Despite the misfires, it still shows that Jackson, as an artist and performer, still has something to say-and it’s brave to open up and say it after seven years of relative silence, which, in today’s pop music landscape, can feel like a fucking lifetime.Ģ015 Album review Anhedonic Headphones J.VANCOUVER, British Columbia - A newly demure Janet Jackson started her “Unbreakable World Tour” at Rogers Arena here on Monday night. Unbreakable is neither a career misstep, nor is it a redefining moment. But will they even bother #blessing the world with a review of it?įor Jackson, she doesn’t care, as she won’t care about my review of her album: “ It’s never the critic that counts/Cause critics only wanna talk,” she says on “Shoulda Known Better.” Just look at how Pitchfork has covered her every move since “No Sleeep” was announced earlier in the year. Jackson may or may not be made for modern times, but if anything, Unbreakable is an attempt to make her relevant in 2015-and it’s working. However, there is a slight reprieve near the album’s conclusion in the form of the album’s slow burning anthem “Well Traveled,” Unbreakable’s most self-aware track: “ I’ve come a long way, I’ve got a long way to go,” she sings in the song’s powerful refrain. The album’s weakest and least successful material is saved for its second half. Slightly less effective is the similarly large sounding “Take Me Away,” which falls into the album’s second half-a song that, while catchy, feels a little less sincere in its execution. It’s a gigantic, frisson inducing, go for broke statement, and man, does it work-it gives chills where it’s supposed to, and you just want to pump your fist along with the refrain when it kicks in again. While those albums didn’t exactly succumb to the popular styles of the time, but rather defined a specific sound, in a sense, one of the problems with Unbreakable is that it tries too hard to cater to today’s pop landscape.Īnd in some cases, that works-like the HUGE sounding “Shoulda Known Better” which sounds like the kind of thing that Zedd would have produced. Unbreakable reunites her with the dream team of producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, who are responsible for the sound of her trilogy of unbeatable albums- Rhythm Nation, Janet, and The Velvet Rope. The answer is both yes, and no, because Unbreakable is a total mixed bag-it buckles under its own weight by the second half, it’s got its fair share of songs that are tepid at best, but it also shines at moments-showing Jackson’s weirdness, as well as that her voice (when not assisted by a multi-tracker) is still phenomenal.
Unbreakable is also the first album she’s put out since the untimely passing of her brother Michael in 2009-something that she discusses on the rather poignant, but uplifting “Broken Hearts Heal.”
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