I went out and bought the new Usher album Tuesday eventhough I haven't cared at all for the first two singles. I wasn't the least bit surprised by anything on this album. Unfortunately he has become a very predictable artist and every album is beginning to sound like the previous one. Out of the 17 tracks I would have to say there is a hand full of solid songs but again it's nothing that deviates out of the formulaic Usher that we have come to know.

In all honesty, the Confessions album had much more to rave about, the main difference is, he was cheating before and he's married now. I feel like he was more trying to make a statement about his highly publicized marriage and life on this album rather than focusing on making great music. Out of 5 stars I have to agree with Rollingstone and give it a 2.5.

Here's what the critics say:

Rolling Stone: 2 1/2 stars out of 5
"Now that he's got the American Dream, he sounds like he's stopped trying. The problem with babymaking ballads: Once they create actual babies, the romance is dead."

Los Angeles Times: 3 out of 5
"The album would be much better without its excess of undistinguished ballads, but that aside, it's a more accomplished version of Confessions, the hooks more effortless, the singing even better, the songwriting more consistent."

Entertainment Weekly: B+
"At nearly 70 minutes, the disc could certainly have used a stronger editing hand, and even in his newly revelatory state, Usher remains more a smooth entertainer than an astute lyricist."

Hits: Stand out tracks on the album is 'What's Your Name' feat. Will.i.am (mainly because of the beat), 'Before I met you', 'His Mistakes', 'What's a man to do' (this should be the obvious next single...I'm almost sure it was produced by Stargate) and 'Love in this club part II feat. Beyonce and Lil Wayne. One noteworthy song that eventually grew on me was 'Trading places'.

Misses: Songs that just completely missed the mark for me are 'This aint sex', 'Best thing' feat. Jay-Z, 'Appetite', 'Lifetime' and I'm sorry but I do not like the first two singles off the album either 'Love in this club' and 'Moving mountains'.

A semi-decent track that could have gone on the album is 'Echo' that was produced by B. Michael Cox. I would have gladly embraced this song more than some of the others that ended up on the final cut. I hear there are talks about a re-release already, maybe this track will end up on that.

In other Usher news Billboard.com reports that the album is on track to being No. 1 next week when the first weeks sales are totaled.

" Usher's "Here I Stand" (LaFace/Zomba) should stand tall at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 next week, as the set tops the Nielsen SoundScan Building chart, released today (May 28).

Unweighted first-day sales for "Stand" from the chart's panel of nine accounts through the close of business yesterday came in at 146,000."

That's pretty obvious though. I doubt this comes as a surprise to anyone.

P.S. I thought it was just me being hard on him but I have seen alot of fan responses to the album and the feeling seems to be mutual. 



Aaron Fields is the Web Administrator for KSTW-TV in Seattle. All opinions expressed in this column are strictly his