!$ Raymond v. Raymond

Where do I begin with the expectations I had for "Raymond Vs Raymond". After the grown man sound of "Here I Stand" and two albums removed from the classic "Confessions", I expected a good combination of the two. With Usher going through a divorce and this supposedly being a return to his roots, this album was built up to be great. I should have paid attention to the signs. (The album being pushed back, the lack of record company support) These should have been red flags to me when thinking of buying this album. But of course I ignored them because I am a fan and enjoyed the last two albums. Now I'm confused.



"Here I Stand" showed Usher's maturation into a respectable singer, not just a performer."Raymond Vs Raymond" is Usher's return to being the entertainer he once was. This album is heavy on dance songs and low on R&B. The will.I.am produced song "OMG" is horrible.(I don't know how this guy keeps getting work). I'm not into the techno-dancehall thing so "Monstar" is not for me. And it seems Usher forgot how old he is on "So Many Girls" & "Pro Lover", save those songs for Chris Brown or Omarion. But all is not bad with this album. The single "Hey Daddy" actually had me hyped to hear this album. "Lil Freak" ft Nicki Minaj is another banger produced by Polow Da Don. "There Goes My Baby" is a smooth mid tempo track. The JD produced "Foolin' Around" is solid. But for an album called "Raymond Vs Raymond", the only song referring to his divorce is the lead single "Papers". (Now Usher says the title is about the battle within himself. Kind of like T.I. vs T.I.P.) So the title is very misleading.



Maybe it was my expectations that made this album a major disappointment. Maybe I held Usher to a higher standard than where he needed to be. He was on superstar status but now he is struggling to stay relevant in the male R&B game. Usher should have made a decision on this album. He should have gone either all dance or mature R&B. Instead he made a collage of different sounds that don't fit well together. Its sounds like a rushed album even though it was supposed to be released in December. I'm still waiting for him to be consistent with his style. I thought he was on the right track with "Here I Stand" but now he has taken a huge step back and made his worst album to date.



Customers Rating=4.0 / 5.0