Janet Jackson
"Discipline"
2008 Island/Def Jam Records
4.5/5
More and more I'm noticing that my undying love for Janet, a Taurus, born Janet Damita Jo Jackson in Gary, Indiana on May 16th year of our Lord, one thousand nine hundred and sixty-six is based more on my childhood memories, nostalgia and her groundbreaking achievements as a black woman than her music, especially as of late. This, her third album since that terrible thing that happened in 2004. The thing that has seemingly marred the sales and promotion of her last two albums, okay more the first one of those two, that second one just wasn't all that great. Well, it's a brand new day and like Mariah she gotten the Virgin Records monkey off her back and has signed a new deal with Def Jam. Let's see if the third time is the charm.
Janet didn't exactly explode back on the scene with her first single from this, her tenth album, the D'Mile and Rodney Jerkins-produced "Feedback". The sparsely promoted song, which in my opinion is her hottest in years was received well by critics, but wasn't the radio smash it deserved to be and is still fighting it out on the charts. The response to the accompanying video though has been lukewarm, even from fans. These early events did not giving me confidence of a looming "MiMi-like" comeback for Ms. Janet. Her lack of visibility for the last month or so, having performed the single basically nowhere doesn't help either, but I'm not giving up yet. At the end of the day it's all about the music right, so let's get to it.
The album starts off with the "I.D." interlude. Yes, the interludes are back, but they are back a la "The Velvet Rope", so they actually make sense and are listenable, unlike the ones from every album since then. Again like "The Velvet Rope" the this album is almost like a movie or a theatrical show, the interludes like movements, unifying the songs, all flowing one into another. They all have a basic theme which I won't give away here. Also like "The Velvet Rope", this album is also best when listened to as a whole.
Next is the first single, "Feedback" which flows directly into "Luv", the third single from the album, tailor made for urban radio. The crunk, bouncy number which at times seems a little more Ciara, than Janet, smartly uses the metaphor of a car crash, litigation and all, for falling in love:
"...I should sue ya.
I shoulda stopped at the red light cuz,
Now I'm like a deer caught in headlights, oh
He hit me with his love, la-love, la-love, love...
Got me caught in a wreck I'm a mess...
He crashed into my heart..."
Then there's "Rollercoaster", an upbeat number featuring Janet's world famous robotic layered vocals over a busy Darkchild beat. The second single, the electronic "Rock With U", co-written and produced by Jermaine Dupri & Ne-Yo is tailor made for pop radio and can be best described as Kylie-lite, a surprising feat from that particular writing and production team. Being Kylie-lite is hardly a bad thing here though as Kylie is Janet-lite on "All I See" from her latest album "X", coincidentally Kylie's tenth as well. I see it as returning the favor. Even with that Janet makes this track all her own with her trademark layered "oohs". "2Nite" produced by Stargate adds a little 80's throwback flavor to the album. The best parts are the bridge and short the breakdown at 3:27. Janet, I love that part, why didn't you make that part longer?
This time around Janet decided to slow things down in the middle of the album and not toward the end like she usually does. The next three songs, "Can't B Good", "Never Letchu Go", and "Greatest X", produced by Ne-Yo, Johnta Austin & Jermaine Dupri, and The Dream respectively, seemingly drag the album down at first but upon a second listen they contain small bits and of pieces raw soul and vocal progression from the small-voiced diva, especially at 2:58 on "Never Letchu Go". Even with all that, the only single-worthy track out of the three is "Can't B Good", no "Again's" or "I Get Lonely's" here.
Things perk up with the Jermaine Dupri produced "So Much Betta" which features a fun chopped and screwed vocal on the chorus and a soaring layered vocal channel. At only two minutes and fifty-three seconds as soon as you start getting into it's over, prompting many rewinds. Next is "The 1" which features two witty rap verses by Missy Elliott. Though produced by Dupri as well the beat sounds a lot like something Rich Harrison would do. This Harrison jacking though isn't as blatant as frequent Janet collaborators Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis' last year on "Disrespectful", the first single from Chaka Khan's last album. 2:47 into the song Missy exclaims "This is crazy!" referring to the beat I guess. Unfortunately, I can't fully agree with Missy. Yes the beat is indeed crazy, but it would have been crazier in 2005. If there was such a great need for the Harrison sound why didn't they resurrect "Pops Up!" or "Speed It Up (Put It On You)", which are Janet tracks actually produced by Harrison that were cut from the "Damita Jo" album. Another Dupri joint, the mid-tempo, summer single-worthy "What's Ur Name" is a favorite of mine on the album with Janet's vocals riding the beat perfectly. Even the reference to the T-Mobile Sidekick smartphone in the chorus is non-obtrusive enough to not be cringe inducing. The shortest track on the album at a meager two minutes and thirty-four seconds, also prompted multiple rewinds. They should shoot this and "So Much Betta" together as a dual single video a la the videos from Missy Elliot's "Miss E..." album, but more than likely if this is miraculously chosen as a single the label will more likely throw in the rapper du jour of the moment to lengthen things.
Next is the title track, "Discipline", the only "baby making" track on this album and unlike some of the ones from the last two albums this one is actually sexy and very soulful, it's right up there with "Any Time, Any Place". Yes, even though there is a little moaning on this one, it's tasteful. There are no swear words and the song rather than being blatant and explicit is filled to the brim with cleverly written double entendre. As you guessed this song is sort of a bondage S&M metaphor, think "Rope Burn" 2.0, except with whips and things. At 0:52 Janet coos:
"Daddy, I disobeyed you,
Now I want you to come punish me..."
with such conviction that I feel like I'm in her bedroom with a whip in my hand. That was some of her best acting since Chip Fields burned her with the iron on "Good Times" back in the day. Closing my eyes listening to this I can almost see Janet tying up and disciplining some lucky audience member, whipping him on stage in front of 80,000 screaming fans. Or better yet having that lucky guy whip her. The chorus almost melted my speakers with the lyrics:
"I need some discipline tonight
Don't hold back
I've been very bad
Make me cry
Ooh, ooh, ooh
Daddy make me cry..."
The song ends with eerie chants of "Take out your frustrations on me..." which is sexy, but a little scary. In fact at 2:00 Janet actually exclaims "I'm scared..." and you know what Janet I'm scared too, but I'm also turned on. I've got some disciplining to do.
To end the album is "Curtains", a midtempo number laden with guitar and horns especially dedicated to the fans, another of Janet's more soulful tracks. I cant wait to see this one on tour. I could see her closing things out with this one.
If you haven't figured it out already, this is Janet's best album in years and even though it's probably not gonna pull in "MiMi" numbers the first week especially since they just started promoting it yesterday. But it's a quality record that I actually believe in. Hopefully LA Reid and Def Jam nurture properly because it has the potential to be a huge hit. Because Janet needs it, scratch that, I need it, for my own sanity. If this record doesn't go #1 I'm gonna lose it.
If you must download, download: "Feedback", "Luv", "Rock With U", "What's Ur Name", "Discipline"
ALBUM IN STORES TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26th, 2008!
GO BUY IT!
Buy the album from Amazon.com here.
Website: JanetJackson.com
LISTENING SESSION:
Listen to "What's Ur Name" below:
Listen to "Discipline" below:
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Playing In The Background...
"Discipline"
by Janet Jackson
from the album "Discipline"
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