SonofBaldwin Posted September 29, 2015 Share Posted September 29, 2015 ‘Unbreakable’ by Janet Jackson ReviewJanet Jackson’s back with her first album in seven years. ENLARGE Janet Jackson’s new album, ‘Unbreakable,’ is out Friday. Photo: R. Chiang/Splash News/Corbis ByJim FusilliSept. 29, 2015 5:59 p.m. ET 0 COMMENTS Tampa, Fla.At this stage of her career, Janet Jackson faces the daunting task of regaining her place as an artist of the moment rather than of the recent past. She is staking her claim on today with a new album, “Unbreakable” (Rhythm Nation), out Friday, and a lengthy world tour that runs well into 2016. On disc and in concert, the 49-year-old Ms. Jackson proves her significant talent remains undiminished.“Unbreakable” is Ms. Jackson’s first album of new material since “Discipline,” which was released in 2008. On that recording, she employed a cavalcade of producers who shifted the focus from Ms. Jackson’s voice to the arrangements. It launched strong, but faded quickly and generated only one top 20 hit single, a meager result for a Janet Jackson album. To stave off a continuing decline, Ms. Jackson responded by dropping her record label, starting one of her own and reuniting with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who had a hand in most of her pre-“Discipline” recordings and helped her transition from teen star to R&B goddess.The marketplace can be harsh for women of a certain age who once topped the charts—see Mariah Carey and Shania Twain, who were Ms. Jackson’s peers in popularity in the late 20th century—especially if they seek to continue to create new music, rather than willingly enter the prison of the past. How well Janet Jackson circa 2015-16 succeeds commercially may well depend on whether her fans and followers of contemporary R&B and dance music are interested in new songs from one of the most successful recording artists of the ’80s and ’90s.“Unbreakable” makes the wise choice of returning Ms. Jackson to appealingly familiar settings without ignoring today’s pop tropes, including the clichés. The hot dance track “Burn It Up!” kicks off with a rap by Missy Elliott, while the slow jam “No Sleeep” features rapper J. Cole. (Ms. Jackson giggles when Mr. Cole proposes a “friends with benefits” relationship.) “Shoulda Known Better,” which opens as a ballad, borrows EDM beats for its underpinning.For the most part, though, Ms. Jackson and the producers explore a satisfying range of musical styles plucked from across the span of pop history. Her voice rides atop funk keyboards and a synth bass in “Night,” a swirling sizzler begging for a dance-club remix. A sweet tune that ends too soon, “Dream Maker/Euphoria” taps into Philadelphia-style soul of the early ’70s. “Dammn Baby” and “The Great Forever” present two interpretations of the classic Jackson sound: In the former, Ms. Jackson sings above percolating bass lines that evoke, albeit in a less strident version, the effervescence of her late-’80s recordings. In “The Great Forever,” a gauzy mid-tempo funk environment permits Ms. Jackson to sing and phrase much as her brother Michael did. The effect is both a tribute to him and a reminder of their shared heritage as exemplars of soul.On Thursday at a concert here at the Amalie Arena, Ms. Jackson gave prominent placement to her new material, eagerly juxtaposing it with earlier hits. With a video of J. Cole projected on white curtains streaming from the rafters, “No Sleeep” bled into “Got ’Til It’s Gone,” a similar cool burner that appeared on Ms. Jackson’s 1997 album “The Velvet Rope.” After intermission, she came downstage, perched on a stool and offered a series of her romantic ballads, the highlight of which was a gorgeous rendition of “After You Fall” from the new album. The ballads revealed the strength of her voice, which doesn’t need studio polishing to convey tender emotions.Ms. Jackson has had so many top hits that to perform most of them required medleys of truncated versions: Dancing along in a whirlwind with her nine-member troupe, she squeezed 14 up-tempo songs into a 30-minute whip-snap opening set. The evening leaped into a higher gear with “All for You” and the extra-funky “All Nite (Don’t Stop),” both from early 21st-century albums. She pulled the past forward with a polyrhythmic, house-like “Throb” and revived her rock-funk hybrid with “Black Cat” and “Scream,” the latter featuring her brother Michael’s recorded voice.By the time she closed the evening with the new “Shoulda Known Better” and the “Unbreakable” title track, which was sweetened by the harmonies of her three backup singers, Ms. Jackson had already established a flawless bridge across the decades. Her new music adds to her already rich musical legacy and should sweep her into a new, relevant future.Mr. Fusilli is the Journal’s rock and pop music critic. Email him at jfusilli@wsj.com and follow him on Twitter @wsjrock. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bailey Posted September 29, 2015 Share Posted September 29, 2015 great tour review.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock & Roll Hall of Game Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 Lmao I don't like how they mixed the tour review with the album review but cool. I'm getting impatient Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bailey Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 Lmao I don't like how they mixed the tour review with the album review but cool. I'm getting impatientat least it was positive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Wonder Posted September 30, 2015 Share Posted September 30, 2015 I read this while at work the other day. Very well written and no failed attempts at cheap shade. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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