Justin Bieber – Purpose (Deluxe) (2015)

Justin Bieber had a lot of well-publicised issues at this point. This included smoking weed on film, and being arrested for a number of nuisance based crimes. In his dark mood, he became more interested in Christianity and used that to guide him through his musical journey.

His most recent offering at the time of writing is called Purpose. But does Purpose have a listening purpose? Let’s find out.

First off is Mark My Words with its harmony to begin this album. We then go into a confrontational (for Justin Bieber) song and giving us his music. It’s a reflective song, which takes a while to begin. It’s a melodic and pop-based statement about his changed perception of things. It’s honestly just an intro piece and is not very special.

After that we have I’ll Show You sounds pretty bad from the start. Justin Bieber, at this point, has lost the plot. The annoying sound in the background of this track persists, and the chorus is rubbish. Whatever happened to the quality on the Believe album that he had? Down the gurgler at this point, obviously. Skip this one, it’s not worth hearing.

What Do You Mean? is Justin going on a selfish emotional rant about women. Who really cares? The guy had some issues, granted, but this is just a joke. The song is slightly better, but despite the song being a slight improvement, it’s still rubbish. Meh. The clocks are cool sounding though.

Sorry is more selfish ranting. It’s a better piece, but still doesn’t really deserve a listen. Is this guy just in the music industry to sell records? Probably. The chorus is okay though, but there is no way that, in most circumstances, you can hear this stuff and call it “good music”. Not worth hearing.

After that, we actually have an okay song, wow. Love Yourself starts off with some subdued guitar and Justin Bieber singing. It’s a nice piece, and better if Bieber himself had done some more music like this. It’s a nice listen. Better than anything else so far on the album at this point. Good to hear.

Following is a more normal sort of song, Company, at least lyrically. Musically, it’s an improvement on the album, but after the horrid songs early on in the album, it still comes across as just another money-making pop album, sadly. This song is okay though. Seems better overall.

No Pressure has some weird sounds at the start. It’s Justin Bieber moaning about his life. Unless you read the completely useless gossip/fashion magazines, you don’t really care, right? Certainly not. The song is ordinary, but really, we deserve better than this. And just when it wasn’t that bad, an appearance by Big Sean kills this song, taking the song down as pure trite. A joke of a piece of music.

No Sense has a wannabe psychedelic intro, then burst into another boring sentiment from the main man Justin Bieber. Most people don’t take Justin Bieber seriously, and honestly, nor should one do so. It’s okay but only okay. Another cameo appearance, this time from Travis Scott, kills this song. Lame.

Up next is The Feeling. It sounds annoying from the start. There are some interesting sounds and this song is radio-ready, but anyway, it doesn’t matter. There is no real form or consistency with this pop piece. It’s just electronic noises and Justin Bieber singing another ordinary pop piece. It may make sense in the chorus on a psychological level, but those listening can’t help but feel that this is a laughable pop song. Correct, if you guessed right about that, that is.

Next here is Life is Worth Living. It sounds a lot like Coldplay with the piano playing, and Justin Bieber singing along. It’s a much better piece for this reason. Admittedly, Bieber has a good voice to go with a more natural arrangement of this sort. It’s pretty good, surprisingly. If Justin Bieber sang to a more traditional setting, he would at least be seen better than usually so in the music world.

Where Are Ü Now is laughably bad, and features Skrillex, sadly. It is a here today, gone tomorrow piece. It goes into a really bad wannabe club piece. The sound in the background is totally annoying, rendering Justin Bieber a real joke on a musical level. After all, he is just a pop singer. There is no creativity in being a sell-out. It’s all about the money here, not the listening experience.

Children refers to Justin Bieber’s Christianity sort of thing. Sadly, it goes into an almost EDM like piece. Fair enough, he discovered God, his choice (and a good one for him). The music here stinks though. It would have been better if the song had a more intelligent approach to it if talking about God. It seems Justin Bieber is rather bipolar in a music sense, unsure of where to go next.

The title track Purpose talks more deeply about his new faith. It sounds a lot better with some gentle piano as the main melody. This is a good backdrop for his lyrics and singing and is much better than the other songs on the album. Good effort and we need less rubbish EDM sort of songs from Bieber, and more stripped back music, such as this track. A sample at the end sounds like a pastor giving out a sermon, which is interesting and motivating.

Next up is Been You. It’s a better song, despite being almost EDM. It’s sad to know that this album is such a mixed bag, mind you. There are some good moments, ordinary moments and just rubbish moments. This is one of the better highlights of the album and is actually listenable. Sounds more consistent here.

Get Used To It is more relationship related stuff. It’s nothing special but sounds far more personal. It is another semi-EDM piece. If Justin Bieber should do anything to improve his music game, he should cut down some of the more overtly electronic stuff. Still, it’s an okay listen. It’s slightly catchy too.

We Are sounds like a wannabe Rap music piece. Think of Justin Bieber doing a Dr Dre/Eminem tune, and you are right here. It’s still disappointing, along with the rest of the album overall. This doesn’t seem to suit Justin Bieber much and is easily a forgettable song. Nas is here, confirmed the Rap nature of this piece. It still is disappointing though, despite Nas’s appearance.

After that, we hear Trust. It’s a slower piece with some almost Hip Hop/Rap beats. The only problem with this is that it’s not EDM music for the club. It is, believe it or not, designed for home listening and radio airplay. Another big mistake from the singer in light of his music, and once again, this song is forgettable.

The next song All In It begins with acoustic guitar, before going into a series of textured music, which is no surprise. It’s not inspiring, uplifting and as we come towards the end of this album, it seems Justin Bieber has lost the approach he had on the previous album Believe. There is a sample of Justin Bieber talking deeply about his faith at the end.

What Do You Mean? – Acoustic is a nice bonus track made. JB should do many more songs like this, it does sound nice. Good bonus track to finish the album.

Should you bother with this album? No, unless you are into the latest trends. For the most part, this album has a few good moments but lacks consistency and even the better pieces on this recording are lacking. Believe was a good album, but this one is lacking quality, sadly. Let’s hope the next release is an improvement.

4/10