Everyone rightfully reveres her first four albums and it seems to be a popular consensus amongst fans that All For You was her first album that wasn't an outright classic, good as it was in parts... so what with Jan's triumphant return with Unbreakable I thought it'd be fun to go back and re-evaluate All For You, Damita Jo, 20YO and Discipline.

I would rate them thusly:

1. All For You - a decent album, but a marked notch below her previous work. It was still quite personal (dealt with a lot of relationship issues, songs like You Ain't Right, Son Of A Gun, Truth and Trust A Try)... but this is where the sex songs seemed to reach their nadir and become a bit tacky and gross. Much of it still holds up though, particularly the uptempos and the gorgeous When We Ooo.

2. 20YO
I've always had a bit of a soft spot for 20YO, even though it is far from her best work. I'm not too fussed on the first half of the album (although Show Me and Get It Out Me are pretty dope tracks), but to me, this album has a really solid second half and I consider Daybreak-Enjoy-Take Care-Love 2 Love one of the strongest run of tracks on any of her albums. The first half does let this album down a bit though and already sounds a bit dated and juvenile, despite being less than 10 years old.

3. Discipline

I thought Discipline was a fun record when it came out. Feedback was a great single and deserved to set the charts alight. I always really loved the cheesy ballad Greatest X, but overall it felt like the least personal and real Janet album to date and it really sounded as if she had just picked a bunch of cool tracks from different songwriters and added her vocals to it.

4. Damita Jo

I think Damita Jo is the worst JJ album to date. I enjoyed Just A Little While, I thought that was a fun, catchy pop-rock number, and there were some great songs (particularly some of the slower-jams like I Want You and the underrated Truly). But this is where her music started to become less autobiographical, less topical and more generic. I mean, stuff like Strawberry Bounce and Sexhibition.... they could've been on a Britney album and wouldn't have sounded out of place.

[Edited 10/8/15 8:20am]

My rankings:

1. Damita Jo – I love with album, it was unapologetic sex-mad filth. I kind of consider it Janet’s ‘dirty mind’ or ‘Erotica’ (although that album on a whole is pretty crap). It has so much single potential; ‘island life’, R&B junkie, ‘my baby’ and her videos were the best of decade. Could she look any better than in the ‘All nite’ and ‘I want you’ video? Take out the stupid and cringy interludes – you get her best album of the noughties by far!!!

2. 20YO – apart from the ridiculous album title – I thought this was a solid effort. In fact I hardly skip a song - particular favourites are ‘take care’, ‘get it out of me’ and the gorgeous ‘enjoy’

4. Discipline – the songs on her most inconsistent album were either soooo good (e.g. ‘rock wid u’, ‘feedback’, ‘luv’, ‘curtains’) or soooo bad (e.g. ‘the greatest ex’, ‘discipline’, ‘2nite’, ‘rollercoaster’)

3. All for you – I was so disappointed when this album came out after the magnificent ‘TVR’. The only tracks I loved were the title track, ‘when we oooo’, ‘someone to call my lover’ and ‘feels so right’ – everything else was mediocre, I could never really get into ‘trust a try’ and ‘doesn’t really matter’ is her worst #1. - ‘would you mind’ was crass and unsexy. Proof you only need one huge hit single to sell an album. Loved the tour though!

[Edited 10/8/15 7:33am]

[Edited 10/8/15 7:34am]

mancabdriver said:

My rankings:

1. Damita Jo – I love with album, it was unapologetic sex-mad filth. I kind of consider it Janet’s ‘dirty mind’ or ‘Erotica’ (although that album on a whole is pretty crap). It has so much single potential; ‘island life’, R&B junkie, ‘my baby’ and her videos were the best of decade. Could she look any better than in the ‘All nite’ and ‘I want you’ video? Take out the stupid and cringy interludes – you get her best album of the noughties by far!!!

2. 20YO – apart from the ridiculous album title – I thought this was a solid effort. In fact I hardly skip a song - particular favourites are ‘take care’, ‘get it out of me’ and the gorgeous ‘enjoy’

4. Discipline – the songs on her most inconsistent album were either soooo good (e.g. ‘rock wid u’, ‘feedback’, ‘luv’, ‘curtains’) or soooo bad (e.g. ‘the greatest ex’, ‘discipline’, ‘2nite’, ‘rollercoaster’)

3. All for you – I was so disappointed when this album came out after the magnificent ‘TVR’. The only tracks I loved were the title track, ‘when we oooo’, ‘someone to call my lover’ and ‘feels so right’ – everything else was mediocre, I could never really get into ‘trust a try’ and ‘doesn’t really matter’ is her worst #1. - ‘would you mind’ was crass and unsexy. Proof you only need one huge hit single to sell an album. Loved the tour though!

[Edited 10/8/15 7:33am]

[Edited 10/8/15 7:34am]

How is Would You Mind crass and unsexy and songs like Moist and Warmth any better? Janet's sex songs stopped being sexy after TVR, bar Take Care which is a gorgeous exception.

Gotta say I'm surpised to see All For You rated so lowly on your list.

I like a lot of the singles released from those albums, but as a whole they were all not very strong.

Same as with Prince his albums, they do get boring. There is ot much life in it.

Boy, am i glad with Unbreakable!

1. All for you

I really like Son of a gun, the others singles are quit good too. It still has the Janet vibe on it.

It does get boring sometimes.

2. Discipline

This could also be number 1, as Feedback is such a good song. The beat is sick.

3. 20YO.

I don´t like it, it´s not Janet. Cheap production, i hate the drum computer sounds. I do´t think she was into it at all.

4. Damito Jo.

I seriousy never made it to the end of the album. All night is ok, although i thought it was a rip off of Boutydelicious. People say it performed poorly because of the superbowl, i think it´s just not a good album.

Damita Jo: Very strong album overshadowed by controversy. I don't skip any tracks! I go back and listen to it as often as Control or Rhythm Nation. I would like it on vinyl except I am very used to the non-stop flow of the CD.

20 YO: I wish tracks 9-16 were the front of the album. THOSE ones are her best tracks of the 2000's.

Disclipline: I prefer when Janet Jackson is with Jam & Lewis but since it was her last album before Unbreakable, I had seven full years to get into this album.

All For You: To me, it sounds like The Rockwilder Album. You could probably find old threads when I went on and on about "China Love" though. Even though it finishes last in Janet's albums of the 2000's, I still consider All For You one of the best albums of the decade against other recording artists.

MattyJam said:

mancabdriver said:

My rankings:

1. Damita Jo – I love with album, it was unapologetic sex-mad filth. I kind of consider it Janet’s ‘dirty mind’ or ‘Erotica’ (although that album on a whole is pretty crap). It has so much single potential; ‘island life’, R&B junkie, ‘my baby’ and her videos were the best of decade. Could she look any better than in the ‘All nite’ and ‘I want you’ video? Take out the stupid and cringy interludes – you get her best album of the noughties by far!!!

2. 20YO – apart from the ridiculous album title – I thought this was a solid effort. In fact I hardly skip a song - particular favourites are ‘take care’, ‘get it out of me’ and the gorgeous ‘enjoy’

4. Discipline – the songs on her most inconsistent album were either soooo good (e.g. ‘rock wid u’, ‘feedback’, ‘luv’, ‘curtains’) or soooo bad (e.g. ‘the greatest ex’, ‘discipline’, ‘2nite’, ‘rollercoaster’)

3. All for you – I was so disappointed when this album came out after the magnificent ‘TVR’. The only tracks I loved were the title track, ‘when we oooo’, ‘someone to call my lover’ and ‘feels so right’ – everything else was mediocre, I could never really get into ‘trust a try’ and ‘doesn’t really matter’ is her worst #1. - ‘would you mind’ was crass and unsexy. Proof you only need one huge hit single to sell an album. Loved the tour though!

[Edited 10/8/15 7:33am]

[Edited 10/8/15 7:34am]

How is Would You Mind crass and unsexy and songs like Moist and Warmth any better? Janet's sex songs stopped being sexy after TVR, bar Take Care which is a gorgeous exception.

Gotta say I'm surpised to see All For You rated so lowly on your list.

Moist' is so hypnotic and is perhaps one of my favourite tracks off the album.

'Warmth' is short enough not to get on my nerves.

But 'would you mind' has so much moaning and groaning even I get red faced listening to it - lyrics like 'cum inside of me' and 'when you're f***ing me' in Love Scene are so unimaginative. At least ‘Moist’ uses metaphors of drowning at sea.

Even the unreleased/ bonus tracks off Damita Jo kicked AFY’s butt!

Put your hands on / pops up / I’m here >>>>>>>who

1.Damita Jo

2.All 4 you

3.Discipline

4.20 yo

Will write more later, I'm tired.

All For You

Discipline

Damita Jo

20 YO

MattyJam said:

Everyone rightfully reveres her first four albums and it seems to be a popular consensus amongst fans that All For You was her first album that wasn't an outright classic, good as it was in parts... so what with Jan's triumphant return with Unbreakable I thought it'd be fun to go back and re-evaluate All For You, Damita Jo, 20YO and Discipline.

I would rate them thusly:

1. All For You - a decent album, but a marked notch below her previous work. It was still quite personal (dealt with a lot of relationship issues, songs like You Ain't Right, Son Of A Gun, Truth and Trust A Try)... but this is where the sex songs seemed to reach their nadir and become a bit tacky and gross. Much of it still holds up though, particularly the uptempos and the gorgeous When We Ooo.

2. 20YO
I've always had a bit of a soft spot for 20YO, even though it is far from her best work. I'm not too fussed on the first half of the album (although Show Me and Get It Out Me are pretty dope tracks), but to me, this album has a really solid second half and I consider Daybreak-Enjoy-Take Care-Love 2 Love one of the strongest run of tracks on any of her albums. The first half does let this album down a bit though and already sounds a bit dated and juvenile, despite being less than 10 years old.

3. Discipline

I thought Discipline was a fun record when it came out. Feedback was a great single and deserved to set the charts alight. I always really loved the cheesy ballad Greatest X, but overall it felt like the least personal and real Janet album to date and it really sounded as if she had just picked a bunch of cool tracks from different songwriters and added her vocals to it.

4. Damita Jo

I think Damita Jo is the worst JJ album to date. I enjoyed Just A Little While, I thought that was a fun, catchy pop-rock number, and there were some great songs (particularly some of the slower-jams like I Want You and the underrated Truly). But this is where her music started to become less autobiographical, less topical and more generic. I mean, stuff like Strawberry Bounce and Sexhibition.... they could've been on a Britney album and wouldn't have sounded out of place.

CONTROL wasn't her first album, but I get your point. My rankings are..

ALL FOR YOU

DAMITA JO (for Island Life, All Nite (Don't Stop) and SloLove alone--plus the awesome unreleased tracks)

20 Y.O.

DISCIPLINE

I often want to create my own CD with the best tracks from those last two albums.

All 4 You

Damita Jo

20 YO

Discipline

All For You

Discipline(underrated) Been listening to some lately

Damita Jo

20 YO

It was harder for me to rank which one to put second between Discipline and

Damita Jo. Damita Jo may have a little more depth but Feedback and Rock

With You and the ballads pushed it over the top for me.

1. All For You

2. Damita Jo

3. Disclipline

4. 20 YO

With that said, I prefer Nothing and Make Me over almost all of her 00's output.

All For You -- addictive from beginning to end (minus two tracks) and made me obsessed with Janet, I miss this era

Damita Jo - Most fans on the internet at the time expected way more since it was Janet and I was one of them, decent listen in retrospect but not infallible

Discipline - Haven't listened since 2011, it was fun but nothing stuck with me

20 Y.O. - handful of great tracks surrounded by diarrhea

Discography ranking

1. TVR 2. RN1814 3. Control 4. Unbreakable 5. janet 6. All For You 7. Damita Jo 8. Dreamstreet 9. Discipline 10. Janet Jackson 11. 20 Y.O.

nextedition said:

4. Damito Jo.

I seriousy never made it to the end of the album. All night is ok, although i thought it was a rip off of Boutydelicious. People say it performed poorly because of the superbowl, i think it´s just not a good album.

I do think I Want You and All Nite were very good singles that would have received airplay if not for the stupidbowl, DJ would've sold 2.2 million instead of barely 1.

She lost me after Velvet Rope.

1. All For You - "Better Days" alone makes this the best of the 00s. It's one of my top three Janet songs.

2. Discipline - It was refreshing to hear a modern Jam & Lewis-free Janet album. The first four songs hit hard.

3. Damita Jo - Too many so-so tracks in the middle which makes the album seem like it's going on forever.

4. 20 Y.O. - There isn't one song on it that I think is great. I used to like it more. Very sad.

Graycap23 said:

She lost me after Velvet Rope.

same here. although threads like these and the general enthousiasm over the new album

make me want to sit down a few days this coming winter and really listen to those albums
and see what i make of them now.

Sad to see so much hate/indifference towards 20YO, which I think is a pretty good album on the whole. I would say the only one out of the 2001-2008 output that is truly up to her standards was All For You, but I consider 20YO to be the best of the below-par Janet albums (which are still miles better than anything her younger contemporaries have to offer).

I truly think Damita Jo was her worst album. It was overly long and lacking in direction. And also, what was with that album cover? Awful, unimaginative and badly photoshopped.

[Edited 10/10/15 0:53am]

Ok, here is my review of each album of hers in the 00's, in order of my ranking from favourite to least favourite

1) All For You has a lot of strong tracks that are pure janet, several of which mirror the sounds on Velvet Rope, though with a brighter focus on the upbeat dance tracks and melodies. I think it's aged ok, but at the time it came out, I thought it was a step backwards more than forwards musically and didn't sound like everything on the radio though it still held it's own, and her sampling unlike other acts was done in a creative way. I thought the album was too fast then slow then fast, and it was too sexual and embarassing to play unlike her other sexy gems, but maybe that's how she felt then emotionally, and I love raw, honest emotional janet, which is what made me a fan. Her confidence mirrored the janet era beautifully, even in the face of pain, and it was her rebound period after the marriage breakdown, so though the concept was not clear to me at the time very much like I was used to, I'm closer to approaching janet's age at the time of it's release now than I was then, have seen a lot in life since and everything she's singing about makes more sense now. Love this album.

2) Discipline may not be jimmy & terry, but again it is pure janet. Trendy, upbeat, naughty but nice, and extremely underrated this time around. I feel musically this was a step in the right direction, and though there is still an old school influence, it's very much a modern and fresh record. Ne Yo is a scholar of the jackson sound and it's obvious he knew what he was doing here musically and was a perfect match for janet, same with rodney jerkins who was now working with janet after years of working with michael, he pushed her to sing louder and with confidence. The ballads are so beautiful and lush here, would have done so well on r&b radio, and jermaine dupri did a better job on this album than 20 YO. It flows really well and I love almost every song, but could have done without curtains, she sounded tired on that and a couple of other tracks though it still worked.

3) Damita Jo. The album that contains some of the best of her career and some of the worst ever. Slolove is the one janet song that still has not grown on me till this day, and truly is a lazy song and warmth is useless, like fodder left off of All For You sessions with rockwilder to fill up the album. Moist was amazing though, so dirty but so jazzy and melodic. I love her work with kanye west and was just getting into him around that time as well so that was absolutely a treat, and she deserves more credit for working with him like others get credit for more than her. She & dallas work very well together, his melodies for janet brought out her "inner prince" greatly on this album. The highlights to me are the jam & lewis tracks though, all nite don't stop being one of the best ever of her career. Some of the tracks were following too many trends out there trying to appeal to too many people, though maybe the superbowl had to do with it, like trying to win back audiences which is understandable now in retrospect. She says she worked on the album for 18 months, but maybe that process was affected greatly after... ironically this album sounds current for it's time, and all for you sounded older than it was, but all for you turned out to be the stronger album that aged well IMO

4) 20 YO. I like the flow of it start to finish, and the highlights are the tracks that have absolutely no JD on it . Jimmy & Terrys produced tracks at the end are the most melodic, vocally strong for janet, and she genuinely is into what she's singing. I appreciate what she was doing with freestyle inspired dance beats and those drum & bass rhythms were making a comeback in r&b that time, but even those people were doing janet better than janet was at the time. Get It Out Me was fabulous, so excited was also good but as much as Khia is a drama queen and full of herself, her rap made the song and though janet's routine was fabulous and she sounds hot, it was too whispery for my taste this time, and several other tracks on this album suffered the same fate. I know she can sing, but her heart wasn't into it, and JD didn't produce this album anything like Emancipation. I wasn't looking for a mariah album, but he's confident collaborating with mc more than janet, he was a fabulous producer in the late 90's and wanted them to collab someday, but he felt pressure to produce well for her, and that got in the way of the music and it shows that mixing business and pleasure didn't work out, though it improved on Discipline. I also think this album came out way too soon after damita jo era, and had it been released a little later, it may have sounded more polished. This album reminds me of 80's r&b and dance in general at times, not really of her own work on control at all, maybe escapade on daybreak though.

With the new album Unbreakable, flow wise, musically, vocally, everything, I feel she picked up where she left off from Velvet Rope/All For You, and if Discipline was heading for a good direction, leading to this, she's done her job and very well!

[Edited 10/10/15 13:29pm]

[Edited 10/10/15 13:34pm]

20YO is really underrated. I love the 80s club feel of songs like So Excited and Show Me and This Body has a great sleazy vibe, reminds me of a better version of Prince's Laydown (the hard beat and electric guitars).

With U is a gorgeous ballad and Daybreak-Enjoy-Take Care-Love 2 Love is an awesome run of tracks.

Mine actually goes in order

1. ) All 4 U

Had great tunes and that slow jam middle set was very nice. I felt the latter half of the album threw me off however. Everything from Son Of A Gun down to Better Days I felt drug the album down slowly. SANS Feels So Right. That is a jam. You Aint Right, All For You and Come on get Up to When We OOO is bliss and is pure Janet.

2. ) Damita Jo

What I liked about Damita Jo was the individual songs themselves. The albumn as a whole was very long and the senseless interludes were not needed. R&B Junkie, Sexhibition, Damita Jo, All Nite, Just A Little While (and the remix), Island Life, Like you Don't Love Me are tunes done very well...but for the first time, Janet wasnt making a statement. It was just songs that are just...there.

3.) 20 YO

I really was geared up for a Control / Rythm Nation type album that tributed to the classics, but Jermaine Dupri *@#&$^ that up. Anyway, the album as a whole as well lacked anything to say to the fans. I did like So Excited, Show Me, Take Care and Enjoy. Those are some good songs. Take Care is perhaps one of her greatest ballads ever recorded in my opinion next to Let's Wait A While and Someday Is Tonight. The music is entirely beautiful. With that said, the entire album should have been in Jimmy & Terrys hands, proven on that latter half

4.) Discipline

When Feedback was released, i was really excited for the album I must say. Listening to it as a whole...once again I realized Janet had nothing to say to us once again. This was the point I was starting to be done with taking her seriously. Seemed like she was more concerned with trying to get a hit.

There were some nice tunes people wrote for her that was trendy at its time. LUV, Cant B Good, Whats Your Name and Rock With you are coo. So Much betta was a little Prince-y. All of this however as a whole left me feeling even more distant from who she actually is and what she wanted to say. Might as well had bought an Ashanti album.

MattyJam said:

20YO is really underrated. I love the 80s club feel of songs like So Excited and Show Me and This Body has a great sleazy vibe, reminds me of a better version of Prince's Laydown (the hard beat and electric guitars).

With U is a gorgeous ballad and Daybreak-Enjoy-Take Care-Love 2 Love is an awesome run of tracks.

Daybreak, Enjoy and Take Care are the only good songs on that album. The problem with all these albums is that they only have 2 or 3 really strong tracks and the rest is just not good Besides All 4 You, I don't really listen to the rest of the 00 albums that much.

mjscarousal said:

alphastreet said:

mjscarousal said:

Daybreak, Enjoy and Take Care are the only good songs on that album. The problem with all these albums is that they only have 2 or 3 really strong tracks and the rest is just not good Besides All 4 You, I don't really listen to the rest of the 00 albums that much.

I agree those three are the saving grace of 20 yo The difference between 80s music and 80s inspired jermaine productions are that this batch lacks melody for the most part, and Janet is not putting her heart into singing and rushing it when we know she can do better. And the ballads, why weren't they rich in production like his work with others that time? He was too worried about not being good enough for his girlfriend and suffered artistically as a result. [Edited 10/11/15 8:43am]

Janet didn't seem that interested in music in the 00's. Her heart simply wasn't into it anymore which Jimmy Jam kinda confirmed. When he asked her, what she wanted to talk about for Damita Jo, she said "I have nothing to say" which shocked Jimmy because all her albums are personal reflections of what is going on in her life at the moment. However, I gotta give her credit though because she really gave this Unbreakable project her all but imho she still doesn't seem that invested in music like once before. To me, she seems more content with her marriage and living her own life. IMHO Unbreable seems to be something she is just doing for her harcore fans. Also, I think she might pull a Sade or Maxwell and release an album every 7-8 years...

mjscarousal said:

Man, I know more orgers need to rank Janet's aughties albums, now that we are well out of the decade.

Cinny said:

Man, I know more orgers need to rank Janet's aughties albums, now that we are well out of the decade.

I agree.

[Edited 11/12/15 16:10pm]

uh...oh..uh.oh........... thats how i rank them...