There hasn't been a JANET JACKSON ALBUMS POLL

This basically boils down to Control vs Rhythm Nation vs The Velvet Rope and the latter seems the height of her creative powers even if Control has the most jams per square inch.

Sorry. That sounded corny.

You forgot janet in your analysis, which really marks the beginning of Mach III Jackson.

Yeah, but I don't think it quite congeals the way the others I mentioned do. Obv it is still part of her classic period.

20 B.O. congeals, alright.

I avoided that one. (But I do rep for Discipline!)

Voted, somewhat to my surprise, for Control, which is harder, colder, and, yeah, warmer than she'd ever be again.

(although love lots of subsequent Janet)

I think the sproingy cowboy noises in "Go Deep" justify my pick. My suspicion has long been that DJ Quik makes some uncredited contributions to that one like J Dilla did on "Got Til It's Gone".

Terribly tough choice. Up to a couple years ago, I'd have said Velvet Rope and moved on, but now I'm back in the Control/Rhythm Nation camp. So naturally I'm probably going to vote for janet.

colder, and, yeah, warmer

http://www.cynical-c.com/archives/bloggraphics/Bush%20confused%2021_a.jpg

"Janet Jackson" LOL :)

Just joking. "Rhythm Nation" just ahead of "The Velvet Rope".

ooh i think i'm going for the velvet rope here...i might have to relisten to them again though, hurrah. i don't own the first two! should i?

eh, no one else does

There were a couple OK 12" remixes that came from those first two albums, but definitely not essential.

if it can make a fan (albeit a closeted one) out of a GnR/Beastie Boys-obsessed 10yo me, it's doing something right. Control.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Like Madonna's discography, this one is a testament to the ultimate pointlessness of The Album to pop. Not a single one of these sustains its pleasures from start to finish (usually a fault of the ballads). But at their best, they're exhausting affairs like Great Albums often are.

I've never quite felt Control probably because, as Soto states above, it's her warmest album. Warm doesn't work too well on the dancefloor (or from a Jackson) (hell, sometimes even on the radio).

For me, her peaks are Rhythm Nation and janet.. I voted for the former simply because I can listen to it the longest without skipping a song (whoever disfigured the run up through "Black Cat" with the zzz-plus "Livin' in a World (They Didn't Make)" needs to buy me a velvet-covered NEXT button). But the latter contains her two greatest songs, "If" and "Throb."

From there, her albums have gotten steadily worse with The Velvet Rope and All For You (best ballads) still great, a significant drop with Damita Jo, and a nosedive with 20 Y.O., her worst (it wouldn't surprise me to discover that those first two albums, which like most people here I haven't heard, are better). Discipline is a step in the right direction but sadly, not a zeitgeisty one. Is she gone?

"I've never quite felt Control probably because, as Soto states above, it's her warmest album. Warm doesn't work too well on the dancefloor (or from a Jackson) (hell, sometimes even on the radio)."

wrong. warmness = dancefloor = very good combination as thousands of funk, disco and soul records will tell you.

i think shes gone though, yeah. theres always a few keepers on her albums but from velvet rope onwards, theyve started to get smaller (and on the last few albums, mostly been the ballads as the club tracks have been mostly irredeemably awful). janet was good, but even there, you saw how things were going to go downhill (plus the I LOVE SEX angle has really run its course by now).

rhythm nation is prob her last 'great' album, in the sense of there being lots and lots of high points but its started her off on the 'i must have tons of skits and at least 20 songs' approach to album making which wasnt a good move. shes making shorter albums now but i think its too late. prob doesnt help that jam and lewis arent what they used to be (or their helpers? arent what they used to be lol)

wrong. warmness = dancefloor = very good combination as thousands of funk, disco and soul records will tell you.

Heh. You're informing the wrong person.

xpost - i meant warmness + dancefloor = v good combo.

but this is also wrong:

"Not a single one of these sustains its pleasures from start to finish (usually a fault of the ballads)."

janet has almost always had some really good ballads. eg - lets wait a while, funny how time flies, any time any place, etc.

Warmness + dancefloor CAN work. But I find hot/cold works best.

And I did say "usually a fault of the ballads" and "All For You (best ballads)," e.g. I love "China Love" and, esp., the radiator plitzes of "When We Oooo."

And from "'i must have tons of skits and at least 20 songs'" you seem to agree with me that ""Not a single one of these sustains its pleasures from start to finish."

i do. which is why control is >>>>>

Yeah it IS pretty damn consistent. I'll give it that. Just prefer the harder edge of RN.

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

OF COURSE

I want to Dream Streeter to come forward and testify. Bimble?

Probably Surmounter.

lol

um

i didn't see this. i would have voted for Control. for the fuckin record.

the problem with rhythmn nation is that while the point of it is to cram pack the rhythm, in comparison to how clean, polished and efficient Control is, it can come off tinny and overwrought at times

Saw the video for "Rock With U" last night and the dancing blew my mind! Does anyone know who did the choreography? I googled but turned up nothing.

o ya the choreography is awesome, no idea whose work tho

i think i prefer Mach III 90s Janet to anything else

Control: The Remixes beats all those.

overhyped

These results are right, though I'd have probably bumped janet 3 votes to tie it in 3rd with Rope.

In any case:

20 Y.O. 0
Damita Jo 0
All For You 0
Discipline 0

OTM

Well OTM only in the sense that none of those are her best album. But there are great moments on all of them save for 20 Y.O..

But there are great moments on all of them save for 20 Y.O..

― Kevin John Bozelka, Tuesday, June 2, 2009 6:11 PM (18 minutes ago)

Control: The Remixes beats all those

Seconded. I helped with a mix in which "The Pleasure Principle" remix appears prominently:

http://passionweiss.com/2009/06/02/summer-jamz-09-alfred-soto-tal-rosenberg-risottoberg/#more-3800

Does anyone rate Dream Street? Her debut is totally forgettable, but Dream Street is super unfairly overlooked. Not as great as the albums that immediately followed but it's a really solid and fun '80s pop album.

On the other hand, I prefer the debut!

xp LOL’ing at Old Lunch’s display name^^

lol

Man, these results are perfect. The one-two punch of Control and Rhythm Nation might be one of the greatest back-to-back album pairings of all time (as I'm reminded every time I listen to them back-to-back).

Whereas janet. is more VG+ and would be so vastly improved with just a little editing. Like it could easily lose maybe a third of its verrrry loooong runtime. Y'know, trim this musical interlude down from 90 seconds to 30, repeat that chorus four times instead of eight or sixteen, stop consistently wearing out the welcome of otherwise solid songs. It's a less sublime package overall (a little too AC MOR at times) but still has very strong moments (there are days when I'm convinced 'If' is the best pop single of the '90s).

Does anyone rate Dream Street? Her debut is totally forgettable, but Dream Street is super unfairly overlooked. Not as great as the albums that immediately followed but it's a really solid and fun '80s pop album.

― Your Ass Is Grass And I Will Mow It With My Face (Old Lunch)

It's a very definite okay, but her debut has some good to excellent Rene & Angela tunes.

"What'll I Do" pretty clearly marks the line between an album that's maximal but still in control and an album that's gotten out of control.

Tho I like more of the songs that follow than not.

I looooove "This Time."

and I'd argue she's drunk with abandon

I like 'This Time' a lot. I'm just not sure I needed seven minutes of 'This Time'.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/sep/21/janet-jackson-interview-on-bad-relationships-new-music-and-kamala-harris

Uh oh . Kamala Harris section of article suggests Janet seems to be reading some of the wrong things on the internet . She also doesn’t seem happy in London

This entire family seem like a bunch of dimwits tbh

oh dear

that's grim reading

also, my other rather less serious takeaway from the article is.. she isn't nearly as popular on spotify as i'dda thought.

Thanks for that link

Every time I read one of these interviews I think that if I had the opportunity to interview someone like Janet Jackson those are not the questions I would ask. It's just baffling to me, the choices writers make when talking to artists. Artists.

what is going on here: https://variety.com/2024/music/news/janet-jackson-apology-kamala-harris-not-authorized-1236152776/

As of hearing it just now, I must say Rhythm Nation is an amazing album! Returning to The Velvet Rope which I also already love. Oh she's been saying some things? What a shame. Anyway, this music