Usher: Looking 4 Myself CD 2012

Deluxe edition includes four bonus tracks. 2012 release, the seventh studio album from the R&B superstar. On Looking 4 Myself, Usher works with a host of top-notch collaborators including Salaam Remi, Diplo, Rico Love, Jim Jonsin, and Max Martin, among others. Usher has been ranked by the RIAA as one of the best-selling artists in American music history, having sold over 43 million albums worldwide. He has won numerous awards including seven Grammy Awards and was recently named the number one Hot 100 artist of the 2000s decade.

Track Listing

Billboard named him the second most successful artist of the 2000s decade, with his career-propelling 2004 album Confessions being ranked as the top solo album of the 2000s decade. Usher has attained nine Hot 100 number-one hits (all as a lead artist) and has attained seventeen Hot 100 top-ten singles.

Product Reviews

Usher was pushing his "revolutionary pop" concept as early as 2010, when he told StyleList, "I love that people are talking about the new hair, it represents who I am now and the creative movement of revolutionary pop." Prior to the release of his seventh studio album, he was doing it more than ever, quite likely encouraged by a Top Five Hot 100 collaboration with mainstream dance kingpin David Guetta ("Without You"). With rare exception, revolutionary pop as presented on Looking 4 Myself sounds just like contemporary pop-oriented R&B, or European dance-pop, or some combination of the two. Compared to Usher's previous album, this is weighted more heavily toward dance-pop, much of which is functional and well made but unremarkable. The set is front-loaded with two such numbers. "Can't Stop Won't Stop," a typically savvy production from will.i.am and partner Keith Harris, incorporates flashes of commercial dubstep and a synthesized version of that escalating wordless melody from Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl." The Max Martin/Shellback-produced "Scream," a Top 20 hit by the time the album was released, is a pummeling dancefloor track with a mindless seduction theme. Next is the stellar Diplo collaboration "Climax," a bittersweet, 100% modern ballad that creates tension with space. It's more moving than what precedes and follows, but there are other highlights and a couple pleasantly surprising twists. "Lemme See," featuring Rick Ross, is a slithering, low-slung jam -- one of Usher's best. The easygoing yet emotive title track, a cross between new wave and soft rock with an appearance from Luke Steele (the Sleepy Jackson, Empire of the Sun), could pass for a cover of a missing track from the back half of the first N.E.R.D. album. Ironically, that's the singer's boldest move. While Usher's talent as a vocalist adds some depth to the producer-driven field of dance music, he's more of a creative force when he's working with slower, soul-rooted material. There's no shame in riding the wave, especially when you can do it better than anyone else. Calling it revolutionary is disingenuous. [A Deluxe Edition features four bonus tracks.] ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi