Maps of Music

Believe (2012)

Where the lyrics of Believe take you, and where it was really made.

Bieber's third album was built to sound more mature, and it debuted at number one in the US, Canada and the UK while selling about three million copies worldwide in 2012.

Key places

Chalice Recording Studios (2012)

Recording site Chalice Recording — The recording location comes from a MusicBrainz database entry for Chalice Recording Studios. The coordinates point to the studio area, and the exact building is not confirmed. The source gives no recording date. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Believe: third studio album by Justin Bieber
• Released June 15, 2012 by Island Records
• Moves away from the teen pop of My World (2009) and My World 2.0 (2010)
• Adds Eurohouse, dance-pop and contemporary R&B elements
• Executive producers: mentor Usher and manager Scooter Braun
• Collaborators include Darkchild, Hit-Boy, Diplo and Max Martin
• Goal: a project with a mature sound
• Five singles released from the album

Background

• Promoted through the Believe Tour, Bieber's second worldwide concert series, in 2012 and 2013
• Believe Acoustic, his third remix album, followed in January 2013 with acoustic and live versions of songs from Believe
• Lead single Boyfriend released March 26, 2012
• Two cover options for Boyfriend posted on Bieber's website; fans voted and the most-voted cover became the single cover

Recording

• In a late-2011 interview, Bieber said Kanye West and Drake would work on the album
• Scooter Braun later wrote on Twitter that the two singers were scheduled to record in the studio
• Chalice Recording Studios is listed as a recording location
• Larrabee Sound Studios is listed as a mixing location

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Disc 1

Disc 2

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Career

• Justin Drew Bieber (born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer, born in London, Ontario and raised in Stratford.
• He was discovered by Scooter Braun after Braun found his 2007 YouTube covers, and signed to RBMG, a joint venture of Braun and Usher, later with Island Records.
• His debut EP My World (2009) and debut album My World 2.0 (2010) topped the US Billboard 200 at the time, making him the youngest solo male to do so in 47 years.
• Believe (2012) marked a shift from teen pop to dance-pop and R&B; by age 18 he had five US number-one albums.
• Purpose (2015) produced three US Billboard Hot 100 number-ones: Love Yourself, Sorry and What Do You Mean?.
• Later albums Changes (2020), Justice (2021), Swag (2025) and Swag II (2025) continued his chart success.
• He is estimated to have sold over 150 million records and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time.

Awards

• He has won 2 Grammy Awards, 8 Juno Awards, 2 Brit Awards and 26 Billboard Music Awards.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Metacritic: average score of 68 out of 100 from 14 reviews, indicating generally favorable reviews
• BBC Music: noted Bieber's ongoing tween appeal and his gradual stylistic evolution from his previous album
• The New York Times: noted his search for maturity and praised the natural strength of his voice
• Slant Magazine: criticized the production for needing to slice, dice and Auto-Tune his notes
• Entertainment Weekly: praised his evolution, calling the album both a reinvention and a reintroduction
• Rolling Stone: noted the deeper voice and more intense beats, but lampooned one of his euphemisms for newfound sexual maturity
• The Independent: criticized his lack of innovation, calling the album a pitifully timid affair
• Billboard: noted multiple songs that hint at what Bieber could become
• Many reviews compared him to Justin Timberlake, most finding the situations very different

Reappraisal

• Assessments of the long-term impact generally avoided calling Believe a revolutionary step forward
• The New York Times noted that Bieber was not ushering in radical changes to pop music but was playing to his personal strengths

Records

• Billboard 200: debuted at number one with first-week sales of 374,000, his fourth number-one album
• RIAA: certified Platinum on July 31, 2012; 1,610,000 copies sold in the US as of December 2015
• Canadian Albums Chart: debuted at number one with 57,000 copies in the first week; later double Platinum
• UK Albums Chart: debuted at number one with 38,115 copies
• Japan Oricon Weekly Albums Chart: number 7, 13,886 copies
• Mexico: debuted at number one; later Platinum, and triple Platinum in November 2013
• Brazil: Platinum within three days of release
• IFPI: sixth best-selling album of 2012 worldwide, with three million copies

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album made Bieber the second youngest male solo artist ever to reach number one on the UK Albums Chart.
• Turn to You (Mother's Day Dedication) was released for Mother's Day weekend, with proceeds going to single mothers, but it was not included in the final track listing.
• The opening track All Around the World features Ludacris rapping in double-time over a dubstep-influenced synth-pop and Eurodance beat.
• Be Alright was never released as a single but was certified Gold in Denmark.
• The Boyfriend cover was chosen by a fan vote on Bieber's website.
• Believe Acoustic was announced on The Ellen Show in December 2012 and released in January 2013.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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