Album Review: Justin Bieber - Purpose

18 November 2015 | 3:40 pm | Sevana Ohandjanian

"Bieber would've done better not trying so hard to convince us he's a good guy, instead focusing on crafting better songs."

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Purpose is meant to be Justin Bieber's redemption. 

He asks us, "Don't forget that I'm real" on I'll Show You and later on goes full MJ Earth Song with Children, intoning earnestly, "Look at all the children we can change." Across 13 tracks we're given tastes of empathetic Bieber and wiser-for-his-mistakes Bieber, with insanely hook-laden tunes like Company and Sorry. But for all its potential, the record lags halfway and never picks itself back up. Purpose proves that Bieber would've done better not trying so hard to convince us he's a good guy, instead focusing on crafting better songs.