Let down

After the pee-your-pants anticipation for this summer release, Justin Bieber — tween icon, Canadian, Justin Timberlake-in-training — has finally, yes, finally bestowed on us what we thought would be the smash of the season.

Featuring collaborations with Nicki Minaj, Drake and Ludacris, the high-profile pop artist and his myriad producers pulled out the big guns.

The album’s opening track, “All Around the World,”  is nothing special — a dubstepping adrenaline pumper, which might have worked better somewhere in the middle of the tracklist. Bieber and Drake, however, are a heavenly pairing of R&B nirvana. Their “Right Here”  pleads and presses, overlooking the movie’s younger audience who might be unfit for the song’s sexy, silky slow beat.

Though Bieber fails to diversify his sound throughout, “Beauty and a Beat”  sets itself apart from the rest, in the fashion Nicki Minaj sets her self apart from practically everything.

Meanwhile, the title track suffers from sounding like every slow-dance song in the history of middle school socials.

Though “Believe” ends strong with dance techno and features some lovable acoustic ballads, the album’s length betrays it. Bieber doesn’t take enough risks to make the album’s 17 tracks worth the hype.

By Francisco Tirado