Justin Timberlake in 2013

Reading that just made me sad.

i can hear your criticisms in it tho... i mean it's not GREAT or anything. it's a pretty solid JT sounding song, i'm not mad at it. i think it's kinda cool to hear him over tim's beatboxing again actually.

i just want "strawberry bubblegum" to be a smash because it sounds like a prince song title

this song is a real disappointment

that album sleeve..

http://www.petshopboys.co.uk/media/article_images/300/1325.jpg

I like the coda, but the first part is awful. :(

wow this is so autopilot

like, the timbas had already written this song 947438 times by the time "what goes around" and "rehab" came out OVER HALF A DECADE AGO, but at least those had really stirring melodies

let's see if the "epic" length fools anyone into breathlessness

the coda is the best bit obv but it also doesn't need to pad out the song for three minutes

also it isn't worth the six minutes it takes to get to it. -_-

i've gone more lukewarm on "suit & tie" than when i first heard it but it's much better than this

as for the album cover the thing that sprang to mind immediately was BIONIC, which is not exactly a good sign

The fact that i'm finding Bieber >>>>> Timberlake at this very moment is extremely depressing ;_;

This song is terrible.

Man, just yesterday I was listening to "Tim's Bio" for the first time in years, and boy, that guy used to be on fire.

i really enjoyed the new song he played last night but then again i was pretty drunk

now i'm hungover and "mirrors" is the absolute worst

Both of his new songs sound like Robin Thicke b-sides.

Yeah.

I do fux with the new song he played at the Grammys.

really hope he's burying the lead with these first singles

Man, this is like the Depeche Mode thread. Why the hell would he do that? "Ha, my new album is awesome, so I am going to release two songs that suck!"

"That'll throw them off, ha ha!"

well, thinking of it, people (including me) shouldn't be expecting too much from this.
after all, it's just an old star/has been coming back in his 30s...
how many times has it happened before and often, the coming back album was far from being as good as the prime era albums...
reminds me of the thread comparing babyboomers Vs 90s ageing stars.
in a way, it's normal that bieber is more exciting than JT now (I have never heard a bieber song but hey, I'm old !).
it's just another generation !

Don't care much for Mirrors, other than maybe the ending, but I liked the new one her performed last night.

JT is a whopping 32. It's only been six years since the last album, which had several hits and a big tour, so call it less than six years. He's hardly a has-been but has had all the time and money and talent to do better than what we're getting now.

I don't think Bieber is more exciting than JT because I have absolutely zero expectations for Bieber. He's no more exciting than any other pop automaton. JT has a spark, though, which is what makes him so likable. He can act, he's funny, he can sing and dance OK, and his two albums have been great.

He massively transcends lil kid entertainment, in other words. I haven't seen Bieber live yet, but I bet the crowd on average is a lot more limited in age than what you'd find at a JT show, unless you're counting all the parents waiting in cars outside.

Timberlake is a "has-been"?

So said AlXTC from Paris.

AlXTC from Paris called the Pope a has-been last week, and look what happened to him.

Time for an Unplugged EP.

ahah. the thing is I really like JT and quite excited by this !
but I'm just trying to take some perspective and see that JT is not the huge star he was in 2006 anymore (7 years, that's the whole beatles' career !)?

to stay with the beatles comparison, Lennon was releasing mind games by 32.
and MJ was releasing dangerous.
both nice albums... but far from their respective peaks !

he kept in the public eye pretty well with movies/SNL/occasional collaborations. he still has the starpower to be huge in 2013, it's just a matter of whether he'll be held back by apparently having zero new ideas in the last 6 years or any inclination to catch up with the times or present anything especially fresh or exciting.

I don't think Bieber is more exciting than JT because I have absolutely zero expectations for Bieber. He's no more exciting than any other pop automaton.

exactly the same sort of thing that would have been written about timberlake at bieber's age (while his own age-limited demographic were going mental at nsync shows)

someone tweeted earlier that they think timberlake still doesn't have any burning desire to return to music, he's only here because myspace flopped. JT coming back with a great album was (and might still be) just as likely as JT coming back with a dud, i don't think comebacks follow any "rules" as such. but he gave every indication that the long hiatus was down to disinterest in the first place, and laying ~renewed interest~ on so thick in that first teaser clip should have rung some alarm bells in retrospect.

not to derail thread but I can't imagine calling Dangerous "nice"

also roz otm on the evidence presented to us over the past year bieber is making WAY more exciting music than timberlake

alxtc you should listen to "as long as you love me" and "boyfriend"

I don't think Bieber is more exciting than JT because I have absolutely zero expectations for Bieber. He's no more exciting than any other pop automaton.

exactly the same sort of thing that would have been written about timberlake at bieber's age (while his own age-limited demographic were going mental at nsync shows)

otm.
although, again, I have never heard a bieber song (thanks for the suggestions, Lex, thoug !).

not to derail thread but I can't imagine calling Dangerous "nice"

well, personally, I have never liked this album (and I was a HUUUGE MJ fan when I was a kid and Thriller was released).
But since many people seem to like it, I just put "nice" to not get into arguments about that !

exactly the same sort of thing that would have been written about timberlake at bieber's age (while his own age-limited demographic were going mental at nsync shows)

Fair enough. I still think Bieber comes off like a total doorknob, though. JT never seemed like a total doofus moron, and c. "Celebrity" he was getting tons of credit for N*Sync's best moments - literally, too, since he's all over the songwriting, and not bundled along with a half dozen collaborator cushions like the Beeb is. Granted, it took "Justified" to really anchor him as a creative force, but he at least seemed like he was building toward that. If anything, Bieber seems to be getting dumber and less ambitious. But maybe he'll blossom into a grown-ass man.

JT never seemed like a total doofus moron

pls revisit the 'nsync videography

JT has never really stopped seeming like a doofus moron, just one with better hair

Bieber's whole career is based upon setting up as many Timberlake parallels as possible and it's all kind of unconvincing and sad, most of all because that's probably not what appeals to his fanbase and they should just let him take his own path. JT's arc worked for him because it was a little unprecedented (or at least didn't feel like some kind of transparent aping of George Michael's career or whatever) and felt like him being himself and following his passion.

his "passion"? hmmmm. it was a convincing move but even at the time it was a pretty obvious way to transition to a credible, adult career out of a teenpop one (and v much in line with what britney had been doing already)

bieber's yet to make a song that makes me care about HIM, but a couple of pretty great bangers is a good first step

xposting I mean in interviews and how he carries himself. JT seems like a doofus, but a charming doofus, with some degree (real or affected) of humility, and not a moron. Bieber is a doofus, but an unctuous, irritating one, because he is a moron.

Like, when Timberlake won that video award over Johnny Cash, then demanded a recount or whatever and talked about how much he admired Cash? I would not be shocked if Bieber had no idea who Johnny Cash was.

“Thank you. (Cheers and applause) Um, this is a travesty. I demand a recount. And I just want to say two things real quick. It’s an honor to be in a category with people like Eminem and 50 Cent and people that I admire. John Mayer as well. But also my grandfather raised me on Johnny Cash. I’m from Tennessee. (Cheers and applause) and I think he deserves this more than any of us in here tonight. So I guess in some cool way I share this award with him. He deserves a round of applause. Thank you MTV. Thank you.”

You were recently on an ad during the Super Bowl break with Ozzy Osborne. Any advice from the Prince of Darkness? Jane Playdon, London

“He…(Laughs) not really. Usher’s given me advice. He said to have fun with what I’m doing, and always don’t take myself to seriously and Drake told me to make sure I behave. But Ozzy was a nice guy. He’s settled down a lot over the years (smiles). But I like Black Sabbath, you know, some of the stuff. I like – what is it – School’s Out For Summer? (Q points out that it’s not by Black Sabbath) He did that song! (Q says it’s by Alice Cooper) No, he did that song! I like rock music, man. I like Guns N’Roses and Metallica. The Beatles. I like (Metallica’s) Fade To Black, and One. It’s edgy and emotional with those instruments and electric guitars and stuff.”

lol see that's the part that depresses me - I don't know, this might be unfair on Bieber, but I don't attribute his best work to him the way I do for Timberlake. I think a lot of the good songs that Bieber's recorded so far seem like happy accidents rather than sounds that he specifically pursued, whereas with JT it was very obvious what he wanted to do when he went solo (I've always seen NSYNC's breakup as a result of creative differences btw - there's that tension on 'Celebrity' with JT going urban/R&B and JC going more towards 2-step/dance music).

JT has always showed at the very least, a really good ear for pop music and I don't think I buy the idea that that goes away as soon as you hit your 30s. I just think a lot of what we've been hearing so far this year sounds really lazy and he knows better.

Lots of young people know JOHNNY CASH is the name of a Famous Person; it may not mean familiarity with his music.