Janet Jackson - All For You

An album's only dated when it sounded so at the time, i.e. "oh it's using ideas and technology in the most commonplace 1997 manner."

I don't own the album anymore. But I made a note to listen on Spotify tomorrow.

Yeah, but "Together Again" really blurred the line between dated and retro.

I don't consider it dated though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f46ulX6uwGc

come on eric "empty" still sounds like the future

Yeah I was going to say I don't rate The Velvet Rope that much at all but Empty is incredible and could be put out as a single right now.

the velvet rope is a fucking masterpiece

weird, "would you mind" isn't on spotify

iirc that's bc it's the clean version

i could see "together again" sounding a bit dated but -- to say nothing of "empty" -- there's several tracks on that album that sound pretty timeless to me: "go deep," "i get lonely," "free xone," "got til it's gone" even

Velvet Rope is like the Last Train To Paris of its time

oh man

pretty much

sister record to erotica obv

the velvet rope is a fucking masterpiece

― lex pretend

Yeah pretty perfect album.

said it before and i'll say it again: control->velvet rope is a better four album run than anyone else in her family managed

I don't see "All 4 You" as having much to do with Fever, maybe because I'm so protective of the sparkly gussied up disco-r&b miniature trend of which it was the peak (see also Mya's "Free", Chante Moore's "Straight Up").

said it before and i'll say it again: control->velvet rope is a better four album run than anyone else in her family managed

― balls,

Bad has its fans (I'm not one). Off The Wall >>> Control but Thriller vs Rhythm Nation is trouble.

lol i don't know if i'd rate off the wall above control

i mean i love all of off the wall but portions of that second side are kinda soggy

Have you listened to the last few tracks of Control recently?

I wasn't saying I don't like Velvet Rope, btw. I still think it's her last great album. "Go Deep," "Got Til It's Gone," "You" and "Anything" all still sound amazing.

But apparently I wrapped so much of my love for that album in '98 along with my love for "Together Again," and when the bloom fell off that rose, well ...

Poor little flower. Dropped her petals and went deep.

"Velvet Rope," and I guess "Rhythm Nation," too, leave me weirdly conflicted about all the skits and interlude. They totally break the momentum and often seem kinda silly (though not as silly as, say, the Kirstie Alley bits on that Prince album!), but they're such an important part of those albums, not a la De La Soul (or as entertaining) but certainly in accord with Janet's inscrutable vision, which at the very least always sounds awesome.

Saw her on this tour and thought she was terrible - it was like those skits and interludes come to life - but people I know who saw her on that smaller theater tour she did a couple of years ago said she was great.

Also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA_91AeL-Ms

Have you listened to the last few tracks of Control recently?

yeah they're pretty great imo

Well that backfired.

Honestly surprised this is a new thread. Did we really not talk about this at ALL before?

some scattered discussion in the damita jo and janet albums threads but nah not really

Listened to this in the car yesterday, and was only mildly surprised to find that the slow middle section sounded the best after the title track. "China Love" has some of the extra tight drum programming that marked this era of J&L interpolating some of Timbaland's style into their work. The atmospherics on both "Love Scene" and "Would You Mind" make it feel like she's getting busy at the Rainforest Cafe.

"Feels So Right" also a highlight. Had forgotten that the album redux of "Doesn't Really Matter" got a really sloppy sounding re-edit.

I still just don't get "Trust a Try."

The atmospherics on both "Love Scene" and "Would You Mind" make it feel like she's getting busy at the Rainforest Cafe.

stiff house drinks!

The wash on "Love Scene" also put me in mind of cut scenes from mid-90s sci-fi video games.

I loved all of it, those four songs I used to scapegoat.

i think it's really nice that you started this thread Jordan

never heard the full album before, it's nice (the opening track!)

i have spoken with friends before about how this was like a new genre of music

... altho this Carly Simon shit is better to pretend it never happened

I love "glow of love" so much that I kinda resented this song, but now I'm over that and see it for the jam it always was

love that intro followed by the "EDIT" voice cutting in- so sick

I remember some of the longtime Janet campers clutching the pearls at her guessing she was going to have to ride his nice package tonight.

"son of a gun" was borderline awesome ok

so was the package-riding line

listening to this again this morning

it's funny how formulaic this is in the context of the two albums that came before it -- you can almost see them working off a checklist. but it's kinda enjoyable for that very reason. if you think of janet->velvet rope->all for you as a triptych, all for you holds more weight than you might initially expect.

i think the ballad section of this holds up really well, definitely just from an atmospheric perspective. the only part that is bad i think is "trust a try" ("remember 'if'?") and the carly simon joint ("remember 'got til it's gone'?")

& really it's hard to imagine a run of three consecutive pop singles for the time better than "doesn't really matter" -> "all for you" -> "someone to call my lover"

I'd somehow never heard this album until very recently and was really taken aback with how formulaic it was, especially after how much she spent her previous 4 albums pushing in different directions. "Doesn't Really Matter" and (especially) "Someone to Call My Lover" are great singles tho. I'd always take "Glow of Love" over "All For You" tho.

It's kind of experimental for her to program a 25-minutes bloc of R&B balladry right smack in the middle of the set.

if i'd first heard this album in real time having heard all the others in real time as well i'd've been sorely disappointed but because i only heard the singles at the time and the full album years later i can appreciate what's enjoyable about it much more

DJ at wedding on Sat dropped a cool mix of "Someone To Call My Lover" which was a jam! Good times, sounded insane on a real soundsystem.

How did I get here? Think I’d know what I did. Always worked real hard. Maybe I missed something. I’m not into pointing fingers, showing who’s right or wrong. I just want to keep it real, cause maybe I was doing fine on my own.

https://open.spotify.com/track/04vjw8agTLqxPPrP9a9yAk