Best Tracks: Senorita, Like I Love You, Nothin' Else, Take It From Here
With a debut solo album from one of the world's biggest pop acts you can't help but feel the speculation surrounding this album.
But it is directed more in the sense that "Justified" has been built up so much press and anticipation from both nsync fans and nay-sayers alike.
Well to say that this album is much better than I expected pretty much hits the nail on the head. Although Justin takes the main stage with
slickness and precision that seem to be held back in nsync you can't deny that the true element that propels this album is the ultra-smooth
production by The Neptunes and Timbaland. With beats that sometimes are too close to thier regular production duties and new ones that sound
much more creative than thier usual work it makes the album both radio-friendly and, in a sense, experimental.
Justin obivously was the most fitting members out probably any of the many pop acts to go solo. With his high pitched voice and overall slyness,
he certainly was a major factor in nsync's rise to the top. As for the solo album he seems to fit very nicely into many of it's awesomely crafted
beats and doesn't come off as just another artist trying to milk the cash cow before it goes dry. The Neptunes' Pharell Williams lets Justin's
cocky and playful persona go wild on the opening track "Senorita" which even features a somewhat cheesy sing-along part but still remains fresher
than anything Justin has done in the past. His voice floats along very well through the acoustic-and-drum song "Like I Love You" which also
features a great apperance by street rappers The Clipse. One of the more surprising tracks on the CD is the string-laced "Take It From Here" which Justin
lets his tenor voice drift along the beat and even slightly overshadow the oh-so-awful cheesy lyrics ("I wanna be you Broadway show on review/So I can act how God was/When he made you.").
He also sounds excellent using a more-breathy side of his voice on the jazzy-laid back "Nothin Else".
The only true flaws seem to occur in the writing and the few slow songs that feel like they should be on nsync's next album and not this one. The songwriting (whether it was written by Justin or someone else)
sometimes is just too cliched and the overly sexual songs (the terrible "Right For Me" which may cause more impotency than stimulation, "Take Me Now" which features an almost non-apparent Janet in the background) seem more like Justin just wanted to get a rise out of people than actually
mean something by it (i.e. "Let's get on the floor/and make a big scene/Get real wet/If you know what I mean." Hmm....I guess I'm supposed to say Our little Justin's grown-up). Justin may
be trying to hard to be accepted by other outside of mostly-girl populated fanbase but it's a start in a new direction. By not letting pop-producer Max Martin ruin the album with another
beat that plays it too safe, Justin made probably the best career move by hiring The Neptunes and Timbaland and adding more appeal to it with Janet Jackson, Bubba Sparxxx and Clipse to it.
For a pop solo effort it couldn've been terrible, but instead it's one of the year's biggest surprises.
