Facts are facts: Charlie Puth had his work cut out for him after the release of his 2016 debut LP Nine Track Mind. The album was universally panned by critics, earning a 37/100 score on MetaCritic (it's the 15th worst-reviewed album on the site), with Pitchfork going so far as to say: "the album's emotional range covers the spectrum from light longing to light infatuation, contributing to the overall sense that Nine Track Mind is aimed exclusively at hairlessness: children, prepubescents, the discomfitingly waxed."

So does its 2018 follow-up absolve Puth of his radio sins (even he confessed that Nine Track Album is a bit of a disaster...)

Well, fans certainly think so.

Voicenotes, released Friday (May 11), features Kehlani, James Taylor and Boyz II Men and a more developed and mature sound from Puth. Amid singles "Attention," "How Long," "Done for Me" and "Change," Puth has sought to prove he's got more talent in him, and has said his sophomore LP is much more a reflection of his genuine skill.

"I'm glad people are finally hearing the real me," he told USA Today. "This isn't the story of how I got hooked up with some cooler producer — I always had this music in me, it was just a matter of executing it."

"I wasn't planning on being an artist," he added. "I had to figure out my artist career in front of millions of people while we had the biggest song in the past decade. Everyone was like, 'Oh, he's going to be a piano player artist' and I was like, 'I don't even know who I'm going to be, so I'm just going to try a lot of different-sounding music.' Was [Nine Track Mind] a good album? No, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Now, Voicenotes feels like my debut album."

Check out the best fan reactions to Voicenotes below:

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