Usher - Classic or Dud?

pop pop!

http://www.zshare.net/audio/4821554ed68081/

i actually kinda like this. wish it wasn't as t-pain-y, but whatever. i'm sure this will be the "can't tell me nothing"/"dumb it down" type "internet first single". luda kills it i think.

Dud. He has an average voice at best, but that's not a biggie considering some R&B legends weren't legendary singers.

His material, though, has always lacked. "You Make Me Wanna" was decent, as well as "My Way", but nothing all that great--in comparison to some of the other dreck r&b on the radio at the time, it was like Lenny Williams, but it's still painfully average.

A lot of his other tunes were quite boring, and "Yea" is absolute crap.

So....he's not like, the worst of all time, but...next.

ok RONG. usher's 5 best singles stack up w/ anyone's 5 best singles since he's been around.

You have a point there, except for the fact that his best five singles are still middle of the road in terms of quality :)

Besides, I don't rank music in comparative terms. Even if all 3,445,433 other artists in the world were inferior to Usher, I wouldn't have to be obligated to consider his music quality if I felt it didn't stand up on its own terms.

You have a point there, except for the fact that his best five singles are still middle of the road in terms of quality :)

-- Bo Jackson Overdrive, Monday, November 12, 2007 5:26 PM (Monday, November 12, 2007 5:26 PM) Bookmark Link

Ban.

Agree to disagree? :)

usher's 5 best singles stack up w/ anyone's 5 best singles since he's been around.

Uh, no. Justin Timberlake's best ten singles >>>>> Usher's best five

eww...I'dtake Usher over Powder any day of the week.

so this album proves Radiohead still rules.

-- Bo Jackson Overdrive, Monday, November 12, 2007 9:48 AM (Monday, November 12, 2007 9:48 AM) Bookmark Link

"U Got It Bad" & "Caught Up" = perfect songs. Anyone who can deny the power of a song with the adlib "her body was so tight, I'm lookin' for her in the daytime with a flashlight" or that "I'm your my man and you're my girl, I'm gonna tell it to the whole wide world/ Baby say/ I'm your girl and you're my man, promise to love you the best I can" breakdown is not to be trusted.

burn, yeah, u got it bad, u remind me, my way, you make me wanna are just as great as like i love you, cry me a river, rock your body, senorita, my love and lovestoned

tape store, i think i fall somwhere in your universe re: timberlake, i.e. i think he is one of the preeminent hitmakers of his time, but idk futuresex is just a B for me, and i don't think the singles off that album come anywhere near the (nearly untoppable) like i love you/cry me a river/rock your body trio.

for me— in terms of solo singles— timberlake's GREAT singles go 4-5 deep whereas usher's goes 6-7 deep, but i think they are both worthy of each other's company.

"U Got It Bad" and "Burn" are both nice, though both could use nicer production (Burn's percussion already sounds dated)

But neither touches "What Goes Around...Comes Around" and "Cry Me a River." (I know everyone will disagree, but...) Timberlake sounds so much more soulful than Usher. All four tracks are well-written, but from a production standpoint, only the latter two pass.

"You Make Me Wanna" has potential, but unfortunately, Usher's generally bland delivery ruins it. Sure, he occasionally tries to pepper the chorus with some vocal gymnastics, but it's not very endearing. Compare to, say, "Summer Love" (which rides on an equally repetitive but infectious hook). Unlike Usher, Timberlake pulls out his swagger and completely nails the vocal.

I love "My Way" and "Confessions Pt. 2," the former primarily for nostalgic reasons (though it's still a nice track, albeit a bit forgetable) and the latter for it's verses (i fall for lots of piano-based tracks). I'm not completely sure where they stand in relation to Timberlake's singles, but I do know that I listen to "Like I Love You" and "Lovestoned" more than either.

i'll give you production on timberlake songs> production on usher songs in terms of progressivisms (and if production is what make timberlake songs for you— esp. new ones— i can't really fault that), but in terms of sheer quality, i think usher worked the pop-r&B sound of the late 90s-early 2000s pretty well. his tracks are usually all pretty spare (though i might be missing something egregious here, "yeah" not included), but i think he sounds great over your average acoustic guitar/piano/paper drum beat.

"Burn" sounded dated when it came out, which isn't a strike against it. It always felt like a tiredish retread of "U Got It Bad", though, which is a strike.

Anyways, you are both ignoring the splendid BLOOD DIAMONDS of "Caught Up". Those horns! That bassline! Those bizarre lyrics! Those crazy adlibs!

The video where he finally goes "fuck it, I'm going to stop pretending I'm not an MJ wannabe"!

also "yeah" is better club song than anything timberlake has done, though idk how much of that is of usher's doing.

Actually, now that I think of it, "Caught Up" itself is the moment Ursh finally gives into every MJ-wannabe impulse he's ever had.

..as "Like I Love You" is to JT.

usher could reduce timberlake to cinder if they showed up on stage together. timberlake is intelligent, inspired, enthusiastic but in comparison he's such a gawky amateur he might as well be david byrne.

Who's David Burn?

Alright, news media, pick the doll you think is nicer.

that's a weird field. lol @ shipley dropping "ursher" in a sentence.

er weird thread. got "minimal techno" on my mind.

Fact: In the Jackin' Pop poll, FutureSex/LoveSounds was the only high-ranked album by a white artist to score better among black voters than white voters.

even beat the Hold Steady? Wowsers.

Futuresex did a good job of working around and with the dork factor than Justified, which tried to pretend it didn't exist.

I think Usher could take him

dancing:

chris brown>usher>timberlake

"chris breezy"

dude wtf chris brown's mtv performance was a hitler impersation followed by hopping from table to table like the fountains at epcot DO NOT SETTLE

Futuresex did a good job of working around and with the dork factor than Justified, which tried to pretend it didn't exist.

-- da croupier, Monday, November 12, 2007 10:33 PM (Monday, November 12, 2007 10:33 PM) Bookmark Link

qft

"Yeah" is possibly my least-favourite recording ever.

http://www.arcspace.com/books/ban/shigeru_ban/1ban.jpg

yes that deserves a SHIGERU BAN.

"love in the club" is kind of hot

i don't think this album is going to top confessions sales-wise though, but he's going in an interesting direction. "moving mountains" is interesting.

"love in the club" is kind of hot

like water is kind of wet

'love in the club' is SO serious

and to weigh in on the jt vs. usher convo above: i feel like usher is decidedly more consistent, more 'good' shit, but thus far i think jt has more 'great' shit.

would love to see friendly rivalry though

not into the new single.

R&B star Usher left Kent festival goers unimpressed after shouting out "hello Manchester" to the packed crowd.

The singer was opening Radio 1's Big Weekend festival in Maidstone, Kent, when the blunder happened, prompting some audience members to boo.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7394709.stm