I used to piss and moan that it took Janet so long to put out albums, for being lazy.


But after hearing DamitaJo, it's evident that she really does need 4 years between albums, because she IS so damn lazy that it must take her a year to come up with a really stand-out track for her albums. there are 3 on this one. if only she'd waited another year, there'd be 4 worthwhile songs on this album.


and maybe even some higher-rate filler, compared to what's there.



what a disappointing album. i used to be such a huge fan. hell, i thought All For You was bad .. since i was only into it for a month before putting it away for good. it makes me sad, but i can honestly say that i will never have the urge to listen to DamitaJo again. for me, it's already at the point where all it's good for is the 2 or 3 decent singles that have or will come from it that i can add to my best-of compilation.


and here i was so excited when i heard Just A Little While. i thought it was pretty fresh for janet, something new. like she actually had a new idea in her head. when they gave up on that and went with I Want You, i thought "oh, that's disappointing... but... hey that song's not so bad".....

after hearing the album, it's clear that she has absolutely nothing going on, and is stuck in a deep decade-long rut. "design of a decade"... i guess she really took that phrase to heart.


sorry, Janet. you suck







(bring on the Janazis)

oh, and another thing.



for the last 3 tours, she's been putting on almost exactly the same show, just with the new songs from each album inserted where the new songs from the last album were. same "whimsy" sequence, same bump & grind sequence, same fake-crying ballad sequence, same encore in ratty jeans sequence, same choreography from the videos...


if she can't even wake up to come up with a new idea for an album, don't hold your breath that her tour this fall is going to be worth seeing. if you've seen her on any tour since 1993, you've seen 'em all.

A decade-long rut? I don't think so, and millions of other people don't, either.

I disagree about the album, I think it's amazing and I absloutely love almost every song on it. What exactly don't you like about the album, and what are the "three stand out tracks", in your opinion?

Did you post that many times on purpose?

theVelvetRoper said:

so it's not just Janet who keeps repeating herself




it's not that i dislike the album. it's ... okay. but... a janet jackson album should be something special. for the amount of time between them, and the marquee value of her name, and the people at her disposal to collaborate with....


to me, apart from "Just A Little While" there is nothing on here that we haven't heard from Janet, lyrically or musically, at least a dozen times. every album since it has been a thematic and sonic re-tread of the "janet." album..... just updated every 4 years or so. her first 3 big albums were so fresh and different from each other. can you honestly say that the last 3 have been all that different from each other? or different from the "janet." album? and the ways they ARE different from "janet." aren't positive to me.... there's really no variation from song-to-song....


the songs i can see lasting on this album are the previously-mentioned "Just A Little While"... "I Want You" (by-the-numbers mid-tempo Janet song, but still pretty strong), and possibly "R&B Junkie" and "All Nite (Don't Stop)"


i mean... what's up with the interludes anyway? they've always been annoying... but previously, they were at least fun... or worked well as intros to tracks. these? what's the point exactly? and can someone please explain to me what the point of having seperate interlude tracks at all for some, when half of them are included at the begenning and ends of the songs themselves? kind of defeats the purpose of making any of them seperate tracks, doesn't it? and wtf is she talking about in them anyway? i mean, really, as stupid and cloying as her old ones where they'd supposedly caught her off-guard on-tape in the studio, they made more sense than this gibberish she's jabbering about between the songs here... "ooh, i love humidity"


i don't remember the track off the top of my head, but she totally useses the melody for the verses of "Got Til It's Gone".... it's one toward the end, but i don't remember which, having only listened to it once. i'm listening again right now, just to give it another shot before shelving the disc completely, so if i remember to, i'll come back and update this when i get to that track.

i have to agree with togdog here..i am really dissapointed in damita jo.....and i actually semi-enjoyed All For You..after a stellar four song intro the album fades into been-there-done-that mode....

and its one thing to create a style of music or to concentrate on lyric like sade and tracy chapman have..but these r&b "baby whisper" slow jams have not only been done to death by janet herself but by every other r&b artist, including prince....

if "velvet" was janet's "ray of light"

and its easy to say "all for you" is her "music"

then "damita jo" reeks of "american life"

sosgemini said:

bite your tongue!


if Velvet was her Erotica, and All For You was her Bedtime Stories, DamitaJo is her Evita... without the improved singing

got to that track that recycles the melody from "Got Til It's Gone".... it's "Truly"


and is it just me or is "Thinkin' Bout My Ex" actually "Truth part II".... very very similary musically. in that one, she's saying she could make it without her ex... in this one... i guess she can't.

togdog said:

i have to disagree with topdog (surprise! )

much of this new cd sounds different from other janet releases. sexhibition, strawberry bounce, all nite (don't stop), slolove and just a little while are new sounds for janet. damita jo is a new twist on an old sound as is r&b junkie. the rest of the disc is typical janet style. i just don't see laziness in this work. other than subject matter, i also don't see much repetition. and, just for the sake of argument, if it does sound like previous janet cds...what's the problem? do you dislike sade because she has her sound on every record? what about maxwell or d'angelo? if janet has a signature style and she sticks to it, what is the problem?

i suggest you listen to the new record on random with all of janet's previous releases. i think damita jo will be the most distinguishable disc (perhaps excluding velvet rope).

SassierBritches said:

yes. and it's a boring one to boot




it's not just the style. it's the same damn songs over and over.




no. it sounds like leftovers from TVR and AFY

togdog said:

well, there is no law that says we all need to like the same music!

i'm always looking for new music so if you 've got some original artists out there to hip me to, please, go ahead.

SassyBritches said:

i'm looking for new music too. which is why DamitaJo is such a letdown



and find your own! i'm not sharing

sosgemini said:

As much as I like "Damita Jo" better than "American Life", I think you're right on about that sales wise and all. While the abum pairs that you listed sound nothing alike, they certaintly are similar in other ways though.

togdog said:

I'll give you that a lot of the album sounds like stuff Janet has done but they really have a different feel and bite to them. I will also give you that the interludes on this album are her worst ever (I loved the AFY interludes!).

However I don't hear "Truly" sounding anything like "Got 'Til It's Gone" and I defy you to find anything else Janet has done that sounds like "Slo Love", "Sexhibtion" or "Damita Jo", whihc I think are some of the srongest songs on the album besides "All Night" which you pointed out as a a standout track.

VinnyM27 said:

thanks...it is sorta plain to see..

Velvet and Ray were considered emotional releases, honest and conveyed artistic growth..

All and Music both had solid lead tracks but inconsistent albums yet managed to continue the artistic path of its predecesors..

Damito and American are both creatively bankrupt with dissapointing lead singles...and come to think of it both had missteps in the initial marketing push..Janet's boob and maddy's american life video...

wow...I agree with this...janet's music sucks really. Its so plain and run of the mill. She use to be innovative. Damita Jo and the last cd are just boring.


sorry....

I will say after almost one listen, I grew bored of the CD and turned it off 3/4 through. I will give it another try, but I have a feeling this CD will interest me even less than All For You did.


I'll report back after another listen

TOGDOG

agree with you 100 %

The whole 'breat tease' on every other album is boring. Even more so now after she purposely exposed herself. Have every album and every single, seen her last three tours... so before you say I'm not a fan.. The $9.98 sale price softens the blow. Same album 4 times in a row? Clearly a case of too much of a good thing is not all that good.

SassierBritches said:

The sad truth is,in today's R&B world,there really isn't much innovation or fresh ideas anymore.And that's the problem for Janet,she's simply too afraid to venture outside of this genre.(The same also applies to her brother Michael,but that's another thread,lol).That's why you hear people saying that she basically makes the same album over and over.I'm glad that you're enjoying this new CD,but don't you think it would have been REALLY exciting if Janet had been willing to go in a totally new direction for once? Maybe record a few kickass electroclash tracks? Or how about a couple of loud rock songs with some killer guitar? Or how about some eerie,hypnotic tracks recorded with some unknown European dance music producer ? You know,just something to spice things up a bit and take in her a whole other direction.Jam and Lewis were once great producers,but there time has come and gone.Babyface is great,but he's already worked with everybody else in R&B.It was wise of her to hook up with Dallas Austin though.

DavidEye said:

no way...there is great awesome soul music being made.....you just gotta look for it...

SPACEK and HERBERT are the future....But people are to bored to think outside the box....

sosgemini said:

I don't see "Damita" and "American" in similar in that way. I think that the reaction they might get considering the fact that they tried to schock a Republican America (Janet challenges them sexually and Maddy poltically). I also think that both are fine albums (I really like "Damita" in fact) but that both will suffer sales wise do to the fact that it is just hard for a diva over 35, shock or not! And yes, both did release weak first singles (in the case of "Damita", was "Just A Little While" the first American single...I think not). I also don't think both are creatively bankrupt...in fact Madonna is way to artsy. I just think the reaction will be the same to both albums.

DavidEye said:

is she afraid to venture out or does she simply make the kind of music she likes to make? janet doesn't jump with the trends...she never has and i hope she never does. is it possible that janet just doesn't like electroclash (and all the other trendy sounds that die in a week)? electroclash and american bands ripping the european pop scene was such a short lived trend in the states...fischerspooner, air, etc. i'm not saying those bands aren't still popular in certain crowds but not the way they were a few years back. besides, excluding damita jo, didn't janet make a loud guitar song called 'black cat'? and 'what about'? and 'trust a try'? why does she need to make a 'rock' album? clearly she enjoys dance, pop and r&b. i think janet can leave trend hopping sounds to other performers. its funny, i hear people say that sade makes the same record every time and, other than a few critics, people expect that. that's whay they like her. the same can be said of janet. i like her because janet is janet. i don't have to worry about what trend she's gonna jump on for the next record. if i want to listen to a trendy rock band of the moment/sound of the minute i can just go to my local record store and pick up their cd. i don't need janet to give it to me. i like air. that's why i listen to them when i want to hear their sound. and that's why i listen to janet when i want to hear her sound.

Rhondab said:

You mean Terry Lewis and Jimmy Jamm was innovative, damn sure wasn't Janet...

gman1966 said:

I see you were in the studio with them.

VoicesCarry said:

Please, what was Janet before she met Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. I can't even remember
the title of that album. It was the Minneapolis sound that help establish Janet. Don't get me wrong I like Janet but let's be real here.....

VoicesCarry said:

Please, what was Janet recording before she met Jimmy and Terry. I cannot remember the title of that bubble gum album. It was the Minneapolis sound that established Janet and in part Prince had a direct influence on her career. I like Janet but let's be real here.....

gman1966 said:

I agree that she isn't the main creative force, but I think she has more input than you give her credit for.

VoicesCarry said:

I remember the single from that album was "You don't stand another chance" Right??

gman1966 said:

"Don't Stand Another Chance", yes.