Jump to content

Interesting article on the best singles of the 90s...


King Baby

Recommended Posts

83. Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson, "Scream." Jackson was reportedly a huge fan of his sister's work with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, specifically "Rhythm Nation." So it's no surprise that he would hire the duo to produce for him; what's surprising is that it took so long. "Scream" is an unrelenting techno-funk workout with the warm, layered harmonies both siblings were known for sheathed beneath clipped, sterile synth beats and swaths of metal guitar. This was nothing new for Michael, being similar in style to his single "Jam," but he adopted an even angstier tone here, spitting out lyrics aimed at the media's handling of his sex abuse trial with a vitriol not previously heard. The only moment of release comes during Janet's hushed vocal bridge, in which she demurely marvels in disgust at "all the injustice." SC

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22. Janet Jackson, "If." If janet. found Miss Jackson asserting her right to have an orgasm the likes of which would dwarf your puny muscular spasms, the ruthless dance rock of "If" is the proof. Aided immeasurably by a Supremes sample filtered enough to suggest a cybernetic logjam, "If" ain't no question mark. It prowls, marking its prey, staking its claim, going down-duh-down-down-down-duh-down-down on you while playing with your mind. More metallic than carnal, "If" really peaks when it reaches the sweet harmonies of the bridge before plunging headlong into the crunching paradox of the chorus. If she was your girl, she might treat you better than she claims. But you wouldn't sweat half as much. EH

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm only here for this:

22. Janet Jackson, "If." If janet. found Miss Jackson asserting her right to have an orgasm the likes of which would dwarf your puny muscular spasms, the ruthless dance rock of "If" is the proof. Aided immeasurably by a Supremes sample filtered enough to suggest a cybernetic logjam, "If" ain't no question mark. It prowls, marking its prey, staking its claim, going down-duh-down-down-down-duh-down-down on you while playing with your mind. More metallic than carnal, "If" really peaks when it reaches the sweet harmonies of the bridge before plunging headlong into the crunching paradox of the chorus. If she was your girl, she might treat you better than she claims. But you wouldn't sweat half as much. EH

Link to comment
Share on other sites

100 Greatest Dance Songs

21. Janet Jackson, "Rhythm Nation" (1989). The sonic playroom that Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis built for their pet wind-up pop star Janet Jackson and her do-over debut Control already sounded like the Minneapolis sound declaring war on quiet storm R&B. So it was almost a given that the junior high ethics lessons of the Rhythm Nation project ended up literalizing Jam-Lewis's drum programming-as-armament. "We are a nation with no geographic boundaries," Janet drones without a trace of humor, "pushing toward a world rid of color lines." Get the point? Good, now let's dance with nunchucks. "Rhythm Nation" snatches an indelible sample of Larry Graham's "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)" bass licks, but shifts Sly Stone's guarded political optimism into a direct attack on the 1980s' culture of indifference. And if the song's music video inadvertently recalled the spirit of Leni Riefenstahl, its vision of unity through mandatory multiculturalism reverses the Nazi demagogue's ideology. Janet's interest in the state of the world only lasted for about half an LP side, but maybe that's part of the statement. First beat justice into the system, then lean back and let the escapades begin. EH

69. Janet Jackson, "The Pleasure Principle" (1986). It's human instinct to seek pleasure and avoid pain, but Freud argued that the matured ego "no longer lets itself be governed by the pleasure principle, but obeys the reality principle," or, more simply, defers said pleasure. Janet Jackson certainly followed this paradigm in her musical career, delaying her sexual satisfaction until the very end of her first two blockbuster albums and not fully submitting to it until 1993's janet. While the title track of her 1986 breakthrough Control found the singer taking the reigns of her professional life, the album's final single, "The Pleasure Principle," found her taking control of a personal relationship by refusing to settle for loveless materialism: "What I thought was happiness was only part time bliss," an all-grown-up Janet sings. Written and produced by one-time Prince keyboardist and Jam & Lewis cohort Monte Moir, the entire song parallels a fleeting love affair with a ride in a limousine, while the synths bump like busted shock absorbers and the electric guitar screeches like rubber on pavement. Janet (vis-à-vis Moir) invokes "Big Yellow Taxi," a song she would more blatantly call on for 1997's "Got 'Til It's Gone," while Moir, Jam and Lewis pave over every soul tradition to put up a clanking, whirring, smashing industrial park. SC

http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/feature/100-greatest-dance-songs/206/page_8

Link to comment
Share on other sites

83. Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson, "Scream." Jackson was reportedly a huge fan of his sister's work with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, specifically "Rhythm Nation." So it's no surprise that he would hire the duo to produce for him; what's surprising is that it took so long. "Scream" is an unrelenting techno-funk workout with the warm, layered harmonies both siblings were known for sheathed beneath clipped, sterile synth beats and swaths of metal guitar. This was nothing new for Michael, being similar in style to his single "Jam," but he adopted an even angstier tone here, spitting out lyrics aimed at the media's handling of his sex abuse trial with a vitriol not previously heard. The only moment of release comes during Janet's hushed vocal bridge, in which she demurely marvels in disgust at "all the injustice." SC

Thanks for changing the name. I HATE the other name they used

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...