CD reviews: Justin Bieber, Kenny Chesney, Metric, Veronique Gens

Believe
Justin Bieber 
(Schoolboy/Island)
Justin Bieber takes a ton of abuse. Nobody’s crying for him: He’s got millions of adoring fans and come Tuesday, the release date for his latest set, "Believe," he’ll likely have another million seller. But something about this kid — who, at 18, is no longer much of one — elicits violent reactions from those who haven’t yet fallen for his silvery falsetto and his gentle schoolyard seduction anthems.
His too-angelic demeanor is definitely part of it, and lack of risk of his creative choices is another. But he also faces scorn from lazy listeners who insist that he is prefab.
He’s not. Bieber writes music and plays various instruments capably enough and, as "Believe" demonstrates, has weathered his voice change with his sprightly tone intact. Bieber-haters are going to have a difficult time running down "Believe," a slick, assured, state-of-the-art modern pop album that pairs the star with a roster of terrific producers, many of whom are practiced hands at innovative radio-rap and crossover R&B: Hit-Boi, Diplo, Bei Maejor and others.
There are missteps. As you might expect from an album by an artist growing up in public, some of "Believe" is awkward. The good news is that you’ve already heard the biggest howlers. The whispered rapping on lead single "Boyfriend" and the attempt on that song to pick up a girl by comparing himself to Buzz Lightyear suggest that Bieber’s love-man game is still very much in development (if you thought it was annoying when Tyler, the Creator called himself "swag" over and over, you’ll be twice as chafed when Bieber does it). An attempt to inject fashionable dubstep into "As Long As You Love Me" drags Bieber into inorganic territory he can’t inhabit comfortably, although he sounds no more out of place than Madonna does on "MDNA."
The Nicki Minaj cameo on the otherwise fine "Beauty and a Beat" is predictably scenery-chewing, but it’s hard to blame Bieber for that: Recently, bad Minaj cameos have been a general blight in the forest of pop.
But the core of "Believe" is a mid-album stretch that doesn’t try to force Bieber — whose best mode is doe-eyed throwback crooner — to split time with others, bring sexy back, or keep up with the Joneses. "Die in Your Arms," co-produced by veteran Rodney Jerkins, samples the Jackson 5 and beats Bruno Mars at his finger-snapping, sock-hopping game. "Fall" is a gauzy lite-radio power ballad in the Jon Secada style, and Diplo smooths his usual quirkiness to make "Thought of You" an exercise in high thread-count dance-pop.
Best is "Catching Feelings," the sort of breathy, moonlit semi-acoustic number that Babyface used to pitch to Boyz II Men. Here, Bieber is entirely in his element: a lost member of New Edition channeling the thrill of first passion.
Eventually, Bieber’s going to have to branch out. But "Believe" is miles better than his debut, "My World," and ought to firmly establish him as what he was always meant to be: a reliable, respectable, safe pop star, nothing more and nothing less.