Album Review: Usher, Coming Home

Usher

Coming Home (released February 9, 2024)

Let’s get to the actual-factuals right off the bat:

Coming Home might be one of the most important R&B albums of the past 20 years. And not just because its author will be headlining the Super Bowl mere days after you read this.

For longtime fans, Usher’s first project in more than half a decade is sorely overdue. Coming Home is, essentially, a Home Coming, the return of the man who (arguably) gave us R&B’s last undeniable classic album way back in 2004. In era where even some of the biggest stars on yesteryear yell on podcasts about an R&B revival, the game needs another Confessions.

But for more … discerning R&B fans – like yours truly – this is more than just any ol’ comeback. This is Usher’s chance to prove that he’s truly fit to wear R&B’s crown.

Here’s why: If you ask most mainstream most fans for a rundown of Usher’s career, they’d say he dropped Confessions in 2004 and vanished into the Shadow Realm for a decade and a half, only to pop back up in Vegas roller-skating to his hits and putting the moves on your favorite actress.

However, Ursher’s road to R&B redemption is a lot rockier.

Yeah, Confessions was great and all, but 2008’s Here I Stand would have a much more divisive legacy – an album initially dismissed for its mature sound, only for history to be rewritten in recent years when it was elevated among his best works. The truth is definitely in the middle.

2010’s oft-forgotten Raymond vs Raymond was a mixed bag (cuz it was forgettable); the diverse sounds of 2012’s Looking 4 Myself were panned by his most faithful fans (I dug the risks, though); 2016’s Hard II Love lived up to its name with heavy-handed hip-hop records that felt like Chris Brown Cosplay; and, lord, the less said about his A EP the better.

Don’t misunderstand me – Usher’s legacy as one of the greatest of his generation is already secured. But Coming Home isn’t just a declaration of R&B’s return to the mainstream spotlight.

This is Usher’s chance to prove that still deserves to sit at the head of R&B’s table.

The good news is that he mostly succeeds.

Mostly.

After the pulsating but mildly forgettable intro title track, the album quickly shifts to first official single, “Good Good.” While the Summer Walker and 21 Savage features are extraneous (a pretty transparent play to boost those streaming numbers), Usher’s voice is instantly commanding over the lighthearted production. Even the subject matter is a plus – Usher admitting that his relationship is doomed but still wanting to remain on good terms is a level of maturity that’s all but unheard of in today’s misery-soaked music. He even got 21 to buy wigs for his ex’s new salon; I’d call that progress.

Unfortunately, “Good Good’ is one of the only … good spots early in the album’s run. “A-Town Girl” is a goofy flip of Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl,” and even if you’ve never heard Usher’s version I bet you can predict exactly how it sounds. Feels more like something T-Pain would vomit up in 2008 than a track that would make an Usher comeback album. “Keep On Dancin” takes Usher back to his Top 40 dance roots – “OMG” and “DJ Got Us Fallin In Love” may have kept Usher afloat in the dark days of his career, but it’s not the sound fans are dying to hear in 2024. Nor do they want to hear whatever “Cold Blooded” is supposed to be. It’s a screechy mess floating in a sea of sparce production and heavy drums – which probably means it’ll be a hit on mainstream radio.

Thankfully, we finally get a bit of consistency with “Risk It All,” a beautiful piano balled with HER that is guaranteed to set off your nearest fourth-grade talent show. If they still do those.

Speaking of throwbacks, “Stone Kold Freak” drips with 80s vibes, giving a nostalgic charm while also putting Usher in a space he has rarely occupied. He holds his own well. He’s also back among friends Jermaine Dupri and Brian-Michael Cox on “On the Side” and “I Am the Party.” The former is classic 2000s-era Usher, crooning about doing wrong but not caring enough to actually stop doing wrong. Toxic Usher is always a treat. Meanwhile, “I Am the Party” is an infectious midtempo groove – a lesser artist would drown in its mellowness but Usher has just enough oomph in his performance to ride the tide. Hit-Boy also extends his undefeated streak with “Bop.” Usher breaks out the falsetto as he tries to lure back his girl over the wooziest of production. It’s another winner.

Allow me to share this Usher cheat code  with y’all – any song that replaces the word “you” with the capital letter U is an instant Usher banger.

Oh, U don’t believe me?

U Don’t Have To Call

U-Turn

U Remind Me

U Got It Bad

Can U Handle It

Can U Help Me

The precedent has already been set, which means “I Love U” and “Please U” already won. “I Love U” is a groove plucked straight from Paisley Park while “Please U” is my pick for best song on the album by far. It shouldn’t shock longtime Soul In Stereo fans that it was co-written by R&B MVP Lucky Daye. And you know what that means…

LUCKY. DAYE. DON’T. MISS.

Although I’ve been pretty positive about the second half of Coming Home, I can’t ignore its flaws. Usher’s biggest weakness post Here I Stand is his tendency to chase trends instead of creating them, which means we have several one-off tracks meant to appeal to the masses. “Ruin” is the latest attempt for an artist to strip-mine the Afrobeats craze, although admittedly, Usher’s polished vocals raise this above standard fare. “Margiela” is just a bunch of aimless Drake-style talk-singing over a beat straight from 8-bit Metroid. And if you thought “A-Town Girl” was corny, wait till you run into “BIG.” Ursher rambles about super-sized McDonalds meals and Tom Hanks and threesomes and I’m just lost. Big fail.

Coming Home is a tough nut to crack on first listen. I debated my final score for quite a while. The album’s flaws are especially glaring on first listen, making it all the more frustrating that vastly superior singles like “GLU,” “Don’t Waste My Time” and “Bad Habits” weren’t used to fill those gaps.

But on subsequent listens, the tracks begin to gel more – not enough for me to like “A-Town Girl” or “BIG,” mind you. With better track sequencing and more judicious editing (cut this thing down to 15 tracks instead of 20), Coming Home could have been a true gem, one that shines as brightly as the revered Confessions and often-overshadowed 8701.

But if one song here best encapsulates this album, and the Usher we know and love, it’s “One of Them Ones.” No forced features, no silly Instagrammable punchlines, no out-of-place production, just a genuinely heartfelt love song performed with peak passion.

It’s a song fit for an R&B king.

Coming Home is a truly a reflection of Usher’s career – flawed and misguided at times, but when he remembers who he is, he’s undeniable.

Best tracks: “Please U,” “One of Them Ones,” “Bop”

4 stars out of 5