Justin Timberlake in 2013

"funhouse mirror interpretations" which otm

in the stooges sense!

go tell that to someone who was saying that

i just told u

also how is this a compliment

― flamenco drop (lex pretend), Tuesday, March 19, 2013 5:03 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark

because it refutes the myth that they're aimless/unnecessary

i think "the outros are the best part" totally makes sense as a compliment bc the outros take the songs to complicated and distinct and surprising places

i just told u

― ums (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, March 19, 2013 9:07 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i wasn't saying that

do you have short term memory loss?

again, the outros are actually the best part of the album

also how is this a compliment

― flamenco drop (lex pretend), Tuesday, March 19, 2013 4:03 PM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

if it can't be a compliment, then the outros being the best part surely must be a flaw

"the outro is the best part" implies that the main bit of the song is not as good

thread is starting to look like funhouse mirror

every song has a best part

tunnel vision itt

Sprawl seems kinda MBDTF influenced but a little more purposeful.

i have had no compulsion whatsoever to ever hear this album again

have you heard "like i love you"? it's a good song.

― flamenco drop (lex pretend), Tuesday, March 19, 2013 10:22 AM Bookmark

I'd like to point out for the official record that the outro of "Like I Love You" is the best part.

An outro is the butt of a song so it's a compliment just like sayin damn look@the caboose on that timberlake song

Timberlake's caboose is pretty damn tight these days imo

mmhmmm

just starting the album, pusher love girl is pretty nice

He's got an outro that just won't quit

a strange man asks you if you saw the outro on that one

it's weird that the length of the songs and intro/outros is such a big discussion point, since FutureSex had several songs in the 6-7 minute range and lots of outros and transitions, only real difference being they were denoted in the tracklist. this seems like just a mild and totally unsurprising step further in that direction.

fs/ls had two songs out of twelve over seven minutes, 20/20 has seven out of ten over seven minutes. the combined run time of the first two singles from fs/ls was only thirty three seconds longer than the run time for 'mirrors' alone.

how many blockbuster pop albums of the past decade have multiple 7-minute songs though? FS/LS was already notable for lengthy song/suites is all i'm saying.

and if you change it to 6-7 minute range it becomes 3 out of 12 for fs/ls (25%), 8 out of 10 for 20/20 (80%); this is w/ interludes/preludes/quaaludes folded in to fs/ls runtimes.

difference between two big epic attempts that possibly require/warrant long running time vs nearly every song drags on forever (if i asked you two longest songs on fs/ls the answers pretty easy to guess, whereas w/ 20/20 even 'blue ocean floor' goes long for whatever reason), even if there isn't a gesture toward epic. cf appetite for destruction vs use yr illusion, late registration vs mbdtf, though tbf the culprit doesn't seem to be cocaine or even ambition here, this feels more like the average runtimes on michael jackson tracks get longer each album, though to be fair to mj this is occurring w/ introduction of cds and it never gets as crazy out of hand as it has here.

it would be more interesting if this was JT's coke album rather than JT's brand-shoring, reverential and essentially uncreative crit-baiting move

no one complained about the FS/LS songs' length because it served the songs really well - each of the interludes is a narrative or sonic twist on the "main" song. on 20/20 it's just like oh you switched up the beat slightly and the song still has 2 minutes left to run, even the outros outstay their welcome! like cf terius switching up the beat of "fancy" at the last minute but ONLY FOR THIRTY SECONDS before the song ended and how amazing that was. or indeed "fancy" as a song which used every single bit of its epic length to incredible effect

yeah, these songs go on incessantly with fairly weak timbo outros. The core of most of the tracks are solid enough that I don't really care though.

each of the interludes is a narrative or sonic twist on the "main" song

to me this is an apt description of the 20/20 interludes except for maybe "pusher lover girl" and "don't hold the wall"

outros on futuresex are exactly "switched up the beat slightly and the song still has 2 minutes left to run," on both "lovestoned" and "what goes around," they also manage to be a narrative or sonic twist on the main song

new theory

outro=butt
chorus=boobs
verse= V or P depending on gender of the song

new theory

outro=butt
chorus=boobs
verse= V or P depending on gender of the song

― ums (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, March 20, 2013 10:23 AM (27 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

"Every song needs three things"

I haven't read the whole thread so idk if this has been floated already -but is it just me or does Spaceship Coupe sound like a 2:30AM song (ie the Samberg/timberlake duo)

I've listened to it a few times now and I'm convinced it was a discarded sketch that he dug up and sung straight

I have listened to the album a few times now and although there are many parts I still have to work out I like it a lot overall.
the grooves, sounds, ambiances and feels are good.
"let the groove get in" is a monster and in my head a lot (and I even find the mood of "Ocean" beautiful !).
the whole thing will certainly grow on me but for now it's already MUCH BETTER than I expected from JT, 7 years after FS/LS.

Excellent video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuZE_IRwLNI

still doesn't make the song any better

wow i like this a lot!

floria sigismondi going full-lynch, it's pretty compelling

jt's dance routine at the end is goofy as hell but endearingly so

nearly makes me like the song

"new theory

outro=butt
chorus=boobs
verse= V or P depending on gender of the song"

you know what this justin timberlake critical reception needed, MORE SEXISM

the dance routine is def a little corny but I like the old-timey nostalgia-ness of it, like an awkward Astaire reference. It comes from a nice place

and I like the song!

katherine my dumb internet jokes hardly constitute any part of this album's critical reception. sorry for the post.

now yr an ass, tee hee :)

i prefer the term "outro"

irl lol

The structurelessness of these songs is being *way* overstated, but that's not to say most of them would lose much from having three minutes lopped off the end. If anything they're not freaky enough to justify the length. I wonder if Timbaland is part of the problem here, maybe Justin would have benefited from taking '4' as his cue and going further down the live instrumentation route. It certainly would have suited a fair few of these songs.

That said, I enjoyed this on first listen, although Mirrors and especially Blue Ocean Floor are pretty insipid. The run from Strawberry Bubblegum through to Let The Groove Get In sounded best. It's not a disaster, but there aren't many wow moments either.

Compare and contrast with the last Beyonce album though and it just feels like Justin is (musically at least) fluffing his lines when it comes to being a global blockbuster pop star. FutureSex/LoveSounds got maybe 2/3rds of the way towards what he was trying to achieve, this one manages less than that.

katherine st asaph nailing it again

http://www.mtvhive.com/2013/03/20/justin-timberlake-20-20-experience/

His wife's not inspiring enough? What the fuck kind of criticism even is that?

damn good criticism imo

Half the things people say are wrong with this record I don't even hear or are just patently wrongheaded and most of the rest of its supposedly flaws don't bother me. I feel like so many people are grasping at straws to damn this record it's ridiculous.

it's better criticism than the empty "o we are so in awe of your classy vibes" encomiums about it