If fans are looking for a confessional from the recently divorced Usher on his new album Raymond vs. Raymond, well, too bad.
Instead of Usher singing in agony, we get Usher the sex symbol in most of the album.
On the track, “Monstar” Usher claims, “There’s three sides to every story, there’s one side, there’s the other side and then there’s the truth.”
Usher delivers more sex-crazed pop songs on “Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home),” “Lil’ Freak” and “So Many Girls” as if to say he’s back to a bachelor lifestyle.
Usher sounds out of place on “OMG,” another song about meeting another woman at a club. Will.i.am produced the song, but he should have left it with the Black Eyed Peas.
Usher actually sounds like an R&B singer on “Mars vs. Venus” and “Pro Lover.”
“Papers” is the 2010 version of “Confessions” and Usher’s most personal song on the album as he sings about his divorce.
“I can’t get to work on time, can’t believe the words to her I just said.
But who the hell argue and fight like dogs at 6 in the morning?” he sings.
Raymond vs. Raymond isn’t a bad album, but it’s missing the substance that Confessions had. Fans can’t feel connected to the artist, and that’s what they’re going to miss here.