Hello, Laura Ingraham here, and today I'm going to be reviewing the second studio album from Justin Bieber titled Believe. Okay, time to be honest here. As much of a Justin Bieber apologist as I am, I'd never listened to Believe in full prior to doing this series. I heard all five of the singles, but none of them grabbed me in a way that made me want to check this album out. Was I right to be skeptical, or was I just being closed-minded? Well, I'll give this album this: It wasn't as bad as I was dreading. However, as far as highlights go, this album has the least I've heard on a Justin Bieber project since the My World EP. That's not to say there aren't good songs on here. For example, the song Fall is a genuinely sweet ballad about a girl who's afraid to love. However, for every good song on here, there are plenty of bad ones to go around. I already mentioned that the singles on this album didn't really grab me. Let's talk about those, shall we? The first single for this album, for some inexplicable reason, was Boyfriend. This is easily the worst song on the album, with Justin Bieber rapping in a low voice about eating fondue and using the word swag. That alone would be enough to turn me off, but then you hear those high-pitched noises in the background, and suddenly I want to stab my ears out. The next single, As Long As You Love Me, isn't much better. Aside from stealing its name from a perfectly good Backstreet Boys song, this song is just a mess. It's trying to be so much more of a grand statement than it is, and let's not forget the obnoxious dubstep breakdown on the chorus. Beauty and a Beat is the next single, and it's, for the most part, pretty boring. The EDM-pop beat doesn't stand out at all, and the lyrics are kind of dumb. I'd call this song mediocre if it wasn't for Nicki Minaj's awful guest verse with that "Selener" line, not to mention another terrible dubstep breakdown. As it is, it's still better than the first two singles, but that's not saying much. Then there's Right Here, which is just boring. It doesn't help that Drake is on this song sounding like he's half asleep. Finally, there's the other underperforming single All Around the World. This is probably my favorite of the singles, even if it is a generic dance pop song with oversold lyrics. So, yeah, the singles on this album sucked. But what about the deep cuts? Well, they're a little better, but not by much. On one hand there are some really good songs on here. I already mentioned Fall, but there are also the two tracks at the very end of this record, Be Alright and Believe. The former of these is a nice little acoustic ballad about helping a loved one through tough times, and the latter, easily my favorite song on this album, is a bright, happy ode to a person who believed in Justin in spite of everything. On the other hand, there are songs like Die in Your Arms, which is so melodramatic and obsessive that it ends up becoming creepy. This song is followed by Thought of You, which sounds like an even poppier version of There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back by Shawn Mendes. On one hand, I like how this song sounds, but on the other, the phrase "I'm in love with the thought of you" is really stupid. As for the other three songs, they're...Tolerable, I guess. Catching Feelings is a decent enough acoustic guitar ballad, even if the framing is pretty adolescent. I wouldn't mind this if it was coming from pre-pubescent Bieber, but it sounds really out of place coming from him here. One Love is also a decent enough love song, nothing special. As for Take You, it's pretty generic musically, but it's just catchy enough to almost be passable. As for the album as a whole, this is definitely one of Justin's weaker projects. I give this a light 5/10, and only recommended for the fans. If you're not a fan, well, not to spoil anything, but wait for my next couple of reviews. They might give you a starting point to getting into Justin Bieber.

Hello, I'm Laura Ingraham, and today, I'm going to be reviewing Justin Bieber's Christmas album, Under the Mistletoe. So, this album gets a lot of hate on websites such as RateYourMusic, which I guess makes sense. People love to hate Justin Bieber, and people love to hate Christmas music, so a Christmas album by Justin Bieber seems like a perfect target for hate. However, I've gone on record these past couple reviews as being a Justin Bieber apologist, and while this album isn't good enough for me to own on vinyl (trust me, we'll get to it), it's still better than most Christmas albums from modern pop artists. So, what did I find on Under the Mistletoe? Well, let's start by talking about Justin Bieber's vocals. This is the first project Bieber did after he finally stopped sounding like a ten-year-old, and he honestly sounds pretty good for the most part. His deeper, more subtle vocals match the stripped-back acoustic instrumentation on most of these songs quite well. A great example of this is the song All I Want Is You, the first song Justin released where he was able to sell being devastated. I've said before that young Justin sounded better the more desperate he got, but that was because he was good at sounding like a sad kid. Here, he sounds less like a kid who's upset that he didn't get what he wanted, and more like a deeply broken man who feels genuine regret that he'll be decorating his Christmas tree alone. For those of you who will be lonely this Christmas, throw this one on. Another great example is Home This Christmas, which is a gorgeous acoustic ballad where Justin's girlfriend is worried that he won't make it home for Christmas because of a winter storm. It's another gloomier Christmas song, which is something I tend to enjoy. That's not to say I only like the gloomy songs on this album, however. My favorite song on here would have to be either Santa Claus is Coming to Town or Silent Night. Silent Night is great because of the soft yet powerful instrumentation and Justin's beautiful singing. Seriously, anyone who says older Justin Bieber has no personality needs to get over themselves. As for Santa Claus is Coming to Town, this song sounds like a soul song from the 1960s or 1970s. It has this bright, catchy brass section and an amazing groove. Every time I hear this song, I want to get up and dance. It was also featured in the movie Arthur Christmas, which is an incredibly underrated movie, by the way. Going back to the acoustic ballads, I'm also a big fan of Only Thing I Ever Get for Christmas. Sure, it's a bit oversold without the swell to back it up, but the instrumentation is beautiful and I like the sentiment behind it. Then there's Mistletoe, the big hit from the album. This song is a bit more energetic than the other acoustic songs on the album, and it's actually quite cute. However, I can't help but feel like Justin wishes he could be somewhere other than under the mistletoe considering he keeps bringing up all the other things he could be doing. Still a cute song. If I were to criticize one thing about some of the acoustic songs on this album, it would be the use of snap beats combined with acoustic guitars. This is something I complain about a lot when it comes to modern country, and while this isn't a country album, the problem is no less prevalent. It nearly ruined the songs Fa La La and The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) for me, and it probably would've if the rest of the instrumentation wasn't so beautiful. Another major criticism I have of this album is that it has what people in the writing world call "sagging middle syndrome." This is a term generally applied to books that have strong beginnings and ends but boring or weak middles. On this album, the first five songs range from decent to great, as do the last three songs, but the three songs between them aren't nearly as good. Let's start with Christmas Eve, a song that sounds like it's trying to be a smooth R&B Christmas jam (I can't believe I just typed that sentence). It would probably be terrible if it wasn't so forgettable. Then there's All I Want for Christmas is You, which sounds exactly like the original, right down to Mariah Carey actually being featured on it. I thought they taught you in Cover Making 101 that you're supposed to put your own unique spin on the song you're covering? Even the godawful Little Drummer Boy cover got that one right. Speaking of that godawful cover, that's the last song I'm talking about in this review. In his cover of Little Drummer Boy, Justin sings the chorus normally before filling the verses with terrible rapping both from him and from guest artist Busta Rhymes (Wow, and I thought "Smooth R&B Christmas jam" was the weirdest sentence I would type in this review). Not only does it not fit, but Justin's flow is awful. Seriously, how does his rapping here sound worse than his rapping on Eenie Meenie? As for a score, I give this album 71%. It's a good enough Christmas album with some blemishes. If you like Justin Bieber and don't hate Christmas music, check this out. If not, maybe wait for some of my later Justin Bieber reviews and then check this out once you've checked out those projects. Who knows? You might enjoy it.

Hello, I'm Laura Ingraham, and today, I'm going to be continuing my discography review of Justin Bieber. Now, I said in my first review in this series that I'm a Justin Bieber apologist. That is still true, but those of you who read that first review I did of his debut EP My World may not have gotten that impression. After all, didn't I give that EP 55% and call One Time "dumb as hell" among other things? Yes, I did, but I also admitted to liking a couple songs from that EP, and his debut full-length, titled My World 2.0, has even more songs I like. It's still not good enough for me to own it on vinyl, we'll get to those projects later, but it's an okay album. So, what did I find on My World 2.0? Image Well, let's start by addressing the elephant in the room which is the song Baby. This song got so much hate from people back in 2010, and while I understand why, even back then I never hated this song. There are a few reasons for that, but the main one is that while young Justin Bieber had many flaws as a performer, he was always good at selling desperation, mostly due to his high-pitched and surprisingly emotive voice. It also helps that the melody is catchy and the instrumentation is surprisingly well-produced. This song may not be the most amazing song ever, but it is pretty good teen idol fodder. Going back to Justin being able to sell desperation well, that pretty much makes this album for me. On the My World EP, he was trying to sell himself as a smooth man of romance, which wasn't convincing at all. Here, he's way more convincing as a performer overall. Songs like Stuck in the Moment and the closing track That Should Be Me are great examples of this. With Stuck in the Moment, we've got Justin being in love with a girl even as the world is telling him and her that it isn't meant to be. However, unlike some songs in this lane where the guy sweeps the girl off her feet and it ends up working, Justin actually sounds uncertain. This gives the song more stakes, and also makes for pretty good teen idol fodder. It's also, once again, surprisingly well-produced, as is the rest of this album, with one exception that we'll get to. As for That Should Be Me, this is the kind of song I should hate, but I can't bring myself to, mostly because of the framing. In this song, Justin talks about a girl that he hurt who said that she needed time away from him, but she instead finds another guy and Justin is especially butthurt. If Justin was a bit older and had a more grown-up voice, I'd probably hate this, but as it is, I'm just impressed that he got me to like a song with this concept at all. My favorite song on here is definitely Overboard. This is a deep cut that should have been a single. It sounds gorgeous, the guest artist Jessica Jarrell and Justin both do a great job, and the lyrics are surprisingly complex. The song starts out with Jessica talking about how she needs Justin, but he's been ignoring her. Then Justin comes in and talks about how he needs her, but she's not putting enough effort into the relationship. It may seem convoluted, but relationship drama often is, with lots of complicated feelings and gray areas about who's actually at fault. It's very realistic, and I really wish this could've been a hit instead of...Certain other songs that I'll talk about in a minute. That said, there are a few songs where Justin continues with the smooth lover boy schtick, and surprisingly, they're not all bad. U Smile is goofy as hell, but the instrumentation is gorgeous, and it definitely makes me smile (okay, I'll see myself out). Somebody to Love and Up aren't great, but they're tolerable teen idol fodder. However, this album isn't all positive, and now we have to get to the negatives. Of the songs on here that I don't like, Never Let You Go is just plain boring and sounds like a contemporary Christian song, and the other two suck. Let's start with Runaway Love, the less painful of the two. This song sounds fine musically, and I'll admit that I enjoyed it upon first listen. Then I looked at the lyrics and realized how eerily possessive and creepy they are. Basically, Justin doesn't like his girl going out and doing things because she might fall in love with some other guy. Seriously, Justin, you sound like Edward from Twilight. And now we get to the terrible song, that being Eenie Meenie. This song is one of the worst I've ever heard. Musically, it sounds alright at first, but then you notice the way the effects all pile up on top of each other, and the headache immediately starts to set in. However, the main culprit when it comes to this song's awfulness is the lyrics. First of all, the phrase "Eenie Meenie Miney Mo Lover" is fucking stupid. Second, it doesn't even make sense. Justin and Sean Kingston go on and on about how this girl is indecisive, but if you read the lyrics, it's pretty clear that she doesn't want either of these two. Also, eenie meenie miney mo gives you a pretty concrete answer, so it makes even less sense. Then there's the rap bridge, which, aside from sounding awful, has lines about restraining women by their feet and not letting them go until they scream. Ew. Despite that abomination, this album is actually way better than the My World EP. Still not great, but I wouldn't mind sitting through this one again. I give it 65%, and if you're a Justin Bieber fan, check this out if you haven't. If not, this won't change your mind, but at least check out the song Overboard. That song is fantastic. Also, stick around for my later Justin Bieber reviews where I'll recommend some projects from him that might change your mind. They should be up soon.

Hello, I'm Laura Ingraham, and today I'm going to start a discography review series. The first discography I'm planning on reviewing is Justin Bieber's. This might seem like a bit of a strange choice to some of you, so allow me to explain. I'm a Justin Bieber apologist. Yes, I know most music critics can't stand this guy, but I never got the hate. Sure, not everything he did was good, but even when he was at his most hated, I didn't think he was the worst thing to happen to music like so many did. I even own some of his later stuff on vinyl (I won't say what just yet because I don't want to spoil my future reviews, but we'll get to it). Before we get started, let me say what I'll be reviewing in this discography review. I'll be reviewing all five of his studio albums (My World 2.0, Believe, Purpose, Changes, and Justice), his compilation album Journals, his Christmas album, and his two most popular EPs (My World and Freedom). I will not be reviewing all of his other little EPs that no one has heard because no one has heard them. I also won't be reviewing his singles, his other compilations, or his remix and acoustic albums (Although his acoustic version of Believe is actually better than the original). Got all that? Okay, let's get started by reviewing Justin Bieber's first ever EP My World. Let me start by saying that I hadn't heard this EP in full prior to starting this project. I'd heard One Time on the radio a few times when it was new, but that was about it. At the time, I thought it was harmless enough, but I didn't like it nearly enough to check out the full EP. Now that I have heard this EP in full, I realize that I was wrong about something back in 2009. One Time sucks, and if my music critic brain had been developed back then, I probably would've known this. The production is horribly dated and sugary to the point of annoyance, Justin's singing is shaky at best, and the lyrics are extremely repetitive. Seriously, Justin sounds extremely nervous on this song, even though he's trying to come off as smooth. Even ignoring the repetition of the phrase "One Time" into oblivion, these lyrics are dumb as hell. The phrase "Imma tell you one time" sounds like something a mom would say when forcing her son to clean his room, not something you say to a romantic partner. Also, Justin Bieber says shawty, which would be like a white congressperson saying "you be da man." Side note: That actually happened back when Michele Bachmann was in office. Look it up. Needless to say, I was unpleasantly surprised by how bad One Time turned out to be. However, the rest of the EP managed to surprise me in a good way by being not nearly as bad. Seriously, the worst song after One Time is First Dance, and even that's a 3.5 out of 10 and probably could've been okay if it was taken a little less seriously. As it is, the smooth, sexy R&B production, the Usher feature, and Justin's wannabe-smooth delivery are all way too pseudo-mature for a song about a first dance between two teenagers, making the whole song sound awkward and confused. As for the rest of the EP, it's mostly tolerable. Songs like Favorite Girl and One Less Lonely Girl are standard teen heartthrob fodder, but they're not bad in that lane thanks to tolerable instrumentation. Bigger is also pretty standard, but the lyrics make it utterly hilarious. It's about how when Justin was little he was a heartbreaker, but now he's bigger. Considering he sounds like a ten-year-old on this EP, that is hilarious. It's almost like the songwriters were trolling him. Speaking of songs that I somewhat enjoy despite them being pretty average teen idol fodder, there's the closing track Love Me. This samples the song Lovefool by The Cardigans in probably the laziest way possible. It takes the chorus of that song and uses it unaltered for its own chorus without even changing the context of the lyrics. If it wasn't for the propulsive drum beat, I'd probably hate it, but as it is, it's an okay song. The best song on this EP is easily Down to Earth. This is the only song on this EP that I have no problems at all with. The instrumentation is gorgeous and makes me feel like I'm floating through space, the song is incredibly well-written, and for once, Justin's childish vocals actually fit the topic of the song. Here, he's not singing about being madly in love with a girl, but rather about his parents getting divorced. The pain in Justin's voice feels real, and the fact that he sounds so young and helpless makes me feel for him even more. Also, this is the only song on this EP that Justin has a writing credit on, so credit there. As for a score, I rate using percentages. I give this EP 55%. If you're a fan of Justin Bieber, you'll probably like this, so check it out if you haven't heard it. If not, skip it. If you're looking to get into Justin Bieber, stick around and wait for some of my later reviews. Justin has better stuff than this, and I'll be reviewing it soon.