Usher returns from a hiatus and gives us Here I Stand, a LP that declares his independence from the youth he enjoyed. A lot of has happened to Usher since his Confessions LP. For one he’s married with a child and part-owns the Cleveland Cavaliers. He took a lot of flack for his marriage during his time out of the studio so getting back into the music is what I’m sure is what he wants to do. Featuring production from Tricky Stewart, The Dream, Danja, Polow Da Don, Jermaine Dupri, will.i.am, Ne-Yo, Jazze Pha, L.O.S., Manuel Seal, Bryan-Michael Cox, Dre & Vidal and more,

Usher certainly has some good production but how does it rate up? Let’s give it a GeoGlobes rating right now.

“Love in the Club” is the first single and has a good sound although Jeezy lyrics have something to be desired.

"Trading Places" is about the before, during and after sex time and is good for sexy talk with that significant person.

“Moving Mountains” is getting some airplay on the radio and sound like it should video because of the dramatic baseline.

“What’s Your Name” and “This Aint Sex“ remind me of Michael Jackson and the 80’s sound.

“Prayer for You” is a nice song for his newborn child and “Something Special“ is a throwback song and has a bluesy feel to it. It’s my one of favorites on the LP.

Usher wants to sweep you off your feet with a feather touch in “Love You Gently” and Jay-Z comes around to help on “Best Thing”, an upbeat track about losing what you had.

Other tracks worth listening to include “Before I Met You”, “His Mistakes”, Love In The Club Part II (featuring Beyonce & Lil’ Wayne) for the star appeal, Lifetime (produced by JLack), the title track “Here I Stand” (a soulful cut produced by Dre & Vidal) and “Will Work For Love”.

I like this LP. While it doesn’t have the “hits” that many have come to know to expect from Usher it does have high quality lyrics and production and Usher shows maturity in most of the album (“Love in the Club” not included) when it comes to more love talk and less lust talk. I think Usher coming off Confessions may have disappointed many because but if you take this LP on it’s own merit you will see it’s a good and fun listen. Some parts can be cliché but others are very unexpected coming from Usher. Usher is proving he can do what the Chris Brown, Justin Timberlake and Ne-Yo type of singers do but also take you somewhere else. It’s a dog eat dog industry but if the people give it true chance they will see something good.

I’ll give it 4 GeoGlobes.

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