#432 Usher, 'Confessions' (2004)

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In 2004, I listened to this album daily. That’s not because I loved it, it’s because I was working in a CD store at the time, and this album was flying out the door faster than we could rack it. I remember having to go to Receiving multiple times a day to see if we’d received new stock of the record. In the States, this album sold 1.1 million copies in the first week. FIRST WEEK. It broke multiple sales records which resulted in its being the second best selling album of the 2000s. The album was nominated for 8 Grammys and won 3.

The album is personal and raw. Many of the songs are about the breakdown of his relationship with Chilli from TLC. The album is smooth and sultry, slow and sexy and 16 years later it still drives me nuts. I don’t feel it ever gets starts. Well, that’s not true, actually. ‘Yeah! (feat. Lil Jon & Ludacris)’ starts the party (that song was everywhere in 2004. Inescapable), but then immediately shuts it down and trudges along until the semi-upbeat hit, ‘Caught Up.’ ‘Bad Girl’ sound promising, but once again, doesn’t go anywhere. I quite enjoyed ‘Truth Hurts,’ but not enough to listen to the album again. I see it was written and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, frequent Janet Jackson collaborators. That makes total sense to me that it pricked my ears up. Finally, ‘Do It To Me,’ reminded me a lot of a Prince slow jam but without the magic. I’ll never understand how this album was so massive. At least listening to it now filled me with a sense of nostalgia from my early 20s. NEXT!

#rs500albums