New album: The 20/20 Experience
Artist: Justin Timberlake
Label: RCA
Rating: 2 stars out of 5
Justin Timberlake has turned out to be a true Renaissance man. When looking at his successes in music, film and TV, one wonders why he’s been blessed with so much charisma, while some of us can’t put on our shoes without cracking a rib.
Timberlake’s last solo outing in 2006 was produced by Timbaland, a man responsible for more cookie-cutter products than Fred and Friends. While all Timbaland productions end up sounding the same, everything clicked for the “SexyBack” single, and Timberlake’s career skyrocketed.
But much like Will Smith before him, music ended up taking a back seat to his Hollywood endeavors.
While it’s too early to tell if Timberlake will become the next George Clooney, “The 20/20 Experience” is clear evidence that his days as a pop icon are numbered. Timberlake is still a gifted singer, but without a pop tune as catchy as Tim Mosely’s “SexyBack” to pull the album together, this latest effort sounds like another Timbaland cut and paste job.
“Suit and Tie” is full of shiny bells and whistles, but after hearing the “I be on my suit and tie, (expletive) tie, (expletive) tie” refrain a few times, you’ll start praying for an inner ear infection. Style-wise, this tune is a bit of a throwback, but it’s to an ultra-slick era of R&B that hasn’t aged particularly well.
“Strawberry Bubblegum” isn’t quite as boring as “Suit and Tie,” mainly because the Barry White as Darth Vader narration is mildly amusing. “Spaceship Coupe” is another shambles of a song, but it does at least feature a great Timberlake vocal. The goofiness of the song’s “music” and lyrics sounds more like a rejected Saturday Night Live sketch than a song built to make the girls scream en masse.
The southern soul of “That Girl” borders on greatness, while the propulsive “Let the Groove Get In” is the natural successor to “SexyBack” and should be the next single. As mainstream pop songs go, these two songs are about as good as it’s going to get, but two songs do not a good album make.
Weak material aside, the songs on “20/20” are just too long for the gnat-on-uppers attention span of the average pop consumer. Most of these tunes hover around the seven-minute mark, which may or may not be a nod to the long slow-jam days of yore, but it’s best to leave the long jams to the Allman Brothers Band or Medeski, Martin and Wood … you know, musicians.
Classic album: Off the Wall
Artist: Michael Jackson
Label: Epic
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Everyone seems to overlook the solo recordings Michael Jackson made before the release of “Thriller” in 1982, but 1979’s “Off the Wall” has held up nearly as well. This was Jackson’s first album not recorded for Motown, and with producer Quincy Jones he found a trusted ally who helped him craft a sound totally independent of his days with the Jackson 5.
Disco may have been on its way out in 1979, but “Off the Wall” contained some of the last big hit records to fall under the genre’s umbrella.
“Don’t Stop ’TilYou Get Enough” featured a production as bright as a UV light, complete with lush strings and a beat that was just funky enough to get even the stiffest shirt in the club out on the dance floor. “Don’t Stop” also featured the first performance of the falsetto-style singing that would dominate Jackson’s 1980s output.
“Off the Wall” boasts another pop classic in “Rock with You,” a song written by Rod Temperton. “Rock with You” was aimed at the dance floor as well, but the song also showcased Jones’ and Jackson’s ability to layer harmony vocals in a way similar to Brian Wilson’s work with the Beach Boys.
Since the lyrics were just about dancing, Jackson was viewed by the public as a nice young man who could sing and dance. Life was so simple then.
“She’s Out of My Life” was a great ballad for Jackson in the tradition of “I’ll Be There.” The earnestness in Jackson’s delivery boarders on overblown, but he seems to mean every syllable. The closing romp, “Burn the Disco Out,” dates things a bit, but it’s still a good bit of Kool & The Gang-type fun.
Before the scandals and the surgeries, Michael Jackson knew how to make great pop music, and “Off the Wall” is a fine example of what he once was.
Jon Dawson’s album reviews appear every Thursday in The Free Press. Contact Jon at 252-559-1092 or jon.dawson@kinston.com. Purchase books, music and left-handed gloves at jondawson.com.