Journals (album)

Journals
Compilation album by Justin Bieber
Released December 23, 2013
Recorded 2012–13
Genre R&B
Label Island
Producer
Justin Bieber chronology

  • Journals
  • (2013)
Singles from Journals
  1. "Heartbreaker"
    Released: October 7, 2013
  2. "All That Matters"
    Released: October 14, 2013
  3. "Hold Tight"
    Released: October 21, 2013
  4. "Recovery"
    Released: October 28, 2013
  5. "Bad Day"
    Released: November 4, 2013
  6. "All Bad"
    Released: November 11, 2013
  7. "PYD"
    Released: November 18, 2013
  8. "Roller Coaster"
    Released: November 25, 2013
  9. "Change Me"
    Released: December 2, 2013
  10. "Confident"
    Released: December 9, 2013

Journals (also known as Complete My Journals) is the second compilation album by Canadian recording artist Justin Bieber as the follow-up to My Worlds: The Collection (2010). Journals was released only as a digital download on iTunes 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, thus it did not chart on the Billboard 200 due to its first week sales going unreported. It was met with mixed to negative 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. 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," was available for a free download on the iTunes Store for a limited time, but is now priced at $1.29.[3] Journals was available on iTunes from January 2, 2014, and all sixteen songs are be available for purchase individually.[1]

Composition

As executive producer, Justin 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 [4]
The Los Angeles Times [5]
Mad Good Music (68/100)[6]
New York Daily News [7]
Newsday B-[8]
Toronto Star [9]

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."[10] 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."[11] 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."[12] The Gulf News described Journals as a "come-to-Jesus moment that has nothing to do with Christmas."[13]

Track listing

Journals – Standard version
No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "Heartbreaker"  
 4:22
2. "All That Matters"  
  • Bieber
  • Andre Harris
  • Jason Boyd
  • Donovan Knight (D.K. the Punisher)
  • Donovan Knight (D.K. the Punisher)
  • Poo Bear
 3:08
3. "Hold Tight"  
  • Bieber
  • Dominic Jordan
  • James Giannos
  • Boyd
The Audibles 4:16
4. "Recovery"  
The Audibles 3:00
5. "Bad Day"  
The Audibles 2:27
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
 2:44
10. "Confident" (featuring Chance the Rapper)
Soundz 4:08
11. "One Life"  
  • Chef Tone
  • Maejor Ali
 4:03
12. "Backpack" (featuring Lil Wayne)
 4:11
13. "What's Hatnin'" (featuring Future)
Soundz 3:29
14. "Swap It Out"  
  • Bieber
  • Jordan
  • Giannos
  • Boyd
The Audibles 4:01
15. "Memphis" ((featuring Big Sean & Diplo))
  • Diplo
  • Djemba Djemba (co.)
 3:44
16. "All That Matters" (music video)   3:28
17. "Justin Bieber's Believe" (trailer)   2:24
18. "Guatemala Pencils of Promise Journal" (video)   3:03

Chart positions

Chart (2013) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[14] 12
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[15] 18
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[16] 13
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[17] 2
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[18] 9
French Albums (SNEP)[19] 24
Irish Albums (IRMA)[20] 23
Italian Albums (FIMI)[21] 4
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[22] 2
UK Albums (Official Charts Company)[23] 32
UK R&B Albums (Official Charts Company)[24] 3

Year-end

Chart (2013) Position
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[25] 78

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 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. ↑ Gamboa, Glenn (December 23, 2013). "Review: Justin Bieber, 'Journals'". Chicago Tribune. Tribune Company. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  5. ↑ Wood, Mikael (December 24, 2013). "Review: Justin Bieber comes of age in 'Journals'". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved December 24, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Review: Justin Bieber – Journals". Mad Good Music. December 24, 2013. Retrieved December 24, 2013.
  7. ↑ Farber, Jim (December 20, 2013). "‘Journals,’ music review". New York Daily News. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
  8. ↑ Gamboa, Glenn (December 13, 2013). "Justin Bieber's 'Journal' review: Haphazard collection". Newsday. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  9. ↑ Rayner, Ben (December 24, 2013). "Justin Bieber's Journals aims for maturity: Album review". Toronto Star. Star Media Group. Retrieved December 24, 2013.
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ Levy, Piet (December 23, 2013). "Justin Bieber reminds us that he still makes music". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Journal Communications. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  12. ↑ Singh, Sandeep (December 23, 2013). "Musikkanmeldelse: Justin Bieber - "Journals"". Verdens Gang. Schibsted. Retrieved December 24, 2013.
  13. ↑ "Justin Bieber Journals review: album shows star’s evolution". Gulf News. Al Nisr Publishing. December 26, 2013. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Justin Bieber – Journals". Australiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
  15. ↑ "Justin Bieber – Journals" (in Dutch). Ultratop.be. Hung Medien. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Justin Bieber – Journals" (in French). Ultratop.be. Hung Medien. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Justin Bieber – Journals". Danishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  18. ↑ "Justin Bieber: Journals" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved January 12, 2014.
  19. ↑ "Justin Bieber – Journals". Lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
  20. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week {{{week}}}, {{{year}}}". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
  21. ↑ Classifica settimanale WK 52 (dal 23-12-2013 al 29-12-2013) (in Italian). fimi.it. Retrieved January 5, 2014.
  22. ↑ "Justin Bieber – Journals". Norwegiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved December 31, 2013.
  23. ↑ Official Albums Chart UK Top 100 - 4th January 2014. officialcharts.com. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
  24. ↑ R&B Albums Top 40 - 4th January 2014. officialcharts.com. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
  25. ↑ "Album-Top 100 2013". Hitlisten.NU. IFPI Denmark. Retrieved June 14, 2014.