Amazon.com: Believe: CDs & Vinyl

I want to remind back to when `Boyfriend' was released. Previous to that, I had only heard Bieber songs in about ten second segments on the radio before turning them off. He just wasn't my style. I never begrudged him or made fun of him, and I noticed talent (he has a voice) but I didn't care to listen to him. `Boyfriend' was inescapable. It was everywhere. Turn on the TV and they were featuring it and every radio station was playing it in unison. I hated it (still do). Listening to Bieber explain this "cool sexy rap thing" he was trying out was painful. It doesn't work and it sounds almost desperate for attention or acceptance. It's sad, because the moments in the song where he actually sings (with the acoustic guitar breakdown) is nice. That said, the song itself is terrible.

But Bieber fans, relax, I'm getting to the good part of the review.

So, with that I was determined to avoid this guy as best I could. Then I heard `As Long As You Love Me'. Yes, once again Bieber was everywhere and his song was getting so much attention it was unavoidable. That being said; `As Long As You Love Me' was a good song! Sure, it isn't smart or original or lyrically intriguing ("you could be my Destiny's Child") but the beat is sick and Justin's vocals are smooth and the overall effect is fun and fresh and just grabs your attention. For the kind of music it is, it works. After hearing `Beauty and a Beat' I decided that I wanted to hear the rest of the album. I wasn't sure if I was going to be rewarded or not, but I knew that it couldn't hurt.

This album is pretty good!

It's weird to say that I feel like a teenager when listening to Bieber, but I mean that in a different sense than you might expect. Sure, I feel young because of the fact that Bieber's fanbase consists of teenage girls, but there is something nostalgic about Bieber's album here. Parts of this album remind me of the boybands I listened to when I was twelve; the Backstreet Boys in particular. Some tracks have such a slick R&B vibe to them that I recall the first time I heard `Candy Rain' and I'm in love. Yeah, I'm digging parts of this album in a big way.

It's not all good though. Bieber has a tendency to whine in some of his songs. Even the otherwise wonderful `Fall' suffers from whiney delivery on the verses (that chorus is wonderful though). His more beat heavy tracks (the better songs on the album) are lyrically simple and so they can be deemed somewhat dumb, and his more `thoughtful' tracks are pretty cheesy in their attempt to over-depict adolescent love. Still, as a collective album this one is hard to dislike. With Nikki Minaj and Drake blessing specific tracks, and Bieber's willingness to explore a variety of sounds (I swear, `As Long As You Love Me' sounds like something Linkin Park would have `Re-Animated' and `Die in Your Arms' is a blissful Jackson 5 throwback) `Believe' is a very well rounded album.

For those interested, my personal ranking:
1) Right Here
2) As Long As You Love Me
3) Beauty and a Beat
4) Believe
5) Fall
6) Die In Your Arms
7) Be Alright
8) Take You
9) All Around the World
10) Thought of You
11) Catching Feelings
12) One Love
13) Boyfriend