I haven't heard Usher's first album, but from the ones I have heard, which are from 'My Way' onward, I feel this follows the same sort of consistency. There are some quality tracks that'll get Usher some nice single success, but there are still enough skippable tracks, that like Usher's previous albums, stop it being anything too special from a holistic stand point.
Track for track, this definitely starts off better than it ends. After the okay opener, 'Monstar', from 'Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home)' to 'She Don't Know', there are fairly good tracks with Ludacris contributing an enjoyable featuring verse and helping the latter considerably. One noticeable thing for me was some of the production which does give off the feeling of familiarity. Such songs are 'Foolin' Around' which gives off that 'Confessions' feeling. 'Pro Lover' features Dawn Penn's 'You Don't Love Me (No, No, No)' as a sample that has been used on a number of hip hop tracks, 'Guilty' sounds very reminiscent of something else from T.I.'s catalogue and then you have 'Making Love (Into the Night)' which is Usher's version of Benny Mardones' 'Into the Night'.
Overall, there is nothing too excellent here, but I guess I didn't go into this thinking it would be a masterpiece as everything I've heard from Usher has been lacking consistency. However, there is enough stuff I enjoy to give it a reasonable rating.
Best Tracks: There Goes My Baby, Lil' Freak, Hey Daddy (Daddy's Home), Pro Lover
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