Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience

He looked at pop music in the last 2 years and said "Damn, I gotta fix this

Readers, it’s time to get the beat going, because Justin Timberlake is back! After the release of 2006’s brilliant FutureSex/LoveSounds, JT took a 7 year break from music to act in various endeavors. While I do like him as an actor, I was starting to get a little worried that we would never get another great album from Timberlake. Especially when pop music was getting worse and worse by the month. Then, to start the new year of 2013, we all got great news, JT was coming back with a new album, The 20/20 Experience. JT fans rejoiced, music critics nodded their heads in happiness, and Justin Beiber S%#T his pants in the fear that his crappy pop would be upstaged by true genius. I’m glad to say that while the album is flawed, The 20/20 Experience is the swift kick in the ass mainstream pop has needed.

So what do I mean by the swift kick in the ass? Well, think about most of the pop that is on the radio today. The songs are usually about one of two things:  partying, or love. The song topics are so generic that it baffles me to this day that it’s still the formula to get a popular song on the radio. All you need is generic lyrics in those 2 topics, good looks, and a decent producer to get a hit.

So here is why JT coming back is a very good thing. He went into this album with no goal, no focus. He just wanted to make an experimental pop album that he thought would be good. What came out was something just short of a soul pop masterpiece. The album starts with “Pusher Love Girl”, which opens with a wonderful orchestral opening that sets the mood for the rest of the album. As JT sings the first words, you remember what got him popular in the first place. This is a artist who is filled with soul, charisma, and talent. He kills it throughout the album with his singing, and elevates songs that most other artist would have messed up. Instead of being like most pop artist who just say, “I love you girl!” to a generic beat, Timberlake makes each song so soulful and romantic that you feel like you could easily play each song with your significant other to set the mood for a sexy night.

Half of this success is because of Timberlake’s second hand man with this album, producer Timberland. Timberland and Timberlake work so well together as every song is different and risky. One song could be a soulful love song like “Pusher Love Girl”, another song could be a mamba style dance song like “Let The Groove Get In”, or it could be an incredibly simplistic, but very effective love anthem like “Blue Ocean Floor”. Timberland and Timberlake balance all these different ideas and influences, but make them all work. It’s the type of bold risks that pop music desperately needs. Even though the lyrics are nothing new, all the songs feel fresh and new thanks to taking some awesome risks in terms of production of the album.

Now, there are some problems here. As I mentioned before, the lyricism is nothing new. Only one song really shines in term of lyricism (“Blue Ocean Floor”) while the rest of the album treads normal ground in terms of love songs. The other main criticism I have is the length of the songs. Besides “Suit & Tie” and “That Girl” each song clocks in around 7-8 minutes. I would understand this long running time if the songs flowed for the whole time, but they don’t. Most of songs feel like they are repeating themselves after 5 minutes of listening to them.

The final verdict:  While it has some problems, The 20/20 Experience is the kind of album that pop music needed. Its bold aspects in terms of production work, and Timberlake’s talent and showmanship makes the album a blast to listen to, even if the songs run too long. For anyone who is in a relationship with someone, or if you’re trying to get that crush you have to try to have a night of intimate fun, this is the album to put on. JT brings sexy back to pop music, after having a couple years of having pop music turn into an ugly animal

FINAL GRADE:  A-

CHOICE CUT:  “Blue Ocean Floor”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgNk_TV3otA

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