviews: "Baby" / "Never Let You Go" / My World 2.0 Part 1/Part 2/Part 3 / "Somebody to Love" / "U Smile"
Bieber Guy Book Review: First Step 2 Forever
Bieber Guy My Worlds Acoustic Reviews: My Worlds Acoustic / "Pray"
Bieber Guy Film Review: Justin Bieber: Never Say Never
Bieber Guy Never Say Never: The Remixes Reviews: "Never Say Never"
Bieber Guy Under The Mistletoe Reviews: "Mistletoe" / "The Christmas Song" / Under The Mistletoe Part 1/Part 2/Part 3
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