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Janet Jackson’s “Discipline”

February 27, 2008 2:56 PM

Janet Jackson, who usually has been known to release an album every four or five years or so, has recently been in one of the most prolific periods in her career.  “Discipline” comes just two years after her last album “20 Y.O.,” which followed relatively closely after 2004’s “Damita Jo” which arrived on the heals of the botched Super Bowl halftime “wardrobe malfunction.” 

That infamous incident and its negative fallout perhaps sent Jackson into a career re-evaluation mode, perhaps trying to undo the damage.  You can’t blame her for wanting to have her new albums match the success of her top-notch pop landmarks “Control” from 1986 and “Rhythm Nation 1814” from 1989. 

“Damita Jo” wasn’t a great album by Jackson standards, but had the Super Bowl incident not happened, I have a feeling the rock-edged “Just a Little While” and the Kanye West assisted “Strawberry Bounce” would have been enough to make the album more of a sales success.

  “20 Y.O.” was named in honor of the 20th anniversary of her album “Control” and was meant to recall her pop glory days.  Yes, it was a clean, crisp pop treat, and yes it was better than “Damita Jo” by leaps and bounds, but it was a little too easily digestible.  Its tracks, though infectious during the album’s duration, had little sticking-power otherwise.  Although it was entertaining, it felt like a rehash. 

Neither “Damita Jo” nor “20 Y.O.” debuted at the top of the charts.  It was an unusual loss of form.  There was a sense that maybe after that Super Bowl incident that Janet lost a little of her mega-pop-star mojo. This is mojo she should have never lost.  She wouldn’t have lost it either if said “wardrobe malfunction” hadn’t happened. After F.C.C. fines and an apology it seemed like she didn’t quite have the same pull.

  The part that really makes little to no sense in the matter is how her coconspirator in the incident, Justin Timberlake seemed to get past the incident relatively unscathed.  He was after all the one who actually ripped her outfit exposing her breast for a millisecond of nationally broadcast network television.  He said he was sorry and the incident was over for him, while Janet suffered the consequences of cultural scorn.  A few years later for  reasons more confounding than ever, Timberlake is more popular than ever with everyone giving him a pass, with a wink-wink and a nudge-nudge, and a “don’t worry about him, he’s just bringing sexy back!”  (Oh, of course!  I had no idea it went away!   Please!) A few have noted that the disparity in the treatment of these two perhaps says something profoundly disturbing about embedded sexism (and perhaps even issues of racism as well) in our culture. Gender probably played a bigger roll than race, though.  Either way, it may point to a double-standard.  It’s not the way it should be. Janet should be forgiven. 

Yes, it was a mistake.  Yes, they shouldn’t have done it.  All that really happened though was her breast was exposed for a period of time so quick that if you blinked you missed it.  It was just a breast and it caused an outcry.    Is it healthy as a culture to really have such an offended reaction to the human body?  So, I say it really, finally is time to forgive Janet once and for all. 

After “20 Y.O.,” Janet left her label, Virgin, thus making “Discipline” her first album for Island/Def Jam.  There has been speculation that the two last albums’ weaker-than-usual sales stats combined with her significant-other/collaborator Jermaine Dupri’s move from Virgin to Island/Def Jam may be among her reasons for the move. 

So how does “Discipline” fare?  On first look, what’s most obvious is the absence of Jackson’s longtime producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.  They have been a part of her hit-making team since she began having hits, so such a move is perhaps a little startling.    Jam and Lewis have always known how to make pop records which gleam yet don’t sound completely artificial.  But then again, they are masters.  As part of the Time, they came from the same Minneapolis scene as Prince.  They had the purple one’s pop sense.  So, it’s a shame to see Janet part ways with them.  For “Discipline”  Janet’s left mostly in the hands of Dupri among others.

The album’s first real track beyond the intro is the single “Feedback.”  It starts off promising with a marching-band drum beat which recalls the intensity of “Rhythm Nation,” but then gives way to a pop song that sounds factory produced.  If the Jackson family is known for anything, it sure isn’t factory-produced pop.  She and Michael have always been known for taking musical chances and blending genres whenever possible.  This track lacks Janet’s personality.  It’s the weakest thing here. It sounds like it could’ve easily been on a number of other pop albums including Britney Spears’ “Blackout.”  Like a few of the tracks on the album, it was co-written by Rodney Jerkins, who has written better, more memorable fare for Destiny’s Child and others.  It may be on its way to being a hit, but Janet’s done much better.  This sounds like machine-generated gloss, down to the disappointing layer of what sounds like computer treatment over her vocals.  Janet may not be a belter, but her nice, honey-soaked voice has never ever seemed to need such a boost. 

“Luv” is better.  Again, her voice sounds treated which is rather upsetting, but this groove actually fits Janet.  It is a nice, relaxing jam you can imagine being blasted on beaches.  Rhythmically reminiscent of Kanye West’s “Good Life,” it should be a hit.    

Maybe the whole CD is meant to sound computerized.  It’s as if Janet wants to sound like some sort of sensuous robot.  It is an approach which mimics that of the before-mentioned Spears, but where Spears sounded completely cold and artificial, there’s humanity in Jackson’s tracks.  “Rollercoaster,” despite the digitized wash seems very warm and personal.

The “ooh-oohs” on Rock with U” sound like they were meant to be the soundtrack to a summer pool party. 

“2Nite” is a dance track in the vein somewhere between “Together Again” and “All for You.”

“Can’t B Good” is a slow jam which somehow recalls “Any Time, Any Place” and her brother’s “Thriller” closer “The Lady in My Life.” 

Janet has always excelled at the slow songs, especially the slow, melodic ballads like “Again” and “Every Time.”  This album’s “Never Letchu Go” attempts to match those tracks.  It’s likeable, but it is a bit too cheesy.  The capper is the subtle “guitar-like” effect hidden in the mix during the end of the intro.  It sounds too over-the-top in a soft-rock-ballad-from-the-eighties sort of way.

“Greatest X” is another ballad.  At this point it seems like she’s put too many slow songs too close together. 

But then the party picks back up beginning with the cool and trippy “So Much Betta,” and continues with the Missy Elliott collaboration “The 1” which could be a decent hit without sounding calculated. 

“What’s Ur Name” is a seductive groove with a crisp bounciness.  It could also be another party smash. 

The title track is another same-y slice of smooth-loving R&B, but frankly the S&M-like imagery and lyrics like “Daddy, I disobeyed U” probably would cross a line for most people.  It’s supposed to be shocking and enticing I suppose, but it just ends up sounding wrong and (dare I say) icky.  It’s in the “too much information” category.   The same goes with the videotaped private romp described on “Curtains,” but that’s a much better track all around. 

Janet plays the roll of the vixen decently, but she plays on it slightly too often.  Perhaps “Control” and “Rhythm Nation 1814” worked better as albums because they were more varied in subject-matter.  It’s like she’s trying to drill it in that she can be seductive.  We get it.  Move on.  It’s this kind of lame, shameless, in-your-face pandering that has nearly derailed her career.  She needs to learn that less is more.

That being said, “Discipline” does indeed outdo its two predecessors in quality.  It may be her best album since “All For You” or perhaps even “The Velvet Rope.” Sure, it’s really pop-driven and it lacks a good rock track to equal “If” or “Black Cat,” but that’s a minor point.  It’s not a perfect album, but it (sort of) gets the job done.  We will all have to see if it reenergizes the buying public.
 

February 27, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (6)

User Comments

Posted by: menno | Mar 3, 2008 5:58:00 AM

Posted by: menno | Mar 3, 2008 6:04:34 AM

Posted by: Danny | Mar 6, 2008 9:06:04 AM

Posted by: Joel | May 18, 2008 8:59:29 PM

Posted by: jay | Jun 11, 2008 9:36:57 AM

Posted by: jay | Jun 11, 2008 9:37:02 AM

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