September 30. 2012 - As Justin Bieber launches his latest tour, here's a look back at the teen sensation's greatest hits. And to be clear, by "greatest" hits, we do not mean his biggest hits (although his highest-charting single is the top song here as well, as pure coincidence would have it). This list is the best of Bieber's hits -- the singles most likely to outlive the mass hysteria of Biebermania, whether you've ever considered yourself a Belieber or not. And one would have to go back pretty far to find a teen sensation with 10 better hits (although his girlfriend, Selena Gomez, has definitely had her share of great pop singles).
1. Boyfriend (2012)
This is state-of-the-art top 40 pop, grabbing the listener by the ear buds right out of the box with that dive-bombing keyboard hook topping a minimal electronic-hand-clap beat. You'd swear the Neptunes (or possibly Timbaland) had produced it by the time the teen sensation grabs the mike and starts to rap without embarrassing himself (no small accomplishment). The rap is nothing tricky or provocative, but it definitely suits the singer and the song. And "So say hello to falsetto in 3-2-(pause)" is an excellent lead-in to the singing -- falsetto as promised on the soulful verses, lower on the chorus hook and then back to falsetto for the bridge, accompanied by hip-hop beats, an acoustic guitar and that dive-bombing keyboard hook. Produced by Mason Levy and Mike Posner, the single premiered -- and peaked -- at No. 2 on Billboard's Hot 100, Bieber's highest-charting entry yet, and went on to be his second multiplatinum single (the first one being Baby).
2. As Long as You Love Me (2012)
If Boyfriend was an edgier-than-we-had-any-reason-to-expect first taste of Bieber's latest effort, the second single, As Long as You Love Me, was edgier still, embracing dubstep and other noisy electronic touches, with a chorus hook that starts by removing the beat and allowing the keyboards to swell for an effect that sounds like Bieber free falling in deep space. There's plenty of digital processing to go around on Bieber's vocal, but he still sounds human. Also, Big Sean's rap includes the pretty classic line,"The grass ain't always greener on the other side/It's green where you water it." Produced by Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins and Andre Lindal, the single peaked at No. 6 on Billboard's Hot 100 and went platinum. There's also a really cool video with Michael Madsen of Reservoir Dogs as an overprotective dad.
3. U Smile (2010)
Boasting a far more innocuous -- some would argue baby-faced -- appeal than the singles from this year's Believe, U Smile is a sweet, soulful ballad that wouldn't have sounded out of place on one of Michael Jackson's early albums. Even Bieber himself took to Twitter to proclaim the song a "throwback to the great records I listened to growing up." That old-school flavor may be why it stalled at No. 27 on the Hot 100 while breaking Bieber's winning streak of every single going platinum in the States, although you'd think the lyrics ("If you need me, I'll come running from a thousand miles away," etc.) would have been enough to make the young girls in the fan club swoon enough to buy a single.
4. Baby (2010)
In a lot of ways, this single is as old-school as U Smile. In fact, the melody is practically a throwback to the doo-wop era. But that didn't stop it from becoming Bieber's first and only triple-platinum hit or hitting No. 5 on Billboard's Hot 100. Unlike U Smile, though, this one had serious hip-hop curb appeal, including a guest rap from Ludacris, who sounds like he's channeling LL Cool J in I Need Love mode when he calmly raps, "When I was 13, I had my first love/There was nobody that compared to my baby and nobody came between us or could ever come above/She had me goin'crazy/Oh, I was starstruck/She woke me up daily/Don't need no Starbucks."
5. Somebody to Love (2010)
The edgiest of Bieber's early singles, Somebody to Love brought throbbing Eurodisco rhythms to the Bieber party. It sounds as if it were meant to be a club hit. And, in fact, that may have been what Heather Bright and the Stereotypes were originally thinking when they demoed the song in the hope of placing it on Usher's Raymond v. Raymond album. Usher does turn up on backing vocals here and even cut a featured vocal for the remix. The keyboard hook is undeniable, and Bieber really sells the lyrics, starting with, "For you, I'd write a symphony/I'd tell the violin it's time to sink or swim." Produced by the Stereotypes, the single peaked at No. 15 and went platinum.
6. Die in Your Arms (2012)
A retro-minded highlight of Believe, this single sets the tone as finger-popping doo-wop, but the beat is old-school hip-hop. It's also an excellent vocal showcase for an all-too-often underrated talent on the mike, especially the way he navigates the chorus hook. With Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, Dennis "Aganee" Jerkins and Travis Sayles, this ballad ups the Michael Jackson quotient by sampling We've Got a Good Thing Going On, a track from one of Jackson's very early solo efforts, Ben. Released as a promotional single, this one peaked at No. 17.
7. All Around the World (2012)
It's the return of Ludacris! And even he seems pretty pleased to have Bieber back, beginning his guest rap with, "Once again, the dynamic duo's back at it, JB, Luda!" Fair enough. Other than that, this dance track sounds exactly like the Britney Spears song Till the World Ends, from the throbbing Eurodisco beat to the stuttering vocal hook. But therein lies its charms. A promotional-only single, it peaked at No. 22.
8. Never Let You Go (2010)
This aching pop ballad finds young Bieber fretting that kisses may be outlawed, begging "Baby, give me one last hug." But rather than dwell on Orwellian visions of Big Brother raining on Bieber's parade, he finds his happy place in her eyes with a chorus of "It's like an angel came by and took me to heaven/Like you took me to heaven, girl/Cause when I stare in your eyes, it couldn't be better." Another promotional-only single, this one peaked at No. 21.
9. One Less Lonely Girl (2009)
The oldest song that made our list, this teen-pop ballad was the second Bieber single ever, going platinum and hitting No. 16. It's the perfect single for the tweens that constituted Bieber's target demographic at the time, a heartfelt pledge that "If you let me inside of your world, there'll be one less lonely girl." Meanwhile, the strum of acoustic guitar against a hip-hop beat laid the blueprint for several Bieber hits to come, including Boyfriend.
10. Favorite Girl (2009)
An early promotional single, it peaked at No. 26 on Billboard's Hot 100. A hip-hop-flavored teen-pop song with speaker-thumping bass, it features young Bieber delivering one more pledge of starry-eyed devotion to one more favorite girl. Calling her "my prize possession" may not earn him any bonus points with the favorite girl's parents, but most of the lyrics are sweeter than that, including "You can be yourself with me/I'll take you as you are."
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