Rhythm Nation wins this round . but like a prayer is my fav. madonna album

CinisterCee said:

You can't be serious!


Taken from http://www.allmusic.com


Review by Alex Henderson

After shocking the R&B world with 1986's Control — a gutsy, risk-taking triumph that was a radical departure from her first two albums — Michael and Jermaine Jackson's younger sister reached an even higher artistic plateau with the conceptual Rhythm Nation 1814. Once again, she enlists the help of Time graduates Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (one of the more soulful production/songwriting teams of 1980s and '90s R&B) with wildly successful results. In 1989, protest songs were common in rap but rare in R&B — Janet Jackson, following rap's lead, dares to address social and political topics on "The Knowledge," the disturbing "State of the World," and the poignant ballad "Living in a World" (which decries the reality of children being exposed to violence). Jackson's voice is wafer-thin, and she doesn't have much of a range — but she definitely has lots of soul and spirit and uses it to maximum advantage on those gems as well as nonpolitical pieces ranging from the Prince-influenced funk/pop of "Miss You Much" and "Alright" to the caressing, silky ballads "Someday Is Tonight," "Alone," and "Come Back to Me" to the pop/rock smoker "Black Cat." For those purchasing their first Janet Jackson release, Rhythm Nation would be an even wiser investment than Control — and that's saying a lot.

Cheek said:

have to agree with this one too (i also did on Erotica)
and this one is perhaps her best album to date. it is a
sort of "Lovesexy" for her.

contained some of her best ever pop melodies and came as
a big surprise at the time. it was just so damn good.

Quite frankly this is a no brainer. Like a Prayer for me is near 100% perfect, give or take a couple of less inventive, formulaic tracks. The title track is quite simply a masterpeice. It has some fantastic pop tracks, Express Yourself, Cherish Keept It Together, and produces some of madonnas most emotive work on record, Oh Father, Till Death DO Us Part.

In the words of Rolling Stone magazine..,...."It is a close to art as pop music gets."

I actually really like RN 1814. Its got loads of great tracks (mixed with some stinkers too). Compared to most other albums id choose this one, but madonna was reaching the peak of her game with LAP, and few can compete when shes in that kind of form.

Also, both albums had great videos. RN having stuff like Alright, Come Back To Me, and LAP having the title track, Oh Father & Express Yourself.

Like A Prayer!

When it comes to Janet vs. Madonna, Janet wins with me every time during the 1980s. In the 1990s, though, that's a different story, Madonna kicks Janet's ass.

Rhythm Nation, because LAP does contain some awful trash, namely "Dear Jessie", "Love Song", and "Act Of Contrition". It's too uneven to compete.

vainandy said:

wow, thats completely opposite to me, madonnas 80's work shits all over janets 80's work, madonan was at her peak in the 80's. in the 90's and 00's its most of the time janet, madonnas 90's work, to me, wasnt up to her standards

I started liking Madonna more when she got further away from her 1980s pop and started doing more housy type songs in the 1990s like the "Erotica" album.

I liked Janet back in the 1980s when she was doing the funk, the whole funk, and nothing but the funk. When she started having a hip hop feel in the 1990s, that was the ultimate turnoff for me.

One is funky, the other isn't.

1814 for me.

like a prayer.

its the best record of madonna's career. shit, it may be the best record of anyone's career! just kidding. the only weak track is love song. i love me some rhythm nation but i've always thought it gets too slow towards the end.

I think because I bought it so late (like a few years ago) I never really got into "RN 1814" while "Like A Prayer" was one of the first discs I ever bought. "RN 1814" had some great pop singles but for my taste, I liked the "Control" songs better. I like the social message of "RN 1814" as well but some of the segues almost treat it insincerely (I'm thinking of one in paticular where janet reads a stat very fast). Now "Like A Prayer" was the album that made Madona. It broke slightly away from the easy to shallow dance pop (although "Cherish" bounce is there to remind us...) of her previous CDs and even singles and proved she could really write moving music. Sure, everyone thinks there is at least one cheesy clunker in there ("Spainish Eyes" was a favorite when I first heard it but now I can fell how it almost kills the album right before it ends). Songs like "Oh Father" and "Promise To Try" have some much of Madonna's soul in them while Janet sounds nice singing "Come Back To Me" but it's over processed (which I actually dig about it but it's hardly gut wrenching). And had Madonna giving us a big easy dance song like "Supernatural" she would be even more the winner.

Not say RN was a dud. Janet brought out some great dance funk with the singles and songs like "State of the World" and "The Knowledge". I just think LAP is stronger overall.

"Like A Prayer", despite the musical repetition in songs like "Express Yourself" and "Till Death Do Us Part" and a couple of outright duds ("Love Song" and the unnecessary "Act Of Contrition"). "Rhythm Nation 1814" is far more 'complete', but once I actually bought the album rather than listening to the songs and enjoying myself on Limewire, I was appalled at how overproduced the whole thing sounds. Honestly, it was an assault on my ears.

Did I actually once call "RN1814" one of the best albums of the '80s? Guess I should buy the record first before judging.

As far as I'm concerned, "Control" is where she really brought the funk. With "RN1814", she brought a mess. A shame, considering its theme and material is about as, if not every bit as, strong as what's found on its predecessor. A little less over-magnified production and it'd have done fine with me.

i'm so biased but rn wins hands down! didn't stevie wonder call it "the best pop album ever"?

truly a great listen.

Rhythm Nation 1814 for me, because at that time it was just a very, very personal album. I consider RN 1814 as Janet's What's Going On or Innervisions, addressing drugs, the children, and other utopias. It was a better album than her 1986 blockbuster, Control because it was a little more focused and unified. She still brought the funk on this one too. What's really surprising about this record is that the interludes work here better than any of her later works (janet., The Velvet Rope, All For U, and Damita Jo). So, this is definitely an epic, 5-star pop masterpiece that will probably go down as Janet's most powerful and stunning achievement that has something for almost everyone.

Like A Prayer is a great album too, but what really got me about the record was how developed Maddy was while recording this album. There are some excellent numbers here like the title track, Cherish, Express Yourself, and Dear Jessie. The album was very controversial back in 89, because of some of the spiritual themes she talked about on this album. Another thing I loved about this joint is that she showcased a diverse number of pop styles on this album from R&B all the way to rock. I'll give LAP 4 stars, but it is her most serious album of the 1980's. This was all before she and Jan lost there minds in the 90's.
[Edited 8/1/05 11:45am]

I always wonder why people call RN1814 a concept album, when only half of it has anything to do with that concept and only one of those songs was a single.

Ellie said:

Yeah, that's a real understatement?

silverchild said:

I heard someone call "control" a concept album too? WTF?

Ellie said:

The "statement" songs as I see it are:

Rhythm Nation
State of the World
The Knowledge
Living in a World They Didn't Make
Black Cat

And all of the ones in bold were singles. "The Knowledge" was part of the 1814 mini-movie as well, so got some exposure that way.

Wow, this is a close race. So far it's 10 votes to 11.

GangstaFam said:

Yeah. It seems like I didn't think very long to decide on Rhythm Nation but I had already been thinking about it before I changed the topic. It's not an easy choice. LAP is outstanding.


But I'm not changing my vote!

GangstaFam said:

When was State Of The World a single? I hate that song anyway, quite patronising I find.

Ellie said:

http://cgi.ebay.com/JANET...dZViewItem

I take it that was Australia only then.

I find it quite shock-worthy that that album didn't give Janet a single UK Top 10 hit, but she had like 5 #1s in the US. Something like that.

Ellie said:

It was not only Australia.

http://www.cravingjanet.c...tateof.htm

State Of The World made #5 on the Hot 100 Airplay list, and would have easily given Janet her eight Top 5 hit from the album had there been a commercial release in the United States. A&M execs felt at that point it was better to stop releasing singles and focus on selling the album exclusively.
[Edited 8/1/05 13:14pm]

listening to like a prayer and rhythm nation back to back all day i've changed my mind. i prefer rhythm nation.

my apologies to janet for being too quick on the draw regarding my first response.

Oh, come on now!

Every song on Rhythm Nation is incredible, and there's some real SHIT on Like a Prayer.

Looks like Janet wins this one.