Album per day: Day 24

Artist: Justin Bieber
Album: Purpose
Released: 2015

When I started this trainwreck of a challenge, let alone this blog, I never thought that I'd find myself so desperate to review the new record by Canadian troublemaker Justin Bieber. From humble beginnings on YouTube, to poisoning eardrums worldwide, whilst infatuating many others, his rise to stardom has been well documented as a cacophony of troublesome behaviour and having to grow up very quickly. His fourth studio album Purpose, which features a wide range of artists providing their input in both musical and production duties, dropped last month, and sees the 21 year old venturing into the more mature territories of EDM and R&B, mixed in with his usual brand of teen pop. Will his more mature image alienate his hordes of obsessed fans, or will he win over the haters with an infectious new sound?
Mark My Words starts things off short and sweet, with Bieber falsettoing over a vocal loop. Ever since this guys balls dropped, his vocals have definitely become a lot more appealing, jumping so effortlessly between falsetto and a more tender tenor vocal. This continues on I'll Show You, a track produced by none other than Skrillex, who you will hear a lot more of on this album. A slow dance number perhaps inspired by the likes of Ne-Yo, it's got quite a romancing hook. Recent single What Do You Mean? follows, which sounds like a classic club anthem with repetitive lyrics, but even more recent single Sorry is, honestly, a tune. I would much rather hear this in a club than What Do You Mean?, and beyond that, the lyrics are actually quite meaningful and are sure to touch a nerve. Love Yourself is a simplistic song that fans of acoustic music will gush over, and it's no surprise that this was co-written with Ed Sheeran; it wouldn't be out of place on either + or x.
Company only really gets going in the chorus when the bass drops, no matter how lightly it does drop. I'm noticing that the chorus' are now filled with more instrumentals rather than what we're used to hearing from JB: a typical 4/4 pop chorus with simple rhyming lyrics. Big Sean makes an appearance on No Pressure, another chilled out track with a delivery that reminds me a little bit of more recent Mariah Carey tracks, but then Big Sean comes in. The man that gave us the delightful internet anthem I Don't Fuck With You then suddenly goes all lovey-dovey on us to contribute a throwaway verse. The contribution of Travi$ Scott to No Sense was a little more prominent, but involved a lot of autotune, thankfully not detracting too much from the surprisingly complex musical arrangement of this track. American singer Halsey appears on This Feeling, a track that compliments both vocalists well, and is a rather impressive pop song overall.
Life Is Worth Living had me stand to attention as soon as the first grand piano note sounded, and is at this point in the record, a curveball. Behind the carefree, pretty badboy image, Bieber can write very meaningful songs, and this is an important one for anyone having doubts about their life. Where Are Ü Now brings things back, and you will surely recognise this one from over the summer. Skrillex and Diplo team up to churn out a floorfiller, but still to this day I can't decide if the hook in the chorus is downright irritating or incredibly catchy. I'm sure a lot of you reading this have a pre-drinks playlist, well Children should probably be on there somewhere, a statement that could almost be applied to the majority of Purpose, and now the pop electronics give way to the solemn title track. Justin Bieber can do ballads, and it seems he can do them well. I think he's ended this record the right way, admitting his misgivings in both song and interview form, as a recorded statement from JB plays over the final minute of the song.
I've read a lot about this record, and funnily enough, not one of the statements I've read has been negative. I've seen the jokes ("would Bieber like some mash with all of these bangers?"), and I was intrigued to say the least. It's never nice to see child stars go down the pan, and there are times when the whole world wanted Bieber wiped off the face of the Earth, but if you ask me, he's matured in a way that a lot of other fellow child stars have failed to do. I remember watching his roast on Comedy Central earlier this year, hoping to see him get ripped to shreds, and he was... but you know what? I respected him after that. He took the abuse well, and even made a few wisecracks himself. There's no reason to condone his destructive behaviour in his personal life, but I'm no psychologist; I'm only here to give my thoughts on this album. And I never thought I'd write this on what is a public page, but I enjoyed it. Bieber has found a healthy mix of contributors that offer a lot to the album, even if the structures of the songs and typical three minute lengths are a little predictable. He hasn't won me over, but this year has seen me change my opinion of him. I hope he doesn't fall into the trap of completely losing it a la Miley Cyrus, but this is a step in the right direction. Now, if you'll excuse me, I am off to go and break some ribs at The Prodigy. And they say I don't have a diverse taste.

Rating: 7.5/10
Recommended songs: Sorry, This Feeling, Life Is Worth Living

Once, twice, three times at Wembley

For some artists, their dream would be to have a song top the UK charts. For some, it's winning a BRIT award. For a lot of dreamers though, playing Wembley Stadium is up there. All of these feats have been achieved by one man and his guitar: this ginger lad from Suffolk, Ed Sheeran.

Following in the footsteps of Rupert Grint as the latest red headed heartthrob, Sheeran has released two albums fittingly entitled + (Plus) and x (Multiply), as this is what seems to be happening to the size of his fanbase with every song he releases. As mentioned before, he has topped the charts with two singles from x: the acoustic hip shaker that is Sing and the slow dance number Thinking Out Loud, which has helped the album become the fastest selling album of the year. Now that you have a little back story that you didn't ask for, and let's face it, you almost certainly know everything about this guy because you can't escape him, let's move on to the matter at hand.

As a well respected UK pop artist, Ed is climbing high up festival hierarchies, with a sub-headliner position at V Festival and a high billing on the final day of Glastonbury ticked off this year. Festivals are a great way for Ed to showcase his bouncy anthem side, where tunes like Sing will leave people reciting the main hook until they get back to their flooded tents, but also a place to raise your lighters and croon along to The A Team with your friends arm in arm. He stands there with his favourite trademark acoustic guitar and a loop pedal, and makes it seem like there is a small band playing. His back catalogue is laden with single after single, and with only two albums released, it's a big feat to have so many recognisable songs at your disposal. Although, John Giddings, the man responsible for organising the Isle of Wight Festival, claimed that if acts like Ed Sheeran are the future of festival headliners, then "we're all screwed" due to him being "boring". So it doesn't look like he'll be topping that festival bill any time soon.

Recently, Ed announced that he would be playing a show at Wembley Stadium in July 2015 as part of his world tour, and then later announced that he would be playing two more shows on the same weekend at the home of English football. A bold move indeed, but could it pay off? This is a man at the top of his game, and everything he touches seems to turn to gold, but is it too soon to have him pinned down as a stadium act? Is he even right for a stadium? Will he have enough fans to want to pay that much money to see him in a stadium on three occasions? I've brought this up a few times with people close to me, and a couple of times on Twitter, and instead of an informed response, I've had people either claim I'm jealous of him (right...), or people have attacked my favourite bands who have gone on to headline Wembley Stadium, saying that if they headlined Wembley, why can't Ed Sheeran? My answer is a simple one: because they're bands who can put on a stadium show. Muse, Foo Fighters, Green Day, Oasis, Metallica, The Killers - their music is tailor made for stadiums where over 80,000 people can go nuts to loud, gargantuan rock songs; their songs fill every metre of Wembley.

At this moment in time, Ed Sheeran has been performing alone on stage. I can't see that live presence translating well into a headline stadium show, which is why I hope he takes advantage of the occasion and either turns his performances into a Take That-esque show, or at least brings a full band with him. Eminem headlined Wembley in the summer, and he brought a whole band with him, who, when I saw them at Reading Festival, were amazing. If Slim Shady turned up to that kind of gig armed only with an MC and a set of turntables then I'd say that was an opportunity wasted. What I'm hoping is that Sheeran has the ammunition to pull this off, which could come in the form of a backing band when he needs it for certain songs (which he recently showed he can do with his performance on X Factor a few weeks ago), or guest stars when necessary (Taylor Swift, Pharrell etc.). Even his support acts will help show that he has the credibility to fill one of the greatest venues in the world, and to paraphrase a line from his early single You Need Me, I Don't Need You, I hope he brings Damien Rice along for the ride.
I'm not expecting a light show out of the idea book of Kraftwerk, or an elephant standing on it's hind legs blowing the hook to Sing from its trunk as it suddenly grows wings and flies out of the stadium. I just hope he steps up to the plate, and proves he has the capacity to expand. If you want him to stand there and play his guitar, fair enough, but it would be interesting to see if it works; I won't rule anything out. Ed is a showman, and he gets the crowd involved, which is one of his strongest qualities as a performer. However, is he more Wembley Arena than Wembley Stadium? Only one way to find out I guess.

To quote Anthony Fantano, the internet's busiest music nerd, y'all know this is just my opinion, right?