Janet Explores Her Femininity and Sexuality!

janet. (1993)

1. Morning
Violins play as we hear Janet begin to speak. "We had the kind of night where morning comes to soon. We used a light from a flickering candle across the room to make the kind of shadows that only one thing could make...love.” As the music then fades out. A nice opening interlude!

2. "That's The Way Love Goes"
"Like a moth to flame burned by the fire/My love is blind/Can't you see my desire/That's the way love goes." And with that, Janet ushered in her smoothest and grooviest record at the time with this sensual mid-tempo lead single. What's so great about the song, besides the lovely lyrics, is the way Janet sings this song. While so many have judged her voice throughout her career, only Janet could sing a song like this. Mariah or Whitney's voices would have been too much for such a cool and laid-back track as Janet's soft, sexy vocals elevate this song to the classic that it became. The biggest single of her career; topping the Hot 100 charts for 8 consecutive weeks, Janet showed she didn't have to come back big and extravagant to make such a HUGE impression. One of her most memorable singles in her long catalog of hits!
(A+)

3. You Know...
A door bell rings as a door then opens. A group of friends enter as the door shuts..."You know you want me"!

4. "You Want This"
And who wouldn't want you Janet as she delivers the album's most infectious R&B jam here! "You Want This" is a teasing, titillating track that sees Janet playing hard to get with her potential love interest. I love the energy of the beat as it feels like one of those unforgettable 90s joints. Sampling "Diana Ross & the Supremes' 1968 song "Love Child" and Kool & the Gang's 1973 song "Jungle Boogie", the production is top notch as well as Janet's signature sassy delivery. It's just a shame the album version doesn't feature the remix with MC Lyte as her verse was so catchy and one of my favorite parts of the music video. Otherwise, a superb and strong single off the album!
(A)

5. "Be A Good Boy"
"Be a good boy and put this on" as we lead into...

6. "If"
...One of the album's finest tracks!!! Now, let's try and believe me it's hard but lets try to critique this track based on it's lyricism and music outside of the innovative, epic and sexiest video it spawn with some of the most inventive choreography I have ever seen! "If", the song alone, is a masterwork of multiple genres. From pop, rock, hip hop and R&B, the track is so well produced by Janet's signature due of producers, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. I also LOVE how Janet vocally delivers the song, rapidly singing her way as the song moves at a swift but oh so satisfying pace. Another one of Janet's most pleasurable and  progressively provocative tunes that you should not miss and has stood the test of time!
(A+)

7. Back
"I'm giving you back!"......uhh huh O_o

8. "This Time"
If there are two words to describe "This Time", it would be "rock opera". But the song also contains elements of R&B and pop as well. A furious Janet is upset at her lover and his potential infidelity with various women as she so angrily sings "You runnin' round/ With those nasty hoes". It's a fierce vocal performance from Janet as she sings along side a stellar production. And if that wasn't good enough, we get a powerful solo from opera legend Kathleen Battle toward the end of the track that will literally send chills down your spine! What an outstanding piece of work from both artists and another standout from this album! Oh and "You're dismissed
(A+) 

9. Go On Miss Janet
"Go on girl! Miss Janet!"....ok even if the interludes are so random on this album, this one ALWAYS gives me life! lol

10. "Throb"
In probably what is the most energetic and sexually charged record of the album, "Throb" starts off with some not so subtle moans followed by "Cum for me"! Jesus! O_O While this album gets some comparisons to the previous year's "Erotica" by Madonna, this is the track the sounds the most like anything off that album...yet "Throb" feels so much more lively and boisterous in it's presentation; not to mention being more sexually explicit. I mean at one point Janet chants "Bigger, Harder. Thicker. Deeper" followed each time by "That's how I want it!" Either way, this is a dancer's heaven as this ultimate house/club track is hard not to move to even with the vulgarity of it's lyrics at the time. It's definitely one of my favorite non-singles from the album as it makes for great fun!
(A)

11. "What I'll Do"
Well, what do we have here? Some country?? Not the biggest fan of the genre but the way Janet delivers this song it' hard not to sing along. Janet sure brings some youthful energy to the song as she sings about what she'd do for the satisfaction for her lover in question. I also love the corresponding background vocals that come in. It's an overall very solid track with well written lyrics and entertaining production.
(B+)

12. The Lounge
We hear people in a locker room talking and taking showers as we lead into...

13. "Funky Big Band"
....the album's first misstep for me! I don't know what it is about "Funky Big Band" that doesn't do it me anymore but it just falls a little flat to me. Now, it's not a bad song by any means and I love the creativity of the track; mashing R&B, hip hop and jazz for a very cool sound. But the song is kind of meaningless fluff! Now one could argue that "Throb" is meaningless fluff but it has a charm and fun to it that this doesn't have for me unfortunately. Sorry.
(C+)

14. Racism
We hear a helicopter in the background as Janet speaks: "And to a world sick with racism. Get well soon." Probably one of the very few interludes on this album that has meaning.

15. "New Agenda"
Going back to her social conscious roots, Janet tackles racism and sexism in this R&B/Hip Hop collaboration with Chuck D from Public Enemy. It's a solid track with a great message that still holds up now a days. While it's production sounds a bit dated, it's the timeless message about equality among genders and races that still makes a strong impression in a whole currently riddled with scandal over women being mistreated in the limelight.
(B)

16. Love, Pt. 2
Ok, did we really need a reprise of "That's the Way Love Goes"?? No, thank you!

17. "Because of Love"
Awwww, how I adore this song! What could be more fun and heartwarming than Janet singing a song about the joys of being in love?? Nothing I tell you! Janet just sounds so sincere and sweet on this record and while it might not be one of her most memorable hit singles, it still is a heartfelt tribute to the endless optimism brings in you. :) So beautiful!
(B+)

18. Wind
.............-_-.......................

19. "Again"
One of Janet's best, if not her best ballad, after "Come Back To Me". Janet sings about not wanting to go down the path of a broken heart once more. "Again" is just touching in it elegant simplicity and Janet's vocals, as soft as they can be, really tug at the heart strings, especially when she goes for that high note toward the end. It's no wonder this became a Academy Award nominated #1 single for Janet's feature film debut in Poetic Justice! There's nothing else that needs to be said. Just stunning! :)
(A+)

20. Another Lover
Blah, blah, blah then to ever have another lover! Next!

21. "Where Are You Now"
Two great ballads in a row??? I'll happily take it! Janet once again makes me all teary eyed in this sweet ballad as she expresses regret over a former lover that has gone astray. Janet sings that they hope they can reconnect and make up for the loss time she caused. With lovely lyricism and a shimmering groove, "Where Are You Know" has some tough competition amongst this album's killer cuts but it definitely holds up well against them.
(B+)

22. Hold On Baby
........................................-_-.....

23. "The Body That Loves You"
In this sultry but sadly unimpressive ballad, "The Body That Loves You" isn't bad once again, but it just doesn't hold my attention as much as it wants to. It's an above average, nice ballad but when compared to the ballads before and what's to come, it just falls toward the end of this album for me in ranking the strengths of each track.
(C+)

24. Rain
........................Dammit Janet, just stop it! Stop it with these inconsequential to the next song interludes!

25. "Any Time, Any Place"
Here we are! We've arrived at the sexiest track and single of Janet's career! "Any Time, Any Place" is unapologetic in it's advocacy for sexual intercourse in the public eye! This is the steamiest Janet has ever gotten without sounding like she was being too blunt and slutty. The only thing that stops this from being a complete classic is that the R. Kelly remix is perfection! But this isn't bad by any means, Janet has never sounded sexier than right here and the lyrics literally will get you hot, bothered and sweaty for a night of relentless passion. One of my favorite songs from Janet and the epitome of this album at it's uninhibited glory.
(A)

26.  Are You Still Up
........Keep with these ridiculously pointless interludes and I won't be!

27.  Sweet Dreams
..........................For the love of God!!!!

28. "Whoops Now"
We conclude this very long album with....possibly the cheesiest song of Janet's career as her friends start talking about where they want to travel before Janet starts singing about it. "Whoops Now" is so gleefully corny but I love the whole folk genre of the song. Its just pure fun for me and I can't help but sing along ok. I just can't resist the overtly cheerful nature of the whole thing but neither can you if you hear it!
(B+)

Well, it was a long time coming before Janet finally explored her sexuality and she for the most part, does an incredible job here! What makes "janet." work, is we are seeing a woman finally embracing her womanhood and being unafraid to be vulnerable in the bed room. It's a shame though that the album isn't cohesive though. The first half from "That's the Way..." to "What I'll Do" is another strong run of tracks from Janet, Jimmy and Terry as they explore an abundance of music genres to create the most eclectic sounding album of Janet's career so far. The second half, "Funky Big Bad" to "Whoops Now" is a solid, if not heavily flawed run of R&B/hip hop mashups and semi-strong ballads with a handful of standouts. Not to mention, those darn interludes just disappoint and irritate. Too numerous as there are more interludes than actual songs on the album! (Technically, it's 14 songs and 14 interludes, but since "Whoops Now" is really a bonus track, there are really more interludes than song which is just laughable!) But either way, the album is full of too many awesome tracks to ignore how strong of an overall record it is and Janet's newly embraced sexual freedom is exciting. Add in her famous 1993 Rolling Stone Cover and "janet." becoming one of the biggest selling albums of all time by selling 20 million copies worldwide; this era was probably the most successful era of her career that she would never see again unfortunately. While many would go on to compare it to "Erotica" once again, I don't see much of resemblance as "janet." at times it more sexually profane at times than that album (oh the irony of Janet calling Madonna "classless" at the time! lol) "Erotica" is definitely more serialized and tame. But what I do love is while comparing the two, "janet" overall presentation ,visually, was tame compared to Madonna's infamous SEX book and "Erotica" video. Even when the videos were at their sexiest like "If"'s voyeuristic dance club and "Any Time, Any Place"s displays of public intimacy, it was all tastefully done; just toying the line well enough between  sensational sensuality and metaphoric yearning of pleasure. Opening at #1 with the biggest opening week sales for a female at the time, like "Erotica" once again, this album is credited for helping female artists moved forward with their sexuality in the music industry and it's hard not to see why. I feel like this album, both artist and era, became the definitive mix of sexy moves, mesmerizing music and provocative imagery that future stars like Britney Spears and Teyanna Taylor would go on to desperately emulate. Because the formula has definitely washed, rinsed and repeated many times up until now for sure.

"Reinventing herself as a sex symbol for the 90s, "janet." is undoubtedly sexy and filled with some of her greatest hits, but the gratuitous amount of useless interludes hurt an otherwise superb album."
(A)