8701 [ENHANCED]

Usher

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 7, 2001)
• Original Release Date: August 7, 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Label: La Face
• ASIN: B00005LKGT
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  DVD Audio  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (183 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,822 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

On his third studio effort (and fourth overall), 22-year-old R&B/pop star Usher Raymond makes the not-so-simple transition from post-teen heartthrob to love man. He does it with solid songs and a generous helping of charisma and vocal acumen, making this much-delayed collection a hot summer treat. Usher is aided in his musical efforts by renowned hit-makers like the Neptunes, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (who deliver soaring ballads like "Can U Help Me"), Jermaine Dupri, and new jack Edmund Clement who penned the irresistible single "U Remind Me." With catchy tracks and emotive vocals, Usher revs up his sex quotient and unleashes a winning blend of street-honed jams and passionate love songs. --Amy Linden

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars After 4 years, Usher still has it., August 15, 2001

By	J. Highsmith (Mitchellville, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

After the multi plantinum selling, "My Way", other than the Usher "Live" CD, you hadn't heard too much from him. "All About U" was supposed to be released earlier this year, but after "Pop Your Collar" didn't get too many rave reviews and once his CD was leaked on to Napster, Usher and his label decided that the best thing to do was to go back into the studio for a second time. "8701" is probably a better product because of this. Even when Usher came out I knew he had potential. "Can U Get Wit It" and "Think Of You" were always favorites of mine back in the day. "My Way" spawned the hits "U Make Me Wanna", "Nice & Slow" and the title track. "Bedtime" was also a favorite of mine. "8701" really sounds like a "My Way" Part 2, which isn't bad at all. The 1st single "U Remind Me" is more like what people expect from Usher. It is a nice laidback midtempo song produced by Edmund Clement and it is currently #1 on the Billboard charts. "Pop Ya Collar" had nothing on this song at all. Usher has a lot of potential singles on this CD. The Neptunes produced, "I Don't Know" w/P Diddy is a nice collaboration between the two. You know it's a Neptunes beat as soon as the song comes on. Even if you have two left feet like I do, you will be trying to get on the dance floor while this song is on. "U Got It Bad" is definitely reminiscent of "Nice And Slow". The Jermaine Dupri and Bryan-Michael Cox produced slow jam, will have you saying "It's 7'o clock, on the dot, I'm in my drop top..." all over again. Bryan-Michael Cox also produced or collaborated with JD on most of Jagged Edge's slow jams on "Jagged Little Thrill". "U Got It Bad" is well put together and is defintely going to be a hit. However, the best song on "8701" and my current favorite is "Can U Help Me". Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis produced this slow jam and this is the best slow song that I have ever heard from Usher. This has a potential of being a single as well but it depends on how many are released from this CD. Other songs worth checking out are the Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis & James Wright "How Do I Say", the Neptunes produced "U Don't Have To Call" and the Babyface & Jermaine Dupri produced, "If I Want To" where Usher boasts "If I wanted, I could take you from your man." With Chili from TLC following you everywhere, I guess you can say something like that. Overall, Usher has impressed me with "8701". He is showing his growth as an artist and his fans will be pleased.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From 87 to 01, Usher is doing it his way..., February 26, 2002

By A Customer

Usher is continuing to make great cds. His debut release was a bit to slow and his "Live" album was kind of not very good, but on "My Way" and "8701", Usher proves the limits of R&B music. Somehow, he combines hip-hop flavor into an R&B album. For a good part of "8701" Usher holds his title by making great songs, but there are some weak ones. The ups and downs of "8701" are shown in my list below:

1. Intro-lude 8701 - I really can't say much about this one, since it's just an intro. Usher does keep it short and to the point with it, though.

2. U Remind Me - Great song. Usher stretches in this song how he sees a girl he would love to get with, but his haunted memories of a girl who was his worst nightmare come back to haunt him when he sees her for the fact that she looks exactly like his nightmare girlfriend.

3. I Don't Know featuring P. Diddy - Really hot club song. In this one, Usher tells about a group of girls going to the club, but he has no idea what they came to do, he just knows that he came to party...

5. U Got It Bad - I cannot stress how good this one is. I am so glad he released it instead of "I Don't Know" for his second track. In this one, Usher tells about how bad life without a girlfreind is, that's the meaning of having it bad.

6. If I Want To - Keeps moving with the good tracks. In "If I Want To", Usher tells about how he can get any girl, at any time, any place. If this were so, then why does he have it bad?

7. I Can't Let U Go - Seems theres no stop to the good songs. With this one, Usher is losing his mind over breaking up with a girl, features some lyrics from Jermaine Dupri.

8. U Don't Have To Call - Continuing hot track. If you haven't seen the video for this one, then you probably wouldn't know that this one is basically about after a heartbreaking split up between you and your girl, you can actually get up and go out to restart the whole process of relationships.

9. Without U ( Interlude ) - Kind of too slow. Not much to say because it's just a short interlude.

10. Can U Help Me - Great how Usher can pull out such a slow song and make it so good. Basically, Usher is confused because he bought a girl all she wants and she's still not happy.

11. How Do I Say - Usher starts to lose his steam on this one. Usher is now trying to figure out how he says he likes a super hot girl.

12. Hottest Thing - Losing steam still. Usher is definitely having a problem at putting the hot ones at the beginning in a row and the bad ones at the end.

13. Good Ol' Ghetto - Starts to renew his supply of hot songs. Usher brings us back to the good ol' days in this one.

14. U-Turn - Totally renews his good song supply. Usher teaches us a little dance in this one.

15. U R The One - Somehow he gives us a good beginning, great middle, and fantastic ending.

That's my introspective on "8701", and I hope now that i've told you about it, you'll go out, buy it, and make it number one on the billboard album charts once again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Usher Continues To Keep It Real On 8701, March 7, 2002

By	John Fowler "jd_01" (Columbia, SC USA) - See all my reviews

Usher has been in the game long enough to know that you can't just put together a record with all slow or all fast songs. During the recording of '8701,' Usher did more than adding variety. He added his own style to every track and makes original hits. This album has yet to disappoint me. The cd starts out with a mellow intro and goes into 'U Remind Me' and 'I Don't Know;' two uptempo songs with one featuring P. Diddy. Then it goes into some of my favorite songs on the album. 'Twork It Out,' 'U Got It Bad,' and 'If I Want To.' The production on the album is great and the instruments used add details to the background music that makes solid tracks back-to-back. The best slow jam on the album, in my opinion, would have to be 'Can U Help Me.' It starts off with easy vocals and a piano and the song goes from there; and also shows how well Usher can hit those high notes. If there are any doubts about checking this album out, I would completely forget them. If you are an Usher fan or of good R&B in general, this is definetly a good, solid R&B record to add to your collection.