B+ Justin Bieber Purpose
Def Jam
Justin Bieber's new album is peppered with songs full of apologies and redemption. The troubled star claims he has changed.
But one thing's for sure -- his music has gotten so much better. The 21-year-old has almost found his voice.
Bieber opens the album -- with noteworthy production from EDM expert Skrillex -- with downbeat songs that are personal and real. The R&B number "Mark My Words" feels grown up and sexy, and on "I'll Show You," the singer gets deep.
"It's like they want me to be perfect, but they don't even know that I'm hurting," he sings.
Bieber's "don't-count-me-out" attitude also shines on the simple piano tune, "Life Is Worth Living," where he proclaims, "I'm working on a better me."
Purpose also has addictive pop gems. The ridiculously catchy "Sorry" is one of the year's best pop songs, thanks to its irresistible, dance-inducing beat. The hits "Where Are U Now" and "What Do You Mean" follow suit.
"No Sense" has a trap sound that is a highlight; the layered and experimental "The Feeling," featuring Halsey, has a winning hook. Bieber is cool and calm on the stripped-down "Love Yourself."
Hot tracks: "Sorry," "Life Is Worth Living," "The Feeling."
-- MESFIN FEKADU,
The Associated Press
A Original Broadway Cast
A Chorus Line: 40th Anniversary Celebration
Masterworks Broadway
In 1975, the Broadway musical was, if not dead, certainly not healthy. Then A Chorus Line came kicking along and revolutionized and revived the genre, breaking records and setting new standards.
It's a dynamic, moving, funny, insightful and mature look at the painful audition process. It transcends the "dancing" theme, becoming a story of passion, hopes, disappointments and people putting themselves "on the line."
The songs, like "One," "At the Ballet" and "What I Did for Love," became classics.
For the 40th anniversary, the original cast recording has been remastered and re-released. Along with all the original songs are eight bonus tracks, three songs written but cut early in the creative process and five working versions of songs that did make it into the final show. Performed by composer Marvin Hamlisch and lyricist Edward Kleban, they're very rough recordings and the sound quality isn't good at all, but they should appeal to fans of the show or those interested in the creative process of musicals.
Hot tracks: All the original songs are worth listening to.
-- JENNIFER NIXON
B+ One Direction
Made in the A.M.
Syco
There was plenty of mostly manufactured concern when Zayn Malik left the group and the remaining quartet -- Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson -- announced they wouldn't tour to support their fifth album in five years.
This sleek, rock-influenced pop album was produced mainly by John Ryan and Julian Bunetta and co-written by Payne and Tomlinson working as a team, and Horan and Styles working with collaborators.
"Drag Me Down" effectively co-opts the new-wave energy of The Police. The yearning "Infinity" combines chiming U2 guitars with a 21-piece string section and soaring synths. "Olivia," co-written by Styles, is crafted to sound like The Beatles at their bounciest. "Walking in the Wind" is a direct descendant of Paul Simon's "Graceland," right down to the spiky Afro-pop guitars.
On "Temporary Fix," co-written by Horan, they build a power-pop cousin to "Since U Been Gone" and puff it up stadium-size, then close with hooks that could have come straight from The Strokes' debut.
Malik's exit may have left the group a little less soulful, but the genres they tackle are varied enough to spawn multiple solo careers with little overlap.
Hot tracks: "Temporary Fix," "Drag Me Down," "Infinity."
-- GLENN GAMBOA,
Newsday (TNS)
A- Lionel Loueke
Gaia
Blue Note
The centerpiece of guitarist Lionel Loueke's new album is the captivating, deceptively simple ballad "Forgiveness." Built around a wisp of melody, the song radiates springlike serenity with an effortless, gliding groove, up until the moment when the band drops out, and Loueke sets up a West African high-life beat for a punchy coda.
It's all brilliantly in character for Loueke, who hails from Benin and has spent the last decade or so finding mainstream avenues for his sinuous, effervescent style.
Subtlety has always been a hallmark. In some respects, Gaia -- full of tripwire rhythmic intricacies that register as casual, even natural -- underscores that strength. But the album, recorded in the studio, also captures a sense of thrilling unrestraint, a willingness to push intuition past the point of comfort. Produced by Don Was, it has the rough spark of a bootleg, with better sound.
Loueke's trio is adept at rounding corners and shifting gears, as it does on the brooding Afro-funk tune "Sleepless Night." A couple of tracks, like "Procession," prowl toward post-Hendrix territory. But others, like "Aziza Dance," attest to a searching originality. No other band has quite this sound, and it hasn't stopped evolving.
Hot tracks: "Forgiveness," "Aziza Dance," "Sleepless Night."
-- NATE CHINEN,
The New York Times
Style on 11/24/2015