I freaken freaken LOVE LOVE LOVE the energy and atmosphere of Do It To Me...

damn damn damn!!! that should have been the first song...

for this song along this album rates much higher then Damita Jo.

sosgemini said:

Call on Me was the worst choice for a lead off single. With U would have been much better if she wanted to start off with a slow jam.

Ummm, i think i'm really beginning to enjoy this album now. It's actually pretty darn good

sosgemini said:

Wow somebody else likes this song. I really liked it the first time I heard it. Even though Enjoy is classic Janet and very likable, this is the one that stood out to me.

JackieBlue said:

Enjoy is easily the silver lining of this project. It's the only track on the album that holds a candle to her classic material. IMO of course.
[Edited 10/3/06 12:04pm]

Tessa said:

Do you know her personally?? Well, I'm happy with the cd and look forward to the re-release if any.

jayaredee said:

No offense, but do you know Janet personally?

PrettyMan72 said:

Ummmm no, do you? What does that have to do with anything?

jayaredee said:

Your argument and the review are all opinions. I'm happy with the cd. Bye.

Slightly off this specfic topic, I heard someone playing the CD in their car today. First I heard "So Excited" and figured it was on the radio. I went crazy looking for it and figured maybe the person had satelitte (probably XM but possibly Sirius) and I still don't have my Sirius in my car. By the time "Show Me" came on I reazlied someone had the CD. She didn't stick around long and I didn't say anything. I was reading.

PrettyMan72 said:

And what does that have to do with whether i know her or not?

Okay, my ratings are relative to this album alone, not in comparison to Janet's other albums. With the exception of "SloLove" and "All Nite", this is by far her best work since TVR. I really wish she did some songs with the producers of those two on Damita Jo, though and wanted her to go more in that vein.

"So Excited": 8 I can't wait to see her start her show with this one!

"Show Me": 6.5 It's okay. I like it, but don't love it. Maybe if I listened to it more I'll get to like it better. To be honest, I don't usually to this one all the way through because I like to get to the next two on the album.

"Get It Out Me": 9 "'Cause you know I likes it when you do it mo' betta!" Radio, here she comes!

"Do It 2 Me": 10 Love it, love it, love it! Easily one of my favorites on the album, by far.

"This Body": 6 The rap doesn't enhance the song at all. In fact, I can't stand that part.

"With U": 9 It's beautiful. I can barely remember the last time Janet did a love song this good!

"Call on Me": [5.5] By far, the dullest song on the album. It's cute, but I feel like we've heard this stuff from Nelly, and he did it better with Kelly Rowland on "Dilemma". These songs are too similar, and J disappointed me on this one. I understand that they were trying to give Janet some more urban credibility with having Nelly on her first single, but I don't know what they were thinking.

"Daybreak": 10 This song is reminiscent of Escapade. It doesn't sound like it, besides the opening, but it just gives off that same vibe, and I love it. This song makes me cry, though because it reminds me of how I felt when I first met my fiance, who passed away in June. When I listen to it, I just feel that innocence we had in the beginning of our relationship. This song just taps into that. I love it.

"Enjoy": 10 An instant Janet classic, in my opinion.


"Take Care": 7 I like the fact that she sounds a lot like she did on the Rhythm Nation ballads, and I LOVE most of the song, but I hate how she says "Taaaake gooood care offff meee tooooniight". Just something about it doesn't sound right in the song and that line kinda drags for me.


"Love 2 Love": 7 I like this one a lot, and I think it's very Prince-y. This one's going to grow on me.

Average: 8

Haha! Edit.
[Edited 10/3/06 15:29pm]

sosgemini said:

I'm really starting to love Do It To Me, too. I've been listening to the cd everyday and appreciating it more and more. For some reason now, 20 Y.O. is very sophisticated to me. I don't know why.

To me, it's still a different sound for Janet and takes some getting used to. But I'm really feeling the second half of the cd more than I did at first. I also love the song Daybreak...

Nice Review. http://langstonwertz.blogspot.com/


Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Near Wardrobe Malfuction, Great Music for Janet Jackson in "20 YO"

It's been 20 years since Janet Jackson's breakthrough CD, "Control," and in that time, she's become one of the most popular female artists of all time, the best in-concert female artist of all time, one of the most consistent female artists of all time and, in some circles, one of the most villified female artists of all time.

Since the infamous accidental wardrobe malfuction at the 2004 Super Bowl, Jackson has become a punching bag for media and cynical fans. There was supposed to be a piece of clothing left over her breast when Justin Timberlake pulled her top off but truth is, the whole move should've been left out. Jackson apologized for the incident, like Timberlake apologized for it, but for some reason, for Janet, apologizing isn't enough.

The incident introduced her to scores of people and media who hadn't heard her music and many media people bought into the fact that this "stunt" was somehow decided to re-engerize a sagging career, reporting it to the masses. Truth is, Jackson had a No. 1 album and No. 1 hit pop song, both called "All 4 U", in 2001 -- plus one of the highest-rated live concert showings in HBO history -- and was readying a summer 2004 release called "Damita Jo."

When she did the duet with Timberlake, Jackson didn't yet have a project to promote and her record company mistakenly rushed out a bad single, "Just A Little While."

Turns out the album, "Damita Jo," was another in a consisently strong line of work from Jackson. It was her "Dirty Mind," but Jackson has always talked about sex and shown off her body. This was nothing new. But to the new members of the media who were now covering her, it probably seemed like overkill, given what she'd just been through -- and they were probably right. Jackson should've toned down her image a bit, at least for awhile.

The album got strong reviews and had platinum sales. It didn't do Janet Jackson numbers, but if you believe what you read, Damita Jo was a flop. It didn't go multi-platinum mainly because radio wouldn't play it and MTV wouldn't play her videos for "I Want You" and "All Nite," two songs that would've been out-of-the-park hits at any other point in Jackson's career.

And now, comes her latest project, "20 Y.O." reflecting the 20 years since "Control." This is the best pop/R&B album to come along this year, breezing past strong efforts from Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake, a good record from Beyonce' -- and smashing lackluster efforts from Ciara, Rihanna and Fergie.

This is the album most of the young female pop stars want to make. It debuted at No. 2 on Billboard's Top 100 album chart this week with sales of just under 300,000. It's chock full of hits. The car-bumping slow-jam duet with rapper Nelly, "Call On Me," is a toe tapper that's already shot to No. 1 on Billboard's R&B charts twice.

The current single, "So Excited," samples Herbie Hancock's classic, "Rock-it," and freshens it with good results. There really isn't a bad song on the album, save for the final track, "Love 2 Love", and throughout Jackson pays homage to her earlier work through samples and memorable cord lines.

I'm not sure if radio is going to be friendly to this project, but there are tons of potential mega-hit singles, mainly the fifth track, "Do It 2 me," a drum-less club-bopper and the kind of track Jackson hasn't done before. It's hard to get out of your head. "This Body" will remind you of "Black Cat" with a heavy bass line and finds Jackson playing the role of magazine centerfold for a man dreaming of her really coming to life.

On the second half, the album mellows out with great results. Just when you think "Daybreak" is the perfect happy song (and the perfect successor to "Escapade"), along comes "Enjoy," with its kids-singing-the-chorus ending and the solid ballad, "Take Care," which is something anyone who's been in a long distance relationship can relate to.

Virgin Records sent me a special DVD packaging of the CD, which includes a 20-page color booklet of Jackson pictures and lyrics. You also get a free online download to a remix of "Call On Me," which will fit nicely on your iPod. The DVD has tons of behind the scenes footage and shows Jackson filming the video for "Call On Me," dancing so hard she very nearly pops out of her top creating the aforementioned Wardrobe Malfuction II.

As soon as it happens, she smiles at the camera people, embarrassed and surprised. I think if people get past the Jackson backlash and listen to the music here, they might be surprised at how good it really is (Ratiing 4.5/5).

Isel said:

oh oh oh oh this album has won me over...the only song i really dont care for is daybreaker...the first couple songs are decent filler but its all about Do It To Me and Enjoy...

Enjoy is the best Janet song in ages...I'm really glad I picked up this album...and im really starting to realize that the lenght of janet's previous two albums weighted it down and left me bored with them...this is short, breezy and satisfying...

once again, not a great classic album...but a good one.

With U...10+

I'm bored with Janet. I liked when she was more experimental on "Velvet Rope" and 1814..

sosgemini said:

Really, you don't like "Daybreak"? At first, I didn't like it either... but then it made me sort of nostalgic. For me the only song that I don't like is "Call on Me." That's the only song I skip over. It just never has appealed to me.

The only extreme criticism I have the the overall production quality. As I said earlier, to me her vocals sound a bit shrill in some songs compared to the "heaviness" of production. After listening to it daily and reading a thread here about the poor production quality of Stadium Arcadium (a Peppers cd that I rarely listen to), I was thinking that maybe it's the production quality that of 20 Y.O. that bothers me more than Janet's voice. I actually enjoy some of the songs 20 Y.O. more than Stadium Arcadium except I think the production quality of 20 Y. O. might even be a bit worse.


I thought it might be my car cd player--because I'll listen to the cd to and from work, but then again I also noticed it on my home systems as well.
[Edited 10/5/06 4:17am]

rolling stone gave her 2* review. they don't seem to like her titties very much.

Enjoy - radio airplay gaining

http://www.mmr247.com/mmr...ode=leader

I rate it three poops out of five .....

I finally got around to listening to this after the CD sat on my shelf for a few days.

So Excited - 7 - Not bad. I could like this more after repeated listenings.
Show Me - 6 - The Kraftwerk snippet is funny.
Get It Out Me - 5
Do It To Me - 10 - Love the instrumentation on this one. It's very 'big'--like an impending tidal wave.
This Body - 6 - Janet's "screwed" song, lol.
With U - 5 - a typical Janet ballad that does nothing for me yet.
Call On Me - 4 - Goddamn, I hate Nelly. The only thing I halfway like about this track is the slow rolling snare.
Daybreak - 7
Enjoy - 10 - This track is the one that sounds the most like classic Janet.
Take Care - 7 - Reminds of a little of Twenty Fourplay.
Love 2 Love - 9 - Another 'big' sounding song albeit a ballad this time.

Overall I really liked the beats and think it's a very well produced record. However, it could use a lot more melody throughout.

sextonseven, once again a great review!

sextonseven said:

"With U" has a great melody.

Love it or else!

With U gets my vote....


Get Your Inspiration On
http://phobos.apple.com/W...=193166673" target="_blank"> http://phobos.apple.com/W...=193166673

www.angelablair.com

goat2004 said:

Shot that video yesterday! Knock JD off you and start now. A very simple video with Janet just strolling down the street. I picture it in black and white. Janet just chilling with kids (and dressed apporaitely, in cool street clothes).

mancabdriver said:

I guess they are all about Bob Dlyan's titties.

Moonbeam said:

I could see myself liking it after maybe hearing it a million times. Such was the case with "Again".

sextonseven said:

Yes...that's our Janet!

I feel like people are being really harsh on Janet...she was the one pop star that was consistantly successful...no criticism...sorta flew under the radar (Madonna'a sex period/Mariah's breakdown/Whitney's addiction/etc). People in masses turned on her...after the Superbowl...and her wearing less and less clothing with each project (it was fresh with the janet. album & TVR but grew tired after).

I do see why people target her...but I have to say I think this is a really great album! Its not long...the songs are old school with a fresh flair (kinda like Gwen and Fergie...not Beyonce). She uses her voice in ways she never has before...and sounds awesome. The songs are simple but really well arranged and produced at the same time. It may be nothing ground-breaking...but its classic Janet and fun pop that is hard not to move to.

There are a few tracks I'm not nuts about (This Body, Call on Me, Take Care, the last song) but the rest is soooo good and I'd highly recommend it!

And considering all the music coming out today totally sucks....this album is a gem that may not be appreciated until a few years from now....like Erotica.

8/10 Give this disc a listen!

the record has really grown on me thanks to my commute to and from school, waiting for the bus forever (thanks muni). i'm still not crazy about call on me or do it to me but the rest has really caught on for me.