It's The Pleasure Princi-POLL -- ILM Artist Poll #103 -- JANET JACKSON Results Thread

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10. ALL FOR YOU (from All For You, 2001; 1,496.5 points; 28 votes)

when i was in college i heard a mediocre a cappella group performing the title track and i yelled out the "EDIT 4 3 2 1 chk" part from the audience and everyone else laughed :'(
― dyl, Sunday, August 18, 2013 9:58 AM (six years ago)

since they came out around the same time, "all for you" sounds like a lost classic off 'fever'
― J0rdan S., Sunday, August 18, 2013 2:06 PM (six years ago)

Just now hearing "All for You" -- pretty great!
― Sandy Denny Real Estate (jaymc), Sunday, October 28, 2012 11:17 PM (seven years ago)

(Thanks for that one, Spottie!)

since they came out around the same time, "all for you" sounds like a lost classic off 'fever'
― J0rdan S., Sunday, August 18, 2013 2:06 PM (six years ago)

'all for you" into 'can't get you out of my head' = silk

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09. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY (from Control, 1986; 1,554 points; 26 votes; 1 first-place vote)

"what have you done for me lately" is a programming wonder and v much an early case of jam/lewis as industrial collage artists
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Wednesday, July 1, 2020 9:33 AM (one month ago)

only just now realising how structurally weird "what have you done for me lately" is. it really spends over half its runtime (from 2:17 until the end) messing around repeating the chorus
― ufo, Wednesday, July 22, 2020 4:06 AM (two weeks ago)

Ha, just noticed that 'What Have You Done For Me Lately?" features twice in my ballot!
― fun loving and xtremely tolrant (Billy Dods), Saturday, February 25, 2012 9:57 AM (eight years ago)

I had forgotten how terrifying "Joyful, Joyful" is. When it gets to the "OPP" part, part of my soul dies, bet then it goes on to quote "What Have You Done For Me Lately?" and the rest of my soul implodes and I am left actively hating everything and everyone and praying for nuclear Armageddon.
― juggalo iglesias (HI DERE), Thursday, September 16, 2010 1:42 PM (nine years ago)

I was quite young but this thing SLAMMED in 1986.

Will never forget the spilled milkshake.

Ah, my #2 pick. Iconic

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08. THE PLEASURE PRINCIPLE (from Control, 1986; 1,561 points; 26 votes; 2 first-place votes)

Gary Numan - the Pleasure Principle, man what a great find.
― Elisabeth (Elisabeth), Wednesday, October 22, 2003 4:11 AM (sixteen years ago)

so it turns out this is a support slot for Gary Numan performing The Pleasure Principle in full
― basically just a 2/47 freak out (sic), Sunday, January 30, 2011 4:29 PM (nine years ago)

"Pleasure Principle" is great. Numan's first three albums are all good listens.
― earlnash, Sunday, November 23, 2003 11:21 PM (sixteen years ago)

The principle of pleasure!

lol @ those quotes!

Sort of sums up my impression of ILM rn.

I don't think there's another Janet song where my impression has done a fuller 180. I used to loathe this track growing up. Somehow in the last 5-10 years, it's become an unshakable top 3 Janet tune.

It might be even steelier than "Control" or "Nasty."

The only Control single in which she had no hand in writing.

It broke her top five streak too.

I always considered it and "Lets Wait Awhile" to be the minor Control singles. Only came around to really liking either of them when I was putting my ballot together.

xp Can't really fathom why it stalled out at that point tbh.

A&M was also promoting Herb Alpert's "Diamonds," and we know who the A of A&M was.

Yeah, just looked up the charts and saw the two criss-crossing slots in the summer of '87.

welp, my #1 has already shown, but my #2 has not. this is gonna be good. . .

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07. THAT'S THE WAY LOVE GOES (from janet., 1993; 1,625.5 points; 27 votes; 1 first-place vote)

that's the way love goes sounds like a rumors era vintage fleetwood track w/ slightly more modern production
― turkey in the straw (x2) (remy bean), Saturday, October 22, 2011 9:46 AM (eight years ago)

solid jam. definitely feels right in the top ten.

Didn't do anything for me when it was new, and still doesn't.

whats not to like???

Probably more of a personal defect than anything to do with the song: there's nothing wrong with it, I just can't get into it. Listened to it plenty when putting my ballot together, too, so if ever I was going to have a change of heart, it was gonna be now.

It's fascinating to me that this is the track that's Janet's longest-running #1 hit (right?).

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06. GO DEEP (from The Velvet Rope, 1997; 1,625.5 points; 29 votes)

"Go Deep" always struck me as what all the g-funk-influenced r&b jams of the mid-90s would have sounded like if they took their cues from DJ Quik instead of Dr. Dre.
― Teddy Riley (The Reverend), Sunday, October 19, 2008 3:33 AM (eleven years ago)

"Go Deep" is an excellently fluffy electro-disco throwback.
― Tim F, Sunday, October 19, 2008 12:05 AM (eleven years ago)

The opening bars of "Go Deep" -- the synth farts, the percussion -- are as awesome as "Escapade"'s and "What Have You Done For Me Lately."
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, January 14, 2015 4:08 PM (five years ago)

It's a bit thin sonically, but gawd those sounds and that earworm chorus

YESSS

perfect rev quote

always felt like the sister to 112's 'Only You'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVOqbskGeBs

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05. WHEN I THINK OF YOU (from Control, 1986; 1,667.5 points; 31 votes; 1 first-place vote)

oh god that part in When I think of You (which thx to this has been in my head ALLLLLL morning, hittin tennis balls hummin) - the part at the end where it swells and she laughs. mmmm
― Surmounter, Sunday, June 24, 2007 12:48 PM (thirteen years ago)

"When I Think of You" -- sometimes I think that was the best song of the decade
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, May 8, 2001 7:00 PM (nineteen years ago)

My favourite Janet song of the 80s, my second favourite overall behind Empty.
― kitchen person, Wednesday, May 17, 2017 12:46 PM (three years ago)

The best laugh in pop history.

love that "Go Deep" thing where the song has basically ended but no one can stop singing

I have a video of my cat asking for a tummy rub while "When I Think of You" plays in the background. Happy times.

my most blissed out few minutes of listening for this poll happened with this song on headphones. one of those "why can't I always be this fully present for / surrounded by music" moments.

when i think of you is all about the bass line and horn stabs.

It was the song I thought would be my #1 going into this poll. I found only one Janet song that I could claim to like better.

given what's left for the top 4 I wouldn't think "Escapade" could be surpassed for #1, but my assumptions about the order have so far been wildly wrong

LET'S GO

one of those "why can't I always be this fully present for / surrounded by music" moments.

whew, those are the best.

ftr i listened to 'empty' for the first time today. zen buddhist footwork in 1997, cool cool

yes, when it's all said and done, this has been a blast of a rollout because i don't know if there's a true consensus here.

but at the same time, we all pretty much agree what her best songs are. this is fun. i'm a nerd. whatever.

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04. IF (from janet., 1993; 1,709.5 points; 28 votes; 3 first-place votes)

"If" is absolutely awesome, and has a lot of balls.
― Matt Armstrong, Saturday, September 29, 2007 4:05 PM (twelve years ago) bookmarkflaglink

"If"'s balls are HUMONGOUS, dude.
― The Reverend, Saturday, September 29, 2007 4:26 PM (twelve years ago)

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!
― Kevin John Bozelka, Friday, October 5, 2007 8:51 PM (twelve years ago)

Searched, in vain, for a Tim F quote I swore I'd seen earlier about how "If" is basically his favorite song of all time, unless I made that up.

It's certainly a contender for my favorite song of all time; I was one of the #1 votes.

it was top ten for me. absolute killer.

FWIW, it was Janet's highest ranking song in ILM's Jackson family tracks poll, but I wasn't too surprised to see it usurped when focusing just on Janet.

You know that scene in Ghost World where the song ends and Enid picks up the record player stylus and drops it right back down to the beginning again? That's me with the first 15 seconds of "If."

You should listen to the rest of the song, it's pretty great too ;)

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03. EMPTY (from The Velvet Rope, 1997; 1,764.5 points; 25 votes; 8 first-place votes)

not just Janet's greatest ballad but one of the most astonishing modern R&B tracks ever, I think.
― Tim F, Sunday, October 19, 2008 12:05 AM (eleven years ago)

"Empty" is 15 years old and it still sounds like the future. A rainy garden in the future.
― The Reverend, Tuesday, July 31, 2012 3:02 AM (eight years ago)

If “Empty” doesn’t rank everyone’s accounts get deleted.
― vision joanna newsom (Stevie D(eux)), Wednesday, July 8, 2020 9:10 PM (four weeks ago)

"empty" is one of the most forward-thinking/forward-sounding songs ever.
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Monday, January 5, 2015 4:42 PM (five years ago)

Hard to believe that Janet Jackson would release one of the most forward sounding tracks of the 90's.
― Moka, Tuesday, January 20, 2015 2:13 AM (five years ago)

That song could come out today and it would still sound amazing
― josh az (2011nostalgia), Monday, October 9, 2017 8:26 PM (two years ago)

"empty" still sounds ahead of its time over 20 years after its release
― ufo, Tuesday, June 30, 2020 6:56 PM (one month ago)

this'll sound strange but I hear Peter Gabriel's "San Jacinto" in "Empty."
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, January 14, 2015 6:08 PM (five years ago)