Album Review: Janet Jackson "Discipline"

Wow. There was always a record I dreamed that Janet Jackson would record ... & Discipline is it. Miss Jackson has returned to creating great music with this futuristic vision that makes for her best record yet, imo. I know some people would disagree with me &, to be honest, I haven't heard all of some of Janet's very earliest albums & I was not even old enough to be subjected to The Velvet Rope when it dropped, but I've followed her for as long as I could & this is, for me, her most listenable effort to date.

The album starts off with a bang & gets the listener hooked better than anything I've heard in a while, with "Feedback," "LUV," & "Rollercoaster." As Discipline continues, with some more uptempos, followed by the main block of ballads, & ending with a couple more of each, I find my personal perfect balance of all for Ms. Jackson, all of which are recorded in such a professional and flawless manner. Discipline offers such a fresh sound, and returns Janet to that creative, trendsetting place she is meant to be in.

While I enjoyed the slower tunes, and they were needed to a certain degree, the uptempos are the gems in Discipline. "Feedback" has been so insanely overplayed by myself, yet it never seems to get old. "LUV" is the best kind of infectious record I've come across, with Janet chanting "he crashed into my heart" in the best way. "Rollercoaster," then, offers a completely different sound that is just as wonderful. As a Brandy fan that adores the mastery of overlapping vocals, "Rock With U"'s signature "oo" line is simply irresistible. "2Nite" is another Janet uptempo that only she could pull off, while "So Much Betta," which features Kyoko, Janet's interlude buddy, has Janet doing what she does best to a beat that is undeniably hot. "The 1," featuring Missy Elliott, is a great mix between the two. And I have to say that those interludes, that I would typically find annoying, make the album that much more special.

Rating: 5/5 Stars