Crap! I didn't see this! Mods, feel free to lock up mine.

baby..hey baby...dont get me in her actin silly now

She sound so cute in that interlude. Her laugh is adorable!

wow this takes me back, i can remember what was goin on in my life when each single came out, this album ran like 3 years

xlr8r said:

"You're not taping this are you? (girly giggle) EDIT!"



That album had the best interludes as far as her albums since then have shown.

xlr8r said:

Fav. interlude!

It's signature classic Janet for sure!

I remember how "Miss You Much" was constantly played and when I saw that video I was hooked to Janet especially when I saw the entire "Rhythm Nation" movie, then after seeing the choreography to RN and MYM and Escapade and Alright, I tried to redo the videos in my own mind.
[Edited 9/12/09 21:49pm]

midiscover said:

I used to be in the mirror back in the day tryna do her dance steps.

Countthedays said:

Me too!

My mom used to worry about me shaking my little ass to Janet
She was like "Boy, you are so feminine!!"

midiscover said:

I tried to imitate her during "The Pleasure Principle". I even did that move where she goes down and comes back up, I didn't do it exactly like she did but it was close and FORGET about flipping off that fucking chair!

did prince write "what have you done for me lately?"?

Rightly said:

No.

midiscover said:

thanks for the prompt reply.
Prince once said he did. strange.

I wrote this for another forum where there aren't many Janet fans.



September 12th marks the 20th anniversary of a landmark album in musical history: Janet's Jackson's seminal Rhythm Nation 1814. I understand that I'm likely the only person here who appreciates Janet, but this album was so instrumental for me getting into music that I'll give it a proper tribute anyway!

Flash back to 1989: I'm 9 years old and just starting to follow the current music scene, staying up late to catch MTV's top 20 countdown against my mom's wishes and discovering the joys of The Cure, Madonna, Richard Marx, Aerosmith, Joan Jett, Mötley Crüe and this strange Prince fellow. Late in the heat of August, a new video debuted by this artist named Janet Jackson, who was Michael's little sister. The video, done in classy black and white, showcased the emergence of a true pop superstar, as "Miss You Much" would lead off the album with a huge bang, racing up to Number 1 in the fall. The choreography was funkier than anything her older brother had done, and with an image that a 9-year old kid would adore (hey, she has a key for an earring! Cool!), Janet really made me realize that I liked girls quite a bit. If that wasn't enough, the chair routine at the end of the video sealed the deal: this 9-year old boy was in love.



As the album was pushed over the ensuing two years, each single release seemed to take me on a journey with Janet. "Rhythm Nation" synthesized Janet’s inclination for funk (thanks to a Sly Stone sample), her dance expertise (culminating in the iconic choreography that would go on to become her "trademark") and her socially conscious message, which would garner her praise from critics and scores of inspired fans struggling through the plight of the 80s. I, myself, performed dance routines to this song on a couple of occasions in front of sizable crowds. "Escapade" was pure pop confection- a perfect slice of ear candy celebrating the universal need for a reprieve from the 9-to-5.



"Alright", with its endless hooks and feel-good message of the enduring power of real friendship, featured a truly epic video paying tribute to a decadently clad in yellow Cab Calloway within the framework of a celebration of 1930s urban life. "Come Back to Me" reveals Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis as masters of late 80s balladry, and Janet delivers an ethereal, honest, and understated vocal that underpins the true yearning aimed for within the song.



Showcasing the diversity of the album, "Black Cat" was written solely by Janet and roars through the speakers as a hard rock stomper. As a 10-year old who got his kicks out of hair metal (remember that Mötley Crüe was a real favorite!), this marriage of Janet’s street-but-sweet consciousness and the over-the-top rock bombast was my absolute favorite. Finally, in early 1991, "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" saw the ever-reserved Janet let her hair down and reveal herself as the truly sexy woman she was. Her ensuing career may have diminished the impact that such a thing had at the time, but prior to this video, Janet was always clad to the max in full-length suits, so it felt like a genuine epiphany at the time of a woman growing into her own.



Outside of the singles, the remainder of the album is just as strong. As collaborators Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis noted at the time, Janet could have very easily gotten by with a 10-track album called Escapade that featured typical pop fodder of the day, but she insisted on putting her message out on the forefront. My favorite track on the album is "State of the World", an of-the-time glimpse into the difficulties facing so many people in the 80s. Elsewhere, "The Knowledge" chugs along to some sparse funk and encourages its listeners to further their education, while "Livin’ in a World (The...��t Make)" is a desperate call to us all to strive to make the world better for children- a simple message to be sure, but a genuine one, as is evidenced by her heartfelt vocals. The remaining ballads "Lonely" and "Someday Is Tonight" (which acts as a sequel to Control’s "Let’s Wait Awhile" a few years prior) are excellent examples of R&B slow jams of the late 80s.

Rhythm Nation 1814 is the pre-eminent collaboration between Janet and her tried-and-true team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. While the album definitely sounds as if it came from 1989, the album still packs a great punch and Janet injects each song with enough personality to make it memorable. If Control chronicled Janet’s personal call for independence and established her as an artist in her own right, Rhythm Nation 1814 expounded upon her views of the world and cemented her legacy as a bona fide superstar, breaking several records.

The Rhythm Nation Tour launched in support of the album would prove to be the most successful debut tour of all time. It was the biggest selling album in the United States in 1990. Each of its 7 singles cracked the Top 5 in the United States, a record that no other album has matched. It spawned 4 number 1 singles, including one in each of 1989, 1990 and 1991, becoming the first (and only) album to have a number in single in 3 separate years.

If this alone is not enough to cement its status as a benchmark album, the fact that it proved inspirational to thousands of people struggling to get by will ensure that it is remembered fondly. Unlike so many pop stars today with their token charities and obligatory PC messages, Janet actually took a risk by imbuing her messages into the actual content of the album, making her a heroine to many, including me. Simple and naïve as they may be, they are the ponderings of an idealist 23-year old woman concerned about the world around her and optimistic about the efficacy of her actions. I suppose the fact that I also tend to have my head in the clouds and am an eternal optimist endears the album to me as it does. Dare it say it- Rhythm Nation 1814 is late 80s pop’s landmark in the lineage of socially conscious predecessors such as What’s Goin’ On, There’s a Riot Goin’ On and Stevie Wonder’s 70s work.



This was one of the first albums I ever owned, and it has remained vital to me throughout the past 20 years- so much that, in fact, it is my favorite album not by Prince! As time progressed, my initial star-struck fanaticism was replaced by a mere appreciation of the finely crafted pop gems and the boldness and guileless altruism with which it was delivered. It’s become a cliché to announce that an album has "changed your life", so to speak, but this album really did. So here’s to you, Janet, and the anniversary of your landmark album. It helped to educate me in music and ideals, and I would definitely be a lesser person without its place in the world. I carry a copy of it around with me everywhere I go, and through all of life’s peaks and valleys over the past two decades, I’m still happy to enlist in this utopia you propose. I won’t let my eyes deceive me.

This post would not be complete without an "edit".
[Edited 9/13/09 14:50pm]

Great review, Moonbeam!

Timmy84 said:

very great review!

I wish young people got a chance to "experience" this album as there arent really any album movements anymore.

Rightly said:

No, he used to play it on the Nude Tour with "Partyman", and he'd yell "WHO WROTE THAT?" a few times, giving people 1 of 2 impressions. 1) either he wrote it, or 2) he was just making a nod to Jimmy and Terry.

paisleypark4 said:

That's so true.

51!!!!

CHIC0 said:

remember the whole fiasco with the black panther she had on tour with her- they made her stop before I could see it- that part of the show was sans cat when it rolled around to Chicago

Evvy said:

Janet had to cut a panther from the show after several incidences including the panther urinating on the stage. Citing concerns from fans, and her own love of animals Janet eventually axed the cat in the summer leg of the tour.


bad wording IMO.


[Edited 9/13/09 15:39pm]

paisleypark4 said:

i agree and i wish she'd get back to albums that say something between Rhythm Nation and the Velvet Rope i think she made huge impacts on people

ehuffnsd said:

I know..I came out of the closet because of the Velvet Rope. She made me look at myself when she said "you cant blame nobody but you!!"

Unleash this scared child that you've grown into
You cannot run for you can hide from you

Man that song and "Velvet Rope" really really made me go to school the next week and tell 3 of my closest friends I was gay. I need to 'feel' that feeling again. The last album I really felt was the last Erykah badu album. That moved me seriously.

Love. This. Album!

Here's my review on my blog:

My oh my, how years go by! I still can’t believe that this fabulous album above me was released over 20 years ago this month. I can remember the FIRST time I had seen Janet, it was as that 20, 21-year-old who broke out from her family to become a pop star in her own right with her fabulous Control album. And I can remember how excited I was when I heard she was coming back with a new one. The first track, “Miss You Much”, had already been a slice of pop heaven, but what made it for me was when she put out that mini-film that fall. It was a different Janet, someone who was looking to make a change while still having a good time. Produced with a black-and-white setting, it was perfect promotion for the album and the singles afterwards showed a wide variety from dancing to military to partying to fantasizing to longing to revenge to an sexual climax. The album itself showed that same variety and with producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, it more than held up to what Control had been even more so, it also led Janet to the path of the superstardom that has become a part of her since, going on to sell nearly fifteen million copies worldwide, spanning seven top five singles (the only album to ever do that) and spanning a successful debut tour for its artist.

Being a fan of Janet as much as I am of MJ, I finally had to do a review of at least one of her albums so this will be a start!

Now since HALF this album features interludes, I’m just gonna review the songs, lol.

SONG REVIEW:

1.) “Rhythm Nation” (Jackson/Harris/Lewis) – Starting off with the sound of bells and a pledge for unity and harmony, the music comes in after this interlude especially after Jackson begins counting down with producers screwing her voice down as the countdown edged. Then, it becomes a free-for-all funk fest! Featuring a clever sample of Sly Stone’s “Thank You Fallettin’ Me Be Mice Elf Agin”, Jackson sings a song about coming together and stopping the effects of racism. It’s a defiant Jackson that is determined to get her point across in whichever way possible (”it’s time to give a damn/let’s work together” she sings harmoniously). It’s one of those songs where you can go back to the video about, the video with Jackson sporting the all-black militant-like suit with her dancers doing complicated choreography in what remains one of her greatest musical video works. The song is just as great itself and it became a popular hit in the fall of 1989 reaching #2. The song caveats what most of the album would be about: a defiant socially and self-conscious masterwork. After the end of the song, Jackson’s album segues into her changing channels before finally getting into…

2.) “State of the World” (Jackson/Harris/Lewis) – Following “Rhythm Nation”, Jackson sings a song where she talks about subjects such as homelessness and a lonely and abandoned daughter of a teenage runaway mother. It’s issues that have Jackson crying for change and understanding in almost much the same way as her brother Michael or even one of her other idols, Marvin Gaye, did nearly 20 years before. Like “Rhythm Nation”, there’s a funky feeling to the song, which, like that song, has a new jack swing flow to it. It was one of the most popular songs on this album and could’ve been a great single but only was released to radio airplay charts, reaching #5, had it not been for it not being released as a single, it would’ve likely been her eighth top five single. Nonetheless, it remains a Jackson classic. After a brief monologue about race, Jackson cuts into the next track.

3.) “The Knowledge” (Harris/Lewis) – a funk-styled new jack swing dancer, it continues the social consciousness of the early part of the album. Jackson shows fine vocals here. In many ways it is the sequel to “Rhythm Nation” though ironically it predated that song on its video where Jackson dances, first with other dancers, and then by herself before dropping into a heap in perfect timing. The entire song is one of those song where you can “work it out”. Hell by now, you’re probably already in a sweat. My favorite part of the song is when Jackson and her backgrounds go into this: “Prejudice. NO! Ignorance. NO! Bigotry. NO! Illiteracy. NO!” It’s what made this song to me and I’m sure it’s what made this song another one of those Jackson classics. Then after the song ends, Jackson chortles, “get the point? Good, let’s dance…”

4.) “Miss You Much” (Harris/Lewis) – Another Jimmy and Terry composition, this continues the funk flow of the album and is more funk-oriented than the previous three, which had a hip-hop/new jack swing flow. This track however is what you call a classic funk song in the style of Harris and Lewis’ “Minneapolis Sound”. It’s again one of those songs where you can never imagine it without the video, which featured the now-classic chair dance routine where Jackson and her dancers cutting loose creating another classic music video moment. And this song is just as classic as the video itself reaching #1 in the fall of 1989. “That’s the end? NO!” The song then segues into a short instrumental of “Come Back to Me”, which appears later in the album. The segue prepares itself for the next song, which like “Miss You Much”, carries a romantic sentiment.

5.) “Love Will Never Do (Without You)” (Harris/Lewis) – Rumored to be a duet between Prince and Jackson (how’s that for weird irony?), Jackson sung the first half of the song in a deep vocal that she wasn’t used to singing while singing the second half with her trademark soprano. Jackson’s vocals always had a Diana Ross approach to it in some ways to me though Jackson’s “coos” are more enunciated than Diana’s. My favorite part is when they get to the “call and response” vocals and it crescendoes from there. The song’s video showed a sexier Jackson than most were used to, seeing her with her hair in blond-ish curls around a scarf, wearing a halter showing off her impressive abs and wearing her hip-hugging leather jeans while seducing handsome models such as Antonio Sabato, Jr. and Djimnou Hounsou (later Kimora Lee Simmons’ new hubby). The song became so popular it reached #1 in the winter of 1991! And this was after the album had become such a big hit in 1989, 1990.

6.) “Living in a World We Didn’t Make” (Harris/Lewis) – After the end of the track, this song begins with kids playing in a playground and the song starts off in a sentimentally dark mood as if you can tell something bad was going to happen. It then cuts into Jackson talking about the loss of innocence in inner city communities and how the children grow up imitating and joining gangs. Jackson pleads for help for her children throughout the song, which becomes more tragic as Jackson sings “save the babies”, a hail of gunfire erupts the children’s play ending with a news reporter reporting the chaos near the school. It’s a graphic tale but it does get its point across. Despite the album’s more carefree affair, this track continues to bring the social conscious flow that has become part of that album’s concept.

7.) “Alright” (Jackson/Harris/Lewis) – After that brooding mood ends, it’s back to party mode and back to the new jack swing flavor of the album. The song features a sample of Lyn Collins’ funk hit “Think (About It)”, called one of the most sampled songs in the history of popular music. The song is known more for its groovy melodies (and its entertaining video, which has Jackson and her dancers going back to the musical days of the early 20th century) than what Jackson sings about, which is about a monogamous relationship. Either way, it’s still a fun song that you can’t help BUT get down to and it became a big hit reaching #4. It becomes a funk workout halfway through the album after Jackson stops singing. Then suddenly it cuts with a short interlude: “baby? Hey baby, don’t get me in here acting silly now (giggles), you’re not taping this, are you? (laughs) EDIT!”

8.) “Escapade” (Jackson/Harris/Lewis) – Starting off with a circus/parade-like melody, it then begins with a sound that is similar to the snow chains in Martha and the Vandellas’ “Nowhere to Run” where the drums brittle in the same way as the chains. Another carefree dancer that is full of funk, it also has the same type of feeling that classic Motown and classic sixties pop carried with elements of seventies and eighties funk caveating the premises (Jackson at times sing under a vocoder that was no doubt emulated by Harris and Lewis). After this song, the mood again alters: “(CRASH!) Ain’t no acid in this house…”

9.) “Black Cat” (Jackson) – With the roar of a mountain lion, this track snarls its way through hard rock drums and guitar. In an unusual development, Jackson is the singular writer behind this song, co-produced by longtime Flyte Tyme musician Jellybean Johnson, who does an impressive guitar solo later on in this song. Jackson sings in a snarl not unlike her big brother’s while talking to her lover, whom she chides at for “living on the edge” and one step away from getting caught by the law. It’s a chilling song which impressed critics once the album came out. The video shows Jackson in performing mode during her successful concert showing the power of rock and dance together. The song became another #1 hit for Jackson in the late summer of 1990. The original song ends in a funkier instrumental before a rainstorm suddenly erupts leading on to the sentimental part of the album…

10.) “Lonely” (Harris/Lewis) – Heading into quiet storm mode, Jackson sings about needing a friend in need, not unlike her later hit “I Get Lonely” but more sentimentally about needing someone to be there for her. The singer even speaks romantically in Spanish to her lover and the song itself has a Latin flow to it. It’s one of my favorite songs on the album and it features some of the best melodies on the album. It wasn’t released as a single but, I believed, it was released as a b-side, nevertheless, I do remember this song playing on the radio and falling in love with it – and Janet – in the process.

11.) “Come Back to Me” (Jackson/Harris/Lewis) – “Lonely” quickly changes to what has now become an R&B classic starting off with her pleading moans, Jackson pleads for longing even more so than on “Lonely” and puts her point across in several lines (”Lord knows that I have tried/to live my life as one/friends tell me to hold on/tough times don’t last for long”). You feel Jackson’s pain in the song as she continues pleading. At one point, during the ending, it almost sounds as if Janet is weeping as she says “I don’t know what else to say”. The symphony then helps to end this beautiful but painful song, then suddenly the man DOES come back (”I’ve been waiting for you…”)

12.) “Someday is Tonight” (Jackson/Harris/Lewis) – The so-called sequel to “Let’s Wait Awhile”, the song features Jackson and her mate apparently getting it on. Despite her full fledged embrace of sexuality in the later albums, there was always a sexual element in Janet’s music and like “Funny How Time Flies” ended for Control, “Someday” did the same for this album where Jackson seduces her listeners. After the end of this song, Jackson gets into her classic seductive moans reminiscent of Sylvia and Donna Summer while Herb Alpert plays his trademark trumpet to end the song, which ends with just drums and Jackson finally reaching a soft climax. Then afterwards, the conclusion of the album comes with kids repeating the line “living in a world we didn’t make”. Janet comes in the end: “in complete darkness we are all the same/it is only our knowledge and wisdom that separates us/don’t let your eyes deceive you” (GONG! GONG! GONG!) And there ends one of the greatest pop albums ever released.

—-

This album remains one of Janet Jackson’s celebrated masterworks to this day and after the period of 1989-1991, what Janet had accomplished was just as iconic as her brother’s Thriller period from a few years before. 20 years on, it’s still a timeless album to me and I’m happy to be a fine owner of this great album. Get the point? Good.

Awesome, Timmy!

20 years!!! MY word. Time is just passing us by.