Go on girl, miss "janet." -- the REAL poll

How short the album looks without spoken word bits!

Singles: a tie between "Because of Love" or "If" ("Black Cat" done right).

Favorite album track: "This Time."

Single: "If"
Album Track: "Funky Big Band"

"If" is absolutely awesome, and has a lot of balls.

"If"'s balls are HUMONGOUS, dude.

Incidentally, I never realized that "If" was about blowjobs until quite recently.

I need to own this album already

the only thing that bothers me about If is that i CANT UNDERSTAND A FUCKING WORD SHE'S SAYING DURING THE VERSES

it sounds completely badass but i wanna know the words

Yeah, that's why I never figured out the BJ thing until now. I could only make out "and I DON'T give a damn" and the rest was all just voice sound.

"you on the rise as you touch-a my thighs" is about all I could ever make out

"Your smooth and shiny feels so good against my lips, sugar"

see that song in particular, i always think of when the old level of the vocals debate comes up. i just feel like, okay it sounds great and NO we don't always have to understand the words but come ON, i wanna at least have some idea what you're saying.

still sounds amazing.

You don't have to be told you're getting head -- you can feel it.

;-)

Never heard the whole album, but of the singles, "If," most definitely. At least five classic singles on this one, though (don't remember how "Because of Love" goes). "Again" and "You Want This" are getting to be particularly underrated.

there were about 87 singles released from this album too.

There were nine, right? Roughly two-thirds the entire (very long) album.

Has anyone ever even attempted as many singles lately? It sort of blows my mind that both this album and RN1814 were more singles than non-singles.

nine? Pretty sure it was just six (BOL, TTWLG, "Again," YWT, "If," ATAP). Maybe one or two radio-only promos but those were the only ones that actually charted, I think.

Yeah, I may have neglected to take into account how much wikipedia entries are written by fans. Still, they actually show 11 songs connected with the album charting, officially released or otherwise.

Voted "Again" although this is her worst album before she stopped working with Jam & Lewis.

Miss JACKSON if you're nasty

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

THROB THROB THROB THROB THROB

Oh "Throb." Even after all these years, I still find previously unheard fuck grunts in it. And like nothing since Debbie Deb's sainted "When I Hear Music," it perfectly recreates what it feels to lose oneself in the sweaty crosstalk of late night disco dancing. In fact, it may be even more specific than that because what it really reproduces is the vibe of a very naughty sex club, some place where you'd fear losing your govt. job were you caught there. You can hear the Crisco in the disco, the cum-stained sheets of Plato's Retreat. The one time I danced to it in a club (why was this song not spun more????), I felt like I was already in hell. But ya know, a fun, grindin', gay version thereof.

But not only is it a masterpiece in and of itself; like "Love Will Never Do," it finds use value in Miss Janet's limited vocal resources because it allows her to die into the song (as Ian Penman said of Prince). Her vocals if not her entire authorial presence are dispersed thoughout the track like a sprinkling of car parts upon a field.

In a way, then, it's the quintessential Janet Jam-Lewis song. That's why I believe the vocal levels debate doesn't apply here. Enunication (if not good singing) has never been on the menu with her (quick - recite the verses of "Alright"). Like so many of the disco divas to come up in the 1980s, she just doesn't have the pipes (John Leland wrote a typically jaw-dropping piece on this in a late 1980s Spin "Singles" column). She was just lucky (and rich) enough to get some genius (and longevity) out of it.

Second best is that huge snake "If." The best second of her career occurs at 3:21 in this song when the drums spit back into the mix. And that middle eight - Supremes sample, go-go drums, Hendrix moan guitar. And then another middle eight that gets you salivating for the return of the chorus. Pop satori, this! Hell, rock satori too!

As for the album, it's such an exhausting experience, I'm inclined to call it her Once Upon A Time... if it didn't end on such a sunny note, if "Throb" wasn't followed by her earthiest move ever, if "Funky Big Band" wasn't such a gushy love song to her saviors. Still, taken as a whole, its frequent murk and imperceptible voices feel at times like Only Built 4 Cuban Linx.

"If"

VERY nice, Kevin :)

i rly wish i could vote but i don't know the album yet

Catch a falling star that shines
Make a wish clap three times
Dreams come true, it's in the mind, that's
Alright with men

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Well, at least "If" got almost half the votes.

VERY nice, Kevin :)

Y tu, babe! Thanx!

Only 13 voters? Sadness.

And where was the fake poll?

Whoops Now got two votes, apparently.

(Oh, and what Alfred sed w.r.t the "Throb" defense, Kev.)

I want to compile a list of songs that capture "the sweaty crosstalk of late night disco dancing." For some reason, I got stuck at Fallout Shelter's "What Do You Want."

Never heard that one. I'll go find it tonight.

So what exactly happened with the other poll?

And thanx for the kind comments.

You made one mistake, Kevin: janet's better than Once Upon a Time.

Yeah I suppose it is. Although I haven't heard the latter in a while. I don't know...

The Summer is probably more consistent which may not be a good thing. But "Fairy Tale High..." Damn it, Soto - now I gotta drag this out (in more ways than one, I suppose). :)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=l-_AqYNXsCA

"What'll I Do" = best Motown song of the '90s.

Ah! That video is GREAT!!!!!! I want (to be able) to do that!!!!!

I remember "You Want This" as good. Was it robbed?

Yes.

(As well as "Any Time, Any Place")

I had the mods close the other poll when I realized it didn't have "Again," even though I hate that song.

A whole lot of songs got robbed in this one.

miss janet. has been missing in my life

man...this album

it's so weird to hear kendrick's "any time, any place" sample on the radio and think, damn that song is 20 years old

I've always felt this is the weakest of her classic era. obv still some immense jams on it tho.

It coughed up enough singles to say that more than half of'em are underrated or forgotten. I never heard "You Want This" on the radio, for ex.

i like this less than 'velvet rope' and it gets way too soupy at the end, but the jams are JAMS

never cared for "Again" tbh

"If" is a monster though -- I wish more songs were influenced by it.

"that's the way love goes" is so crazy good... maybe the best song on either of those two albums

you mean her entire 90s output lol

don't forget "Runaway", which is amazing

was gonna mention it in the 1995 thread started today

Played it for the first time in years yesterday, and kinda dazzled by how well it holds up. Her Erotica, basically.

Weird. Heard "Because of Love" in the wild yesterday.