Justified

I understand that there's been a cultural reassessment of JT in the last several years, but the fact is that most of his early 2000s stuff sounds like Axe Body Spray smells. Best track: Cry Me a River

Its shocking or depressing that a couple of the songs on this album each have over half a million listens on Spotify. What does that say about our society? To me it just sounds like a white guy trying to sound like Michael Jackson, sorry Justin that boat has sailed. The inclusion of this album on this list is not Justified.

Bland early 2000s pop. It's competently done (Pharrell is a producer) but it's just bland. And too long. Could have cut 20 minutes and it would have been bearable. It's also really cliche and just sounds of that time.

I'm not a Justin Timberlake guy but I did enjoy watching my wife dance to the album, and that adds a +1 for me.

it’s not bad it’s just really not any good

That was awful. Torture.

Sit down with my morning coffee to enjoy today’s album, then let out a massive sigh when I see Iv got to sit through an hour of Justin Timberlake.

Pharell Williams has obviously written most of this, to the point his voice is the first thing you hear on the album lol. And Pharrell loves Michael Jackson, but JT doesn't have the chops to really pull off the vocal theatrics needed for a good MJ knockoff. There's cheesy "reppin" from no doubt wholesome rappers, eg. Pharrell himself, maybe 1 or 2 others. Really cringey lyrics; almost every line a tired cliche. I recognised way more than I thought I would (club hits from when I was 18 I guess, even though I tried to avoid clubs I still ended up in them from time to time). It's at least consistent in songwriting, and the production is flawless, but overall too long and too many ballads. Dragged on towards the end. 3/5. None of the full charm of catchy boy band stuff, but at least there wasn't 300 different songwriters like on Britney/Christina etc albums.

I am not the target demographic for this record, I'm sure it would have been better if I were in a club looking for action. Best song for me was Cry me a River, which is a sentence I never thought I would write.

It was almost good. Almost catchy. Almost impressive. Sometimes it even was. But mostly, it was just... almost.

Not bad for the guy who threw Janet Jackson under the sexy bus. 4 stars.

Man wanted to be MJ so bad! This is such a Time Capsule of an album… The Neptunes sound was everywhere when this came out and there are a couple of great singles. But so many of the rest are grafting forgettable songwriting and indifferent vocals onto that production. Songs *feel* long even when they’re not. Not great.

THE best pop album of all time no arguments nothing further from the defence thanks your honour. I've said it a few times now during this exercise but Pharrell is absolutely everywhere on everything if you listen for him, absolute production genius. Sprinkle in some Dre with JT over the top and you've got a recipe for something very special.

Dude… no. Literally the music that made me get into alt genres. Production is impressive tho.

lol

Oh I am so not listening to this sonic garbage. Heard way too much of it in high school against my will when it was all the little Britney and Xtina clone wannabes were forcing on me through speakers in gym class, at dances, over loudspeakers in the hallways as “hurry up, get to class” muzak. So I can confidently say it is bonafide crap. Plus, I hate this smug, smarmy asshole for all his male privilege and toxic behaviour towards women. Jessica Biel, you gotta drop him like a sack of dirt, girl. Not gunna be giving this talentless little prick a royalty check in my watch.

It was pretty clear from the beginning that I could die a happy man without hearing this album. Dying happy sounded good to me, so I acted accordingly.

Remember that YouTube video of the shirtless teenage boy saying “Hey baby girl, it’s okay baby, I love you more than there are grains of sand on all the beaches…?” This is the auditory equivalent of that. This album sounds like 2002, in a bad way. “Cry Me A River” is a good track, and the album is well produced, but the whole thing oozes with this awkward, performative “sexiness” that is hard to take seriously.

Super nostalgic. Takes me back to HS and college days. Half of these songs were played on the radio and in "da club". Some songs have aged, but the hits still sound fresh. Hard to believe this album is over 20 years old now.

Hahahahaha This list is literally taking the piss out of me now. 2nd Christina Aguilera album in 4 days yesterday, and this today. Can I have a normal record please? Immaculately produced pop music without an ounce of originality. There's not really any point having this record in the book when Michael Jackson is already in it twice, Janet Jackson is in it once, and Chic is in it thrice (if you count Sister Sledge, which you should). Oh a Stevie Wonder knock off has just come on so add him to the list. Second Stevie track now. Jesus this is really something. What's the point in this record? Well yeah, $$$$, but besides that, nothing. Cry me a river made me feel a bit queasy for some reason. Rock Your Body is the best song, though it's basically an identikit Chic style song and I think it reawakened the Rogers Kraken to take over pop along with Mark Ronson for the next 15 years. The song Never Again is absolutely sickening, lyrically and musically, and is a fitting message to end the album with. Christina won me over with her inventive second entry. This did not, because it's shit. It's also incredibly irritating.

JT, My Beloved, your world tour could never be ruined 💛💛💛

Generous 4 but the singles still bang

I don't disdain, and even admire in some ways, ther star maker machinery (behind the popular song). The judicious addition of soul and hip hop elements to the dance and pop foundation of his boy band roots is well considered and well done. He certainly has the goods, both in voice and star quality. Typical of products of the machine, it has that manufactured taste... the human element almost glossed over. For what it is its top of the line though, if not really my cup of tea.

White boy disco hip hop. Empty calories like cheese puffs.

Yeah this wasn’t great. Justin feels like that frat boy that’s going to put something in your drink. It’s just the vibe he gave off this whole album. I can definitely hear the attempts to replicate Michael Jackson in this and unfortunately Justin just can’t pull that off.

One of the more difficult listens to get through on this list. Take It From Here was sickening. 🤢🤮 This is some kind of cruel joke. This album is meant to be on the other list: 1001 Records to Listen to That Will Make You Die.

Justin Timberlake struggles to piece together the ashes of his life after his daughter is murdered and presented to the king as an amuse bouche. This tragic tale descends into madness as the singer screeches in pain and tries to sellotape his mind together with memories of his grandmother's large breasts. The climax of the record finds Timberlake smacked off his tits on energy drinks trying to persuade a young boy to frolic with him on the shallow grave of his offspring. It's a sad story with a happy ending. 4 stars.

Fun fact: Justin Timberlake is allergic to music.

Oh lord, it's a whole album of Justin Timberlake. The mouth clicking sounds on Cry Me A River are ewww. Rock Your Body is fine, but holy moses this is a slog.

A bit surprised by the negative reviews this has on here. Maybe it's nostalgia speaking on my part, but I thought this was a pretty great debut pop album. Great production from Pharell and Timbaland and some absolute classics on this thing.

like a room temperature bowl of water, I have no feelings about this at all. It exists, and I don't care either way.

Overproduced, too busy. No room to breathe. A couple of decent tracks but mostly it doesn’t hold up.

I just don't enjoy this kind of music. Maybe I don't know how to have fun. But it doesn't strike me as something I need to hear before I die. Frankly, it seems like any other album in this genre. But what do I know?

Well, I am an old man, so it’s no surprise that I didn’t care for this album at all…and it’s so LONG! I agree with those who suggested he’s like a poor man’s Michael Jackson, or that he wanted to be Michael Jackson, but someone beat him to it. Anyway, this one was work for me to listen to. Two stars.

There's only been *three* reviewers giving a 5/5 grade to this LP. Not because *Justified* is an "artistic" failure for the sort of commercial music it attempted to sell to the masses during the early naughts. The album *isn't* an artistic failure, it does exactly what it intends to do, and this in every "objective", reasonable way you can assess the music on it. Justin's voice is excellent, even if it doesn't reach the Michael-Jackson-level heights it tries to reach in many songs. And the production values are state-of-the-art for the time period, thanks to experts such as Pharell Williams / The Neptunes, or Timbaland--experts whose imprint is unmistakable on certain tracks. Take those funk-rock rhythms played on acoustic guitar for The Neptunes, or those lush, bass-heavy r'n'b shenanigans for Timbaland. Besides, there are a lot of arrangements that make listening to the album at least once worthwhile. And finally, "Cry Me A River" is a stellar earworm worthy of the best torch songs / break-up songs out there... THAT SAID, let's repeat it: there's only been *three* reviewers giving a 5/5 grade to this LP. And there's a good reason for this. This is the sort of album that was never aimed at people interested in the *big picture* when it comes to modern music genres ("modern" taken in the largest sense of the word here). And this as open-minded as a lot of the people on this app try to be sometimes (me included). Because "Justified" is first and foremost a mass consumption product, and a "music album" later. Everything else is secondary. The fact that, overall, said album holds out far better today than, say, Britney Spears LPs, doesn't make it less dated or more artistically relevant than the latter. If only because Britney left a more impactful cultural imprint than Timberlake through her *singles*, at least--as lame and cheesy as her albums were as a whole... Let's face it: the vast majority of people who bought *Justified* in 2002 will never have a phase where they will try to find what the 1001 most essential albums of all time are. They just go from one trendy pop craze to the next. They're just consumers, not music buffs. "...music buffs like most of us on this app", I'm tempted to add. We all have very different tastes in here, obviously. But I believe that what unites us is that we take the album format very seriously. It can't just be a "product". It has to speak to our "soul" somehow. To be clear, saying this does not come from an elitist stance. I'm certainly not judging Justin Timberlake fans--all of us here are also consumers to an extent, it's part of the music business overall. I'm only trying to be realistic. As a consequence, I consider it's just plain weird or ridiculous to include *Justified* in a list like this. Because this inclusion doesn't really mean anything to *most* of those Timberlake fans, who would never use this app for instance (or probably give up after 20 or 30 albums...). This realism I'm trying to apply here is the one that music sites such as Pitchfork have consistently failed to apply since the mid-naughts, because of their readymady "poptimist" philosophy--a quite artificial, shallow posture *fully* pandering to the worst parts of the music industry (PR shenanigans, label business plans, the heavy and quick "formatting" of up-and-coming artists and performers not lucky enough to have the means or entourage to defend their initial artistic integrity--at least if they had one from the get-go). I'm 100% sure that the way such poptimist stance has led "the most trusted voice in music" to condone so many cheesefest records has already returned to bite them in the ass today. Absolutely no one believes Pitchfork is "the most trusted voice in music" today, lol. Of course, business is part of our music habits, as it is part of the life of *any* "professional" musician and artist. Even the staunchest fan of "independent music" and niche genres should be aware of this. But business also "pollutes" everything it touches. Just like it does for nature. Good music is an ecosystem, you see. And including *Justified* in this ecosystem does it more harm than good. I like "pop music", I really do. But good pop music in the album format has to elevate or challenge you, even if it does it very subtly or discreetly. And in retrospect, it's clear that *Justified* does none of that. It's just a goddamn product, as well-manufactured as it is. Just bought a Britney Spears greatest hits compilation for three euros online after listening to this Justin Timberlake record. If I have to be a consumer and a "manufactured product buyer", I'd rather give up the pretense of an interest for "genuine artistry" altogether, and bob my head quite mindlessly to the more memorable Britney singles with a half-ironic smile on my face. It won't prevent me to enjoy off-kilter-yet-100%-sincere-and-"authentic" acts such as Robert Wyatt, Daniel Blumberg, Big Thief or Crack Cloud on the side. I can enjoy a burger once in a while, even if I prefer more soulful food. But I will never pretend that a Burger King product is akin to the best "cuisine" out there. Everything in its right place, please. 2/5 for the purposes of this list of essential records. Which translates to a 7/10 grade for more general purposes (5+2 - not so bad after all, huh?). Next, please. Number of albums left to review: 319 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 304 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 167 Albums from the list I won't include in mine (many other records are more important to me): 221 (including this one)

This album really is all over the places with a lot of different sounds, instruments, influences. But despite variety of elements and vocal range, the album is severely lacking in any kind of soul or any aspects that make it actually interesting.

Justn't

Is this the smallest man that ever lived? 🤔🤔🤔🤔 album did not age that well.

Certified go to sex album. sex/10

It would be too high praise to call this album amazing. It is straight up noughties pop music at the end of the day, but it’s still damn catchy. I didn’t realise how many of JT’s bops came from this particular album. I remember all the gossip at the time when Cry Me A River was so blatantly about Britney. His falsetto is probably one of my favourite modern day pop voices. I’ll admit I enjoyed this album a fair bit.

Undeniably catchy for the most part. Not my style of music, but well done.

It’s 5 material but I give out 5’s lightly so it’s a 4

relaxing.... smooth.... rock your body sexy thing.....

I'm typically not a big fan of Pop music but I have a sweet spot for JT. Obviously Cry Me a River and Rock Your Body are the standouts on this album. There are some other hits too, namely Senorita and Like I Love You. While this album has some big highs, it also has some really skippable songs. The slow R&B love songs are the worst in my book.

A Timberlake Thanksgiving was well received. Also, I can tell he went through quite a breakup. I feel you, man. I've been there.

I will go 4 stars because there are 4 good songs on here. There are several skips but a few of the high quality songs have become iconic, so JT gets the bump from 3 to 4.

Respectfully, as an elder millennial, I was not expecting this album (the songs of my people) on this list. Having only known the hits and whatever I downloaded off of bit torrents at the time, I never listened to the full album, which was fairly good for a pop album. Guess I shouldn’t question Timberland’s genius. Calling his mom “babe” on “Let’s Take a Ride” was weird though.

One of those albums where you just don't need to hear the whole album. The singles are still pretty baked into pop culture DNA 20 something years on, I think mostly because of very savvy production from Pharrell, and the tracks that aren't singles offer nothing else.

Only just because of "Rock Your Body" I give it the three stars. The rest of the album is almost forgettable. 2,5

Decent voice. Lots fo filler songs. A couple decent songs. Overall, I can’t believe this sold so many records.

Yikes, this really has not aged well. The singles are still absolute crackers but the rest not so much. It is very Michael Jackson. The attempts at ‘sexy’ are cringeworthy, I just don’t buy it from JT. And, yes, it is too long, their egos got carried away. 2.5 rounding up to 3

Starts off really strong. Nice, polished pop music. Sounds a lot like Michael Jackson, and I think a few of these tracks had been written with him in mind. It fades in the middle though and is just too long.

i have come up with a theory: people do not like Justin Timblerlake, but they like how his music sounds. yeah, he can sing, and dance, and arguably beatbox, but would people like his early music if it didn't have quality production from star makers like The Neptunes and Timbaland at his peak? it feels like he was one kind of mediocre producer/writer away from flopping musically like the rest of the *NSYNCers -- on track 9 and 11, we get a glimpse into a world where this happened. it sounds like middle-of-the-road 2000's R&B and therapist office adult contemporary, respectively. if i heard Justin Timberlake in this shadow world, i would be perfectly neutral on his career's existence, and if someone told me that a former *NSYNC member made it the schmoopy ass song playing on the radio, i would probably guess it was Justin after a few tries. then i would forget about it for the next three years until i was in the mall and it played in one of the stores, almost by accident. i see Justified as a sort of charcuterie board. you can put cheese on a cracker, or meat on it, or like, olives or something. at times, the cracker is dry, thick, and at times the topping is too mild to overpower its inexplicably greasy flavor. nobody goes to a charcuterie board for a cracker.

My husband vigorously defends this album, and while my first instinct was to be sceptical, I now concede that he presents the strongest argument for this record I've heard, which is that it's the greatest collection of songs from the two most powerful producers of the era: The Neptunes and Timbaland. Justin Timberlake, on the other hand, can come across as grating and insufferable. Even though he is a talented singer, his contributions are not at all what make this album enjoyable. My husband brought up the fact that this album would be even better if it was sung by someone less unctuous, like Usher for instance. But I responded that I can't see Usher being interested in the weirder sides of The Neptunes and Timbaland. And weird they were! Before Timbaland, did you think it was possible to take traditional Middle Eastern songs and create hooks that would be burned into your brain for literal decades? Before The Neptunes, did you think it was possible to have a synth sound like silk? The string arrangements are luscious, the acoustic guitar is crisp and sensual, the flute (?) is unexpected yet natural and proves the record deserves to be taken seriously. I can't say I've kept up with JT, but his interest in producing pastiche (even executed poorly) at least demonstrates a curiosity and musical appreciation uncommon of pop singers generally but certainly pop singers of the Bush era. The weaknesses, of course, are plentiful. It's front-loaded (typical of pop albums) and the blatant Michael Jackson rip-offs (and then a blatant Stevie Wonder rip-off!) are bland. My husband says that JT has absolutely no sincerity, that it's clear he doesn't believe in what he's singing. I don't know about that. I'd argue his conviction is very clear on the songs where he feels he is the wronged party. No one like JT can lean harder into sounding petty as hell. For what it's worth, I'm relieved that even as a young girl I found him annoying (I had a crush on JC Chasez instead). Still, I can see why this album is on this list. It's fair. B+

Not bad at all but a little boring

Not my style of music at all. In-one-ear-and-out-the-other white 2000s Michael Jackson mockery. Michael Jackson was already white by then. However, bumped up a star from 1/5 because, plastered at a dark club with my shoes sticking to every step, this type of music may enhance the experience.

3/10 I came into this expecting to not really jive with it, but to at appreciate the pop quality of it. Good pop songs, well produced with competent vocal performances. I knew some of the singles beforehand so had hopes, as Rock Your Body is a really solid pop song with a decent groove to it. And in reality, for the first 6 tracks, that was what I got. A Mickey Mouse Club graduate trying his best to be a slightly more ‘street’ Michael Jackson with some decent songwriting and production behind him. Yes, I wasn’t a massive fan of most of those tracks, but there were a few decent moments and I could appreciate what they were going for. I never really bought his delivery and, to my ear, Justin Timberlake does a fantastic job at being the 21 year old that 12 year olds think is the coolest 21 year old, but that other 21 year olds think is icky and are careful not to leave their drinks unattended when he's present at a party. For a few songs, the songwriting and production (and occasional flashes of performance quality) does a good enough job to keep it ticking along. Señorita isn’t bad. Cry Me a River is, retrospectively, awful, but it’s a really solid pop song. Rock Your Body is great. But after that point, the insipid qualities that are present in the first few songs start to swell and envelop everything. There are still the odd moments here and there, when Pharrell Williams remebers the brief, but frankly, as the songs dragged on, I felt a bit like Artax from The Neverending Story, unable to bring myself out of the swamp of sadness, or in this case, beigeness. It gets a couple of extra points for the first half, and if they’d have made this a 35 minute album, it wouldn’t have been nearly as bad, but I expect more than this from a group of artists and producers that were (apparently) aiming for Michael Jackson, Earth, Wind & Fire and Angie Stone. Sheesh. Señorita - Well it’s a pretty cringeworthy intro, but it’s a well written and produced late-era Michael Jackson style pop song. By late-era, I mean lacking the charm and quality of hook inherent in MJ’s earlier work, but it’s still got a good groove. Justin is a very good pop singer, but he’s nowhere near the standard of MJ and he just sounds like another cookie-cutter pop star who wants to be like MJ, but doesn’t have anything particularly unique or special to offer. And the call and response and spoken word parts are just toe curling. Like I Love You - I just don’t buy his delivery. It’s like someone trying to be cool, rather than actually being cool. But putting that aside, this has a pretty decent groove to it. There’s depth and sheen to the production, but it all feels very calculated rather than organic. There’s nothing particularly memorable about any of the hooks here. I mean it’s not bad, it’s a very well produced pop song (with some very, very MJ moments) but it feels completely disposable. (Oh No) What You Got - There’s a nice shuffling groove here, and there’s a lot there that contributes to the rhythmic flow of the track. But there’s no real hook that grabs me here either. It’s like a beige wash of pop that has enough of a funky groove to it to grab people who aren’t paying a vast amount of attention. But I’ve pretty much forgotten everything about it by the time the next song starts. Take It From Here - This is a well produced track with some particularly lightweight and insipid vocal delivery. I’m not one to put too much focus on lyrics really, but these stuck out to me as being particularly awful. It’s very, very repetitive and even the odd bit of production trickery to add variation can’t save it. I think underneath it all, the bones of something with potential is in there, but they haven’t managed to eke anything of significant quality with this effort. Another completely forgettable little pop song. Cry Me A River - This is one of the big hitters. In hindsight, it’s also one that shows Justin up to be a colossal prick, basically publicly shitting on Britney Spears despite seemingly being the big problem in their relationship. Not the last time he slid through, squeaky clean, while throwing a woman under the bus. Remember Janet Jackson? Yeah. Anyway. It’s a very well written pop song. It’s got a solid groove to it and is actually quite interesting from a sound design point of view. His vocal is pretty try-hard, but serves the song pretty well. It's not really my bag, but it’s easy to see why it was successful and why people like it. Rock Your Body - And here’s the best song on the album by a long way. This one’s actually a knock off of a really good MJ song. It’s got great rhythmic choices that sit really nicely against one another and create a really funky groove. It's got solid melodic hooks in the vocal, and a variety of sections to add diversity and range to the track. The vocal, and particularly the lyrics do lean a little too close to being cringeworthy, but it can just about slide through because the rest of the track is so solid. Nothin' Else - Ah, so they listened to Paint It, Black and decided to make a weak-sauce version of Liberian Girl from the main riff. Interesting. Or, as it happens, not very interesting. It’s more insipid stuff. There’s one synth part that really doesn’t blend in with everything else, which is super odd. But the rest is just another beige wash of well produced but ultimately meaningless drivel. Next. Last Night - He's trying SO HARD to be Michael Jackson. He’s not succeeding. Even the composition here is super limited. There’s very little going on and it’s very repetitive. There are touches here and there that are nice enough, but as a whole it’s just uninspiring and lightweight, again. There were moments during the opening few tracks, but this is falling off a cliff fast. Still On My Brain - I feel like I’m just repeating myself at this point. This is another weak Jackson-a-like song. There’s no real memorable hook to it. The vocal delivery is actually on the stronger end of the spectrum for the album, at least in part because his Stars In Their Eyes mimicry is the closest he’s got yet to his hero. But the song is now fading out and I already can't remember how it went. (And She Said) Take Me Now - Well this is a rhythmically decent start at least. It’s got quite a nice groove to it, but again it’s a bit of a wash of forgettability above that when it comes to the melodic and harmonic content of the composition and production. It does have the odd moment of interest, particularly when the layering builds up and there’s a bit more depth and nuance, so it’s not all bad, but it’s not going to find its way onto my favourites list any time soon either. Right For Me - This is a vaguely interesting beat that pretty much repeats as is for four and a half minutes with some uninteresting vocal nonsense over the top. I’m not even sure what they’re trying to achieve here. It’s dull, it’s uninspired and it inexplicably drags on for far longer than the limited idea has any right to do. Let's Take A Ride - It’s a very stilted start, and then we’re into a repeating pattern of a backing track that only changes by adding some fairly poorly designed synth patches to add flavour. There’s no hook to this at all, it’s just sort of generic R&B singing, the effect of which is somehow lessened by the doubled vocal that creates a more distant connection with the lead. It all feels very forced, while at the same time being utterly generic. If you asked AI to write an early 2000s R&B pop song, it would give you this. Never Again - Weak sauce. It’s supposed to be a heart-wrenching ballad, but I just don't buy it. Timberlake is to busy trying to throw in vocal gymnastics that he forgets that he should actually inject some kind of emotion into the song. He sounds like a whiny little boy, and the backing is so by the numbers and generic that it almost completely passes me by. And how on earth did they drag this crap on for four and a half minutes. It’s shit.

Trousersnake’s power is his persuasive use of the familiar second-person form: he is actually addressing me, it’s not my couch anymore, and he’s sidling up to me, “hey, why so close on my couch, baby girl”? I can’t feel my legs. “Rock Your Body” is a fine song, the rest is costume for a make-out man-doll, largely assembled from the weakest sections of late-period Michael Jackson tracks.

I can't say that I was looking forward to explore this record. The terrible stereotypical early 2000's cover didn't help either. I was surprised I didn't totally hate this, since it's basically baby-faced Justin putting on a weird sexy voice for over an hour. Why is this album so long? It totally didn't need to be. Especially the Michael Jackson style outro's that just fall flat. But some grooves were surprisingly cool, they justifie the release.

That was some cheesy 90s sounding R&B that I guess came out in 2002. I don't think I will ever catch a liking to this type of music, also don't think a 30s white male is the target demographic for it. Cry me a River is a banger though I can't lie. Not sure why it was a universal rule that 90s/early 00s pop and R&B albums all decided to be over an hour long, but that needed to not happen.

pretty much the most Total Ass music can be while still begrudgingly being "good", broadly. timbaland and the neptunes had a high floor at this point, tons of unstoppable grooves and flatly good ideas all over here, and theres not Nothing to justin's raw chops and ephemeral (tho fragile) charisma. but i think the 20/20 experience, an album i genuinely love, kinda spoiled me...not in terms of raw musical quality necessarily, but the layers of fantastical escapism. stuck in the relatively mundane world of the Suave And Sexy Reinvention Of A Teeny Bopper, its difficult to disconnect from justin's long-expired and easily popped bubble of mystique, and the hyper-misogynist pop culture that shielded him for so long. bumped down from a just barely positive score for the existence of cry me a river, one of those slices of pop culture psychological horror where all the undeniable chops and good creativity are put to the service of something built tonally around being as Mocking and Infantalizing as popular culture mandated as ammo for its continued crusade to abuse One Woman more than any other in history. some art functions just fine applying some amount of self-inflicted ignorance, and some art does not function at all without some amount of buy-in, and its hard for me to not see this at least partially as the latter. threw on to blackout immediately afterwards to save my soul!

I know a handful of these songs because they played on the radio ALL the time (my mom is a top hits radio gal). I wouldn't say they are particularly good though.

What's that I hear? Why, yes, that's the sound of cultural appropriation! It was fun reading various articles debating whether this is the case. A lot of articles say yes, a few say hate the game not the playa. R&B isn't really my thing, but I get why this was popular. Happy it was removed from the 1001, though. Nothing really resonated with me. Kinda liked the Pusha T rap in Like I Love You. Moving on.

I came into this knowing very little of Timberlake's music and nothing off this album. I expected I'd really like it — dude has staked a claim in the industry, I figured there was good reason for it. There were a couple of standout tracks — Cry Me A River and Nothin' Else were two I liked — but the majority of the album felt forced, from the production to the performances to the writing. I was going to give it a 3, but that felt too high for an album that just didn't satisfy the way JT promises he does. A 2 might be low, but I never got near as hot as an oven.

lmao???? HUH?? so so funny that this is on here. weirdly thought i would enjoy this FAR more than i did, i love pop, i love early 2000s pop, i love pharrell, i remember the big hits from my childhood. but.... phew. i did not enjoy this. it was waaaaay too long, at least 20 minutes of this could have been cut. i think i would have enjoyed this more if it was just a pharrell album-- at least 50% of my lack of enjoyment boils down to justin timberlake being unbearably corny. cry me a river is good, unfortunately rock your body is also still really good, but that's genuinely about it.

during this challenge, there have been albums that once i see who the artist is, i knew it would be a task to get through the album. i had forgotten what an absolute douche this guy was, and boy did this remind me. overproduced pop drivel from an era when there seemed to be an endless supply of it. he seems to be trying to channel michael jackson throughout the duration of this album, with absurd amounts of falsetto… you know, “for the ladies”, but it just comes across as lame. in fact, there are only two white acts that i can think of that had the ability to get away with it without their music becoming a joke… queen and the beegees. the ego on this guy. many referred to him during this time (he was pretty popular for a hot minute, for some reason) as “JT”. there is only one true “JT” in the history of pop music, and that of course is james taylor. so in short, fuck this guy and the horse he rode in on. he has always been an egotistical prick who thinks that his shit doesn’t stink and has an extremely punchable face.

This was like so boring it's offensive.

Party music for horny teenagers. Designed by studio execs, produced by committee and performed by an obnoxious manchild who can neither write nor create his own music, it's more an industrial product than an album. Even the Neptunes’ production felt derivative (the blatant "Paint It Black" rip-off in "Nothin’ Else" being the cherry on top). Not only is the end result a torture to listen – it’s also everything I despise in music. 1/10

Ever since JT became the hottest pop-boy for parent-approved parties at my school, I couldn't stand the guy. I wouldn't touch anything with his name on it with a ten-foot pole. I still think of any breathy, high, nasal, plastic male pop star as a JT 2.0 and cringe hard. So, I can admit, the guy left an impression. But opinions change with time, so I gave Justified an honest try for the sake of this whole 1001 Albums experiment. And, well... baby me was wise beyond her years. There are a couple of nice beats, but not nearly enough for an hour-long album. The only thing that's changed with years is that now I can understand the lyrics and suffer from that, too.

Musical elements I cannot stomach: post-Thriller Michael Jackson (or any, in retrospect) late-90's/00's R&B Pharrell Williams productions ex-boyband members trying to become "serious artists" vocalists named "Justin" who were not in The Moody Blues What a vomit smoothie this album is!

Best Song: Rock Your Body This album may be called 'Justified' but there is no way that this album being in the 1001 can be justified. Terrible. Dear Justin Timberlake, what you think is "sexy" comes off as whiny and annoying. Also, the Michael Jackson impersonation isn't even a good one. Absolute waste of time and should not be included on this list. 1/5.

Terrible filler

trash pop. Corporate swill. music for the deaf.

I really dislike pop music done like this. For the masses and it shows. Not much artistry at all

What horrendous garbage.

Pound Shop Jacko with embarrassing lyrics. This sounds like a cash-in album cobbled together from discarded Jacko rehearsal tapes & I couldn't wait for it to end.

Er… no

For all the great production, you absolutely cannot polish a turd. Laugh out loud awful ('I wanna be your lighthouse when you get lost, I'll light a bright and shiny path to help you get across'). This is a new low for this list, henceforth to be known as Greg's 8 million albums of death club.

This website is sinking into unprecedented lows

Oh no. Ok, lets do this. What the jank? Holy autotune Batman. ugh, it's like cringe thirst trap personified. It's weird that every song opens with a different style of music, like it's trying to fake you out before playing the exact same thing. Feels like radio bait.

Generic, bland early aughts pop drivel

so FUCKING HAPPY LMAO. i love this album and i loved solo justin's music all the way until his weird trolls stint. terrible man but wow his music!! but isn't that the story for almost all male artists? anyway this woke me up this am! i'm happy! last night was and still is my fave song on here that isn't a popular track!!!!!

Peak peak peak peak peak peak peak

A landmark Pop album from a genuine triple-threat showman. At the time, Timberlake was the New King of Pop, long before certain revelations ruined more than just the tour.

Eu gostei

One of my guilty pleasures

Early JT is just some damn good R&B, so it's a damn shame he got corporate after 20/20 Experience. 4.5 bumped up to 5.

I’m at a 4.5 that I’ll bump up to a 5. Lots of bias from me on this one, unabashedly so, and yet I don’t care one bit. I have a soft spot for a lot of this album, and while I don’t think it’s as good as FutureSex/LoveSounds (rather criminally not on the list), I still like it regardless. There’s a couple of misses for me, namely “(And She Said) Take Me Now” & “Right For Me”, but beyond those, the other 11 tracks here are just guilty pleasures of mine, and I won’t take any slander. Obviously, it’s nowhere near perfect, and in terms of albums with this general style… yeah, I’ve heard better from the list. This is tremendously dated to 2002, and Justin Timberlake’s name recognition & star power coming off of both the breakup of N*SYNC & his breakup with Britney Spears is partially why this album was as big as it was. It’s largely known as the one with “Cry Me A River” & “Rock Your Body”, and I’d be a fool to not acknowledge they’re the two biggest tracks for a reason. “Rock Your Body” in particular might have the best 35 seconds of Justin Timberlake’s entire career; the buildup to the bridge of that track, and the bridge itself, will forever live in my brain. I will genuinely rewind that part so, so many times because it’s just perfect to my ears. As far as the rest of the tracks I like go, “Senorita” is a banger, and “Like I Love You” just scratches my brain really nicely with the opening guitar & Justin’s vocals gliding throughout. “(Oh No) What You Got” is good; a little long though, and it does stagnate about halfway in. “Take It From Here” is largely similar, but Justin’s vocals do a much better job of filling out the last half of that track. “Nothin’ Else” is deeply underrated to my ears; one of my favorites on the entire album, giving huge Stevie Wonder vibes. “Last Night” is just catchy to my ears, with a kind of Persona-esque vibe that’s right down my alley. “Still On My Brain” is cheesy as hell, but it reminds me a lot of the Mariah Carey-esque power ballads of the mid-90s (down to the stock explosion in the bridge), so I’m just a sucker for it. “Let’s Take a Ride” is legitimately a banger and I won’t hear otherwise; something about the vocal structure of that track just has a really nice groove to me. “Never Again” is a Brian McKnight track (quite literally), and Justin’s vocals ride the piano in a way that pulls out the same emotion as “Back at One” does. If you know, you know. All the credit in the world to Pharrell Williams & Hugo, as this album would be nowhere close to what it is without their production work taking center stage for a lot of the album. Yes, Timbaland is here on a few tracks, and his stuff is fine, but it sounds more like he’s trying to copy Pharrell’s homework instead of bringing his own philosophy, and it makes his tracks feel less compelling. That’s no fault on Timbaland though; he just wasn’t the primary producer here. He redeemed himself big time for FutureSex/LoveSounds. All in all, I understand why this has a 2.68 on the site; it’s not Justin’s best work, it’s dated by 23 years, it could’ve been trimmed down a bit from the 63 minute runtime, it’s cheesy as hell, and a lot of the emotional pull here entirely depends on a relationship between two pop stars that you may or may not give a shit about. However, for my Michael Jackson-influenced pop brain, this is a guilty pleasure album of mine. Obviously, the flaws are a bit more apparent on a re-listen years later with a more critical ear, but when I was in the groove with the tracks that I already like, I was just having a good time, and you can’t take that away from me. It’s a 4.5 that I’ll bump up to a 5, and it was probably always going to be that for me. If someone else wants to give this a 3, I wouldn’t blame them one bit. I think it might be a little bit of a stretch to go for a 2, though, and a 1 just tells me you were never gonna like the album to begin with.

A classic in the Neptunes production catalog

Certified classic

Hate to admit how good this is.

JT + Timbaland + the Neptunes = Magic. The sound of the intro to Senorita, mixed with the opening of a LionsHead Pilsner, meant the night would go from good to GREAT!

Expected to hate listening to this as I'm not a huge Justin person but wow, quite the opposite. Soulful, sexy, sweet and catchy as hell! Right for Me and Señorita might be the sexiest songs ever?? A little light on substance but 100% there on the style. Can confirm I've been JUSTIFIED! (and also TBT to the Super Bowl in 2004, we all remember where we were!)

The music is catchy. The vocals are good. The production is slick.

Альбом - веха в поп музыке. Что тут сказать, круто

Solid album. My loves JT. I bought her tickets to see him last November. Happy wife happy life. 5 stars.

I was in high school when this released and bought it a few months after it came out. I literally never listen to it anymore but after listening to it today, I should change that. I forgot how many great songs are on this album. I enjoyed this nostalgia today.

Ilove this a;bu,m/. Every track just has thet sick party vibe. Rock Your Boby is an instant classic.

Have always been a bit of a JT enjoyer of the main hits - the production values are always great. Listening to the album in full though, I can see why it was so huge. There’s so many cool little ideas on this record, and so many good hooks!

Personally, the book should have had FutureSex/LoveSounds in their next reissue. But this debut is still stellar. So many interesting beats with JT doing his best neo soul impression. I love it. Very catchy album and sort of a sign to come for his next album which was somehow even bigger and better than this one