Let's start with the bad, it's not The Velvet Rope. But who really expected another Velvet Rope? Janet (dropping the "Jackson") is back with her own spin on Britney's Blackout formula, and Discipline is a more coherent album than 2006's 20 Y.O. With a playground of digitized steel pop, Janet delivers tales of... well pretty much just sex.
The first single off the album, "Feedback," is one of the best pop releases in recent memory. Using metaphor only workable by Ms. Jackson, Janet gives us a club slammer. This is "Come On Get Up" to the 100th power. But thankfully the energy hardly runs out here. Janet continues with the solid "LUV," a Ciara-esque tune proving Janet knows how to work it with the modern R&B crowd. But she doesn't really have time for much more of that. After all, that's not why audiences love Janet, they're in it for the shock, creativity, and most of all dance. This brings us to the bizarre but immensely entertaining and catchy "Rollercoaster." One of the best tracks on the album, Janet gives a space-y and funky dance tune that surprisingly hasn't been released as a single.
"Rock with U" and "2night" are thoroughly modern house and dance tracks, respectively. The former lays down a disarming house beat that'll keep the ravers busy for awhile, while the latter drops a hard dance beat sure to become a regular at dance clubs.
If you were thinking to yourself, "yes, she finally realized ballads just aren't her ‘thing'," think again. We get three cooing slow-jams in a row, but thankfully none are particularly painful. And actually "Can't B Good" is a rather surprising twist on the formula, at least one reviewer has drawn a comparison to her older brother's (albeit superior) "Human Nature."
Enough about ballads, when one thinks Janet, they think dance. And that's just what she wants us to do for the next few tracks. "So Much Betta," a weird funky slice of R&B, has Janet trading verses with her creepy and ambiguous robot-tour-guide maybe-more friend. (Don't ask... it's Janet.) If this track doesn't get you on your feet, you're probably dead. A thoroughly different sound for Janet, this is a standout, hence my giving the song its own full paragraph. I could go on, but I'll refrain...
"The 1" with Missy Elliott is another party track, but fails in comparison to the focused "So Much Betta." "What's Ur Name" is the cool-down track, pleasant, but hardly groundbreaking. That brings us to the title track... Seriously, I'm not gonna lie, it's scary. Hearing a grown woman coo about wanting her "daddy" to "come punish" her for "touching herself" when he "commanded" her to "wait" for him invites psychological analysis. Were it not so creepy, it's a pretty good slow-jam, with the chorus being a bit less disturbing than the verses. Still, there's no avoiding its creepiness. Whoever decided not to put a parental advisory on this disk needs fired or analyzed, maybe both.
This brings us to the album closer, the awesome "Curtains." This is classic Janet; chilled out and insanely cool. Mixing gospel, pop, and R&B, Janet gives the perfect closing to an album that proves she's in it to win again.
