Fingerprints Music

Reviews:

All you Buck Rogers types who use your word processors or whatever to swipe your music don't know what you're missing. If you had the bona fide store-bought CD of Confessions, for instance, you'd own a handsome picture of Usher in a bathtub, a muted, pensive shot that seems to say: It makes me sad that I can't find the Mr. Bubble. And if you could read the acknowledgments in the liner notes, you'd know that Usher is a big fan of God, whose buddy Moses is said to have written the Book of Leviticus-much of which, like Confessions, is kinda dull.

But not all of it. Forget Leviticus for now, let's stick to the not-dull stuff on Usher's new album: the gritty guitar chords on the funk-rocker "Bad Girl," the snaky melody from the not-about-VD single "Burn," the over-the-top sexiness of "That's What It's Made For"-possibly the finest missing-prophylactic tune since the Gap Band's "Burn Rubber (Why You Wanna Hurt Me)." And let's talk about Usher's falsetto. Sure he overemploys it, but who can blame him? Conversely to his key influence Michael Jackson, who seems to get a soft-porn makeover on the Lil Jon-crafted "Yeah!," Usher's girlie singing is growing richer and richer, and he moves from his real range to his falsie one with sumptuous fluidity. (If things go south for this 24-year-old veteran, he has a future in a Stylistics tribute band.) As good as Justin is, the next time he asks Billie Jean to dance, he'd best hope Usher isn't around to cut in.

"All you Buck Rogers types who use your word processors or whatever to swipe your music don't know what you're missing. If you had the bona fide store-bought CD of Confessions, for instance, you'd own a handsome picture of Usher in a bathtub, a muted, pensive shot that seems to say: It makes me sad that I can't find the Mr. Bubble. And if you could read the acknowledgments in the liner notes, you'd know that Usher is a big fan of God, whose buddy Moses is said to have written the Book of Leviticus-much of which, like Confessions, is kinda dull.

But not all of it. Forget Leviticus for now, let's stick to the not-dull stuff on Usher's new album: the gritty guitar chords on the funk-rocker ""Bad Girl,"" the snaky melody from the not-about-VD single ""Burn,"" the over-the-top sexiness of ""That's What It's Made For""-possibly the finest missing-prophylactic tune since the Gap Band's ""Burn Rubber (Why You Wanna Hurt Me)."" And let's talk about Usher's falsetto. Sure he overemploys it, but who can blame him? Conversely to his key influence Michael Jackson, who seems to get a soft-porn makeover on the Lil Jon-crafted ""Yeah!,"" Usher's girlie singing is growing richer and richer, and he moves from his real range to his falsie one with sumptuous fluidity. (If things go south for this 24-year-old veteran, he has a future in a Stylistics tribute band.) As good as Justin is, the next time he asks Billie Jean to dance, he'd best hope Usher isn't around to cut in.

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