Over recent years previously die-hard R&B haters have found themselves unable to keep their hip-hop reflexes from getting the head nodding, their Garage inclinations from allowing the feet to tap.Usher isn`t amongst that frontline of innovators so beloved of the latter bunch, the Missy and Tims, Shek`spere, Neptunes, Aaliyah and Rockwilders of this world. Rather, he sits somewhere between these two poles, ultimately still wedded to the ideals of his idol Michael Jackson and the fully rounded Jackson entertainment package - the singing, the dancing, the personality cult.

Kicking off with the pop genius of `U Remind Me` - what Craig David`s next album ought to sound like - is a sensible way to get things rolling. A track that`s perfectly at home on Top Of The Pops whilst also developing into one of the summer`s anthems.

The snag comes when it begins to dawn that `U Remind Me` is something of a one-off. `Twork It Out` and `U Got It Bad`, whilst impeccably produced, are also smoochy enough to send the aforementioned R. Kelly running for cover. `Pop Ya Collar` speeds up just in time to rescue things briefly with its Shek`spere produced minimalism providing `8701` with its most contemporary moment.

Then, at just over the halfway point, the album largely descends into tinkling piano and plinking acoustic guitar territory as Usher concentrates his attention on insulting the intelligence of his female audience.

Yeah, there`s much pleasure to be taken from the production on `8701`, which is never less than hugely impressive, in its proficiency rather than radicalism. And, although there`s much here to reconfirm the worst suspicions of the recovering R&B hater, Usher always comes through with one for the hip-hop heads, the Garage crew and even the trainspotters amongst all that slush that`s strictly for the laydeez.