Journals (album)

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Journals
Compilation album by Justin Bieber
Released December 23, 2013 (2013-12-23)
Genre
Label Island
Producer
Justin Bieber chronology
  • Journals
  • (2013)
Singles from Journals
  1. "Heartbreaker"
    Released: October 7, 2013 (2013-10-07)
  2. "All That Matters"
    Released: October 14, 2013 (2013-10-14)
  3. "Hold Tight"
    Released: October 21, 2013 (2013-10-21)
  4. "Recovery"
    Released: October 28, 2013 (2013-10-28)
  5. "Bad Day"
    Released: November 4, 2013 (2013-11-04)
  6. "All Bad"
    Released: November 11, 2013 (2013-11-11)
  7. "PYD"
    Released: November 18, 2013 (2013-11-18)
  8. "Roller Coaster"
    Released: November 25, 2013 (2013-11-25)
  9. "Change Me"
    Released: December 2, 2013 (2013-12-02)
  10. "Confident"
    Released: December 9, 2013 (2013-12-09)
  11. "One Life"
    Released: January 13, 2014 (2014-01-13)
  12. "Backpack"
    Released: January 13, 2014 (2014-01-13)
  13. "What's Hatnin'"
    Released: January 13, 2014 (2014-01-13)
  14. "Swap It Out"
    Released: January 13, 2014 (2014-01-13)
  15. "Memphis"
    Released: January 13, 2014 (2014-01-13)

Journals (also known as Complete My Journals) is the second compilation album by Canadian recording artist Justin Bieber, released on December 23, 2013 by Island Records.[1][2] A ten-week digital download campaign entitled Music Mondays, in which one new song was released every Monday night, was held from October 7, 2013 to December 9, 2013. Journals includes five previously unreleased songs in addition to the ten Music Monday releases. Despite promotions of the album that helped Bieber reach number one on the Social 50 chart and the release planned to capitalize the sales rush before Christmas, the album did not fare well commercially, and was met with mixed reviews from critics.

Release and promotion

On October 3, 2013, Bieber announced that he would release one new song every Monday for 10 weeks, leading up to the release of his Believe theatrical film, which will see a limited one-week release on Christmas Day 2013. The first song issued during "Music Mondays," as Bieber had touted the weekly releases, "Heartbreaker", was issued on October 7, while the last, "Confident" featuring Chance the Rapper, was released on December 9.

On December 9, 2013, Bieber announced that the ten Music Monday releases would be packaged with an additional five new songs in a compilation entitled Complete My Journals.[1] Although the album was initially set for release on December 16, 2013, the date was pushed back one week to December 23, as Bieber intended to include one more song on the compilation. Though it does not appear on the album itself, the bonus track, "Flatline," is available for a free download on the iTunes Store.[3] Journals will be available on iTunes until January 2, 2014, and all sixteen songs will be available for purchase individually thereafter.[1]

Although Journals was rush-released to gain advantage of the sales rush before Christmas,[4] the album was commercially unsuccessful.[4][5] On the week of December 29, 2013, it appeared at number 46 on the UK Album Charts, his lowest peak position on that chart.[5] However, the album did better on UK's R&B Album chart, reaching number three.[6] In Australia, it landed at the number 35 spot for it's first week, with sales of only 4,067 in that country. This was the same time his documentary film Justin Bieber's Believe also commercially failed at the box office, making only $2 million on its first weekend. iTunes did not report U.S. sales to Nielsen SoundScan, reportedly because Bieber's record label did not want to end his streak of number-one albums, and as a result the album did not chart in the United States.[5] It later fell to number 50 on that chart, selling only 1,045 copies, totaling the Australian sales to 5,653.[7] The week Journals debuted, none of the songs impacted any radio stations.[8] Despite the poor commercial performance, promotions of the album on Instagram helped the artist reach number-one on Billboard's Social 50 chart, upon its release.[9]

Composition

As executive producer, he enlisted collaborators such as Rodney Jerkins, Lil Wayne, Big Sean, Maejor Ali, Chance the Rapper, Diplo and R. Kelly.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Chicago Tribune [10]
The Los Angeles Times [11]
Mad Good Music (68/100)[12]
New York Daily News [13]
Newsday B-[14]
Toronto Star [15]

Initial reviews for Journals have been mixed. The Washington Post's Alison Stewart offered a negative outlook on the project, writing that "Justin Bieber ends a bad year with a bad album."[16] In his review written for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Piet Levy wrote that Bieber is "less an eager child than a confident adult, although when Bieber's flat come-ons are juxtaposed with seasoned R&B star R. Kelly on "PYD," it's clear that as a performer, he still has a lot of growing up to do."[17] Sandeep Singh of Verdens Gang wrote that Journals is "neither a profound diary or a studio album it could have been (perhaps why it is categorized as a collection?) - But this is undoubtedly the best Bieber has bubbled up to now."[18] The Gulf News described Journals as a "come-to-Jesus moment that has nothing to do with Christmas."[19]

Track listing

Journals – Standard version
No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "Heartbreaker"  
 4:22
2. "All That Matters"  
  • D.K. the Punisher
  • Poo Bear
 3:11
3. "Hold Tight"  
  • Bieber
  • Dominic Jordan
  • James Giannos
  • Boyd
The Audibles 4:14
4. "Recovery"  
The Audibles 3:02
5. "Bad Day"  
The Audibles 2:25
6. "All Bad"  
Harris 3:02
7. "PYD" (featuring R. Kelly)
  • The Audibles
  • Sirota
 5:17
8. "Roller Coaster"  
  • Rodney Jerkins
  • Bieber
  • Julian Swirsky
  • Josh Gudwin
  • Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins
  • Julkeyz
 3:20
9. "Change Me"  
  • Bieber
  • Harris
  • Boyd
  • Harris
  • JoBlaq
 2:47
10. "Confident" (featuring Chance the Rapper)
  • Bieber
  • Kenneth Coby
  • Maurice "Verse" Simmonds
  • Chancelor Bennett
Soundz 4:08
11. "One Life"  
  • Chef Tone
  • Maejor Ali
 4:02
12. "Backpack" (featuring Lil Wayne)
 4:11
13. "What's Hatnin'" (featuring Future)
Soundz 3:28
14. "Swap It Out"  
  • Bieber
  • Jordan
  • Giannos
  • Boyd
The Audibles 4:01
15. "Memphis" (featuring Big Sean)
  • Diplo
  • Djemba Djemba (co.)
 3:44
16. "All That Matters" (music video)   3:41
17. "Justin Bieber's Believe" (trailer)    
18. "Guatemala Pencils of Promise Journal" (video)    

Chart positions

Chart (2013) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[ 1] 35
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[ 1] 27
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[ 1] 54
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[ 1] 2
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[ 1] 33
French Albums (SNEP)[ 1] 174
Irish Albums (IRMA)[ 1] 64
Italian Albums (FIMI)[20] 38
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[ 1] 2
UK Albums (Official Charts Company)[21] 46
UK R&B Albums (Official Charts Company)[6] 3

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Werde, Bill (December 9, 2013). "Justin Bieber's 'Journals' Collection to Drop In Time For Christmas (Exclusive)". Billboard. Retrieved December 22, 2013. 
  2. ↑ Coleman, Miriam. "Justin Bieber Dropping Limited-Release 'Journals'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 22, 2013. 
  3. ↑ "BIG NEWS!!! Wrote another smash this week! Want you to have it! Making it a Christmas gift and moving #journals to the 23rd! So....". Twitter. December 13, 2013. Retrieved December 23, 2013. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Just 4607 Beliebers bought Justin Bieber's new album in Australia last week". news.com.au. December 30, 2013. Retrieved December 31, 2013. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Justin Bieber - Justin Bieber's Album Flops In The U.k.". WENN. December 30, 2013. Retrieved December 31, 2013. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 R&B Albums Top 40 - 4th January 2014. officialcharts.com. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
  7. ↑ Cashmere, Paul (January 6, 2014). "Justin Bieber Journals Is A Sales Disaster". Noise11. Retrieved January 6, 2014. 
  8. ↑ "Justin Bieber's Film BELIEVE, New Album 'Journals' Hit Low Points". Broadway World. January 2, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2014. 
  9. ↑ Gruger, William (December 27, 2013). "Justin Bieber Returns to No. 1 on Social 50 Chart Upon Release of 'Journals'". Billboard. Retrieved December 31, 2013. 
  10. ↑ Gamboa, Glenn (December 23, 2013). "Review: Justin Bieber, 'Journals'". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Company. Retrieved December 23, 2013. 
  11. ↑ Wood, Mikael (December 24, 2013). "Review: Justin Bieber comes of age in 'Journals'". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved December 24, 2013. 
  12. ↑ "Review: Justin Bieber – Journals". Mad Good Music. December 24, 2013. Retrieved December 24, 2013. 
  13. ↑ Farber, Jim (December 20, 2013). "‘Journals,’ music review". New York Daily News. Retrieved 22 December 2013. 
  14. ↑ Gamboa, Glenn (December 13, 2013). "Justin Bieber's 'Journal' review: Haphazard collection". Newsday. Retrieved December 22, 2013. 
  15. ↑ Rayner, Ben (December 24, 2013). "Justin Bieber's Journals aims for maturity: Album review". Toronto Star. Star Media Group. Retrieved December 24, 2013. 
  16. ↑ Stewart, Allison (December 23, 2013). "With ‘Complete My Journals,’ Justin Bieber ends a bad year with a bad album". Washington Post. Katharine Weymouth. Retrieved December 23, 2013. 
  17. ↑ Levy, Piet (December 23, 2013). "Justin Bieber reminds us that he still makes music". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Journal Communications. Retrieved December 23, 2013. 
  18. ↑ Singh, Sandeep (December 23, 2013). "Musikkanmeldelse: Justin Bieber - «Journals»". Verdens Gang. Schibsted. Retrieved December 24, 2013. 
  19. ↑ "Justin Bieber Journals review: album shows star’s evolution". Gulf News. Al Nisr Publishing. December 26, 2013. Retrieved December 26, 2013. 
  20. ↑ Classifica settimanale WK 52 (dal 23-12-2013 al 29-12-2013) (in Italian). fimi.it. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
  21. ↑ Official Albums Chart UK Top 100 - 4th January 2014. officialcharts.com. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
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