Rhythm Nation 1814

Da sam morala slušati samo jednu, bilo koju pjesmu s albuma, imala bih daleko bolje mišljenje. Ovako cijeli album ubija. I koliko glasni bubnjevi mogu biti, šta je ovo. P.S. nakon što sam u 5:20 jutros vidjela da mi je ovo album dana izuzetno sam lako opet zaspala.

I wanted so badly to clarify my rating on this album that I'm leaving a note, which is not something I have usually done. Janet sounds great, and I thought the concept of addressing social issues through "We Are the World" style songs was pretty decent until she completely loses the plot halfway through the album and devolves into generic tenderhearted romantic mush. Fine on a different record, but playing the wide-eyed virgin really does a poor job of selling the idea that you are concerned with empowerment, liberation, and all the other social crises you mentioned five tracks ago.

That being said the production on this album is great - I don't care what any of the other reviewers say. Everything snaps, pops, and grooves just the way you want an 80's album to, and if this was 100% instrumental it would get at least 4 stars from me.

Phew, I find Janet Jackson's pop songs boring and annoying. I tried to listen more closely to some of the tracks on the album. They really got on my nerves. I stopped the whole thing and prefer to listen to good music instead. 1/5

Had very low expectations but this wasn’t that bad in the end. Black Cat is a banger.

A+

So of its time, but strangely timeless, Ms. Jackson (because I'm nasty at heart) and producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis weave a tapestry of samples, loops and New Jack Funk to drop an album filled with club bangers. Social consciousness is heavy on her mind here, songs about racism, poverty, injustice, politics, sex, 35 years later and it feels very much on point today. In fact today this would be branded "woke" and all the connotations that go along with it.

Meanwhile I'm still here trying to perfect the 5-4-3-2-1 hand countdown she does in the "Rhythm Nation" video.

Came for "WEEE ARE A PART OF THE RHYTHM NATIOOONNN", got slow jams instead :/

A totally solid album. A little too mealy mouthed in the beginning with it's social British for my taste but the grooves and hits are where it's at. Escapade was a total banger.

Not my pop

The songs are fine, but they all sound basically the same (other than Black Cat which is a bit of an anomaly on this album). And they all seem really earnest in their subject matter.

*Baffling* how grunge, shoegaze, indie etc became so popular when late 80s pop was this over-produced nonsense. Talented, but empty of......... anything

I feel like poorly reviewing 80s music for being cheesy is kind of unfair, but that's not my problem.

I’m at a 5. I would go much higher if I could.

I hold Michael Jackson in a lot of reverence, and maybe that’s a character flaw, for a multitude of reasons I could write about whenever we get Thriller or Bad or Off The Wall. To segue into my point, I’ve never really given Janet a fair shake for whatever reason – I’m genuinely not sure why. I think Scream is one of the best tracks on HIStory, and I know some of her bigger hits. I’ve just never really had an excuse to tackle this album other than laziness.

Once again, I have proven myself to be a fucking moron – this album is fantastic, from top to almost bottom (sorry to “Someday Is Tonight”, it’s just a very awkward fit on this album to me – still a good track though!). While it's definitely stuck in the late 80s, this is New Jack Swing at some of its earliest and its finest; the entire stretch of Rhythm Nation to Livin' in a World (They Didn't Make) is off the charts in terms of production, instrumentals, lyricism, social messaging, and vocals.

Even as the back half of the album transitions into more of a love-driven record, I don’t think anything changes that much other than the atmosphere and mood – obviously, it climaxes at Someday Is Tonight, but there’s still great production and a big variety of styles to keep the album feeling fresh, even if its subject matter grows narrower and narrower.

Regardless of anything else, what I’m most impressed by is that she wrote this at the ages of 22 and 23. Singers nowadays at that age would dream to have something like Rhythm Nation in their catalog, let alone the seven Top 5 singles she had on this album. That’s about as old as Billie Eilish is now, and she's probably the only other artist I can think of with similar critical acclaim at the same age. Hell, it would be a real miracle if Olivia Rodrigo’s next album after GUTS somehow has the cultural impact and acclaim of this.

Ultimately, I truly think Janet broke out an album that could genuinely rival some of Michael’s best (ok, maybe not Thriller, but possibly Bad, and probably Off The Wall). What’s here is nothing short of fantastic, and I don’t think there’s a single miss. A few tracks go a little long, and some production quirks are a little overused, but those are nitpicky in relation to how much I just deeply enjoyed this. It’s so easily deserving of a 5, and I’m very glad I finally listened to it.

There better be more Janet on this list.

Absolutely does not need so many interludes, but the songs are ok. Influenced her brother, which I'm sure she loved, and was surprisingly (to me) huge when it was out. She's touring again soon, but I'll not be rushing out to see her.

80s pop. Kind of a snore. I didn't outright hate it though.

I get the message but the disco late 80s music is not the way to send the message to the people

An okay album. It didn't do anything for me personally, but it wasn't bad. More of a background noise with the upbeat songs

3 ⭐️

Hé, leuk! Een artiest waar ik een aardig beeld bij heb. Maar waar ik weinig van ken. Een ongefundeerde mening is modern natuurlijk. Maar nu kan ik er toch eens een kleine basis eronder leggen.
Mijn beeld vooraf: Prima luisterbare pop, die de jaren 90 alvast inluidt. Wat meer nadruk op beats dan tijdgenoten. Tegelijk nooit ergens bovenuit springend.

Nou, luisteren maar dan. Eerst even wat twijfel wegwerken, want mijn playlist begint en eindigt met een interlude. Heb ik dan niet het hele album voor me? Toch wel. Daarna wordt het hierboven geschetste beeld gelijk bevestigd. Een lekker jaren '90 beatje volgt, zonder iets echt interessants erbij. Dat horen we ook bij veel volgende nummers. Het zakt naar de achtergrond. Ah, vandaar al die interludes. Die zijn echt nodig om de luisteraar ervan bewust te maken dat ze ook nog eens een boodschap te delen heeft. Die attentiewaarde blijkt ook uit de constatering dat het niet de nummers, maar het juist de interludes zijn, die door andere artiesten later zijn gebruikt.

@ Janet: Got the point? Good, let's dance!

Beter than expected

Inoffensive but otherwise meh. Owes a lot to Prince and Michael Jackson (no relation). Black Cat is a cool song, others are mostly unoriginal and weakly executed.