This is the eighth David Guetta-as-lead-performer song we’ve covered. The EIGHTH.

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[4.50]

Iain Mew: It’s funny how a combination of the high numbers of people listening to new singles on YouTube and the wish to give them something more to look at than a still image for three and a half minutes has led to such a rapid rise in those “official lyrics videos.” They’re kind of odd, cheap things, placeholders while a real video gets finished, which force an emphasis onto words which can’t always stand up to it. I mention this here not just because the lyrics video for “Without You” makes the weakness in the whimpering Usher verses all the clearer, but because the whirling-round-while-coloured-lines-shoot-across-the-sky bit for the chorus does such a fantastic job of showing off the song’s saving grace.
[5]

Alfred Soto: Almost always the best part of any song he graces, Usher has his work cut out for him here: David Guetta swamps him in the cheap aerobicized Eurothump that’s the aural equivalent of a mid eighties Burt Reynolds movie.  
[3]

Brad Shoup: The chorus provides a vibe eerily similar to Kylie’s “Love at First Sight,” but here we have Mr. Raymond building a monument out of post-orgasmic bliss. Shame that the rest of the track sounds like Guetta handed Usher a Sia demo by accident.
[6]

Katherine St Asaph: “The Edge of Glory” + RENT‘s “Without You” + an Enriquified Usher – return on musical buildup = yet another Guetta amalgam.
[4]

Jake Cleland: “Sexy And I Know It” was in the related videos bar on YouTube and I was tempted to go straight for that BUT boy am I glad I didn’t. Wowee. I’m sure Usher is great for so many reasons but he never especially did it for me (dare I vocalise my heresy in saying I’ve listened to Jason DeRulo far more frequently?) However, THIS did it for me, enough that I didn’t even mind the recycling of the “When Love Takes Over” melody hanging out in the back. I mean, if you were a producer who made music exclusively to win awards, wouldn’t you replicate what’s award-winning? Of course. I’m not sure if this is gonna do it, and I imagine my more discerning friend Anthony would point out that it’s just the same section of music repeated three times, but it’s satisfyingly uplifting all the same.
[5]

Jer Fairall: Ever wonder what a David Guetta power ballad might sound like?  Me neither, yet here it is.
[4]