After the 2012 Believe album created a new sound for Justin Bieber as he entered adulthood, he continued writing songs daily, even during regular touring in support of the Believe album. He had decided to make something musically more mature, reflecting his age and the desire to express himself throughout. This mainly R&B-styled compilation release conceptually had lyrics about heartbreak and being emotionally destroyed in a relationship. In retrospect, this is easy to see why he wrote this sort of material, given his high-profile relationship with Selena Gomez. In the desire for musical change, Justin Bieber not only had many producers for different tracks on this compilation but also a ton of guests, mainly Rappers, who no doubt helped boost the popularity of this release. A campaign with digital download access to a single song each week immediately before the release of this compilation was present as well. Oddly enough, Island Records who released the compilation refused to promote its release and also did not sell it in a physical format for some years, due to being unimpressed with the overall concept of the compilation. This release, regardless, should be an interesting listening experience. Let’s hear it.

Heartbreaker is not Led Zeppelin. Begins with some piano strings being struck, and launches into a rather druggy listen. To begin with, this is not very good, even for Justin Bieber, who has not the greatest reputation for fine music. There are some Fender Stratocaster guitar parts and some processed sounds throughout with some beats. This is awful, and any self-respecting music fan would agree with this fact. This sounds like a naff song being polished to the nth degree, and Justin Bieber’s voice is loaded with autotune here. This is nothing historically worth hearing or respecting throughout. Although Justin Bieber is begging for forgiveness, this comes across as a pathetic rant set to cheesy and poor music. In retrospect, this song makes sense to hear from a Justin Bieber autobiographical purpose, but it just sounds terrible. The era of celebrity with a laptop is here. Junk, save your ears for something better instead. The beats towards the excellent are different, but this is absolute garbage. Avoid.

All That Matters is a three-minute long piece with some more Fender Stratocaster-styled guitar parts and some Trap-styled beats present. This is a bit better than what came before it, but even so, this is a very ordinary listening experience. Some more lyrics about texting a partner on the phone and some horrific music and production throughout are here. It sounds like Justin Bieber was into drugs big time here, and needs some therapy instead. Other Justin Bieber album releases and songs have been much better than this garbage. Being popular doesn’t necessarily equate to quality and consistency musically, and this is a great example of that. The outro is good with some spacey sounds in the distant background, but this is again, disappointing junk. Do not listen to this song.

Hold Tight begins with some awful 808 bells and random electronic sounds. It launches into a bad-sounding piece of music about nothing in particular except love/lust in a bad way. Justin Bieber sounds so uninspired on this recording, and again, this is garbage. Thankfully, you can easily hit stop and go and do something else instead. The Trap beats are also very annoying. Justin Bieber’s voice sounds pitchy, whiney and annoying in this song as well. From Believe to this nonsense? Unbelievable. He definitely has done better, both before and since this album release. A drag of a song about love, this is a very disappointing song that doesn’t deserve your time or ears. It sounds totally unimaginative as well. Do not listen to this compilation, you have been warned. It eventually finishes up after four minutes with a fade-out. Very poor.

Recovery actually sounds good, which is different. Still, this is merely a slight improvement from what has been on this compilation so far. The music sounds pretty poor, weird and uninspired for the most part, however. Justin Bieber sings about fixing up a broken relationship and doesn’t sound overly happy here. The song has some rather stereotypical sounds: acoustic guitars, weird Trap beats and other sounds that aren’t too clever. These songs from this compilation aren’t exactly the best of 21st-century music, let alone Justin Bieber himself. It ends with some repeated vocals about sex and wraps up after that.

Bad Day begins with some flanger-affected acoustic guitars and drums. Justin Bieber sings a shorter and better song here about more relationship issues. Very much an uninspired compilation so far, this song is okay but only okay. Justin Bieber has some good falsetto vocals throughout, but he still sounds like he is coming from a rather uninspired and messed up place in a personal sense. This is very difficult to appreciate musically, this is a poor offering. It is only two minutes long, fortunately.

All Bad begins with some dark and weird sounds, with some ordinary beats. Soon enough, Justin Bieber gets singing about being in a dark place. Again, this song is about relationship issues, and the music is really bad. It is a poor mixture of rather lacklustre singing, ordinary lyrics and junk production. To be fair, this is one of the worst Justin Bieber album releases so far. It is so poor and awful that any music fan will hurl this one straight into the dustbin of history. Justin Bieber whines throughout this one, and this is by no means a great listen. Weak, poor and lacking in maturity, Justin Bieber fails. Very bad.

PYD has both Justin Bieber and disgraced rapper R. Kelly on vocals. It begins with some warm electronic sounds and launches into Justin Bieber singing the song title, to annoying repetition with some additional vocals. This, again, is very mediocre music to listen to. This is music about getting it on, and Justin Bieber does not exactly come across as someone who is a good conveyer of being erotic. This is a really uninspired listening experience that doesn’t sound overly interesting or entertaining. In any case, this song is a waste of time to listen to. R. Kelly sings nicely on this song, and his presence is quite welcome here on this song. This is a song about picking up girls and having promiscuous sex with them. Very imaginative, not. In any case, this is a repetitive and quite frankly, boring song. Enough to make one go to sleep or skip this song entirely, this is not a great song to listen to. Very ordinary, even with R. Kelly’s presence. Not a great nor inspired listen. It ends after five boring minutes.

Roller Coaster is an awful attempt at Funk Music with Fender Stratocasters, equally awful sounds to match and Justin Bieber singing with a ton of treated vocals. This is a song again about Justin Bieber’s personal life, which isn’t something particularly wonderful nor inspired by this point. This isn’t a very focused or original listen, and Justin Bieber ought to have rethought this album carefully. A very ordinary and dull listening experience from start to finish. There is no merit in hearing this album, and it is a great example of music that really should not be created in the 21st century. It ends just before three and a half minutes is complete. Poor.

Change Me begins with some piano and Justin Bieber singing fairly poorly here. This is a soppy ballad about willing to change for a love that is dying. It’s a plea from Justin Bieber to Selena Gomez about their failed relationship, and it sounds very ordinary indeed. This is not a typically impressive Pop Music listening experience. It just fails throughout. A bit of digital percussion is thrown into the mix here in the second half, and this trash drags on quite a bit. A sad reminder that today’s most popular music is pathetically bad. Ignore this song.

Confident sounds absolutely bad from the start, and features Chance The Rapper. It has liquid guitar, Trap beats and looped vocals from Justin Bieber. Again, this is trash, nonsensical and a waste of time to listen to. It is about having an affair which paints Justin Bieber as a poor and unfaithful sort of guy. Not a nice listen, and something very ordinary and very avoidable. You’d have to be really off the planet to think that Justin Bieber is a good person, he reveals here why he is not so. The music also is dreadful, and this is very forgettable. Chance The Rapper would have been better off doing his own thing and not rapping on this song. A real joke of a song, and this is not the sort of song that has lasted the test of time. The outro is sadly dreadful as well. Avoid.

One Life begins with some ordinary keyboard sounds and enters into another piece of trash music. This is a song about more love-based issues that are very, very ordinary. Justin Bieber pleads to a lady about getting a chance and this is so offputting musically to listen to. A musical joke, this is proof that there are many reasons why Justin Bieber cannot be listened to seriously. The music, sounds and production are nothing worth valuing throughout. In any case, stop this album by now and go and do something better than hearing this trash. It just doesn’t sound great. There is better music out there than this, please disregard this awful album. A real musical junk item. Do not listen to this.

Backpack features Lil Wayne. It begins with some weird science fiction sort of sounds, before launching into snippets of TV conversations about aliens, and enters into a lame song that is more of the same about the usual heartbreak and pathetic love-based themes throughout. This lacks imagination and surprise, and this is fairly predictable and a poor example of music and creation throughout. There is a take on aliens, UFOs and the like, but still, this is by no means good. Lil Wayne again like the previous artists featured on this compilation, shoots himself in the foot by appearing on this release. Very unusual music, there is a guitar solo as well, which really shouldn’t be here, either. Awful music to listen to, this sounds very average at best. Not worth your time or listening efforts.

What’s Hatnin’ features Future. It begins with some liquid melodies and has Future and Justin Bieber rapping over the top of each other at the same time. Really, not good. It launches into an ordinary Trap Music beat which is hardly original, and this album drags on. This has some poor lyrics about wanting to fix things in a failing relationship, and the music is really dated and poor. Hopefully, this album will not be remembered nicely in retrospect, because it certainly does not deserve to be listened to. One of the most overrated and terrible listens from 2013, this music is a disaster. The outro is beyond terrible, and it fades out after three minutes. Bad.

Swap It Out begins with piano and some slightly better singing by Justin Bieber. It enters into an okay piece of music, but this doesn’t mean that the album is any better by this point. This continues the protest of innocence by Justin Bieber, when the guy is probably guilty as hell, in a relationship sense. This isn’t musically consistent or innovative, but at least this song is a little better. Even so, this album isn’t worth it. By this point, if you are still listening, this compilation is one of the biggest stinkers in the history of music. This song is only slightly better than the others before it, and this sounds like a man desperate to fix up his messed up life. More of the same from this pathetic album. It ends with a symphonic music section, and a fade out. Terrible.

Memphis features Big Sean. It launches into a bad set of electronic melodies and sounds weird and odd. This is a song that is frankly, terrible. The music throughout is garbage, and is about having sex, yet again. A poor example of Justin Bieber trying to charm his female listeners, this song is yet another example of a listen that is neither impressive nor good. The sounds throughout are also terrible, and this is a good reason why bad music needn’t be polished. Big Sean makes this song a bit different, but again, this sounds musically awkward. Justin Bieber’s music isn’t really Rap Music, and the guests on this album underline that. This nonsense ends just before four minutes in length and is a pathetic example of the sort of 21st-century trash out there. No good.

Flatline is the last track on this album and begins with a heart monitor sound and other weird electronic sounds. Justin Bieber sings about waiting impatiently for his love to get back to him. A bad song to conclude a really bad album there is nothing special, once again, to listen to here. The music sounds very poor and the mixture of sounds and instrumentation is pathetic. If this was considered cutting edge at the time, it certainly has not lasted the test of time as an album. Justin Bieber and friends have shot themselves in the foot on this release, this is a poor attempt at being trendy. There are acoustic guitars and other poor sounds throughout this song. A bad listen.

This is one of the worst albums that has been made by a famous pop star of their time. From the heights of the Believe album just released a year before this garbage compilation, Journals is a pathetic failure. It proved that Justin Bieber was a real loser, at least on an album, and he had a lot of personal issues around this time in his life as well. Should you listen to this album? Please don’t, save your ears and hear something much better than this nonsense instead. Even Justin Bieber himself would likely be embarrassed by this dreadful music.

A great example of why Justin Bieber is laughed at today.

3/10