whitechocolatebrotha said:

phunkdaddy said:

Hey phunkdaddy! Y'know...I totally 4got about "Thinkin' "Bout My Ex" and y'know...THAT ONE could have been the BIG ballad, but as per usual, they really EFFED that one up! LOVE "You Ain't Right!"

I agree that All 4 U was her last masterpiece. Son of A Gun imo was the one misstep

on the album and it got released as a single. I think it killed the momentum of

the album. I also think You Ain't Right should have been a single too. That was my

favorite uptempo jam on the album. Damita Jo was a mixed bag for me. I like the rock tinged A Little While, Spending Time With You, R&B Junkie, Thinking Bout My Ex, and

a few others. The album wasn't bad at all it just wasn't quite up to the standard of other

Janet classics. There were a few songs that raised an eyebrow like Strawberry Bounce and All Nite(Don't Stop) which were poor single choices imo. It was a fairly good album but

not a cohesive one.

Whoops (Now) Hee hee! Put it in the wrong spot up there! LOL! Sorry! v

Hey phunkdaddy! Y'know...I totally 4got about "Thinkin' "Bout My Ex" and y'know...THAT ONE could have been the BIG ballad, but as per usual, they really EFFED that one up! LOVE "You Ain't Right!"

Hudson said:

All For You was the last time she was great. I'll never forget how disappointed 95% of the fans were with Damita Jo in 2004. Even those who thought it was ok expected a lot more because it was Janet.

I remember the complete opposite - people hating AFY after the amazing TVR and title track.

And loving DJ

I'm not saying DJ is on the same level as TVR - but a massive massive improvement from AFY.

Looking at Janet recently. I think she is hiding another surprise...

PatrickS77 said:

Whenever you have too many producers you got issues. Also with Janet and a few others, they are from the bloated album era, sorry but it is true and everyone knows it, no one these records are put on and stay the course. 80 minutes of new material from anyone is bloated, even an 80 minute greatest hits cd is bloated. I dont know who's faulit this was in that decade, I MAINLY blame labels forcing or suggesting that to account for the raise in CD prices that every artist should have to fill the fucking thing up which is why for me most of the 90's is a washout, there are a few exceptions but the 90's where the decade of "lack of edit control". I mean at this time i was in music retail and every and i mean EVEry person that would come in for the new "hip hop" release, would look at how many tracks, that was it, it better have 18 or 20 cause if had 10 they werent buying it, and again that is true.

Cinny said:

PatrickS77 said:

Yep. I like it a lot too. Is there ego speaking on his part? The first one since control, where Jam and Lewis didn't basically run the show as producers and songwriters and other people were included. Is it that hard to share the spotlight?

Flyte Tyme added a couple "cooks" for this project themselves (Avila brothers).. meanwhile he has a hard time listening to 2004 Kanye West??? Not to mention Dallas Austin who contributed the lead single! What is he even talking about?

Exactly. This is just ego talking. And hindsight. "The album didn't sell well, but other people were working on the album, so ugh, we're not to blame for it's failure."

[Edited 3/16/14 16:56pm]

lastdecember said:

Whenever you have too many producers you got issues. Also with Janet and a few others, they are from the bloated album era, sorry but it is true and everyone knows it, no one these records are put on and stay the course. 80 minutes of new material from anyone is bloated, even an 80 minute greatest hits cd is bloated. I dont know who's faulit this was in that decade, I MAINLY blame labels forcing or suggesting that to account for the raise in CD prices that every artist should have to fill the fucking thing up which is why for me most of the 90's is a washout, there are a few exceptions but the 90's where the decade of "lack of edit control". I mean at this time i was in music retail and every and i mean EVEry person that would come in for the new "hip hop" release, would look at how many tracks, that was it, it better have 18 or 20 cause if had 10 they werent buying it, and again that is true.

When we have an artist that only releases an album every 4 years, then I damn well want it to be filled up to the very last minute. If there is a song I like less, I will decide whether I will listen to it again, but it better be on the album. Thank god the days of 25 minute albums are over. The only thing I dislike is, when a song, that could be done by the 4 minute mark drags on for another 2 minutes with repeats of a single lyric line or some useless beats that are only there to make the song longer.

PatrickS77 said:

lastdecember said:

Whenever you have too many producers you got issues. Also with Janet and a few others, they are from the bloated album era, sorry but it is true and everyone knows it, no one these records are put on and stay the course. 80 minutes of new material from anyone is bloated, even an 80 minute greatest hits cd is bloated. I dont know who's faulit this was in that decade, I MAINLY blame labels forcing or suggesting that to account for the raise in CD prices that every artist should have to fill the fucking thing up which is why for me most of the 90's is a washout, there are a few exceptions but the 90's where the decade of "lack of edit control". I mean at this time i was in music retail and every and i mean EVEry person that would come in for the new "hip hop" release, would look at how many tracks, that was it, it better have 18 or 20 cause if had 10 they werent buying it, and again that is true.

When we have an artist that only releases an album every 4 years, then I damn well want it to be filled up to the very last minute.

I must agree. Funny this came up.. I personally think Damita Jo could have been a great double album. I have no problem listening to it front to back. Don't find it hard to listen to at all. I don't know why the lead single is the last cut on the album.. that's the only weird thing about the sequence.

PatrickS77 said:

When we have an artist that only releases an album every 4 years, then I damn well want it to be filled up to the very last minute. If there is a song I like less, I will decide whether I will listen to it again, but it better be on the album. Thank god the days of 25 minute albums are over.

Not everyone tries to fill up the 80 minute space just because it's there. Country albums are generally short, and can fit on one vinyl LP instead of being an automatic double LP. Sade's last album was around 40 minutes and so was the last Swing Out Sister. And Sade releases albums every 10 years. I'd rather have the old length, than having an album last the same time as a movie.

MickyDolenz said:

PatrickS77 said:

When we have an artist that only releases an album every 4 years, then I damn well want it to be filled up to the very last minute. If there is a song I like less, I will decide whether I will listen to it again, but it better be on the album. Thank god the days of 25 minute albums are over.

Not everyone tries to fill up the 80 minute space just because it's there. Country albums are generally short, and can fit on one vinyl LP instead of being an automatic double LP. Sade's last album was around 40 minutes and so was the last Swing Out Sister. And Sade releases albums every 10 years. I'd rather have the old length, than having an album last the same time as a movie.

Well, no one is stopping you from only listening to half of the album. But why should everyone be deprived of a lot of music just because your attention span isn't long enough for a capacity album??

Cinny said:

PatrickS77 said:

When we have an artist that only releases an album every 4 years, then I damn well want it to be filled up to the very last minute.

I must agree. Funny this came up.. I personally think Damita Jo could have been a great double album. I have no problem listening to it front to back. Don't find it hard to listen to at all. I don't know why the lead single is the last cut on the album.. that's the only weird thing about the sequence.

-

-

Yeah, this marks one of the first times I disagree with Jimmy Jam on something musical concerning Janet. I enjoyed it, in spite of the scrabbling or "tainting" the label did to try to make it more appealing after the SB. According to Dallas Austin, this was supposed to be her, "Dirty Mind" record....http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1484432/producer-new-janet-jackson-lp-sexiest-yet.jhtml.

-

This was the first time for Jam & Lewis to have their work with Janet not be well received overall. Probably brings back a lot of bad memories for them too as close friends and collaborators.

-

On another note I loved Jimmy Jam's work on the synth in this classic remix of, "Miss You Much" especially the last two minutes or so. The funk was still alive and well on this one.

-

PatrickS77 said:

MickyDolenz said:

Not everyone tries to fill up the 80 minute space just because it's there. Country albums are generally short, and can fit on one vinyl LP instead of being an automatic double LP. Sade's last album was around 40 minutes and so was the last Swing Out Sister. And Sade releases albums every 10 years. I'd rather have the old length, than having an album last the same time as a movie.

Well, no one is stopping you from only listening to half of the album. But why should everyone be deprived of a lot of music just because your attention span isn't long enough for a capacity album??

So you're saying that the performers that don't make long albums have stort attention spans? There's acts that still make mono albums or record with tube equipment. Just because some make CD length albums doesn't mean that everyone has to or does, so it's not over. A double CD can equate to 3 records, which is a lot of money with today's vinyl prices. Shorter albums have existed way longer than long ones because CDs didn't exist. That's why they can often fit 2 old albums on one CD The older acts occasionally released a double LP album, but it was not the norm. There were multiple record albums like opera/classical and language instruction records, but they were usually bought by smaller audiences.

[Edited 3/17/14 9:09am]

IMO all albums should have at least 12 tracks (songs.) I detest 8-11 track albums. IMO that's very primitive; the idea of an ALBUM being under 40 minutes is hideous to me. I have maxi-singles that are longer than that.

[Edited 3/17/14 9:17am]

Artesian said:

IMO all albums should have at least 12 tracks (songs.) I detest 8-11 track albums. IMO that's very primitive; the idea of an ALBUM being under 40 minutes is hideous to me. I have maxi-singles that are longer than that.

The Beatles had 12-14 songs on an album and they were 30 minutes.

Also what about jazz, psychedelic, prog, & disco albums that had 2 songs that were 20 minutes long?

MickyDolenz said:

PatrickS77 said:

Well, no one is stopping you from only listening to half of the album. But why should everyone be deprived of a lot of music just because your attention span isn't long enough for a capacity album??

So you're saying that the performers that don't make long albums have stort attention spans? There's acts that still make mono albums or record with tube equipment. Just because some make CD length albums doesn't mean that everyone has to or does, so it's not over. A double CD can equate to 3 records, which is a lot of money with today's vinyl prices. Shorter albums have existed way longer than long ones because CDs didn't exist. That's why they can often fit 2 old albums on one CD The older acts occasionally released a double LP album, but it was not the norm. There were multiple record albums like opera/classical and language instruction records, but they were usually bought by smaller audiences.

[Edited 3/17/14 9:09am]

Wow! Your attention span is not even long enough to understand what I was saying? Obviously the people complaining that albums are too long are the ones with the short attention spans, not the artists.

Artesian said:

IMO all albums should have at least 12 tracks (songs.) I detest 8-11 track albums. IMO that's very primitive; the idea of an ALBUM being under 40 minutes is hideous to me. I have maxi-singles that are longer than that.

[Edited 3/17/14 9:17am]

Agreed.

PatrickS77 said:

Wow! Your attention span is not even long enough to understand what I was saying? Obviously the people complaining that albums are too long are the ones with the short attention spans, not the artists.

I didn't complain. You did about short albums and said you were glad they were over. I said I'd rather have shorter albums, not that I didn't like CD length ones. That's not a complaint. It's like someone saying that they like both oatmeal and peanut butter cookies, but rather have the oatmeal. I listen to long songs often and have played the entire Emancipation album by Prince at least 10 times. One of my favorite movies is It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World, which is over 3 hours long. So I don't know where you got the idea that I have a short attention span, considering all the time I've spent reading and posting long articles here about polka music, the early recording industry, and other things.

[Edited 3/17/14 12:31pm]

PatrickS77 said:

lastdecember said:

Whenever you have too many producers you got issues. Also with Janet and a few others, they are from the bloated album era, sorry but it is true and everyone knows it, no one these records are put on and stay the course. 80 minutes of new material from anyone is bloated, even an 80 minute greatest hits cd is bloated. I dont know who's faulit this was in that decade, I MAINLY blame labels forcing or suggesting that to account for the raise in CD prices that every artist should have to fill the fucking thing up which is why for me most of the 90's is a washout, there are a few exceptions but the 90's where the decade of "lack of edit control". I mean at this time i was in music retail and every and i mean EVEry person that would come in for the new "hip hop" release, would look at how many tracks, that was it, it better have 18 or 20 cause if had 10 they werent buying it, and again that is true.

When we have an artist that only releases an album every 4 years, then I damn well want it to be filled up to the very last minute. If there is a song I like less, I will decide whether I will listen to it again, but it better be on the album. Thank god the days of 25 minute albums are over. The only thing I dislike is, when a song, that could be done by the 4 minute mark drags on for another 2 minutes with repeats of a single lyric line or some useless beats that are only there to make the song longer.

Well its at her own sacrifice, to me if you want a good album theres got to be some focus, and having bahroom breaks and skits and interludes, and this is not just Janet, Prince killed the symbol album with that stupid Kirstie Alley nonsense, at least 5 of those songs on that album could have been b sides or stuffed in that vault thats never gonna be opened. He also ruined the Gold Experience with that interlude nonsense too, and a couple of songs could have been tossed off, We March being one of his worst songs in history.

Point is a good album is a good album regardless of the length, if you have 80 minutes of WORTHY material which she does not or at least when she is doing an album she doesnt and most artists that did them didnt have worthy material, length of an album doesnt it make it better, 80 minutes of shit is shit. If they only do a record every 4 years i want a GOOD ALBUM not everything they shit on over that time period, save all that crap for a box set. Like i told someone the other day about PRINCE's vault, "if the shit was good, he would have completed it" alot ALOT of what he has stashed is not complete, not that good, some of it is good, but some should stay buried in his vault, cause U know if it puts it out and charges 20 bucks a cd for it, people are going to bitch the songs suck.

PatrickS77 said:

MickyDolenz said:

So you're saying that the performers that don't make long albums have stort attention spans? There's acts that still make mono albums or record with tube equipment. Just because some make CD length albums doesn't mean that everyone has to or does, so it's not over. A double CD can equate to 3 records, which is a lot of money with today's vinyl prices. Shorter albums have existed way longer than long ones because CDs didn't exist. That's why they can often fit 2 old albums on one CD The older acts occasionally released a double LP album, but it was not the norm. There were multiple record albums like opera/classical and language instruction records, but they were usually bought by smaller audiences.

[Edited 3/17/14 9:09am]

Wow! Your attention span is not even long enough to understand what I was saying? Obviously the people complaining that albums are too long are the ones with the short attention spans, not the artists.

No its got NOTHING to do with attention span cause i listen to 100's of new albums every weeks all the way through whether i like the artist or not, WHAT i am saying is back then and this is FACT look it up, LABELS forced artists into filling up the cds because they wanted to freeze pricing, that is what i am saying, and ALSO that 99% of these 80 minute albums sucked, or were just ok, could have been loads better with half the record gone, whether it be Janet or Prince or whomever the artist, they were bloated albums filled with tons of shit that never should have been released, and forced on consumers as a "treat" to paying high prices so labels got paid more. That is what is being said, attention span has nothing to do with it, i listen to albums all day.

As for albums needing 12 tracks sorry that is BS too, tell that to every album that was a classic through the 70's and 80's that had 9 or 10 tracks, tell PRINCE to add a few more songs to Purple Rain, i guarantee if that was a 15 track album with instrumentals and b sides that album would NOT have been what it was and neither would he.

Janet threads inspire so many fights and anger (Waits to be called names , how Janet is the queen, and how she sold more albums than everyone in the universe)

Gunsnhalen said:

Yes, let the anger flow through the eyes.

thesoulbrother said:

Some of the things that got left off Janet's albums were very good songs. One of my favorites was a track called "Who" that is just killer!

"Who" would've been my favorite song on the album and they cut it!

lastdecember said:

No its got NOTHING to do with attention span cause i listen to 100's of new albums every weeks all the way through whether i like the artist or not, WHAT i am saying is back then and this is FACT look it up, LABELS forced artists into filling up the cds because they wanted to freeze pricing, that is what i am saying, and ALSO that 99% of these 80 minute albums sucked, or were just ok, could have been loads better with half the record gone, whether it be Janet or Prince or whomever the artist, they were bloated albums filled with tons of shit that never should have been released, and forced on consumers as a "treat" to paying high prices so labels got paid more. That is what is being said, attention span has nothing to do with it, i listen to albums all day.

As for albums needing 12 tracks sorry that is BS too, tell that to every album that was a classic through the 70's and 80's that had 9 or 10 tracks, tell PRINCE to add a few more songs to Purple Rain, i guarantee if that was a 15 track album with instrumentals and b sides that album would NOT have been what it was and neither would he.

Yeah, the newest Kidz Bop CD has 16 songs and is around 50 minutes. Does it really need more songs to fill up the extra 30 minutes of space just because it's there? Although I think the Target version has 3 or 4 bonus songs.

AlexdeParis said:

thesoulbrother said:

Some of the things that got left off Janet's albums were very good songs. One of my favorites was a track called "Who" that is just killer!

"Who" would've been my favorite song on the album and they cut it!

Sounds better than anything Beyonce has done...

'Son of A Gun'...has always, always, always sounded like an reworked, updated and 'modern' version of Vanity 6's 'Make-Up'...

Those who have ears to hear, will know exactly what I mean.

AlexdeParis said:

thesoulbrother said:

Some of the things that got left off Janet's albums were very good songs. One of my favorites was a track called "Who" that is just killer!

"Who" would've been my favorite song on the album and they cut it!

Ooooo! Shit's TIGHT!!!

i actually agree with jimmy, that album was all over the place.i still want at least one more janet/jam/lewis only record