Review

Justin Bieber: My World

The music of youth should be about rebellion, about offending the older generation, and sticking it to the man, so why is the debut album from the fifteen year old Justin Bieber so polite and inoffensive?

This is one of those albums made by committee, to fill a thin gap in an already over saturated market. Much is made of Bieber’s looks, also being blandly inoffensive, but that does not help the seven tracks on this effort. There is everything you would expect on a pop album, except for the key change to allow him to stand up, although there are no real ballads on this album.

The songs, such as ‘One time’ and ‘Favourite Girl’ use a safe mid tempo Hip Hop beat, and autotuned vocals in the backing vocals, while instruments are stroked rather than being played. ‘Down to Earth’ uses that minor to major chord piano sequence so beloved of the writers of glossy american teenage dramas,whilst ‘Bigger’ almost uses a rap in the vocal delivery. On the positive side, the album is well produced, and Bieber has a melodic voice that might be allowed to soar if used properly on subsequent albums.
Words BEN MACNAIR