FEATURE:
A Buyer’s Guide
Part Nine: Janet Jackson
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FOR this edition…
PHOTO CREDIT: Bill Lovelace/ANL/REX/Shutterstock
I am looking at the essential albums from a truly terrific artist. Janet Jackson is someone I grew up listening to, and she has put out some incredible albums. It is hard to distil them like this, but I think there are some standouts that everyone needs to investigate. I have whittled her catalogue down to the four essential albums, the underrated one, her latest album – and there is a Janet Jackson-related book that makes a useful companion. If you are a bit new to Janet Jackson or require some steering, I hope this feature provides some form of guidance! In honour of one of the music’s world’s true greats, here is an investigation of Janet Jackson’s…
GREATEST albums.
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The Four Essential Albums
Control
Release Date: 4th February, 1986
Label: A&M
Producers: John McClain (exec.)/Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis/Janet Jackson/Monte Moir/Jellybean Johnson/Steve Wiese/Spencer Bernard
Standout Tracks: Nasty/What Have You Done for Me Lately/The Pleasure Principle
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/Janet-Jackson-Control/master/79648
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/7GWkceE5McMVfffd1RGL6Y
Review:
“Although Janet Jackson had released two records in the early '80s, they were quickly forgotten, and notably shaped by her father's considerable influence. Janet's landmark third album, 1986's Control, changed all that. On the opening title track, Jackson, with passion and grace, declares her independence, moving out of the gargantuan shadow of her brother Michael and on to the business of making her own classic pop album. The true genius of Control lies in the marriage of her extremely self-assured vocals with the emphatic beats of R&B production wizards Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The duo was already well established in the music industry, but the practically flawless Control showcased Jam and Lewis' true studio mastery. For the better part of two years, Janet remained on the pop chart, with two-thirds of the album's tracks released as singles, including the ever-quotable "Nasty," the assertive "What Have You Done for Me Lately," the frenetically danceable "When I Think of You," and the smooth, message-oriented ballad "Let's Wait Awhile." Jackson achieved long-awaited superstar status and never looked back” – AllMusic
Choice Cut: Control
Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814
Release Date: 19th September, 1989
Label: A&M
Producers: Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis/Janet Jackson/Jellybean Johnson/John McClain (exec.)
Standout Tracks: State of the World/Escapade/Black Cat
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/Janet-Jackson-Janet-Jacksons-Rhythm-Nation-1814/release/6244501
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/5C1LeBW1gM3ttpepzPShxc
Review:
“That some dismissive critics then thought the politics were separable from the love songs was an incorrect reading. Jackson’s further assertion of self was as personal-as-political as the era demanded, reflecting in part her relationship and eventual marriage to René Elizondo, done in secret to keep both the press and her former dadager at bay. She was fully growing into herself as a human, exploring her internal territory and reconciling it with the world outside, while pushing herself musically more than ever. “Black Cat,” which she wrote entirely herself, was the fully manifested example of this internal and external congealing. She threw down a slinky, sexy snarl over a rock guitar shred that was also wildly jiggy, making an unlikely dive-bar banger that spoke to both gang members and the wronged women who loved them. Another nod to history—topically, the bad boy lament could be traced back to Big Mama Thornton, the black blueswoman who invented rock’n’roll—Jackson was proving to the world she was as versatile as any other chart-topper of the day, and no move she made was without substance. Perhaps by presenting her self-made utopia, she also envisioned that the real-life dystopian one would recognize her not for what it wanted her to be, but for who she was” – Pitchfork
Choice Cut: Rhythm Nation
janet.
Release Date: 18th May, 1993
Label: Virgin
Producers: Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis/Janet Jackson/Jellybean Johnson
Standout Tracks: You Want This/This Time/Whoops Now (hidden track)
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/Janet-Janet/master/92705
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0xCewDvTw0PmnPm7K3Dbgt
Review:
“janet. was at the forefront of the increasingly popular sampling trend in the ‘90s, with one song even employing three different samples as its foundation. Some make perfect sense on a thematic as well as sonic level, like Kool & the Gang’s “Kool It (Here Comes the Fuzz)” and Stevie Wonder’s “Superwoman, Where Were You When I Needed You” on “New Agenda,” or the orchestral flourish from Diana Ross & the Supremes’ “Someday We’ll Be Together” on “If,” which otherwise seems to exist for the sole purpose of providing the impetus behind one of the greatest dance-break routines in music video history. Others, like that group’s only socially conscious tune, “Love Child,” on a song about playing hard to get, seem arbitrary and gratuitous. Of course, Janet, Jam, and Lewis didn’t have to rely on samples to effectively pay homage to Stax Records soul (a sorta-cover of Johnny Daye’s “What’ll I Do”) or label alumni the Emotions (“Because of Love”).
The mother of eclectic, genre-hopping albums by Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani, and Fergie, janet. incorporates new jack swing, house, pop, rock, hip-hop, jazz, and even opera, but the album’s range of styles isn’t jarring in the least. Save for some of the more literal ones (“Wind” and “Rain” among them), the interludes serve as bridges between dance and rock, songs about racism and love” – SLANT
Choice Cut: That’s the Way Love Goes
The Velvet Rope
Release Date: 7th October, 1997
Label: Virgin
Producers: Janet Jackson/René Elizondo Jr./Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
Standout Tracks: You/Got ‘til It’s Gone/Rope Burn
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/Janet-The-Velvet-Rope/master/100041
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/37WYZ1tN3kn5D9hw6yfwsA
Review:
“In every conceivable way the most “adult” album of Janet’s career, The Velvet Rope is also the most naïve. Its vitality owes almost nothing to its stabs at sexual frankness. Because, truthfully, a lot of the “naughty” material doesn’t exactly seem that much more convincing than the Prozac-fuelled aphorisms of the follow-ups, nor is it more politically intriguing than her advocacy of color-blindness in Rhythm Nation. The bisexuality of her cover of Rod Stewart’s “Tonight’s the Night” never manages to convince that Miss Jackson has ever been so nasty as to even consider loosening pretty French gowns. “Rope Burn” isn’t so ribald that Janet doesn’t have to remind listeners that they’re supposed to take off her clothes first, though producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis’s Chinese water torture beat does approximate sonic bondage. It’s hardly surprising that when Janet uses the word “fuck” in “What About,” she’s not talking about it happening to her. For a sex album that also seems to aim at giving fans an unparalleled glance behind the fetish mask (literally, in the concert tour performance of “You”), Janet’s probably never been more cagey.
But behind the sex is something even more compelling, because it gradually dawns on you that Janet’s use of sexuality is an evasive tactic. That it’s easier for her to sing about cybersex (on the galvanizing drum n’ bass “Empty,” one of Jam and Lewis’s very finest moments, maybe even their last excepting Jordan Knight’s “Give It to You”) and to fret about her coochie falling apart than it is to admit that it’s her psyche and soul that are in greater danger of fracturing. Soul sister to Madonna’s Erotica (which, in turn, was her most daring performance), The Velvet Rope is a richly dark masterwork that illustrates that, amid the whips and chains, there is nothing sexier than emotional nakedness” – SLANT
Choice Cut: Together Again
The Underrated Gem
Damita Jo
Release Date: 22nd March, 2004
Label: Virgin
Producers: Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis/Janet Jackson/Dallas Austin/Babyface/Anders Bagge/Scott Storch/Télépopmusik/Kanye West/Avila Brothers
Standout Tracks: Damita Jo/All Nite (Don't Stop)/Just a Little While
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/Janet-Damita-Jo/master/79663
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/3bjgTLRtiDKO8FF36PJPAQ
Review:
“Luckily, Jackson’s new studio pals open up her insular sound, as each shows respect for the “Janet sound” and the centrality of Jam and Lewis’s cuts. Dallas Austin gives her a snappy single with the guitar-driven “Just a Little While.” Babyface guides her through a lovely trip back to his own chart-dominating days with the gentle, finger-snapping “Thinkin’ ’Bout My Ex.”
Though Kanye West fails to take Jackson past the generic with “My Baby” — the “urban” single released at the same time as the pop-leaning “Just a Little While” — he also guided “I Want You,” one of the most entertaining moments here. Coproduced with Jam and Lewis, it’s poignant, too, as Jackson seems to sympathetically describe her big brother’s innocent youth.
Jackson sings as forcefully as she can there, and she still ends up sounding like a 12-year-old boy. But her lack of vocal capacity may even be the reason she has matured as an artist while her peers have generally stalled.
Unable to wail like Whitney Houston, unwilling to strain like Madonna, Jackson has instead explored all the subtleties of the whisper, relying on her mind instead of her vocal cords. With each album, she has added depth to her persona — a woman whose pursuit of desire has given her a lifetime’s worth of clever ideas about lust and love.
What’s titillating about Damita Jo isn’t some easy flash of sexuality, but the varied soundbeds that Jackson and her producers create to house her love games, and the confidence with which she plays. Mature seduction in pop music? Now that’s a pleasant shock” – Blender
Choice Cut: I Want You
The Latest/Final Album
Unbreakable
Release Date: 2 October, 2015
Labels: Rhythm Nation/BMG
Producers: J. Cole/Dem Jointz/Missy Elliott/Janet Jackson/Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis/Thomas "Tommy McClendon" Lumpkins
Standout Tracks: Burnitup!/No Sleeep/Promise
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/Janet-Unbreakable/master/892999
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/2j0empM5LNVUMB5u5Quo3Y
Review:
“Yet the best thing about Unbreakable is that it proves Janet can still surprise us. Who would’ve ever envisioned her slipping on a pair of boots and cowboy-cut Wranglers to sing “Lessons Learned,” a country-tinged ballad about co-dependency? Or that she and the boys would’ve gone full Nashville and let a steel guitar cry and a little twang curl the edges of her voice on “Well Traveled” (and that the whole thing would work!)?
Then again, back in 1986, no one expected sweet, baby-faced Janet to boss up, slam the door and snarl in some dickhole’s face, “No, my first name ain’t ‘baby,’ it’s Janet, Miss Jackson if you’re nasty.” From the easygoing sound of Unbreakable, she doesn’t snap like that anymore, but we still wouldn’t recommend trying her” – SPIN
Choice Cut: Unbreakable
The Janet Jackson Book
Janet Jackson: All the Top 40 Hits
Author: Craig Halstead
Publication Date: 12th June, 2017
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Synopsis:
“The youngest of ten children, Janet Jackson was a child actress before she turned to music. She didn’t release her debut album until 1982, when she was 16. However, she had little input to her first two albums, and it wasn’t until took control of her own career in 1986 that she finally found success with the lead single of her third album, What Have You Done For Me Lately.Janet has won five Grammy Awards, eleven American Music Awards, and has seen her song Again nominated for an Academy AwardFor the purposes of this book, to qualify as a Top 40 hit, a single or album must have entered the Top 40 chart in at least one of the featured countries. The Top 40 hits are detailed chronologically, according to the date they first entered the chart in one or more of the featured countries. Each Top 40 single and album is illustrated and the catalogue numbers and release dates are detailed for the USA & UK, followed by the chart runs in each country.The main listings are followed by ‘The Almost Top 40 Albums’, which gives an honourable mention to albums that peaked between no.41-50 in one or more countries, but which failed to enter the Top 40 in any. There is also a points-based list of the Top 30 singles Top 10 albums and Top 10 music videos, plus a fascinating Trivia section, which looks at the most successful singles, albums and in music videos in each of the featured countries” – Amazon.co.uk