The Canadian pop singer goes acoustic for a remix of his previous album.
Artwork by Katie Boyer
My Worlds Acoustic is a remix album by Canadian recording artist Justin Bieber. Released on November 26, 2010, the album features nine acoustic versions of songs from his debut EP, My World, and first album My World 2.0, as well as a new single.
The previously pop and upbeat songs are given a soft edge when Bieber strips his voice of auto-tune and sings in a mellow tone. Anti-Bieber fans always complain about him not being able to sing due to his high-pitched voice sounding like a whiny little girl. Michael Mellini posts on his blog, “[Bieber]’s voice is squeaky and probably cracks. He needs the help of auto-tune to stay suave…” but in this album he proves that he can sing without the synthesizer.
His album My World includes songs that deal with crushes and adolescent breakups ironically sung with an upbeat tempo. Bieber’s music resembles a cross between Usher’s newer singles (such as DJ Got Us Falling in Love Again) and *NSYNC (at their all time high of Bye Bye Bye). But, the smooth and calm voice that comes from My Worlds Acoustic shows signs that Bieber is now using a more mature approach. While singing with deeper emotion and soul, he resembles an early version of John Mayer, making him sound more mature and serious about his feelings.
The album’s production places the emphasis squarely on Bieber’s vocals and the results demonstrate that he is a natural singer. Though a synthesizer is used to some extent, the intrusion doesn’t really interfere with the simple nature of the album, as a whole.
Bieber closes the album with a new song, Pray, which expresses the pain he feels for all that is wrong with the world, such as starvation and soldiers dying in war. The acoustic nature of this song adds to the theme and makes for a sad mood, but does promise some hope. By saying that he closes his eyes, prays for a better day, and he’s got a vision to make a difference, Bieber shows that he has matured enough to have an understanding of the world around him.
Although My Worlds Acoustic is almost an exact replica of My World, Bieber does much better with less voice amplifier added. The fact that only his voice and the guitar are heard makes for a better album and all around sound.
