Janet Jackson’s The Velvet Rope was personal, provocative, and ultimately under-appreciated. In the immediate years that followed, Janet was omnipresent in R&B and hip-hop, making vocal appearances on tracks by Busta Rhymes, Blackstreet, and Shaggy. Unfortunately, she quickly abandoned this new direction in favor of pop fluff.
Janet’s new album, All for You, is chock-full of ’70s influences courtesy of her longtime production team Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. But this time around, the singer has delved into her own ’80s catalog as well. Take the video mix of the title track and first single, for example: The obligatory dance-break portion contains samples from many of her previous efforts, while “Come on Get Up” breaks into some synth-frenzied splendor reminiscent of Control. But rather than update that ’80s sound, Jam & Lewis simply nod to it.
And that’s how the story goes for most of All for You. Several tracks attempt to replicate the drippy sex of “Any Time, Any Place” and “I Get Lonely” but fall short. “When We Oooo,” which features more of the minimal percussive programming of the hit “Doesn’t Really Matter,” never delves much deeper than its title suggests, and “Love Scene (Ooo Baby)” simply feels redundant of similar songs from not just her back catalog, but this album.
“China Love,” on the other hand, is sweet and simple take on the formula. The song begins with the sounds of traditional Oriental chimes and touches upon past-life love connections and other new-age ambiguities such as “The energy I see/The silence that you speak.” It’s the sexiest of the “sexy” tracks because, well, it has very little to do with sex.
The highlight of the album is “Trust a Try,” one of several collaborations with hip-hop producer Rockwilder. Laced with theatrical vocal arrangements, electric guitars, and cinematic strings, the track proves Janet is best when steeped in high drama. She’s also best when rough around the edges, as on opener “You Ain’t Right,” a scathing attack on a gossipy girlfriend. Perhaps sonically and lyrically more fitting for The Velvet Rope, the song’s darkness stands out here.
Although few of Janet’s albums have ever been tonally or sonically consistent, All for You is generally upbeat and positive. There’s no better example of this than the optimistic closer “Better Days,” which features a strong vocal performance and fully fleshed out instrumentation complete with a guitar solo and a subtle yet striking string arrangement.
The album’s biggest misstep is “Son of a Gun (I Betcha Think This Song Is About You),” featuring Carly Simon, whose spoken-word verses stick out awkwardly: “Who do you think you are, Rambo? Or cumulo nimbus capilatus or a cirrus or an alto-stratus?” The track does, however, expose some of the anger you might expect from the newly divorced Janet: “Ha ha, hoo hoo/Thought you’d get the money too/Greedy motherfuckers try to have their cake and eat it too.”
While attempting to conjure the Janet of the ’80s with a lot of fluffy filler like “Feels So Right,” All for You makes one yearn for the quiet brilliance of “Got ’Till It’s Gone” and the sheer power of “If.” Interestingly, this is her first album that doesn’t include at least one socially conscious tune; in an attempt to make fun and cheery pop music, Janet & Co. have abandoned introspection, resulting in a generally banal and unchallenging set of songs.
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