Justin Timberlake in 2013

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

no one needs to grasp at straws to damn this album, the list of things wrong with it is as long as it feels

i think that's a gr8 review but before i proceed i would be interested in katherine's take on robin thicke if available

reason i ask is cos the lyric dissection (and subsequent conclusion) imo rather rests on the unspoken understanding of charm in delivery via persona moreso than their value as lines in themselves; jt's always been cheesy on paper so it's not really quite the right vector to attack this album with i'd say

i def didn't know what encomium means

my favourite terrible JT lyric will always be "you're out of this world except you're not green"

haha on that we can agree, at least.

wait does "katherine" here = kt st. a?

the lyrics on 20/20 are pretty bad but they didn't really bother me except "spaceship coupe" and also the horrifying way the metaphor of "strawberry bubblegum" gradually dawns on you and then reaches its grimly inevitable "blueberry lollipop" conclusion

otherwise they pretty much blur into the blah of the songs, whatever

yep

my favourite terrible JT lyric will always be "you're out of this world except you're not green"

― flamenco drop (lex pretend), Wednesday, March 20, 2013 6:01 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark

oh god there's so so many of them

on bubba sparxxx's "hootenanny" he says "i could go #1 ten times" and idk how you sing that line without immediately thinking about piss

or the entirety of his "i can't believe it remix" -- stupid lyrics are kinda the point of that song, but still

yeah the image of justin timberlake with a blue dick is a regrettable one

JT's lyrics have been bad more often than they've been good and I generally just ignore them.

on bubba sparxxx's "hootenanny" he says "i could go #1 ten times" and idk how you sing that line without immediately thinking about piss

i have actually never thought this. THX J0RDAN -_-

I don't care for the biographical glossing but it's one of my favorite negative reviews (the cursive line is a scream).

even "walkin' on the beach our toes in the sand" is silly. Where else would your toes be?

JT's lyrics have been bad more often than they've been good and I generally just ignore them.

yep

you can get pebble beaches

I've been trying to lalalala in my head through the strawberry bubblegum metaphor but it doesn't work and ugggh

I like the song but RUINED 4 eva

generally I like him when his natural dorkiness ("She's freaky and she knows it!") overcomes his hamfisted attempts at suavity.

otm

I mean he's got a song with the hook DAMN GIRL DAMN GIRL DAMN GIRL

that also features will.i.am

it worked for Shaggy

did it?