Tracks 1, 12 and 16 from Confessions (Special Edition) (2004) Tracks 4, 6, and 9 from Confessions (2004) Usher Deep Album Cuts ( Spotify playlist): He's not a self-sufficient auteur, but he has a great sense of his voice and a strong rapport with some great producers and songwriters. But the guy has hits for days, and I think his biggest albums hold up pretty damn well. But he's kind of caught between the Michael Jackson era of superstardom and a younger generation, and there's obviously gonna be some awkward transition periods. The world lost its mind to 'Yeah!' and 'Climax' earned him some new respect from some corners. Usher just generally occupies an odd cultural space these days. And I'm glad to at least see him still at it and trying, not yet ready to just hand it all off to Chris Brown or Trey Songz. And he hasn't found a way to defy the declining commercial profile of R&B or rally fans and critics around his new music as well as one of his few true peers, Beyonce. The only thing really pulling him down, or keeping that album off the shelves, is the fact that he set an incredibly high standard for success earlier in his career. But I've actually enjoyed a good amount of that recent music (well, except for 'She Wants To Give It To You') and think this could be a really good record. As he tours around the country and releases single after single, Usher's 8th studio album UR remains missing in action with no release date in sight.

Usher confessions album playlist