|
|
| Janet Jackson - The Velvet Rope As a pre-dominately 'alternative' listener, one would expect me to dislike an album by someone like Janet Jackson. In fact, I really strongly disliked the album Janet. Her greatest hits album was a little bit better (Design of a Decade) but was still not anything fantastic or anything much to stand out to me. But The Velvet Rope was something different. I really enjoyed this album. My first impressions of the album began to take shape as I actually looked at the album. The album's record cover with the simple photo of Janet was interesting, and the hidden Commodore 64 font-style word Janet at the top was a fascinating sleeve idea for me. And I was really enthralled when I noticed that the album supposedly contained 22 songs. (When in reality, the album has about 15 or so songs.) The album The Velvet Rope flows really smoothly, as I find that R & B style or pop albums don't usually do. Flow is extremely important in an album. Records with songs that don't flow together well make for a jumpy experience of listening. The odd inserts between certain songs create this dynamic flow. Some of the songs wouldn't fit after each other without these moments. If I were to use a word to describe The Velvet Rope, it would be sexy. And this is not in a funny way or a stereotyped masculine way, but in a smooth way. This is a really sexually driven album. Much like other female rock stars or pop stars are, like Liz Phair or Elastica seem to be. But not in a stupid pointless-sex way like Spice Girls. The Velvet Rope has a really beautifully sexy feel to it. The title of the record is quite appropriate. The songs on the album vary in style well also. From the catchy little sample in 'Got Till It's Gone' to the extremely catchy memorial tune 'Together Again' (which are well chosen as the respective first singles of the album), this record is quite varied. Which I find to be a rare occurance in an R & B album. Janet avoids conveying only two emotions on it, and takes you through a roller coaster of heart thoughts. This is what makes The Velvet Rope one of the greatest R & B albums or pop albums or just plain old albums of a long time. If you're looking for something refreshing, this may just be the album for you. Review by Treemaster |
Here are
the other sections of the Music Branch: ----------------------- |
Copyright 1998 Leaves Ltd.
Updated as of Monday March 09, 1998 10:10:19 PM Pacific Standard Time
