It's POLL For You -- ILM artist poll #103 -- JANET JACKSON (voting open until July 24, 2020)

lol i feel that

the hits are undeniable

Design of a Decade is pretty great though it gives janet. a major short shrift (I'm sure they didn't want to cut into the album's presumably still comparatively robust sales).

lmao i love the "go deep" video so much. the soap suds

David Browne: Due to contractual obligations, the album consists almost entirely of songs from Control and Rhythm Nation 1814 and includes only one (”That’s the Way Love Goes”) of the five top 10 hits from her 1993 smorgasbord janet.

(xp)

lmao omg I just actually looked at the tracklist for "Design of a Decade", what s senseless product!! Like this really is largely a compilation of songs from.... 2 albums???

And it doesn't even include "The Best Things in Life Are Free!"

Janet's definitely owed an at least two-disc Celebration-style compilation at this point.

LOL, I guess I forgot about buying this:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/fa/Janet_Jackson_-_Number_Ones_album_cover.png/220px-Janet_Jackson_-_Number_Ones_album_cover.png

oh yeah i suddenly remember being devastated as a kid because design of a decade didn't have "if" on it

or "You Want This." Or "Anytime, Any Place." Or "You Want This."

"You Want This" is one song whose awesomeness I didn't fully recognize until I started listening for this poll.

Number Ones is insanely good

and it includes "The Best Things in Life Are Free" and "Diamonds."

But not “You Want This.” For years the version with the rap break was the song I picked from the gay dive bar jukebox.

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

was going to say that "someone to call my lover" is an extremely underrated gem but found that kp and brad already talked about how incredible it is here

it really spends over half its runtime (from 2:17 until the end) messing around repeating the chorus

Worth it for that great piano break in the LP version.

I just want to reiterate my disbelief that "New Agenda" wasn't released as a single

Is "Whoops Now" the first (only?) "hidden" track to be released as a single?

The Clash's "Train in Vain" was 13 years earlier, and still probably the most famous example of this happening (I can't think of any others).

Ah, I knew there had to be at least one before that.

Putting together my ballot and might just fuck around and put "all nite (don't stop)" at #1

also, hope everyone remembers to vote for "go deep"

^^^ two of my faves right there

I might now post about some tracks that anyone who has yet to vote for should (re)familiarise themselves with, e.g.:

"rock with u" is amazing but consider: "2nite"

― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Thursday, 9 July 2020 03:45 (two weeks ago) link

One track that I feel gets underrated (evidence: the only person who has mentioned it ITT is me) is "You" - I feel that this track really punches above its weight in terms of helping to give The Velvet Rope a sense of weight and heft. I know it's more of a vibe than a song but it's a vibe I can sit in all day.

It's also the best (or most) fake-Timbaland effort on the album. I remember when it came out I don't think I'd even consciously heard any Timbaland productions aside from "Pony" so it sounded super-futuristic to me.

I mentioned "You" too!

Here I am in your face
Tellin truths and not your old lies
Seems to me that you care
And I know that you're runnin out of time
See ya can't get away
I'll be here forever and again
Whisperin in your ear
Do believe cause you know you cannot win
Spent most your life pretending not to be
The one you are but who you choose to see
Learned to survive in your fictitious world
Does what they think of you determine your worth?

I mean, those lyrics are tailor-made for the closeted 17-year-old I was at the time.

i voted for “you”! jam & lewis doing fake timbo is my favorite thing, but especially with those horns it’s like a timbaland remix of a james brown backing track

unexpected late addition to my still wip ballot is "better days" which is so blissful

I ended up with about twice as many All For You tracks on the top 40 portion of my ballot than I initially drafted.

YOU! YOU! YOU! YOUUU! YOUUUUUUU!

incredible song

I think my favourite discovery in putting together a decent ballot has been And On And On. Blissful track

Also I needed to be able to vote for more than 5 remixes, had a shortlist of 14

20 YO is pretty bad but my first foray (maybe ever?) into Discipline has been okay so far!

xp go ahead and submit as many remixes as you like ... there's not a lot of heat for that side poll as of yet

Voted!

Xp already voted but could throw a top 10 remixes in as well?

Yup! I'll accept any ballot additions and/or revisions until such time as the balloting period is over.

Which I can assure won't be tomorrow but still, don't wait!

Done

Voted!

Finally got through Discipline four times and am hitting some remixes. will vote tomorrow.

i have not kept up with janet since 'all for you', but i'm going to try and slap a last minute ballot together here. time to fire up the old internet jukebox.

going to use this thread as my notepad.

starting with the first album (1982). never heard this before. seems very hit or miss. first track and last track are probably my favorites. 'come give your love to me' in particular has a very mildly (and very cool) prince/minneapolis sound-esque new wave pop soul vibe to it, especially with the guitar solo; though it maybe carries on for a bit longer than it should. highlights: 'say you do', 'come give your love to me'

dream street (1984) now. hey, first track she actually sounds like her for the first time vocally. they really had no idea what direction they wanted to take her in on these early records. title track kind of slays? feels a little like time out for fun-era devo musically, is obviously very prince-inspired, classic melodramtic narrative in the lyrics, really ace. (looks up album credits) fuckin moroder. badass schitt. overall, there's a bit more noticeable synth on this one. the record seems mixed really weird. like one track is nice and balanced, but then in the next it'll have these synth parts that are way too loud and tend to drown out everything else for their parts. not a whole lot that sticks out on this one, besides the title track. highlight: 'dream street'

oh yeah, i'd rate the first two records probably like 2.5-3 star range. both have jams, but are just very inconsistent.

control (1986). okay, i know this album well. gonna quickly skim for fun. yes, the cliche is true: this is the album where janet is "janet" for the first time. the opening of the album is burned into my memory forever. when i finally lose the rest of my mind and the alzheimer's takes hold, that's one thing i'll be able to remember. very good memory. of course the opening trilogy is about as classic as it gets. "NO MY FIRST NAME AIN'T BABAY" was probably the first time i ever encountered something resembling a meme. there was a time when there wasn't a person i interacted with that didn't giggle at that phrase. (okay, let's move this along, andy) 'pleasure principle' is overrated. 'when i think of you' is the overlooked gem of this album. oh yeah; the sax lol. slow jams towards the end are all good. highlights: 'control', 'nasty boys', 'funny how time flies' solid album: 4 stars

rhythm nation (1989). another one i know well. this is probably my album pick. another just absolutely epic intro. the title track is still an "oh shit!" moment when i hear it on the radio or out and about. that was like my national anthem as a kid. still kicks so much fucking ass. man! that is the music of the gods. is 'state of the world' preachy? that never occurred to me until i got old. i thought it was good back then. killer chorus, whatever the case. again, great slow jams to close it out. album's just loaded with jams, i'm not gonna go one by one. whole thing just fucking rules. highlights: title track, 'escapade', 'love will never do without you' absolute classic. 5 stars.

janet (1993). i remember thinking at the time it was her trying to go for a less blatantly poppy sound. 'that's the way love goes' was of course huge. album's inconsistent though. i think i liked 'if' the most off this album, which makes the rest of it kind of hard to get through because it's crazy long. remember being really disappointed by this one back then. i will say that 'any time, any place' is a great slow jam. highlights: 'that's the way love goes', 'any time, any place', and 'if' of course; 3.5 stars

the velvet rope (1997) was where she really started to lose me. i mean, i love 'got til it's gone' so fucking much, like few other things. it was such a huge record for me — that was my entry point into joni mitchell and it just felt like a really poignant moment for everyone involved, possibly one of the first major jay dilla productions. it brings me to tears, truly; that will probably be my #2. but idk, stuff like the 'buffalo gals' sample on the title track, that interlude where she's masturbating, the forced anger of 'what about', the extra sheen of the production (which i now recognize as just "lol90s"), all that stuff just felt out of place to me. highlights: 'got till it's gone', 'i get lonely'

planning to vote a minute or two before the deadline. friday night, prime listening hours.

oh yeah, 2.5 stars re: velvet rope. really disappointing album.

all for you (2001) is where she officially lost me. another super long record. i think i've listened to it once before right now. the carly simon thing has a killer groove and is hilarious! i don't remember most of it. i had forgotten how sexual it is. production is mostly an improvement over the velvet rope. lol america sample on 'someone to call my lover.' it actually makes for a solid groove. otherwise the album feels very decent. i'd definitely say a return to form. all that said: title track's obviously an absolute classic. highlights: title track, 'doesn't really matter', 'son of a gun' better than i remember. 4 stars

damita joy (2004) lol the post "wardrobe malfuntion" album. i remember hearing 'just a little while' and just noping it right away. going back to it now, yeah not a good song. the overt hiphop-ness of the album is noteworthy. overall, the production is decent. wow, 'slo love' is a killer groove. the lyrics and the song themes feel a bit excessive at times, though. like she's trying to regain some street cred or something. why are all of her albums like four hours long? definitely prefer the second half. highlights: 'truly', 'slo love', 'like you don't love me'

20 y.o. (2006) have never heard this album before in my life. first track has khia on it. oh dear. (looks around smiling) i'm uncomfortable. the production for the most part is very much a contemporary hiphop sound. i really like 'do it 2 me.' (reads credits) ahh, no i.d. definitely picks up in the second half. not very memorable overall, unfortunately. highlights: 'love 2 love', 'enjoy', 'do it 2 me' 3 stars

discipline (2008) another one that's entirely new to me. hey 'rock with u' kinda jams. boy, 'rollercoaster' is a strange thing, isn't it? this one isn't as overtly hiphop-ified as the last one and i think it hangs together a little better because of that. for a first impression, this one's surprisingly solid. highlights: 'luv', 'rollercoaster', 'rollercoaster'

gonna wrap it up for tonight. i'll get to unbreakable and send my ballot tomorrow.

oh yeah, probs like 3.5 stars for discipline. not bad at all.

and probs the same for damita jo.