I'm tired today, and frankly kind of crabby. So if that shines through in my reviews, my pre-written apologies. Anyways, I think Janet Jackson was in Milwaukee or something a few days ago, and follower janis! asked that I do another album from her. So here I am today, reviewing another DIAMOND selling record. Having dropped in 1993, this album has sold over ten million copies easily. It's a ludicrous 28 tracks deep and produced an astonishing 9 radio singles. Now, some of the tracks on here are "interludes" which always surprise me are on Janet's albums. I don't particularly care for them, and don't understand why they're still so prominent in certain genres of music. This album is credited for cementing Janet's status as a global music icon and sex symbol - which also probably helped the twenty million in sales. If you have the time, check out the cover art for the 2 disc special edition. It's hot. I'm betting that a few guys bought it just for the photo. This was also an album where Janet really tried to set herself apart musically from her brother, as her first couple albums drew too much comparison between the siblings. Now, I want to be objective on this album. It's good, there are a ton of huge singles here and the music for the most part - has a quality factor. But it's so long, and there are so many interludes and not good tracks, it really takes away from the whole. A person like me would maybe listen to 3 or 4 songs from this whole discography of an album. For me, this is going to be a slightly above average effort, in spite of all the hoopla. I'd be curious for those people who love it, how many tracks they skip.
TRACK LISTING:
1. Morning
2. That's the Way Love Goes
3. You Know...
4. You Want This
5. Be a Good Boy...
6. If
7. Back
8. This Time
9. Go on Miss Janet
10. Throb
11. What'll I Do
12. Lounge, The
13. Funky Big Band
14. Racism
15. New Agenda
16. Love Pt. 2
17. Because of Love
18. Wind
19. Again
20. Another Lover
21. Where Are You Now
22. Hold on Baby
23. Body That Loves You, The
24. Rain
25. Any Time, Any Place
26. Are You Still Up
27. Sweet Dreams
Listen To Samples
Top 3 Tracks:
1. Again
2. That's The Way Love Goes
3. If
FINAL RATING:
3 out of 5 stars
If! IF! IF! IF! that's my jam!!!!
ReplyDeleteI feel as though you hit on one of my requests, though I don't recall dropping it in the box :) I agree there are tons of interludes but, they add the conversation aspect to me. Like you could further that subject, if that makes sense.
Hey, be crabby if you want. Sometimes it's just like that. I've been there too many times to count. :)
I don't recall seeing it from you, although you did have Rhythm Nation in there a while back. And I understand what you're saying on the interludes, I've simply never been a big fan of them. Typically when I listen to music, I want to listen to music, not talking. That's just me.
ReplyDeletesee, when you listened to this on cassette tape the interludes felt more like part of the way the songs were supposed to flow. with the advent of cd and now der interwebs, i kind of agree with you and feel that they can seem out of place or unnecessary. i hate them on the outkast albums.
ReplyDeleteand i also agree, "if" is waaay better than "again" but i can't say it's better than "that's the way love goes." i call it a tie. and then my next favorite is "you want this." love that song, love the video. and also, j-lo is in the video for "that's the way love goes." all three songs made the crowd go crazy at the show sunday.
the cover art for this album was also the controversial hot cover of an issue of rolling stone. i got this album for christmas 1993 when i was in 4th grade. after we were done opening gifts i got to put this cd on the big house stereo (how lucky i was!). as i did with all newly acquired cds, i pulled out the booklet to take a look. and a ticket fell out to the janet jackson show a month later. i was the happiest 10 year old ever.
and the show sunday was great too, if not a little short. and i saw more than one known metal-lover also in the audience, which i thought was awesome.
and your rating of 3 stars is a bit low. at least a 4 for this one. and you really should do rhythm nation soon.
For some reason listening to 'Again' reminded me of my childhood sitting on the couch watching MTV. And I'm a sucker for ballads.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I read the Rolling Stone thing too. I guess the booby holder was her husband at the time.
The only reason I gave it a three, was the fact it's too damn long. 28 tracks needs to be condensed if it's not some sort of masterpiece. I hate interludes, all of them. Even if it's rap like Eminem or DMX...always have. So 5 songs I like versus 28 tracks on the album, that's actually less than mediocre - it's worse. But in this case, I think the quality of the tracks I do like is there, so it gets a 3.
I understand why janet people would want this to be 4 or up - because it's one of her best works. But I'm not a big fan of any Jackson, so I don't qualify.
arg!
ReplyDeletei figured you picked "again" because it was in Poetic Justice - the movie she did with Tupac. WHICH they showed a clip of at the show.
lol!!!!! "booby holder" ha! I'm sorry, that was hilarious!!
ReplyDeleteDo you really believe that I watched a movie called 'Poetic Justice'? Get real. I like Pac, but not enough to watch sappy chick flicks.
ReplyDeleteBooby holder is what was in my mind at that moment. I'm going to use that phrase more often.