CREDIT: DEF JAM RECORDINGS
Changes are coming for the 'Biebs.

On Valentine’s Day, Justin Bieber released his fifth studio album Changes.

This album is very distinctive from his previous albums. Just from the first listen, I can tell that he had grown as an artist. With this album he stepped away from the pop genre and graced us with a more R&B-type sound, consisting of 16 songs and running a total of 48 minutes long.

The first song on the album is called “All Around Me,” which showcases his debut away from pop music. I enjoyed listening to this song because I was able to hear more in his vocal range than I ever had before. Through this album, Bieber wanted to prove to his audience that he has grown as a person and more importantly as an artist. With this as the first track, we as an audience are able to really hear the depth in his persona and that his work now has a new meaning to him.


I believe the opening song on an album defines the whole album, and this song opened a whole new horizon for me. Next on the album are three more R&B songs called “Habitual,” “Come Around Me,” and “Intentions.” Even by just looking at the titles we can tell that these songs have more meaning behind them.

The fifth song on this album is a pop song called “Yummy.” This song is one of the catchiest songs I have heard in a long time. It steps away from his serious side and gives us a taste of the old Bieber. This song got stuck in my head so easily. Comparing this song in contrast to the 13th song on Changes, we see a huge level difference between the dynamics of his vocal ability and overall lyrical ability.

The song “Changes” is about how Bieber is going through changes as a person. When he started his career as a musician, he was just a young teen whereas now he is in his mid-20s and has recently gotten married. This song talks about the changes he has gone through.

One of my personal favourites on the album is called “Second Emotions” featuring Travis Scott. The song has a lot of great melodies and has a great rap part about two minutes in. There is some use of autotune but overall, he steps out of the box with the song and brings in his happiness.

Overall with this album we see how much happier as an artist Bieber is and how he stripped back a little. In Changes, he stepped back from the autotune and I am able to respect him more as an artist for that.

When going back and listening to his first single “Baby,” I hear such maturity in his voice. Before comparing his older music to his newer music, I couldn’t hear a difference but when I actually sat down and listened to this album and then jumped back into his older music, I could hear a huge growth in his voice.

Personally, I feel like this album really distinguishes him as an artist and I no longer feel like he is not a valued artist. After listening to this album, I found a new respect for him and I cannot wait to see what he has in store for the years to come.