Yes, he’s harmless to the point of actually being cornball.
Put me down for 10. 1 to listen to, and 9 to ebay and make big bucks with!
I’ll take that challenge and extend one.
For starters, it looks like it’s available on Rhapsody, so no need to send or otherwise arrange a copy this-a-way. Sometime over the weekend (or possibly into the week; crushing deadlines this weekend), I’ll give it an honest listen—either in the parlour (pretty much devoted to music-listening) or on headphones.
In the spirit (it is a holiday album after all), I’ll throw out a blind challenge/recommendation. I’ve no idea of your musical tastes other than you’ve an appreciation for a bit of pop—which I’m taking as an affinity for solid beats, good hooks and strong vocals. So I’ll see your Beiber and raise you a Balkan Beat Box; Blue-eyed Black Boy. The tracks are available on YouTube, but if you can DL a few via i-Tunes, the quality will be that much better.
Accept?
Anyone?
Fair enough, I’ll give him a spin.
Heh … wouldn’t that be ‘give them a stream’?
Interesting! Reminds me of Snow, if anyone actually remembers him, lol. I believe that genre of music is considered “dancehall”, yes?
Here’s a great unsigned group I discovered doing a “Bieber” search on Tumblr. They’re called “We the Gentlemen” and they do a really nice cover of “Baby” (Which actually breathed a bit of life into it for me - I’m kind of sick of that one.) But one I really enjoyed is a Bruno Mars medley. I don’t know who Bruno Mars is and hadn’t heard the songs before but gosh it’s pretty. Gorgeous Bee Gee-esque harmonies.
If you want to hear the “Baby” cover you can click on their page and I think it’s the newest vid so it comes up first thing.
::manipulates things around to get free shipping::
Ok, y’all gonna be getting a little extra in your stockings.
::Three hours later::
All ordered. I really hope you like it. There’s a good variety of styles so hopefully you’ll enjoy at least one song.
(Omni I need an email address for you.)
THANK YOU! I’ll let you know when it arrives & what I think…
I don’t know about boys but he’s very popular with the lesbians at my daughter’s club.
If you’re still offering the challenge, I’ll accept. I’m torn on my opinion of the Bieb. PM coming shortly.
Something free? My college sense is tingling!
Just kidding. I subscribe to Spotify, so I’ll keep this in mind. I’ve been listening to a lot of pop in the last month, but I’m sorta sick of listening to music for good singers.
God, sorry I keep bumping this, but something really screwy happened with my credit card. (Apparently I must’ve thrown out my bill with the junk mail or something and one of the orders was declined. ) I called to ask what was up - I actually expected them to call and ask if i knew a 12 year-old had stolen my card and was buying a million Justin Bieber CDs, lol - and was informed my account was way past due. I was completely flustered (I ALWAYS pay my bills on time, and in fact in the case of my CC I usually round UP and overpay because I assume I’ve already spent that money by the time the bill comes.) and I asked him to please re-send the bill asap. I dunno if that will affect the shipping of the discs or not. I think all the transactions went through but one, and for today’s I used my debit card. I had to order some from Amazon, but then they ran out of my “bonus gift” and I had to buy the rest from Target.com. Now, I got emails (plural) from Target saying they wouldn’t be able to ship the items right away and to expect them on blah blah blah date, then this afternoon got an email that they shipped. ??? Nothing from Amazon yet. Man, this has been unusually problematic.
So if a bunch of people say they got theirs and you haven’t yet that’s why, sorry.
I had forgotten about this thread until I opened my door today and saw a package from Target, addressed to me. “But I didn’t order anything from Target,” I thought as I ordered it and then found not only the Bieber Xmas CD, but a copy of his DVD as well. I just about died laughing in the driveway.
In any event, since I got myself into this mess, I figure I owe it to the OP to give my opinion. I’ve somehow managed to avoid hearing Bieber’s voice before today, so I went in without any major preconceptions. I’ve NEVER really been into this style of pop music, but I decided to do my best to examine it from a neutral, unbiased viewpoint. I listened to it on my drive to work today and again on the drive home.
Only Thing I Get For Christmas: Musically, this track reminds me of something the Backstreet Boys would have recorded - I almost expected to find out Max Martin wrote it, but it turns out it’s by some guy named Christopher Pierce. Vocals are OK.
Mistletoe: The instrumentation on this one, and the rhythm of the vocals, remind me a LOT of “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz. Vocals are still decent, if a little saucier than i’ve been lead to expect.
The Christmas Song: The instrumentation is fairly traditional on this one, but i’m turned off by Bieber’s overuse of melisma. Usher, who also produced the album, joins in on the second half of the song, and i’d have to say his singing is superior.
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town: Wait a minute, did this turn into a Jackson Five album while I wasn’t paying attention? According to the liner notes, the instrumentation here is a deliberate nod to “ABC” and “I Want You Back”, which I have to say is pretty clever, and Bieber does an alright impersonation of Michael Jackson on this song. The main problem I have here is one I have with all recordings of this song - the song itself is only about 30 seconds long, so to make it long enough for a single you either have to repeat the lyrics three or four times which this does, or add something in, which this also does, with a bizarre spoken-word bridge and Bieber exhorting the listener to “Shake it, shake it, baby” that doesn’t jibe with his squeaky-clean image.
Fa La La: I got the impression that Justin wanted to cover “Deck The Halls” and realized that he’d NEVER hear the end of it over the “gay apparel” part, so he and a producer with the unlikely name of “Adonis Shropshire” dashed this love song together instead. Boyz II Men, who apparently are still around, provide guest vocals.
All I Want For Christmas Is You (SuperFestive!): Mariah Carey wrote and provides vocals on this song that does a pretty good job of sounding like a '60s Phil Spector throwback. Bieber’s voice on this song is NOTICEABLY higher than on the rest of the songs - I don’t know if that’s because of auto-tune or the lack thereof, or because he just has the kind of voice that naturally goes higher on faster songs like this one. I do like this one, but Bieber’s vocals are lacking.
Drummer Boy: One of the only two religious songs on the album. The problem I have with a lot of covers of this song is that the performers forget that a song where the narrator is a drummer, and sings about playing a drum, should have drums in it. This version actually has a strong drum track, which I give the producers props for. It’s hurt, however, by the bizarre decision to let Bieber rap in between the verses, comparing himself to Michael Jackson and urging the listener to give to charity. (I’m reminded of "Doin’ It For The Shorties" by mc chris.) Busta Rhymes also shows up to do a rap, which is better than Bieber’s but still really doesn’t fit in this song.
Christmas Eve: Chris Brown wrote this song about all the great things about Christmas Eve; togetherness, love, mistletoe, savagely beating your girlfriend… I have to question Bieber’s taste for associating himself with a man who should be a pariah at this point, but I digress. The song itself is a pretty typical R&B love song.
All I Want Is You: I don’t have much to say about this one, really. Like the previous track, it’s a pretty standard R&B love song.
Home This Christmas: From the title I was expecting a cover of “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”, but instead it’s a country driving-all-night-while-my-baby-is-at-home-alone song. I can’t blame the album for my misunderstanding, of course. I don’t know enough about the Band Perry to know if this falls within their usual ouevre, but as a country ballad it’s not too bad. Bieber’s vocals go well with Kimberly Perry’s, but my knowing that she’s about 13 years older than him gives the parts about them laying by the fireplace all night long a sort of skeevy vibe.
Silent Night: I’d have to call this one the strongest track on the album. The track features Bieber accompanied only by a rather spartan piano arrangement, which works perfectly with the theme of the song and allows his naturally high voice to serve as an advantage rather than a detriment.
Overall opinion - It’s OK, I guess? Musically speaking, i’d describe it as “safe” - it doesn’t really do anything risky, or experimental, or out there, and it really could have been recorded in any recent decade and sounded right. It’s not as Jesus-y as, say, Taylor Swift’s Christmas album, nor as quirky and irreverant as Twisted Sister’s - it comes off as the kind of album you’d be comfortable giving your grandmother. I would have preferred to hear fewer originals and more traditional Christmas songs - an “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”, or “Do You Hear What I Hear”, or even “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” all would have been good additions. Bieber’s originals don’t stand up as well as the covers, and lyrically they get a bit repetitive - “kissing under the mistletoe” comes up in more than half the songs on the album, and “you’re the only gift I want for Christmas” in about as many. The album is brief by modern standards, only about 38 minutes, so I can’t help but wonder why they didn’t get a few more covers in. In the end, I wouldn’t have sought it out on my own, and I doubt it’s going to become a holiday classic, but it’s inoffensive and it’s listenable.
Just for shits and giggles, I entered the sweepstakes from the ticket inside the case. If I win, i’ll be sure to invite the OP, but I can’t be held responsible for my behavior. 
When did everything become “epic” this and “worst ever” that? What’s wrong with “insipid”? “Empty fluff”? “Nice kid, but can’t sing”? “Good showman but doesn’t have it where it counts”? “Just another generic popster”? (I seem to remember saying some similar things about Rebecca Black. And William Hung. Seriously, we need to get it together sometime.)
Seriously, he’s not that ubiquitous. Madonna was ubiquitous. Michael Jackson was ubiquitous. Even Whitney Houston flirted with ubiquity. Bieber has some merchandise in the movie and music stores (which are pretty dang rare these days), and that’s about it. Last week’s Dancing With The Stars show was the first time I saw him perform ever. Pretty sure he has YouTube videos, but I ain’t lookin’ for 'em, and the site isn’t exactly pushing him to Mars.
Not interested. I talk to about ten people every day at work infinitely more deserving of my hatred than him.
I haven’t received anything yet, and I’ll reserve judgement until I have something to review.
OMG I got halfway through that before hitting the wrong thing with the who what lost it all now but I have to say, s/he’s dead on on several points (I agree 100%), but missing the point on several others.
But, before I lost it I totally gave you props to listening to the whole album and giving it a chance. Thank you. And same to any of you, it’s a really…interesting mix. I think.
I work the late shift tomorrow and once stuff winds down I’ll come back and weigh in.
BTW, I just received shipping notices as recently as yesterday, so SORRY! Might take some of you longer than others.
First let me apologize for the “missing the point” remark, that was rude and didn’t make sense. Judging by the time stamp on that post I’d been up for about 30 hours and wasn’t thinking coherently.
IMO this is the weakest track on the album, though I couldn’t say why
I think the vocals in this are very pretty and the double-tracking/harmonies are lovely.
Thank you for teaching me the word for something I hate! He does it in Drummer Boy too and it’s annoying. I enjoyed this a lot at first, but upon the 300th listen I’m kind of bored by it.
Oh I don’t see him as squeaky-clean; I’m sure his hard drive is just as porn-filled as any other 17 year-old male. Justin is a HUGE Michael Jackson fan (as a peculiar tribute he wears band-aids on two of his fingers because supposedly MJ did this) so this is definitely an homage rather than a rip-off as some people are accusing him of. I think it’s really a unique and clever variation and it works surprisingly well. It’s one of my favorites on the album, and the video is absolutely DARLING. It’s a Rankin/Bass “Animagic”-type video wherein cartoon/claymation Justin rides flying reindeer and helps Santa make his list, lol. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB3TCiA1rgI
I don’t have a lot to say about this one. Justin (wisely) leaves most of the heavy lifting to Boyz II Men.
The reason his voice is so high is that Mariah refused to change the key for him. He actually admitted he had a bit of a struggle with it. I actually think they both sound great on this. It soars in a few places. As I understand it, this is a big deal famous Mariah Carey song that she re-releases every few years. I’d never heard it before and this is another of my favorites on the album.
I don’t know if you know much about Justin’s background but he grew up really poor. Not like, “You can’t have pop-tarts this week because there wasn’t a coupon” poor, but “We have to go to the food bank” poor. His first drum set was paid for by a church collection. He’s really really into giving to charity: part of the proceeds from this album go to charity, ALL of the proceeds from his perfume go to charity, a dollar of every concert ticket sold goes to charity, and he recently started up his own charity called “The Believe Project.” I’m not a rap fan so I found this jarring upon first listen, but it’s kind of grown on me.
Yeah, he’s creepy. I had a hard time listening to this at first because it’s strangely syncopated or something…my ears didn’t quite know how to listen to it. Once I got used to it I think it’s ok.
Aside from being pretty, there’s nothing really remarkable about this one.
This is another of my favorites. Obviously I have no problems with Justin and an older woman. Ha ha ha.
He hits some super-low notes too. I think this shows off his range nicely. It was smart to not monkey around with the song at all.
I thought both Drummer Boy and the take on Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town were both unique and kinda ballsy. I’d actually love to hear him do Do You Hear What I Hear?; It seems like a good match for him. I think most pop albums are shortish now, but he also knocked it out in like a month so that might have something to do with it. I actually have the longer Deluxe Version* that contains an a capella version of Fa La La, Pray, something I forget, and a cover of Stevie Wonder’s Someday at Christmas which he must have recorded when he was about 12 because you can REALLY tell how much his voice has changed. I was relieved the album was as secular as it was what with him being a Jesus freak and all. I was expecting a lot of songs along the line of his Pray (which I actually really like.)
Hooray! But it tells you right away if you’ve won or not - did you mean you entered the second chance drawing?
*I started out sending everyone the Deluxe version but then Amazon ran out of Never Say Never DVDs and when I switched over to Target they only had the regular version, so some people are getting that. Sorry.
:smack: What was I thinking?! I could’ve got everyone this:
http://www.justinbiebermusic.com/underthemistletoe/
$70…geez, what a racket.
Other folks have talked about each song already, so I’ll just say that the only song I liked from the album is “Mistletoe”. Very pleasant and smooth. The rest just didn’t catch my fancy, and I did not like what the producers did with “Little Drummer Boy”. And I know he idolizes Usher, but it seems weird to me that a very white kid like Justin does songs in an R & B style.
I watched the movie as well, and I will say that, from what I saw of his concerts, he is charismatic and talented. I just don’t see that really reflected in his music. Maybe it’s because I dismiss most R & B songs offhand because I don’t like the genre. I can see why he has fans, though.