Customer Reviews

Usher

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Usher's debut CD is an album that celebrates the undeniable Black soul power of post-New Jack Swing music, an era that saw the rise of acts like Jodeci, Mary J. Blige, R. Kelly and SWV. On this album, a somewhat chubby 14 year-old Usher is introduced. With production work by Al B. Sure, Puff Daddy, and Jodeci's DeVante Swing, (as well as shimmering background vocals by Faith Evans), this album is a "must hear" for folks who enjoyed the first half of 90s soul/R&B.

There aren't any solid crossover hits like "You Make Me Wanna" or even "You Remind Me" on this album; rather, you get nothing but the smoothest jams. "Can U Get Wit It" is an early winner, produced by Jodeci's DeVante - the lyrics on this track (as well as the rest of the album) are extremely racy for a 14 year-old; oh well, that's showbiz for ya. The album continues on a consistently good basis, and then we reach "The Many Ways", an Al B. Sure midtempo that borrows heavily from Al B's work with Tevin Campbell (think: "Alone With You" from Tevin's debut)...anyhow, this song should have been a single in my opinion...

"Love Was Here" is an extremely soulful song (once again, Al B) with Faith Evans shining through on the backgrounds, but it's DeVante's masterpiece "Whispers" that really sets things off in a major way, and is still to this day (after almost 7 years) my favorite song that Usher ever recorded; extremely smooth, dark and mysterious (thanks to DeVante), "Whispers" is probably the only reason to try out this album in my opinion - if you like soul/R&B.

There really isn't a bad song on this debut, and production-wise it was defintely top notch, yet underrated because it didn't cross over to the "mainstream" pop audience; but for the R&B headz, I cannot recommend this album enough. The best way to describe Usher's sound on this album (he's still trying to find himself here) is at times like Tevin Campbell, sometimes like Tony Thompson of Hi-Five, and amazingly (like on "Can U Get Wit It") he sounds like Ginuwine...

Bottom line: this album is Usher's super-plush, velvety R&B masterpiece.

C.H.R.

I LOVE THIS CD. IT'S MOSTLY WHAT I LISTEN TO. ALL THE SONGS ON HERE WERE SO BEAUTIFUL AND USHER'S VOICE JUS CARRIED OUT THE SONGS SO WELL. MY FAV. ARE : "THINK OF YOU" "SLOW LOVE" AND "THE MANY WAYS." I PERSONALLY THINK THAT THIS ONE(USHER) WAS BETTER THAN HIS SECOND ONE (MY WAY). IF YOUR A USHER FAN AND HAVEN'T GOT IT YET U BETTER GO GET IT!

Think....BET Live, Usher- The many ways...... Produced by Al B Sure! What else needs to be said? For a 14 year old, a helluva voice and with the right people in the background...... he was not going to be denied.

Usher Raymond burst onto the seen a year earlier on the Poetic Justice soundtrack with "Call Me A Mack" and now at the age of 15, he comes back with a great core of producers in the Untouchables(Eddie F, Dave "Jam" Hall, & Nevelle Hodge), Al B. Sure(Underrated for his producing skills), Devante Swing(Dopper than dope), and Puff Daddy(Overrated). This to me is the best Usher CD because it is just Usher doing his thing without a lot of other personnel on the CD. The best track on here is by far "Can U Get Wit It" where Devante do what he do with the talkbox and lays down phat gangsta beat. Another song that is very underrated is "The Many Ways" in which Al B. Sure laces up and is compared to Tevin Campbell's "Alone With You" in which Sure using great keyboarding sounds on this track. Other songs of note are "Whispers"(Another dope gangsta beat by Devante), "Took My Heart"(Great track by the Untouchables with Faith singing the background vocals), "Crazy", "Final Goodbye", "Smile Again", & "Think of You". Overall, a very good piece of work by the forementioned producers even though I did say that Puff Daddy is overrated. This was a great piece of work by Usher who really was flexing his vocals back in '94.

This CD was so good. For him being so young i wouldn't have thought it would be good but when i heard it i bought copies for me and all my friends!

This is one of my favorite Usher albums. Usher projects a soulful voice that marks an artist well beyond his years. This effort is proof of things to come... for anyone who can remember his "Think of You" video, he was already dancing his butt off, and for those who know "Can You Get Wit it" and " The Many Ways" the path of R&B crooner was laid. This album has great uptempos, but boasts more mid tempos and slow jams than his recent works. Though it lacked the commercial quality of his following albums, USHER is an easy listen and a must have for true Usher fans.

I remember driving down I-85 in Atlanta and THINK OF YOU came on the radio....I was like THIS is the CUT!!! That single alone brings memories of hanging on the yard with all the beautiful breezies at Clark, my how time flies...anyway, When I found out he was 15, well I was hella surprised...I knew usher was going to be a star...I knew it...Usher had a grown mans voice at 14!!??? I think that is why he was singing the more mature lyrics on the album. I mean what do you do with a young man who sings like he is 24 years old...well this is what you do...you marinate on the young man for a few years, let him learn the game, the ins and outs of the business, keep him away from the bubble gum teenage pop scene and let his ass LOOSE on the females when he turns 18...That is what LA Reid did...by this time he was mentally ready to sing these lyrics and his voice was stronger and had more command over...I mean for Usher to be the international star he is, well, this is not luck, this is what it is supposed to be, he has the " Package" so to speak...he can sing, he has stage prescence, he can dance..he can work a crowd of ladies...he is just this generations teddy pendergrass or al green, this is his time...10 years in the making....let's see how he transistions though when he gets about 34...

Usher did an excelent job, for his first cd. Everyone that doesn't have it should get it. It is the best cd in the whole world. I could not live with out it, I would die. I'm listening to it now.

Usher first burst onto the scene with the song Call Me A Mack from the Poetic Justice soundtrack and his debut solo appeared a year later. Usher was singing with so much soul on this CD,it was kind of a shock when he went pop on his later work. The CD featured the up-tempo hit Think Of You written by Donell Jones and the lead single I'll Make It Right which sampled Audio Two's Top Billin was very catchy and had a new jack feel to it. Usher's strongest work here is the ballads though. He enlisted Devante to produce Can U Get Wit It and Al B. Sure handed Usher one of his songs ever in the form of The Many Ways. Another very strong ballad is Whispers. Usher may not ever return to the soulfulness found on this CD as music has changed but for some classic soul check out this CD.

For this being Usher's first album and only being 15 years old this is an impressive debut album. This is another good cd. All of Usher's cd are awesome. A few of my favorites are Can U Get Wit It, Think Of You, and Final Goodbye. Please pick this cd up along with his others!!!!!!!!!!!!!
~Alisa~