Here I will review the songs of Justin's solo album, Justified!

Where to start, what to say...
When Justin says that this album is 100% him, I can see it, and I feel him. Just by the way he sings these songs; the way he plays with them, manipulates them, masters them...you can tell that it's the full extent of "Justin," the guy towards whom past *NSYNC songs has just barely begin to scratch the surface of. And I don't mean that to have a derogatory subtone in any way; it's like saying "Ready to Fall" is more Joey than any *NSYNC song could be...because obviously, it is. Like these songs scream Justin because they are Justin...you hear his influences, his tastes, his R&B depth...he literally puts his soul into it.

Major props to him for that.

Now with that aside...I do have to say that, simply for the fact that I'm not an full-on Hip Hop R&B kinda of guy, not all of these songs appeal to me in the way that, oh, an *NSYNC album or a BBMak album might. Which is just fine. I mean I love R&B. Craig David and Monica are two of my favorite artists of this time. But various songs on Justified are probably the types that I'll listen to for a while, and then get tired of. It's sad and brutal and unfortunate, but it's honest.

Without further ado..

*Like I Love You: The song that introduced us to solo Justin...one of my favs off the album, and definitely the coolest track on it;). A few of the best things about it are the tone and drive...aggresively mellow, if that makes any sense at all. The lyrics are kinda whack but not anything particularly gruesome lol. Fav part: "If you give me that chaaaaaaaaaaance to beee a maaaan~!"
I'm one of the few people in the world who seriously, seriously like high notes lol, at least when they're done well. And this goes for the rest of the album as well, likewise when Chris does it and JC too....I love when Justin is like, sailing high above and graceful with those notes like that, and he does it so well.

*(Oh No)What You Got: Excuse you, Justin;). Another one of my favorites off the album...once you get away from the fact that every time he goes "GIRL!?" it sounds like he's belching. Lol it bothered me endlessly at first, but nonetheless I find the song very cool and I love the lyrics. Not particularly deep lyrics, but cool lyrics all the same which are groovy and accentuates the song and melodies.

*Take it From Here: A fairly run-of-the-mill R&B ballad. Lol it didn't particularly take me to blatantly orgasmic heights when *NSYNC did them, so there's no reason why it would be any different with Justin.

*Cry Me a River: This song is hot. Basically, my most absolute favorite song off of this album. I love the operatic intro and dark, almost sullen overtones of this piece. Instead of being distracting which is what they usually do to me, the overtly harsh R&B beatboxing works to the song's advantage and not against. And Justin's voice flows seamlessly into the works. Love where he goes "Now it's your turn...to CRY."
Is it about Britney? The infamous write-off song? We'll likely never know.

*Rock Your Body: Disco Justin says shake ya azz and get nekkid.
Lol this song is so cool and has a great vibe to it, and it's mad catchy, but it's kind of lo-tech when compared with the rest of the album. It's still a great song though, just that I'd probably skip it more often than not.

*Nothin' Else: "You're out of this world, except you're not green"??
Well it's...abstract...I'll grant him that.
Once I got over that one slip of lyrical weirdness, I really like this track. The melody is soooooo fudgin' catchy. It's kind of like an alternative emo type of thing. It's weird to hear Justin harmonizing with himself, but it's really cool as well.

*Last Night: Not...particularly stirring or attention-grabbing. I think a lot of people could like this and maybe I'm setting my standards too high lol, but it doesn't really click with me. A+ for effort though.

*Still on My Brain: Same deal as "Take it From Here": it's a simplistic R&B soul song, and that simplicity both benefits and detracts from it...it benefits in the sense that the song is easy to get into and makes for a classy theme, but detracts in the sense that it's nothing spectacular and easily-forgettable.

*(And She Said)Take Me Now: Ooooh. A very strong song, in almost every respect including but not limited to beat, rhythm, melody, tone, and vocalise. Marvelous vocals, by both Justin and Janet, proves Justin's vocal and artistic talent right there. Although I'm not hearing the rock influences Justin says are in this lol. Great product.

*Right For Me: The epitome of a song on this album that is so not my style or to my tastes lol, but still...it's such a good song nonetheless, and in that sense I loooove it. It's got a style all its own and easy to get into.

*Let's Take a Ride: The way this song is put together and produced reminds me a lot of "Sailing" lol. The differing factor is the exaggeration and emphasis on the beat and rhythmic elements. Hence it being "Rhythm and Blues" lol. I like it, it's a nice addition to the collection that is Justin.

*Never Again: O. M. G.(O_O)
I refuse to accept any claims that this song doesn't come from the most personal part of Justin's soul lol, because it is just very...touching, deep, abstract...beautiful. I knew that the Justin-slash-Brian McKnight work of art wasn't going to be anything but great and impressive, but seriously this blows me away. It starts out sounding like a pretty little love ballad, but listening to the lyrics, it's like this ode to regret and pain. Very impressive. Very effective. Very affective.

There are some pretty diverse sounds on this album, though they all go back to the man that is Juju. No matter what the senseless naysayers will naysay, I feel that this album does have a very distinct and separate sound from *NSYNC, and in that sense I totally understand why Justin felt the need to make it. It's not a diss, it's not that *NSYNC was holding him back...it's just Justin.

My feelings on the songs themselves range as well lol. I can listen to "Cry My a River" all day long and never get even a bit tired of it, but songs like "Still on My Brain" don't get me even a bit hyped. But you know...that's basically how I feel about a lot of albums, especially *NSYNC's. Consider Celebrity: I want to have "The Game is Over"'s babies, but can not stand to listen to "Tell Me, Tell Me...Baby."

Good to have some familiar ground to go on for Justin's tracks;).

In a nutshell: This is a great, diverse, strong album, and major props to Justin for it. Go Curlboy! Go Curlboy! It's yo b-day, it's yo...



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