VoicesCarry said:

I seem to recall YOU having serious doubts about the album as well.You even went so far as to suggest that Virgin should delay the album a month and pick a good single ("Are there any good singles on the album?" you wondered).

isn't it funny the things we remember?

DavidEye said:

It's funny the things you remember, because although I expressed disappointment in Just A Little While (I felt it was a poor choice) and still feel that it would have been better if Virgin had started over again with a delayed release and a new single, I never claimed there were no good singles on the album.

jayaredee said:

So

-Island Life
-SloLove
-All Nite (Don't Stop)
-R&B Junkie
-Like You Don't Love Me

arent single-worthy?

VoicesCarry said:

Not really IMHO, It's the same formula used over again.

jayaredee said:

To each his own. I think all those songs are better than anything that went to #1 this year, so there you are.

VoicesCarry said:

I'll agree with you there.

But see, once again with Madonna, AL sounded similar to Music which is why i think it didn't do well. On top of pulling the video and stuff. I don't think many of the songs were single worthy at the fact it was so similar to Music.

jayaredee said:

That's because almost every song that went to #1 this year in the U.S. was by Usher.

sextonseven said:

Precisely

there are a lot of singles on damita jo...all nite, slolove, rnb junkie, spending time with you, island life, just a little while, i want you, moist (though it would need to edited like crazy)...

all nite should have been the debut single follwed by rnb junkie (or vice versa). if one of those songs had been the debut single, i really believe the album would have been a hit. at the time of the first single (jalw) there was no real backlash yet. those two tracks would have saved this media disaster because peeps would have had the chance to hear the 2 hottest tracks on the record. instead, they heard what should have been the 4th or 5th single first. jalw is the obligatory tour footage video that janet usually releases mid tour to further hype her show.

i really think a lot of people have their opinions formed by media and its saturation. virgin slept on this record...the cd wasn't even released until more than a month after the super bowl...what in the world were they doing? the bottom line is that all for you held jj's highest first week sales ever and that album is considerably weaker than damita jo. it had a hot first single though, not to mention doesn't really matter. rarely do i blame record labels for pop star mishaps but this this time, in my mind, its for certain.

SassierBritches said:

"Just A Little While" was singleworthy, but definitely NOT the first single. Maybe 3rd or 4th? The sequence was all off for Damita Jo's singles.

AFY, on the other hand, did GOOD by releasing AFY first, but it also suffered by canning Trust A Try, You Ain't Right and Come On Get Up.

A lot of the negative criticisms of DJ are not of the album, but of Janet's "character," media persona, and other miscellany.

I'll say it again. For a woman who put out an album after a historic TV controversy, massive media fallout, MTV suppression, an election year, little ClearChannel support -- It's amazing that it sold almost a million in the US given all this... and it was nominated for three Grammys. I don't think any other artist in her position could've done that.

all in all JALW did kinda suck 2 me so i cant trip how do yall like it it sounds like one of those white boy rock band songs

SassierBritches said:

"All Nite" was the debut single. Right off the bat. Then the second single should have been something a little lighter, maybe "Thinkin' About My Ex". "SloLove" was the third single and would have been perfect for summer. Too late now! I think "Just A Little While" would have been a good fourth single...then who knows....But that didn't happen, now did it? The way the album was promoted was with it's weakest singles up first ("Just A Little While" and "I Want You"). I think both songs would have been good singles but should have came toward the end. The album's strengh, most people agree, are the upbeat dance songs and some would argue "Thinkin' Bout My Ex", songs that are a little bit of the ordanary (for Janet, especially since she didn't write "Ex") yet ironically, if she would have released "My Baby" as a single (the worst song on the album, if you ask me) it probably would have done well since it sounds like everything else. They just plain screwed it up. No, isn't her best album but it desereved a lot better. I think this one will go down as her "Erotica", although maybe not as highly praised but fans will be surprised at the lack of attention it got.
[Edited 12/8/04 16:20pm]

VoicesCarry said:

considering Just A Little While is the freshest-sounding thing on the album, and was really racing up the charts before she bared her tit, what makes you think it was a bad single?

but i do agree in one respect: i liked it so i thought that the album was going to be good. instead, it has one great, new-sounding track (for her), 2 or 3 other decent singles, and a dozen other songs that sound just like them.


the old bait and switch. i was, even before the Super Bowl, extremely excited about DamitaJo, based on Just A Little While.

VoicesCarry said:

All those tracks are DEFINITELY singleworthy. "Love Me (Just Blaze)," too.

GrayKing said:

(a) The song didn't debut until the week of Feb. 12.

(b) The song's movement was 47-45-45 and then a downward spiral. Racing up the chart?

Get your facts straight.
[Edited 12/8/04 17:44pm]

VoicesCarry said:

the week of Feb 12? does that mean, that's when the chart was released, or that's the first week its debut covered?

GrayKing said:

It was released to radio on the week of February 4 - right after the Super Bowl. Virgin made the press announcement for its release just after her performance, in fact. It debuted on the Hot 100 the week of the 12th.
[Edited 12/8/04 19:20pm]

well i was going to come down here to see what VoicesCarry said in response, but this thread is getting too long for my dial-up connection to handle while i'm simultaneously downloading things from iTunes.


so insert the expected pithy/bitchy/catty "damitajo sucks"-esque comment here

GrayKing said:

I can't believe she's listed in your favourite (other) artists section. You have a real love-hate relationship with her

VoicesCarry said:

HELL-O.

JANFAN4L said:

not really. it's because i love her that i've been so disappointed in her the last 5 years or so.

VoicesCarry said:

well,I like "Just A Little While"

It's the strongest,most inspired song on her album.This is the direction that she really should have gone in...an aggressive,harder-edged,guitar-based sound,instead of the run-of-the-mill R&B sound that dominates most of the other tracks.
[Edited 12/9/04 6:16am]

VoicesCarry said:

no not really because the day after super bowl tom joyner was playing JALW as a sample

ABeautifulOne said:

Yes, that's what I said - Virgin made the press release right after her performance and it was released to radio that week. Can you read?

yeah i can read but i didnt knoow what the hell u were talkin bout

What Damita Jo?