I want to know people's Janet Journeys. Let me begin with a novel.
Early 2004 was the moment when I really began to see what artists were doing beyond the hit singles. My discovery of Janet's albums coincided with that thing that happened, but I don't know if it was because of it. I think I was already headed down that road - as it happens, Michael's scandals the previous year only served to make me MORE interested in his artistry and I'm glad that was my reaction.
Anyway, Rhythm Nation was my first Janet album and I was beyond blown away. I knew Janet had been around for a long time but here's basically what I knew at that point:
- Together Again
- Got Til It's Gone
- Runaway
- All For You
- Someone To Call My Lover
So I went in with basically no information and was just floored by this album. I heard The Velvet Rope and Got Til It's Gone, which I knew but not as a Janet song and that was a pleasant surprise. When Damita Jo came out I actually was at the mall with some friends and decided to buy it, I remember playing it on the "car" radio while playing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
And then I don't know why I stopped there, but those three albums were basically the Janet I did in 2004.
Then in 2005 came Control, janet., and All For You. janet. was a revelation to me. From beginning to end, it was this rich, opulent, eclectic ride. I think at the time I'd been avoiding it because I read a review saying that they traded the sharp sounds of Rhythm Nation for something softer and more undulating and for some reason that translated in my mind as shapeless and boring. I was never happier to be wrong in my life and I HATE being wrong
If, That's The Way Love Goes, You Want This, This Time, like holy chit
And the album has just opened up more and more to me with each passing year. I love it now more than ever.
Then came Call On Me. I remember thinking to myself, "Janet, what are you doing..."
I hated it upon first listen but there was so much hype about the album and how it was a mix of the sounds and themes she'd tackled over the previous 20 years, and I thought "well that oughta be good, maybe they just picked this song to get her back on the radio" and plus her body looked great... so then So Excited came and.... I lied to myself for a week before deciding I really didn't like it. Enjoy leaked somewhere in the middle of all this and I played that song into the GROUND. In my world, it was a hit on par with All For You or Together Again. But on the whole, I was very disappointed in that album and in my poorly measured teenage passions I kind of wrote Janet off as an act whose current work wouldn't excite me.
And when Discipline came out, that didn't really change. I thought it was so lifeless and it came out in like February if I remember right, or it leaked in February. I remember my family was off in Europe and it was cold outside and I was having problems in school and not feeling great and I was listening to Greatest X and thinking "is she for real with this?" I was waiting on four big albums that year, and the fact that Discipline was only the second most disappointing to me is really a testament to how at that point I expected nothing from Janet and still expected everything from Madonna prior to Hard Candy.
I also have to say that in early 2008 I was having such a hard time that one early morning I went for a walk and decided to play The Velvet Rope and I remember that being EXACTLY what I needed to hear. Her previous work still mattered to me, and I was always going to see what else she came up with, but I wasn't really optimistic.
So then 2009 comes and Michael dies, and Janet's at the funeral and does the VMA tribute and I loved her for doing that. Number Ones disappointed me (but I tend to remake most hits albums anyway), and then she just went away for years and years. I really thought she was done. She had all of the money, she'd made her coffee, she built her legacy, and if she was in a business that wasn't really supporting her anymore and trying to sell herself to a public that had seemingly dismissed any chance for her, she had no reason to come back...
...so when I found out she was doing some work with Jimmy and Terry, I didn't think much about it. I figured they'd tinker around in the studio for a while but nothing would really come of it, like maybe she'd do How Did I Get Married Five and contribute a song to the soundtrack and that would be it. So when that teaser came with the No Sleep instrumental... you can *feel* when something magical is about to happen, really. It's in the air. And the single lived up to the magic, it was instantly enchanting. And when the title track showed up online with that spoken bit at the end, I could hear how energized she was, and how focused she was this time. Finally, after almost eight years, Unbreakable was released and if it turns out to be her last album, her career couldn't have a better closing chapter.
But they need to learn some respect.
But I chose Janet. as my first album purchase, only because I was so obsessed with "If." I was pretty disappointed the first time I listened to the album, honestly--it felt dated, rife with filler, and nothing on it was similar to "If." But I pressed on. Bought RN1814 next. That changed my life. I don't know if I moved on from it for at least three months. I thought it was the most perfect body of music I'd ever heard. And the imagery! I was all in.
Wish I had the chance to experience more of Janet the way you guys did but I only got into her in 2012. But then again maybe I'm glad I wasn't here for Discipline nnn