Usher’s “Coming Home” is not the comeback he needed
Usher’s latest release, “Coming Home,” is long, redundant and boring. Expectations were high after his recent Super Bowl halftime performance, yet his new album misses the mark. The R&B icon fails to deliver anything groundbreaking. If anything, the album portrays Usher as having little to no artistic direction.
Holly Sealover, March 2024 for JOUR 3630: Review and Criticism
Usher’s “Coming Home” sports a cheeky album cover. Image from Pitchfork.
“Coming Home” is Usher’s first solo album since “Hard II Love” in 2016, which was also lackluster. Many fans had high hopes for the album after waiting so long for a comeback. Upon its release, fans were disappointed in the album’s lack of cohesiveness and its strange choices.
The album is far too long. It features 20 tracks, many of which sound very similar, yet others don’t fit in at all. Some songs even feel like filler tracks. It is almost as if the album was too short and needed something extra, so songs were added at the last minute. Only, the album goes on forever and clearly isn’t hurting for additional tracks. If Usher had separated the album into two, or even scrapped a few tracks altogether, the album would’ve seemed more like an artistic collection of music instead of an identity crisis for listeners to navigate.
“Margiela” sounds like a knockoff version of Usher’s “I Don’t Mind” released in 2014. “Margiela” could have been cut from the album and gone unmissed. The same goes for “Kissing Strangers,” “Keep on Dancin’,” “Stone Kold Freak,” “Ruin” and “I am the Party.” These songs sound very similar to many mainstream pop songs that have been playing on the radio for years now. They’re uninspiring, and again, with 20 tracks, there’s no reason for all the filler.
Next on the chopping block is “A-Town Girl” featuring Latto. The song samples Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl.” Usher attempts to modernize the classic while paying homage to his hometown of Atlanta. “A-Town” is said 25 times. It is reminiscent of a social media influencer’s attempt to start a music career. It’s like a combination of Jacob Sartorius’ “Sweatshirt” and Jake Paul’s “It’s Everyday Bro.” Yes, it’s that bad.
“BIG” is up for debate. It is groovy and danceable, but the lyrics are a tad odd. Usher says, “…when I was a kid, I would go to McDonald’s, I would never order the small, I would get it big…” The lyrics are such a poor attempt to make the song sexy, that you can’t help but laugh.
Usher’s sex appeal is not completely lost, however. The title track, “Coming Home,” with Burna Boy, is mellow yet cheeky. The song is just catchy and upbeat enough that it seems like it would be played on the radio or at the grocery store.
The other winners from the album include “Good Good,” featuring Summer Walker and 21 Savage, “Risk it All,” featuring H.E.R., “On the Side,” “Luckiest Man” and “Standing Next to You – USHER Remix,” featuring Jung Kook. These songs save listeners from the redundant nature of the rest of the album by providing emotional depth and variety.
The release of the “Coming Home” album should have been Usher’s ticket to a career comeback, but it fell short. Instead of a cohesive collection of R&B grooves, fans were left to narrow down and piece together the album themselves. The unclear identity portrayed by the album is confusing. Half of the album needs to be removed before it can be truly ready for release due to its length and redundancy. Usher should pursue an album of greatest hits. Maybe by revisiting his older music, he will become more inspired and will be capable of producing a more cohesive sound that fans will enjoy.