Usher Raymond's Mature Journey in Here I Stand

"A Man who won't Stand for Something will Fall for Anything."

This is the inspiring quote you will immediately read as you pop Usher's CD from its case. Great, isn't it?

Usher's fifth studio recording "Here I Stand" is one-hell of a life revolution masterpiece. There are 18 cuts and all these tracks mirror a certain jolt of introspection. The album is a journey; a transition from a lustful voyage of an adult into a full-grown devoted father. In fact, the album's cover shows a license plate 1126, the date of his son's birth (Wikipedia).

1 "Intro"/"Forever Young" (UK Only) James "JLack" Lackey 1:28 / 4:21

2 "Love in This Club" U. Raymond, J. Jones, L. Taylor, J. Jenkins, R. Lovett, K. Thomas, D. Dalton Polow da Don Young Jeezy 4:20

3 "This Ain't Sex" U. Raymond, C. Stewart, P. Alexander, T. Nash Tricky Stewart and Jazze Pha, co-produced by The-Dream, vocals produced by Kuk Harrell 4:25

4 "Trading Places" U. Raymond, C. McKinney, T. Nash L.O.S. Da Maestro, vocals produced by Kuk Harrell, guitar solo by Chris'TEK' O'Ryan 4:28

5 "Moving Mountains" U. Raymond, C. Stewart, T. Nash, T. Harrell Tricky Stewart and The-Dream, vocals produced by Kuk Harrell 4:58 / 4:00 (UK)

6 "What's Your Name?" U. Raymond, W. Adams, R. Toby will.i.am, vocals produced by Kuk Harrell will.i.am 3:58 7 "Prayer For You (Interlude)" 1:43

8 "Something Special" U. Raymond, J. Dupri, J. Phillips, M. Seal, J. Austin Jermaine Dupri, co-produced by Manuel Seal & LRoc 3:57

9 "Love You Gently" U. Raymond, A. Harris, V. Davis, R. Devaughn Dre & Vidal 3:39

10 "Best Thing" U. Raymond, J. Dupri, J. Austin, M. Seal, S. Carter Jermaine Dupri, co-produced by Manuel Seal Jay-Z 3:54

11 "Before I Met You" U. Raymond, B.M. Cox, J. Austin, K. Dean, C. Love Bryan-Michael Cox, additional production by WyldCard & Craig Love, vocals produced by Johnta Austin 4:56

12 "His Mistakes" U. Raymond, S. Smith, M.S. Eriksen, T.E. Hermansen Stargate, co-produced by Ne-Yo 4:59

13 "Appetite" U. Raymond, N. Hills, B. Muhammad, E. Lewis, M. Araica, B. Casey, J. Dupri, M. Seal Danja 3:58

14 "What's a Man to Do" U. Raymond, J. Austin, M.S. Eriksen, T.E. Hermansen Stargate 4:09

15 "Lifetime" U. Raymond, R. Lovett, J. Lackey James "JLack" Lackey 4:36

16 "Love in This Club, Part II" U. Raymond, J. Jones, L. Taylor, J. Jenkins, D. Carter, R. Lovett, K. Thomas, D. Dalton, T. Bell, L. Creed Soundz Beyoncé and Lil Wayne 5:09

17 "Here I Stand" U. Raymond, A. Harris, V. Davis, J. Jones, R. Blackstone, G. Gaddiss Dre & Vidal 4:10

18 "Will Work For Love" U. Raymond, J. Rotem, J. Fauntleroy II J. R. Rotem 3:16
These track listing is taken from Wikipedia

Now here's what I'm gonna say...

Three of these 18 cool tracks are my first-impression favorites. First on my list is Track 17: Here I Stand. This is not only a noticeable soulful love song but this is a track that undoubtedly marks a new trademark for Usher. This is what I'm talking about and first time I listen to it, it simply knocks off my feet. The lyrics instantly reminds me of someone except of course in the line where he says "when we make love..." hehehe, I'm still young for those matters. No matter what, this song defines the real Usher behind the mask of controversy and superficiality.

"Forever yours here I stand," he says.

Track 5: Moving Mountain, the second commercially-released single from the album, showcases a different slice of Usher. Listening to its lyrics will make you realize that you're still a human being who gets tired and simply wants to get rid of those strings of confusion and sorrows. The song is a realization. Its Timbaland-HipHop flavor is a real dog; a must-listen.



Lastly, Track 12: His mistakes wraps up my list. This single is composed by the ever-talented R&B singer/songwriter Shaffer Smith or rather be called as Neyo. The song is about loving a girl who's still suffering a trauma from her past relationship. "I know he did you wrong |But tell me what does that have to do with me | Trying to show you something real | Figure out what is going on | Before you look up and I’ll be gone | I’ll do anything to prove I love you | Baby girl but I refuse | To pay for something I didn’t do, girl | I love you, and I love you I love you," he sang.

What's really awesome with this song is it therapeutically touches your damaged ego. It's not a martyr song of unconditional love and those cheesy stuffs, it's a song of reality and that reality, whatever it is, hurts a lot especially, when it means goodbye.

Other stand-out tracks in the album are "Love in the Club" (Track 2: of course it's his first official single and stayed at the number 1 spot in US Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart for three weeks in a row but to me, the song is simply a resemblance of "Yeah!" Just lust, lust, lust and nothing more... plainly horny), "Trading Places" (Track 4; Another Usher's HipHop signature that plainly talks about sex) and "Before I Met You."

In fact, some reviews in the net say that the album has no single dot of weak points. I somehow agree, but her duet with Beyonce Knowles in Track 16 (Love in the Club Part 2) lacks some quality. It's good but not that strong. I don't really know why, perhaps my expectation are too way up high. It's very unfair to compare it to "My Boo," his duet with Alicia Keys. My Boo is just My Boo; The best R&B duo of all-time that rocks my world with a wheezing spark of fire.

Here I Stand is entirely different from Confessions (Usher's groundbreaking fourth album). Confessions is two-thumbs-up great but for me, Here I Stand is even better. Usher has leashed out some sensational and remarkable insights on this album. It's not only about sex, lust, regrets and all that, Here I Stand is a life cycle of one's experiences and his personal learning.

The album sold 433,000 copies, based on Nielsen Soundscan Survey, in US alone and has already reached number 1 in the Billboard Top 200. Just hoping that it will win some Grammy's next year.