Thought I'd go back to the past for this review - the early 90s! Was listening to this album last night and thought it would be a good cd to review because a) it is consistently of a high standard and b) it is probably the last album of janet jackson's which I really enjoyed. It features a ton of great songs and styles and is definitely a must-have.
I bought Janet's last album "All for You" and wasn't too impressed with it. Although there were a couple of really good tracks on it, when you compare it to the quality of THIS album, it just pales in comparison. Here's a look at the best tracks . . .
THAT'S THE WAY LOVE GOES probably the most famous hit from the album. laidback, soulful "bedroom music".
YOU WANT THIS sounds like a cross between "Rhythm Nation", "When I Think Of You" and "The Pleasure Principle" and has a very catchy chorus.
IF this apparently contains a Supremes
sample but I don't recognise it cos I;m not really up on older music. This is a fairly rocky song which starts off with a slightly scary guitar riff and has a faintly menacing beat. It features some extremely saucy lyrics (she sings "if I was your girl all the things I'd do to you" and then talks about what she will do!) and alternates between slightly rapped verses and then her usual deceptively innocent vocals on the chorus.
THIS TIME this is a very dramatically produced song. It begins with opera singing, then a burst of drums give way to rocky r & B pop about leaving a relationship. It has strong choruses, a fantastic tune, and a cool break in the middle in which the opera singing begins again and the drums restart in an almost threatening way. This is definitely my favourite song on the album, and has been for years.
THROB the dirtiest song she has ever done? a dancey track (the music almost sounds like a speeded-up version of "Thats the Way Love Goes") which features a lot of orgasmic moaning and very little actual lyrics, but is strangely infectious in spite of this.
WHAT'LL I DO a country style song which sounds slightly at odds with janet's sweet soulful voice. And yet it works.
BECAUSE OF LOVE starts with the infectious "shoop da-da" and reminds me of "All For You" without the dirty connotations. It's cheesy but brilliant!
AGAIN another single and one of the best. I'm not a ballad girl in general but I love this one. It's so simple and sweet and Janet's sweet voice trembles with emotion.
ANYTIME, ANYPLACE another laid back soulful tune in a similar vein to "That's the way Love Goes" - but filthier" Lyrics like "skirt around my waist", "I don't give a damn what they think, I want you now" once again sung so sweetly you can't really take offence.
WHOOPS NOW the cheesiest silliest chorus in the world. And yet you can't help but smile and sing along.
The main disadvantage with this album is the following: there are 28 tracks on the album. But only about 14 of these tracks are actual SONGS. The rest aren't even skits. They're maybe a sentence, or two or three words, which lead into the next song. I don't see why she couldn't have just left these out, or put them in as part of the song itself. There just seems no point to them.
The main advantage are the songs themselves. To have ten songs of great quality on an album is actually fairly impressive when you consider that a lot of albums seem to be made up mainly of b-list quality tracks (Mis-teeq's "Eye Candy", which I have just reviewed, being a prime example of this). And Janet isn't afraid to vary her style of music, going from the rockier to the soulful, from danceto country. No matter what she does on this album, it still has her own distinct stamp on it, and is still recognisably her.
And I am very much in awe of her ability to get away with some of the lyrics she comes out with. "Your smooth and shiny feels so good against my lips, sugar"? And yet, coming out of her mouth, it sounds so innocent and sweet. How on earth does she do it?
Oh, and the other advantages? It has all the words. You can happily sing along all day if you want. AND you can dance at the same time. It is definitely an album that has everything. If you like your r & b I would definitely advise it. With this album, Janet definitely proved that Michael has competition within his own family. And she has certainly also proved that she can last the distance, since she's still around a good ten years after this album came out! Although it would be great if she could produce an album this fantastic again - just to prove she could! Go on Janet, you know you want to!!!
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Up until this point in her career Janet Jackson had been the good little girl of the ... more
family Jackson. 1993'sJanetis where she gets all grown up and sexy--gone are the days of "Let's Wait a While", replaced instead by tracks chronicling the joys of being...
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Up until this point in her career Janet Jackson had been the good little girl of the ... more
family Jackson. 1993's Janet is where she gets all grown up and sexy--gone are the days of "Let's Wait a While", replaced instead by tracks chronicling the joys of bei...
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Morning That's The Way Love Goes You Know... You Want This Be A Good Boy... If Back ... more
This Time - (with Kathleen Battle) Go On Miss Janet Throb What'll I Do Lounge The Funky Big Band Racism New Agenda - (with Chuck D) Love Pt. 2 Because ...
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