Published on Aug 23, 1997
Opera being the first music that ever made an impact on me (“La
Boheme”, age 13), I tend to treasure “voice” over almost every
other priority. Thus my interest in divas. But when ranking my
“favorites”, I do it ultimately by “technique”. Whitney has a
fuller voice but Alanis sings
better.
Janet Jackson’s vaulted position in my rankings therefore is
justified. Sure she inheirited the Jackson Family’s no-power vocals
but the girl has some
kick-ass funk going on. They don’t make this kind of groove
anymore; we have to settle for Gina G and other one-hit wonder
dance groups.
Kicking off, “That’s The Way Love Goes” is far from her typical
material, and has obvious half-finished lyrics. It’s still a good
track because it’s simply not *Janet*. To rephrase: simply not
*Janet* and James Harris III-Terry Lewis-Jimmy Jam. The love-sex
anthem has “growth” written all over it, though with artistry
commercial viability always seems to suffer.
Change is all over this album. The songs have less bite, less
funk. “You Want This,” knowing Janet Jackson, could’ve been a lot
more heart-starting but it teeters over the edge of – gasp! –
midtempo. The song closest to her earlier material is “If” and even
that is laid back somewhat. It’s an excellent song dealing with the
frustration of the Third Person. But I miss the funk, which has
strangely disappeared from popular music.
Some of it has got to go; “THROB” is a lukewarm Sunday afternoon
kinkiness which doesn’t measure to much despite her in-studio
orgasms. “Funky Big Band” isn’t that funky, a boring-club-mix type
song from beginning to end.
The change is great in some tracks, however. “This Time”
features notorious soprano Kathleen Battle doing some surreal
vocalizing in the background and, true to her prima donna form, the
foreground in an extended bridge section. Jackson’s vocals are
equally determined and the two divas amazingly mesh well. It also
shows that Battle has a hip side. “Because Of Love” also teeters on
the edge of midtempo but it’s not slow and uses the comfortable
quality of Jackson’s voice to full potential (I’ve heard some divas
grate, but then again, I wouldn’t know). The other ballads (last
half of the album) are just as good, especially “The Body That
Loves You” which is sort of an improved version of “That’s the Way
Love Goes”.
My favorite change is “What’ll I Do”, for the reason that it was
so unexpected. This song has zero funk in it but has a nostalgic
60’s Motown feel to it. Even if her voice
is all wrong for the song, you gotta admire her attempt at
artistic experiment at this advanced stage of her career.
Some tracks echo of the Old Janet Jackson. “Where Are You Now”,
aside from being one if not the best ballad she has produced,
reflects “Come Back To Me” (
Rhythm Nation 1814), perhaps a little too much. “New Agenda”
expresses her social views with the loud and clear line ”
African-American woman / I stand tall with pride”. The most
blunt example however would be one of the interludes, “Go On Miss
Janet” where a studio hand goes “Go on, girl” and an authoratative
Jackson goes “Miss Janet.” The hidden track “Whoops Now” (we know
the title from her follow-up greatest hits package,
Design of a Decade 1986/1996) which, in both theme and
sound, has the light-heartedness of “Escapade” and an excellent,
light way to end an otherwise heavy album (“linguila here we come /
here we come now / to the restaurant / for some lobster”
etcetera).
It’s a little inappropriate to end the album with the word
“Oops”; it’s a solid effort by a woman, an
African-American woman, with solid style. But the interlude
overload is annoying, perhaps misleading, and the overall sound is
too repeated. It’s an experiment to be sure, but a large, extended
28-tracks of experiments with little blips in the surface of the
pond. After personal freedom (
Control) and political freedom (
Rhythm Nation 1814), she had chosen to go for sexual freedom
laced with some of the old stuff and the result is half-baked. She
shouldn’t rely too much on her sensual voice; nowadays there’s Toni
Braxton to compete with. Good job, but make sure you iron out some
of that flatness … Miss Janet.