Justified

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

Quell surprise! A perfect record end to end by Justin Timberlake - who would have thought? It’s soulful, bluesy and catchy but with a confident cool. Yes now in hindsight Timberlake become a mega celebrity and this was his reinvention - but it’s a truly good good record.

Groovy

Underestimated.

good old school

Just a great pop album with so many bangers

LOVE

Rating: 9/10 Best songs: Senorita, Like I love you, Cry me a river, Rock your body, Nothin’ else, Last night

It's a banger of an album. Nearly beginning to end is pop perfection with great beats, synths, and obviously the production of Timberland. Maybe the best pop album of the 00s.

Good

Из овог жанра кида, 9/10

Omg yes! This album makes me feel so good. Very upbeat & fun. Has you singing & dancing

Immediate 5. Justin Timberlake's vocals are phenomenal. paired with the two best producers of all time... this album has no choice but to be amazing.

This is a really nice album and I think I know all of the songs because at some points I had this app that would give me gift cards for completing tasks, and I got iTunes credits and purchased this whole album on iTunes. Overall, quite nice listening to it and yes, there are some songs that are a bit meh, but it's overall alright.

一股qq飞车味呢

Pretty decent JT album for a debut.

Justified suffers from 90s/early aughts album bloat in the back half, with the ballads and slower stuff. The top half represents some of the best that the era had to offer. Lots of great memorable tracks on here. Timberlake and Timbaland were at the peak of their game.

ok fine Mateen- this is kind of a bop.

not exactly a stunning/perfect album because towards the end some of the songs blend together, but overall a very solid album

a classic OG JT album, dad used to listen to songs from this album a lot, wouldn't re-listen to every songs but there are some great ones

Justin is great. I like all of his music!

2000s dance pop. Debut. Timbaland production is outstanding.

I enjoyed the album.

I swear the people on this list hate fun, this is a banger of an album

Really enjoyied this. Very unexpectedly.

Perhaps it was the influence of older sisters, but I've always enjoyed Nsync and Justin Timberlake since I was a kid.

4/5

Timbaland and the Neptunes do such inspired work here that it made this dude seem cool for like a decade and a half.

frickin pop gold. I had such a good time listening to this, the production is just so good all around and I love the direction JT took his career. great debut and there was even better t9 come. My only gripe was that the singles do most of the heavy lifting, but it still made for a great nostalgic listen.

Rock solid pop album. The hits are massive with Cry Me a River basically being the best break up song ever. The rest of the album holds up really well. Mr JT clearly loves certain styles of music and artists as there are clear references to folks like Stevie Wonder all over. Production by The Neptunes and Timbaland sounded so fresh and fun when this album dropped. It’s nice to revisit it as it holds up. The album is a little long which knocks a star off but overall it sets the stage nicely for Justin’s successful solo career.

Purely a four, for the nostalgia of being young and foolish.

A debut solo album that foretold what the decade of pop music would sound like. The hits still are bangers, "Cry Me a River" and "Rock Your Body.". Some of the songs show the patina of the Mickey Mouse Club dancer trying to grow up to be Prince, "Let's Take a Ride". Or Michael Jackson, "Last Night". Overall, an impressive opening act that stands up almost 25 years later.

Tres annee 2000 comme j’aime, tres r&b nouvelle vague avec des sons tres lover, rupture amoureuse et sensuel

Под настроение очень хорошо должно быть

Levy on nostalginen ja täynnä bängereitä, yks tähti lähtee kun JT:stä tulee vähän ei niin freshit vibat nykysellään. Vaikutti kuuntelukokemukseen miedosti.

Tras superar los prejuicios que tenía reconozco que es un muy buen disco, toque de Neptunes brutal producción. Con el sello de pharrel

POP-tastic

Ever since starting listening to this album I felt like I was listening to something important. Of course I knew the singles, but the album feels really cohesive and I really liked it.

I actually didn't know that I liked Justin Timberlake this much. The sappy R&B songs were a little much for me, but the pop songs were really fun. Also, I had no idea the guest stars on the album (Janet Jackson!) plus The Neptune, who not only perform on most of the songs but who produced the album.

The production of this album is great. It tails off in the second half of the album but has some big hits to compensate. Realistically, Future Sex Lovesounds should be on this list instead, or even 20/20 Part 1

Ya know what, I actually enjoyed this way more than I thought I would! I’ve always found JT kinda weird and rancid, even before it all came out that he was a big ol creep, so the fact I actually enjoyed this on its own terms regardless is probably testament to how good it is as pop music! A very surprise 4 stars

This was very well produced and Justin is talented, but the n-sync that followed it was more enjoyable.

I really liked his voice. Also was born in this generation so the album sounds good for me. Plus it’s a very good example of switching from being in a boy band to a solo artist?

We haven’t had an album that took me back to middle school like this one did. I can’t tell you how many times I heard the four big hits from this album on the radio, and I have a distinct memory of watching the Rock Your Body music video in the hotel room on my first overnight field trip in 6th grade because we were all singing the high part together and it sounded awful. This album does show off the talent that JT has and kicks off an incredible career, but it’s definitely frontloaded. This album is getting a four for nostalgia and it’s massive hits.

A solid solo debut with great beats.

Fun. All over the place too but mostly r&b

Very helpful to not listen passively on moms car radio

Yea it’s really good. Have no idea how Michael Jackson was going to sing over these beats lol

It's no Man of the Woods, but...

Sweet

yeah good

Niezłe. 4

Cstchy as hell honestly

perilously close to a 5

So gooddd

A classic! Justified is a great album, it encapsulated a time in 2000’s R&B where the Neptune's were ON IT. A precursor to the mid-200’s and 2010’s sad white boy r&b. The run from the opening track ‘Señorita’ to mid tracks like ‘Rock Your Body’ is quite enjoyable to listen to on the first listen. Will need to explore the other Backstreet Boys solo records next! (4/5)- GEMV (18.02.2026)

ROCKURBODY

He’s fallen off in a big way now (but what about the tour?!) so it’s easy to forget just how brilliant JT’s first handful of solo albums were. This is so much better than anything he did with N*Sync it’s laughable, and the Neptunes and Timbaland production on this is top notch. It’s fun listening to the album versions of some of the singles, I’d totally forgotten Clipse had a feature on Like I Love You. Only giving this a 4 as it’s not as good as FutureSex/LoveSounds

3.5 Here's the thing, this is wayy too long, pretty mid and also he's just(in) annoying, however... the early 2000's nostalgia......... That gap between the U in Justified and Justin bothers me greatly though to say the least.

Would probably be a 5 if I wasn't so tired. Mega hit album

I had this album in 02 lol.

Great early 2000s pop album. I remember a lot of the songs and the time when this came out. It was truly peak when released and most of the songs still hold on and are great today.

Amazing first half with iconic production from the Neptunes and Timbaland. Everything aged surprisingly well as well on these tracks. The second half is absolutely nothing, could be thrown away. Still the quality of the first half can't be fully ignored

Altså, jo bare hit på hit. Selvom jeg aldrig har været full blown Justin-pige, er det sgu da ret godt.

timbaland vs chad hugo, i love never again

Loved the singles. The rest is meh

INPUT = {"artist": "Justin Timberlake", "album": "Justified"} LINEUP = {"men": 1, "women": 0} FEATURED_ARTISTS = {"men": 3, "women": 1} TOTAL_MEN = 4 TOTAL_WOMEN = 1 WOMEN_PERCENTAGE = 6 OUTPUT = "Score adjusted accordingly. 4/5"

tried to figure out where my true feelings lie and how much is clouded by nostalgia but i settled on 4 because no male pop artist has replicated the hype this produced since this came out

I used to love this album as a teen, it was my cleaning album actually. For those reasons, I can't rate this lower than a 4. However, upon re-listen, it's really rather cringe isn't it? This album is also a tale of two halves. The first half is full of unforgettable smash hits which shaped the early 00s, whereas the second half was horrific.... how many sad girls walking around does JT happen upon?! Ok I changed my mind, 4.5/5 Standout tracks: - All the singles are of course 5/5 My personal faves: - Take it from here (4.5/5) - (Oh no) What you got (4.5/5) - Worthy of (4.5/5) - this isn't on the general release but I love it sm and I wish it was on spotify

Neptunes, clipse. Facebook is about to launch. FOUR!

peak JT 🔥 kinda mid still

Classic early 2000 pop banger. Great production from Timberland as well.

Justin TimberGREAT. A lotta bone fide blockbuster early 20th century pop singles in the first half that still sound really just great. Perfectly straddles pop, RnB, hip hop, latin and disco. Good blend of landmark Neptunes and Timbaland productions although the Neptunes ones definitely come out tops with Rock With You… I mean Rock Your Body the one true king of the bops with Like I Love You and Senorita sneaking in 2nd and 3rd. The first half is so top form that second half does seem like super weak, plain ex-boy band smush in comparison but the singles on this really are undeniable.

Gutes Popalbum, bei dem es wenig zu meckern gibt. "Cry Me A River" und "Rock Your Body" auch heute noch absolute Banger.

Liked this, despite myself

This rating is justified. Part of it is nostalgia, and a bigger part of it is the top tier production, but the first half is classic solo care Justin Timberlake. The back half is, unfortunately, more Backstreet Boys. Favorite Track: "Rock Your Body".

This album really took me back to a certain time and was a fun re-listen. This was a pretty innovative mix of pop and R&B for mainstream music at the time of release. I love when this album makes an appearance in the movie LadyBird.

I've had this album since shortly after its release, but I've cooled a bit towards it over the years. I still think it deserves four stars though.

Premier album, je connaissais que les bangers ! Je suis très sensible à sa voix ! Je préf les albums suivants Contente de changer de style !

J'ai plutôt bien aimé, surtout la première piste! J'avais jamais trop écouté Justin Timberlake et je savais pas qu'il faisait ce genre de registres 4/5

Solid album. Good production. Some classic tracks on here

Hard not to give this a 4, first half rammed full of bangers. Tails off second half

The first white boy to get a little motion

Mid-00’s summer party fuel. Extremely solid singles, sagged pretty bad in the latter… third or so? Still, great stuff and a surprisingly solid solo debut.

The first half has some absolute bangers but the second half definitely drags. I don't Justin TImberlake would have gotten anywhere had it not been for The Neptunes producing this album - those guys are excellent. Also fuck Justin Timberlake, he seems like a real dick.

Still slaps. Cry me a River is still so good

Was just talking about this artist’s very successful solo career after *NSYNC, and referencing Cry Me A River off this very album! This one has multiple good songs, but probably not my favorite of his start to finish.

Okay, zerst chli Abgschreckt gsi es ganzes Album vom young JT lose. Aber sobald cry me a river und rock your body cho isch bini onnnnn gsi! Nachher hets denn natürli wider biz nahglah aber han doch viel me Spass gha wieni denkt han! Bravo Y2K Teenie-Schwarm, da gits als überaschigseffekt und wege fun vier füechti träum

Incredibly diverse in its sound. Especially for a 00’s pop album. What’s great is really great. What’s mediocre is aggressively mediocre. If you can listen to this album in Spatial Audio,I highly recommend it.

jstin bimbrlake

This one really surprised me! I'm not really a Timberlake fan, but I like a lot of his earlier singles. Nostalgia. I didn't realise how many songs off this album were hits! A few songs were a bit naff and should have been knocked off - I probably would have given a 5 without them This took me right back to childhood... what a time 4 ⭐️ This is going to ruin the tour

01) Señorita - 10,0 02) Like I Love You - 10,0 03) (Oh No) What You Got - 8,5 04) Take It from Here - 8,0 05) Cry Me a River - 10,0 06) Rock Your Body - 10,0 07) Nothin' Else - 7,5 08) Last Night - 7,5 09) Still on My Brain - 7,0 10) (And She Said) Take Me Now -7,5 11) Right for Me - 7,5 12) Let's Take a Ride - 7,5 13) Never Again - 6,0 TOTAL: 8,23 (82/100) Current ranking: 171/701

Solid, catchy. Not usually a pop person but i didn't mind that.

Ha venido a seducir y no se va a ir sin conseguirlo. Creo que el y Orlando Bloom son la misma persona. Temazos "Like I Love You", "(Oh No) Whar You Got" y "Cry Me a River", falla el bajo que pega en las ultimas canciones.

Enjoyable

This album was very catchy!

Some absolute nostalgic big pop hits on this album. Loses some points for me because absolutely some of these songs could be cut and it would be a stronger album. If edited down to the singles a maybe 3 or 4 of the other songs it probably could have been a 5 for me. Still though, I really enjoy it overall. Takes me back to being a young teenager.

Love me some JT

This was a good album. This was a clear 3.5 but I’m rounding up to 4.

couple of classics. peak pharell/timbaland production

This is the album that started albums sounding like this. Pharrell is awesome and this put him on the mainstream map. I heard him say that he tried to make an MJ record, but Jackson didn't want to buy any of the songs. JT heard this and jumped at the chance and it was an über smart move.

How did I not go to the Xtina / Justified concert when I had the chance!!! Love the hits!

I had this one when it was new. Fun album. JT is a good singer and entertainer, but the magic here is the Neptunes.

Great pop album, some of the beat-box sounds/beats make songs distinctly obvious as JT songs

Solid pop. Is this considered nostalgia? Am I that old??

Pretty good. For a first record, he has some really strong and fun pop songs. Kind of ends on a slow/downer but it’s all good

Haters want to diss now, but this album made every woman in America want to have JT have them "nekkid by the end of this song." Don't act like this didn't get your head bobbing and your ass moving when it hit the radio and MTV.

This was interesting and a little bit of a let down if I'm being honest. Having chatted about JT with others, I learned that he had been given the moniker and title of "Prince of Pop" which definitely raised the bar high. However, after listening to the album in which the only actual standout in the sea of similar, high, breathy and bouncy songs was "Cry me a River" of course. This is not to say that the others were poor, but I'm not sure if it is exactly Prince worthy. It may be an unpopular opinion and the genres aren't quite the same but I would have enjoyed 2/3 starting albums of Akon much more than this and as such will be rating this as a 3.5/5 with a bump to 4.

Definitely nostalgic about this album. All in all, It was a pretty good debut album for JT, full of classic singles that are still bouncy to this day. Definitely showed an evolution to adopt more of an R&B vibe post his NSYNC days. Very impactful production (& songwriting) from the Neptunes too. 3.5/5

4 of the first 6 songs were the singles. Those singles are all bangers but the album takes a nose dive after. It ends up being too long and 20mins could easily be chopped. 3.5/5. Raising to a 4.

Sinceramente, no iba a escuchar este álbum, ya que no me mola mucho Justin Timberlake y lo tenía como artista de tienda de ropa, pero dije, venga, le voy a dar un try. La verdad que no me arrepiento. La primera canción, Señorita, me sorprendió un montón, me mola todos los recursos que usa. "Like I love" you es un poco sin más. "(Oh no) What you got" me gustó mucho la flauta junto al sintetizador que le dio un aura bastante chula pero en si la canción para mí fue bastante meh. "Take it from here" literalmente canción de tienda de ropa, con unos violines bastante ambientales que molan cantidubi pero casi me duermo en sus 6 minutos de canción. "Cry me a river" para mí, la mejor canción del álbum, todos sus recursos tanto del pop, hiphop y orquestral con sintetizadores, violines haciendo armonías y también la melodía de la canción en momentos muy concretos lo que queda muy chulo, la percusión en stereo suena increíble, awesome, amazing Spiderman. "Rock your body" aunque sea una canción mítica de Justin Timberlake, es una canción sin más, mola pero no tiene cosas muy especiales que digas wow. "Nothin' else" otra canción muy tienda de ropa para mí, muy tranquila y nada movida, algo para tener de fondo. "Last night" otra canción del palo tienda de ropa pero bastante molona por los violines, guitarra, piano y una especie de xilófono (?), que lo hacen muy guay. "Still on my brain" una canción que empieza de una forma muy mágica y recuerda a jazz o a lo-fi cantado, muy tranquila, muy para escuchar de fondo, pero bastante agradable. "(And she said) Take me now" otra del palo, está bien, sin más con una parte electrónica que no me mola con un sonido muy pedo. "Right for me" suena muy guay, utiliza un montón de recursos, sintetizadores, flautas, sonidos pedo, guaguagua, muy guay. "Lets take a ride" una canción muy muy Justin Timberlake con sintetizadores y guitarras muy tranquilas y con aura. "Never again" la última canción del álbum, muy muy tranquila, pero también muy ambiental y suena muy triste, con esos pianos, violines, guitarras puntuales, un muy buen final para el álbum, una canción increíble. Este álbum ha estado muy muy bien, no tan movido, que es lo que normalmente suelo escuchar, pero para salir de esa zona de confort y escuchar algo más tranqui, Justin Timberlake en este álbum lo hace genial. Hay muchas canciones que no son muy allá pero en general están muy bien, recomiendo escucharla. 7/10 Creo que me he pasao de texto jeje

Disco guay. Si que es verdad que tampoco me hizo ahí un mega flechazo, pero no tiene ninguna canción mala y algunas son bastante buenas. No se muy bien que más decir, pues lo escuché hace una semana y ya no me acuerdo de las canciones guays. 7.4/10->4/5

Iba con 0 expectativas la vdd y me encantó, no es lo q suelo escuchar pero ns están todas las canciones bien hechas y cada una tiene algo q la distingue de las demás, lo cual se agradece. La d cry me river es genial, aunq el canto gregoriano del principio me desconcertó un poco. La d rock your body es un temazo y literalmente me puso de buen humor. No sé si será un buen álbum o no objetivamente, pero a mí me gustó mucho y lo disfruté más de lo q me esperaba. Eso sí, lo d q se ponga a gemir y a seducirte en el medio de la canción me corta bastante el rollo, eso le quita puntos y se me hizo un poco cansino q todas las canciones durasen 4+ minutos en algún punto.

Solid

These days I don't think it's particularly easy to stand up for Justin Timberlake. Any popularity he might've had from being a member of *NSYNC, and any coolness he might've gained from this and the follow-up FUTUESEX/LOVESOUND, have all but evaporated in the face of TROLLS movies, being written as the villain in the stories of Britney Spears and Janet Jackson, and his music generally just not being as good as it used to be. Seriously, if I get any enjoyment out of "Filthy" from MAN OF THE WOODS, it comes with an asterisk and the heavy acknowledgement that it **is** a very bad song. And to be honest, it's not like I have great defenses for this album either, which, from the looks of things, mostly rode his *NSYNC membership and breakup with Britney to being as big as it was. But after an initial, if I'm being completely honest here... I'unno, I think it's just fun. Blame the part of my brain that got reminded of Michael Jackson more often than not, I guess, but that don't change the fact that I still got a kick out of this thing. "Señorita", "Rock Your Body", "Like I Love You"... Those are all singles I just named, yeah, but regardless, those are all great songs. And to the MJ comparison, lemme just say that while I **did** pick up on a lot of spots where it sounds Michael **could** have sang it, on the whole the record has such a unique personality to it that, really, only Justin and The Neptunes could've made it. And you could argue that there's maybe a bit too much of Justin's personality in some songs, alongside how you can generally specifically date it to the early 2000's... But that's part of the charm, I feel like, y'know? I mean, I often give a pass to "dated music" because, dang it, sometimes I just like hearing the specific sound of a bygone time, and this is some damn 2000's R&B. (I will say, if there's any spot the personality **does** kinda get to me a little, it's on "Cry Me A River". Now, that's an iconic as hell song, and honestly maybe the best from this album, but it is, like, so clearly and specifically inspired by JT's break-up with Britney... And I think it's most just because I can use the time since release to mostly separate it from its subject matter that this public break-up tabloid drama doesn't bother me more than it would... 'Coz seriously, there's some killer production on this thing, goodness.) N' if I'm getting into spots that bothered me, if there's any one thing that kinda really got at me during this album, it was its length. Which, y'know, in terms of JT albums, I've heard **far** worse — I **like** THE 20/20 EXPERIENCE a lot (the first one, anyway), but goodness me, I don't know why the songs on that thing hadda be so long... But I'unno, you can't tell me there weren't a few spots on this album where it coulda been trimmed and tightened up a little, particularly in the back half. I'd be lying if I said my attention wasn't waning a bit by that point... I mean, I guess it **is** something it has in common with Michael's 2000s album. Still, though, I wouldn't say that by itself is enough to damage my opinion of the album overall. The good stuff's a real good time, and the lesser stuff holds up just well enough. I wouldn't say I think it's entirely "justified" in being on this list (harr-harr — but no seriously, maybe the follow-up would be more worthy), but I'm happy I heard it. I'll probably work a few of these songs into my regular rotation... And, I mean, like a 4 outta 5 will ruin the tour anyway. Y'know? Yeah.

I have a strong hatred for JT, but I will give it to him...I think this album is p p p good. The collaborations with Timbaland and Pharrell shine through. It's a rambling somewhat breakup album, with bangers and soul that still hold up.

I really don’t remember there being skips on this album, but…..there are several. In saying that, many bangers that are important to my core being.

Firmly established Justin Timberlake as a solo artist outside of his role in NSYNC, which is something other members of the group were never able to achieve. It also marked the transition from pop to R&B, and established the template for his future albums. The production is top notch, and came at a time when The Neptunes were at the peak of their powers. While in hindsight there are some problematic aspects of how the album and singles were marketed - grossly dragging Britney Spear's reputation through the mud, this album could be viewed as auditory revenge-porn, but that is a separate discussion - the songs themselves are stellar.

Don't like this album? Cry me a river!

Yeah, that was fine.

Pretty good

JT's debut album after N'Sync. It's got some bangers on it, especially Rock Your Body and Cry Me a River. This album showed us the potential of JT, but it wasn't until later albums that he matured and really expressed his range. Take this album at face value. Not a masterpiece, but a catalyst to an amazing music career. I'm sure the progressive rock guys will HATE this. I love it. 3.5/5 = 4 stars.

A very well-made, if excessively filligreed, pop confection, with his enthusiasm and sheer joy at performing shining through with nearly every beat. "Senorita" gets off to a fun and funky and surprisingly engaging start. One confesses that this is much better than one expected, and certainly more Michael Jackson-esque, too. he's a capable singer and clearly wants to show what he's got, which he largely pulls off, without being embarrassingly hungry from stardom. The R&B heart of the record is strong. "Take It From Here" is legit pop sweetness – showing why simplicity works. "Cry Me a River" also solid. Even if overdone and too long, the record's quality is mostly sustained. There have been many, many inferior pop records that have sold more. And it may have been just this sort of record that K Sanneh had in mind when he wrote his "rockist" essay and initiated the era of "pop-friendly" or "poptimist" criticism.

I truly love this album. I don't listen to it enough, but when it comes on or I go out of my way, it's just so good and pure. Almost reminds me of MJ's Off The Wall album. This is a 4-star album for me.

Der er for mange bangers på til at ku give under 4

gonna be honest this was the first i didn’t completely finish but that’s because i started it late and was lazy. it was good though! i love justin timberlake (i think he makes peak party music). i knew a few of these from the radio but others like “senorita” were unheard of bangers. will finish last two songs later, though i’m sure they are fine at worst and good at best. 4/5.

Timba-lake was a Quincy jones Mj like duo. The world tour may be over but this record still bops.

Das Debut von Justin als Solo-Künstler. RnB Musik mit Pop/Dance-Einflüssen. Spannend zu hören. 4/5

This is the album Michael Jackson should have made in 2003

Solid, a lot of good tracks.

Honestly… really good. Some of the songs were really cringe but overall the vibe was great. Cry me a river we did in college and a few others I was already familiar with. Rhythms were clean and the melodies were catchy. I’m curious if it was just as cringe back in the day or if it aged poorly. Not the album I would expect on this list but I was happy to have it.

This was very nostalgic, and I remember bopping to these songs hard in high school. Overall, I think its a pretty good pop album -mostly catchy songs, and Justin's voice sounds good. But its not as strong as FutureSex/LoveSounds.

Already heard

Oh, JT - our modern day MJ. If this record is on here, FutureSex/LoveSounds better be as well. Timberlake's voice is simply mesmeric and out of this world. His harmonies are so smooth, soulful and sultry. Neptunes mostly carry the production on this record, but additions by Timbaland, Scott Storch and Brian McKnight really add the flavor and variety. Timberlake is so hard-working and driven and it really shows in all of his work. This record is no different and demonstrates his professionalism as a solo artist, no less on his debut. It's fun, funky, upbeat and rhythmic. The production was so unique at the time and still carries itself to this day. Big fan of this one.

What a pleasure. Excellent pop album with great hip-hop beats and smooth R&B jams. Most of it is either produced by The Neptunes or Timbaland, so the music is top notch. Man, I love the beatboxing Timbaland mixes into his beats. So good. His songs in particular on this album are layered with loads of fun details. “Cry Me a River” is a song I’ve heard countless times but the backing vocals still surprised me and sounded fresh! Great song.

This is a really great pop album with three standout tracks- "Senorita", "Cry Me a River", and "Rock Your Body". I love that it starts with "Senorita". I haven't heard this in a while and when I put it on I immediately thought "I bet this is Timbaland" and it is (plus Pharrell) ! Their production styles work super well for Justin's pop. I'm not exactly a daily listener of Justin Timberlake or anything but I think these are some of my more favorite tracks of his and I'm sure the influence from those two plays a part. "Rock Your Body" shows why Justin Timerblake is one of the biggest pop acts of our lifetime. It's such a great straightforward and a bit shallow pop song; there's no pretentiousness, it's just a catchy dance-y pop song done as good as one can be done. I'll have these songs stuck in my head for a few days now. Nice album cover, it's just a little bit corny to match the album title.

I'll be candid and just say that this is actually a splendid album. Artists who have been at a spotlight at an early age don't always manage to reshape their career into something worthwhile. A lot of teen-based pop projects are just a product of their time and feel dated. This doesn't imply that this album is flawless and that Mr Timberlake rose like a Phoenix from the ashes. There are issues with this album but I was surprised how absolutely engaging it was despite some of its juvenile content and incredible amount of cheese. This is mostly thanks to the excellent production and diverse styles, Pharrell and Hugo are pretty talented and I think that Justin was a great vehicle. Arguably the latter half of the album is somewhat forgettable but still solid. Justified has a great mix of Pop, RnB, Soul, Funk and Disco that mushes together well. Some of my favorites are Like I love you which has a addictive syncopated guitar riff playing with a great beat. The vocals go incredibly high and provide a great dynamic to an otherwise static track. However, the bridge brings in some really nice seventh chords which feel open and serene. Señorita is honestly another standout because it feels so laid back and always incorporates diverse instrumentations. I think it's a bit underrated because it's clear that great care was put into creating these tracks. Rock your Body is also quite stellar because it's a breath of fresh air with the prominent Disco influence. There is a bridge section which just consists of beatboxing and it's a bit awkward but man it's something unique alright. Now, if I had to trash this album then I would probably say that some of the lyrical content is just abysmal and juvenile. A lot of tracks feature Justin talking about some benign shit of girls and love, it's all a bit indulgent but it kind of works for this style. This album feels like a time capsule where actors just have a good time and don't take themselves to seriously (at least that's the vibe I get). One could be overly cynic and state that the album is clearly derivative of other great artists and arranged in a way to appeal to a larger demographic with the inclusion of obligatory rap parts and the use of popular pop tropes. Perhaps I have a soft spot for this album but I don't get the vibe that this record was constructed in a corporate fashion just to hit the billboards.

really good

I really like this, good memories however felt a bit of a slog towards the end

It was a good album, sounds a little forced now on some of the songs, Cry Me a River is still crazy

Surprised that I liked this.

8/10

In my younger days I got jiggy to this album quite a bit as they regularly banged a lot of the songs off it in the clubs…good times, simpler times. Sigh. Anyway, I think ‘Justified’ still sands up quite well 20+ years later. The late 70’s rnb inspired production courtesy of Pharell, Chad Hugo and Timbaland still sounds mostly fresh today. It suffers from being too long, like many rnb/pop albums from the late 90s and early 2000’s, but by and large, there’s a lot of good stuff on here to groove along to.

I want to hate it, but I just can't. It is a great album.

Songs: Rock Your Body

First half of the album is undeniable but back couple songs taper. Still easy 4

This album is fun with great bangers of my youth

smells like axe body spray and the Neptunes. 4 really strong singles, the rest falls off. I'll be generous since we just saw him in December and had fun re-listening.

Okay in its category, but it's just a normal pop album

haha nostalgia. but have I ever listened to it? IDK. way more fun than I remembered. 4s. It's pretty generous, sure, but I was feeling it.

This was really a good mix of music.

No real standout tracks but consistent throughout

justin timberlake's best album due to a fortunate combination of rly talented producers & timing. makes it extremely funny how bad his latest stuff is lol

This is just a fun mindless pop record. It retains enough of that NSync vibe to be boy band-esque, but there certainly a little more maturity to be found in this album. There’s a distinct R&B sound that shines through, and it’s hard to complain about it. It’s nothing groundbreaking, nor is it particularly novel, but it is very well produced. The prince of pop killed it with “cry me a river”. It’s easy to nitpick and find faults with this album, but in this particular case, I don’t think there’s any reason to. It was made for the mainstream pop charts, and it succeeded in an excellent way. 4*

Entertaining. Over produced. Very much of its time. Cry me a river is worth some stars pf it's own.

Not usually my bag, but JT is so dang charismatic it's hard to not enjoy listening to him.

Pop masterpiece

What's not to love?! Great voice and harmonies. And a few of the songs are super great!

I'm going to give this four stars and chalk that up to Justin being a bit of a guilty pleasure... I just enjoy listening to him, he's got an interesting style and feel, and a good voice. It's not challenging listening by any standard LOL but it's quite a bit better than most of the dreck that passes for music these days.

7.5/10

Quite a strong debut album for a solo career, at least in my opinion. Probably a frustrating listen if you don't like pop as many modern tropes show in full force here. 4.5

<3

I mean, it’s JT. strong debut album. ‘Nothin’ Else’ the melody in how he’s singing reminds me of ‘Paint it, Black’ by the Rolling stones and ‘Last Night’ has the chorus beat of ‘The Hustle’ by Van McCoy. wonder if those were inspired by or just coincidental.

Bops are solid but the rest is filler

This album fucks. Cry Me a River and Rock your Body may not even be the best two songs. A guilty pleasure.

It's funny to listen to all this now after not having listened to it at all when I was younger, except when it played on the radio. A lot of good rhythms and arrangements, and his voice is very good, even if I don't really enjoy the lyrics

Aye finally some R&B after a run of rock records. I know it says pop but to me this is R&B. Of course I know all of the hits on this album so I was really looking forward to hearing all of the B-Sides. I thought they were really good R&B records, I love early 2000s Timbaland production anyways & this was a clinic. I always thought that when executed perfectly, there’s nothing better than a great R&B record. That shit will make you feel good!! Negatively though every record starts to sound the same and it’s almost too pop at times like he was trying to break away from that sound that made him famous. But it’s not too egregious like the other reviews I’ve seen, so I didn’t hate it 🤷🏾‍♂️

first time listening have heard señorita like i love you cry me a river rock your body

this is gonna ruin the 1001 albums generator

Timberlake and Timbaland just could not miss during this era (3.5/5)

Smooth talent. MJ vibes.

You know this is a good album. Doesn’t do the thing pop records in the late 90s/early 2000s where they have 18 songs. Everyone is too hard on this guy. I get he doesn’t do himself any favours but he is talented

Definitely resemblances to MJ here but overall thought it was a really good 2000s pop album with a few big hits in "Cry Me A River" and "Rock Your Body". I will say the album is a bit too long as all the songs after a while start to sound a little too similar. 7/10.

Anyone who has seen my ratings knows that I've been harsh on the album releases that came out in the first decade of the 21st century. So, it might come as a surprise that I think this is one of the few standout Pop albums from that first decade. One of the those albums where it is clear that performer and their producers were all forging together in the same direction and the result is an album that honors the Michael Jackson influence that is so obviously present with everyone associated with this album.

Pretty decent pop record, if it had been released 20 years prior I think it would have a higher general rating here

Feel a little silly for whatever reason, but I actually really enjoyed this one all the way through. However, gotta dock a point for that cover.

Love getting artists that I just never expected to see on here! We all know Mister Timberlake, most recently for his mugshot that the world has been memeing. The second debut album from a white boy with an unusual amount of soul in about a week (the first was Mr. Elvis Presley). It's pretty damn strong for a debut, love the presence of Pharrell and Clipse, and of course production from the Neptunes and Timbaland. A lot of JT's best work is with Timbaland, we'd see that as the years went on. "Cry Me a River," for example, obviously THE big hit on here, that's Timbaland. But then you've also got "Rock Your Body," which frankly I didn't know was the Neptunes. Kudos to the goats. Anyway, great album. JT has a few really strong albums in his catalog, even if the most recent few are weak as hell. Favorite tracks: Cry Me a River, Rock Your Body, Senorita, Still on my Brain, Let's Take a Ride. Album art: Just a portrait shot of JT, nothing fancy. It's memorable I suppose, but really not very creative. Definitely emblematic of the era. 4/5

Not my vibe

GORG

Justin Timberlake has had an unparalleled career: childhood star to 'Nsync, a solo music career, and then successful acting and producing projects. Justified is his first solo album, and it was a remarkable commercial and critical success. Justin Timberlake makes a danceable version of soulful R&B. His strong voice carries these songs, but the harmonies and textured orchestrations do provide significant support. This is a great collection of tracks showing Timberlake's significant range, and his abilities both as a signer and a songwriter.

who knew a pop star and the neptunes could make something good? (sarcasm)

SO MANY BANGERS ! this thing is STUFFED FULL of them. so impressive

the second half gives good vibes. thankfully im not a music critic so i can listen to this without my soul falling out

JT and timerland come through on this one. Some excellent R&B Pop.

I was in college when this album came out. As someone who had been reared on alternative and punk music, I just absolutely hated groups like N’Sync and The Backstreet Boys. They stood against everything I believed popular music should be. It required no actual creativity on the part of the “artist” and never got deeper than a puddle in its content. I’ve softened on pop music in general and I fully recognize that (though he has taken quite a bit of deserved heat lately), JT is the real deal. This is not an album that I would put on if I were alone in the car, but I’ll be damned if I’m not heading out on the dance floor when “Rock Your Body” gets played at a wedding.

Some great pop tunes on here! Yes, it’s a little too long and a few too many ballads. But there are 3 or 4 absolutely banging singles. Cool production - a little before The Neptunes homogenised the charts a couple of years later. Sure it’s a Michael Jackson rip off but it’s done well and adds a “modern” spin to it. It’s just good pop.

What a classic.

Cheerfully groovy in a decent Stevie tribute style. Strong writing and great production.

Pretty good.

This album is a reminder of how he was the heir apparent to Michael Jackson. I forgot how good and listenable his songs are from that time.

Day112 - really talented, a good debut album with at least 3 classic early 2000’s pop hits. i’m sure they would go back and tone down some of the pharrell slickness if they could

A few classics but he is a tough hang for an album that isn’t thriller

This rating is based on pure nostalgia

I now understand why there was such a comparison to Michael Jackson. So much of this album is derivative of MJ.

listen it’s good but i think i’m not usually in the mood for 2000’s nostalgia rn… but its good like i know for a fact if it was summer time i’d be going crazy over this, but right nowwww no thanks

4/4 dance w me

Fun album, Timbaland nails it as a producer.

i grew up wiht this playing on MTV and the singles getting a lot of radio play. this was my first time listening thought the album. and honestly Its not for me. Timberland has a big influence and that cuts though the sugery sweet artificial flavour of the bubblegum pop this album was set up for. but you can feel the tonal change in the album compared to the pop music of a few years earlier. the feel is darker even in more light hearted songs. you can truely feel the change away from the happy pop of N'sync and the backstreet boys or even Britney spears and Cristina Agrilaria that I consider the peers of this album, even though they were before 11/09/2001 that event changed the world around it to a point where it could be felt on this album. more minor keys in the music, less majour keys slower tempo. Over all this album is less happy than you would expect of a pop album and more sober feeling. yes its not for me but taking teh album into acocunt for its time and you can almost see it as leading the charge in pop music to be less bubblegum and more serious.

Overly long album with overly long songs with overly long outros. And that's what Timberlake was all about in 2002, and I'm pretty sure still is a bit now. Did I mention I like the tunes?

Thank you for bringing sexy back

What I really like here is Timberland's rhythms/hooks. Justin himself has a good voice. The content is "meh" for me. Still, I like 3 of the tracks: Senorita, Cry Me a River, Rock Your Body. So, that's good for a 4 star.

The singles hold up, and a few of the songs I wasn't familiar with feel like Off-The-Wall era Jackson making a cameo on a N.E.R.D. track, which isn't a bad thing. It's like a concept album where the concept is hooking up with someone at a club.

Though Justin's reputation has not held up over the years, it's hard to deny the catchiness of his debut. Appreciate the tracks where the Neptunes and Timberland obviously played a part, vs when he's trying to harken back to Isley Brothers style ballads (Take it from Here, Still on my Brain.)

Si apre con 'Senorita', non male. Anche 'like i love you', 'cry me a river' e 'rock your body' sono belle, in generale tutti i singoli famosi.

Great album

I wasn't expecting too much from Justified but i just found it so absurd that it was actually pretty fun to listen to. The absurdness of this album comes in many forms from the lyrics, the music videos, and all the way to Justin's vocal scatting (don't know if its that or beatboxing). However, it never really got too annoying. The songs are pretty long with each of them clocking in at above 4 minutes so that is a bit of a drawback for some people. I still loved the absurdity enough for me to give it a 3.5 (You know the drill at this point). Best Song: Let's Take A Ride Worst Song: Still On My Brain

I really enjoyed this one and will listen again.

Justified had it's time and place. At that time, Rock Your Body was everywhere. You can just tell how much he admires Michael Jackson.

I don’t care what anyone says. Bangers on this album

And so the holy trinity of The Micky Mouse Club is complete- first Britney, then Christina and now JT. People lost their damn minds comparing JT to MJ, due mainly to his singing falsetto and some talent as a dancer. Of course, Timberlake is nowhere close to Jackson’s level - but he has created a decent album, notable for the choice of producers. This is just as much a Neptunes album as it is JT’s and marks the moment hip hop went fully mainstream- the charts were now all hip hop producers and , to remain essential, pop stars now needed a track from Pharrell or Kanye or Just Blaze or Scott Storch or Timbaland - whose own contributions to this album include album highlight Cry Me A River, a twisted, unsettling, stalker track with crazy beat box percussion. Plenty of tracks are forgettable but the likes of Like I Love You are truly memorable and still sound impressive today .

Current events made this a little difficult to full appreciate, but it is good none the less

Hate to admit it...it's damn good. Way to go JT. 4.5

This dude has a killer voice. Tunes are on point Well done all around. Easy to listen to. 8/10

This one is littered with classics. Would rank it higher if not for a couple songs that don't quite reach the heights of the singles. Great album regardless.

If Michael Jackson wasn't going to make Michael Jackson records anymore, then someone had to, one supposes. And this definitely a good Michael Jackson with a few shockingly sweet tunes and some certifiably groovy bits, too. "Take It From Here" and "Cry Me a River" are tops. Not really one's thing, but hard to deny oneself its easily digestible and extremely well produced charms.

C'est ça qu'on veut mon Justin.

I really do enjoy some of these songs and the hits have always been favorites. I don’t think that I really needed this whole album, though.

I had not ever listened to a Justin album and have never felt compelled to do so. Nothing out of the ordinary, but somehow I assumed it would be a bit more upbeat than it was. Pretty straightforward pop music. It was just fine.

I listened to this album when it first came out and was surprised at the contents. It’s a lot more funk and R&B influences than one would expect. The production quality is high. Listening again today after quite a long hiatus I found it still reasonably enjoyable if a bit long. “Take It From Here” and its ilk were on the schmaltzy side for me and I could have done with a bit less of that. I’m not sure I needed this to be 50 minutes.

Some real bangers. Not 100% quality front to back but a worthy listen. 3.5/5

Added a star for surprise bubba sparx appearance

Heerlijke early zeroes pop sound, doet me terugdenken aan het groep 8 eindfeest van de basisschool. Grote hits als Like I Love You, Cry Me a River, Rock Your Body, en Senorita, worden afgewisseld met iets te "dertien in een dozijn" popliedjes met een gepoogd Michael Jackson gehalte dat er niet helemaal uitkomt.

Well this was a real blast from the past. It had slipped my mind how much of a megastar JT was back in the early 2000s, as he shook off the boyband innocence of his N*Sync days and embraced post-Britney manhood. That there's a lot to like here for me is largely down to the heavy influence of the Neptunes and Timbaland, whose own signature beats make the bulk of this album incredibly catchy. The slower, more R&B style tracks weren't so much to my taste but the big bangers catch fire in just the right way.

Stukje nostalgie. Toffe plaat

Featuring some of the hottest talent in music from the last 25 years and Justin Timberlake. Justin delivers a decent Pop/R&B performance. The real stars here are in production. Pharell Williams and Chad Hugo are pure legends.

Very poppy. Too much for me.

A cool pop r&b album, a number of known tracks. and worth a listen.

This album sounds just as dated and "of its time" as any of the 60s albums I've reviewed, but since this time is *my* time, these songs cause an absolute flood of nostalgic dopamine in my brain. I used to sing some of these songs to my wife when we first started dating in 2002, the year this was released. It's funny that the album from the *NSYNC kid was considered more as hip-hop than pop a the time, thanks to his collaborations with hip-hop icons like The Neptunes and Timbaland. My walk down memory lane aside, this album is stuffed with bangers. It is "of its time" in all the best way, like a musical time capsule stuffed with early '00s pop, hip-hop, R&B, & Latin-inspired grooves, with a splash of disco and a heavy dose of Michael Jackson worship thrown in for good measure. There are some weaker moments on the album, like the formulaic Take It From Here, and the messy Let's Take a Ride that keep the album from being an all-time classic. But honestly, even the lesser songs are pretty catchy, and overall this album is stuffed to the brim with certifiable radio hits and club bangers that will have you nodding your head and swaying in your seat. Easy 4 stars.

The first half is great, the second falls a little flat.

Blisters with influences everywhere. Disco, pop, funk and latin all tinge throughout this solo debut. JT is bringing it even if the party seems uneven in stretches of this. You’ll definitely shake your whole ass when this spins.

It's fucking sexy. Great debut from JT with some absolute bangers on it. One hell of an R&B classic

Hate the man but he makes great music

This is one of the less expected ones for me to say I own on vinyl. Original pressing. There was a rumour at the time that this album is made mostly of tracks Michael Jackson rejected for his comeback album. It rings true. This is high end pop. Timbaland and The Neptunes at their peak and giving their all for the singles, all of which pop. The back half of the album is less good, sadly. I have a worn first disc and a spotless second one...

I like his stuff from this album more than his current stuff he's making. This is peak JT coming off of N'SYNC and showing everyone why he went solo. This album is clearly justified and if you think otherwise you can cry me a river (dear lord that was a terrible pun)

4 kæmpe bangers. Og for det får albummet 4 stjerner. Alt for mange skips, der gør albummet fuldstændig ligegyldigt. Kunne have være 4 sange langt og så havde det fået 5 stjerner.

Just brilliant 4/5

Some of these are jams from the era, but listening now feels dated. 3.5

This album came out when? Oh boy, am I OLD :( Sure, some boyband filler here, but back in the day, who knew the Trousersnake could be so FUNKY. The Neptunes influence here means there's plenty of top-notch pop / R&B crossover vibes. "I'll have you nekked by the end of this song" - indeed.

good

I came of age right around the heyday of Britney and the boy bands, so they’ll always have some kind of place in my heart even if this was never the music that excited me. And I definitely remember when Justin became the heir apparent to Michael and just how good some of these songs are. I never listened to the album before, only knowing the hits, but some of the deep cuts are good, just the kind of 2000’s R&B that takes me back. Definitely too long and runs out of steam halfway in, but I can’t rate this any lower than a B.

Justin Timberlake is a generational talent. no doubt about it. I think one of the things he does best is working with the right people. The Neptunes did the bulk of production on this album and turned out some incredible tracks like Senorita, which is a massive leap above the status quo of the pop charts in 02. Pharrell's choppy drum work and genre-bending vision makes this album still groove 20 years later.

JT is Justin Timberlake and this album is JT, Just Terrific. I know a few of the songs from the radio but the others were new to me. He has got quite a great sound on this album. I was reminded of the 1970s Stevie Wonder and the 1980s Michael Jackson while listening to this album. 4/5

5 stars! Just kidding. But there are some bangers on here. This is his first solo album, and it’s way more soulful and r&b than *NSYNC, although there are a couple boy band songs on here. Great dance music

Pretty strong record with Timbaland's prints all over it. Just bloated heavily.

Never listened all the way through. The hits are hits, there's a lot of quality, but also a bit of boy band hangover.

Niin, tästähän ei saanut aikoinaan rockpuritaanina missään nimessä pitää enkä kyllä pitänytkään. No nyt ennakkoluulottomasti kuuntelemaan koko albumi Justinia ja kuinka ollakaan, tämähän on paljon parempi kuin ennakkoluuloni antoivat olettaa. Paras biisi ehdottomasti Rock your body. 3/5

There are like 3 songs that are legit good but overall it feels like Pharrell kinda just fuckin around

This has got to be the most Early 2000’s album in the history of Early 2000’s albums. What a fun little time capsule this was. It shows its age right from song 1, but it was everywhere upon release, so I get the inclusion in the book. It belongs here, love it or hate it. That being said, if a solo Justin Timberlake album ended up making the final cut, it’s surprising to me that the book has no inclusion for either *NSYNC or The Backstreet Boys. I’d have probably preferred either of them to just this. But sure, go ahead, include 6 Elvis Costello albums instead… Random stray, sorry about that, back to the actual review. Justified is fairly generic and by the books, but not entirely unpleasant. As to be expected for the time period. Every album kinda sounded like this at the time. Still good enough to get a 3 though, comfortably. The composition and overall production by Pharrell Williams is very much present on this album, which is cool. He’s great. To an extent, there’s some Timbaland as well that shines through, well before he became a complete and utter loser. Both of those are points in the albums favor. I do love Justin’s voice here, he really does have an impeccable singing voice that lends itself well to the cool beats here, and I’m a tad confused at the low rating this album has in general on the site. For the most part, I stay out of celebrity news for the sake of my mental health, so if he himself is in the spotlight for doing something bad, I’m not aware of it, but I hope he isn’t. Gonna do some research on that, as it’s the only reason I could see this album having the low rating it does. It’s really pretty good as a whole, even if it’s WAY too long and very of its time. Some traditional tropes about women that are very of the time probably wouldn’t slide today. That might be another reason for the low rating, I really don’t know. The inclusion of various samples, beats, tone shifts and other elements are shining elements of why Contemporary R&B can be so cool. While the album does a really good job of mixing it up song to song, it doesn’t need to be over an hour long. A ton of these songs are filler, most of which range from boring and forgettable all the way to absolute bangers. The ones that are bangers, notably “Rock Your Body”, are classics. I love that song. The only thing that could maybe make this album better would be the inclusion of “SexyBack”, which is probably his most successful song, and also his best in my opinion. “Rock Your Body” is a close second though, so I’m not complaining. Still love that song, it’s by far my favorite on this album. Overall, I was surprised by this one. It’s a great debut album and I was bopping pretty heavily to it. Would listen to it again.

I never know what to expect from this app lmao Señorita: good opening 2-3-4: good rythms throughout, wish it used the longer run times to develop the sound a little more, just feels the same throughout each song Cry me a river: oh that intro was fucking nasty. This song is doing what I just asked the previous songs to do lmao

Decent album.

Although he did not yet have the courage to bring sexy back, you can hear the foundations of his dedication to that cause here.

Have never heard an album by him before. Only his hit songs. Not bad, he does know how to craft a song.

Well. I'm not the target audience for this. I'm an overweight 60 something male but to be honest it was OK. Production very inventive, songs slight but unoffensive. Probably 20 minutes over long.

Couple bangers, the rest I could leave

Never gave this album a second thought when it was released. But after seeing him on SNL and in movies, I began to appreciate his talents. Good voice. Solid production. Decent pop album.

other than the two bangers, im okay not knowing the rest of this album Would I listen again: no Deserves to be on this list: maybe? JT is big but eh 2.5

It is perfectly fine and that is not to its discredit. There are some fun songs and of course some classics from my early 2000s childhood. However, it is just a very middle-of-the-road R&B album which I cannot say I will be desperate to listen to again to in the near future.

Dance! Dance! Dance!

A fun throwback worth listening to simply because this is what 2002 and 2003 sounded like.

Baby Justin! A lot of water under the bridge since then and frankly a lot of this record sounds fairly dated. Still a solid pop record for the time and a trajectory setting one for JT.

3.75 Just a few days ago I literally had the thought, randomly, “I wonder if FutureSex/Lovesounds is on this list?” And lo and behold, a few days later……well, it’s an album that’s not as good as FutureSex/Lovesounds, but is still pretty okay. I’ll be disappointed if it isn’t on the list too, because this is basically a dry run for that masterpiece of a pop album. And yes, I know it’s Timberlake, whose reputation is currently in the bin and has spent the past decade putting it there himself, but man. What a moment in time it was when he was making GOOD pop music. There’s some great stuff on this album! You hear the first sparks of his collaborations with Timbaland. It’s cheesy, it’s goofy, a lot of it sounds a little tryhard, but it also takes me back to a moment in MY life when I was young and pure and everything was okay! That’s music, man! Living nostalgia!

R & B , heavily MJ influeced Like i love you Cry me a river

Best Track - "Rock Your Body"

3 Genuinely better than I was expecting and the best 5/6 songs were pretty good. Unfortunately there were another 4/5 that were just mediocre and a couple that were outright awful. Someone also needs to tell him that songs can be shorter than 5 minutes

The hits on here are a pretty good time. The rest of the album is too R&B-y for my taste, but it's very well produced and cool to see his evolution from bubble gum boy pop to a more mature sound.

Musical junk food but it has a few good songs and a dance beat.

I mean, it's OK...just not a fan of fluffy pop music.

Rather anticlimactic to celebrate listening to a years worth of albums. Wasn’t the worst thing I could have gotten though I guess. Timberlake has a nice voice

Solid commercial pop, including some good singles, some forgettable filler, and some total stinkers, and overall the production rescues the MJ-lite vocals..

The hits are quite nostalgic from university student union nights. Really good pop production values and it’s good at what it’s trying to do. I just don’t really like what it’s trying to do.

Better than Coldplay

Some excellent 2000s r&b production and songwriting (shoutout to the Neptunes in their glory days!) that is sadly often tarnished by Justin Timbersnake-erm-lake’s corny culture vulture ass.

3 average

I never listen to him on my own, but Rock Your Body is still fire over 20 years later. Overall pretty good album.

interesting to hear where JT began to some degree. makes me wonder how much is him and how much is timbaland and/or neptunes. still, pretty good. 💥cry me a river 💥rock your body

Listened to this album twice, which shows it's got something going for it. Perfectly okay, high quality pop music. JT is channeling Michael Jackson to the very best of his abilities.

I could listen to just the backing tracks, they were fantastic. JTs voice is fine but fairly generic. There are some great songs on here though.

Was expecting to loathe this album, but it ended up fine

Easy listening, not really for me. Bit of background music, did not feel engaged with the music. And was kinda hoping for the album to be over sooner.

A mixed bag- no denying that Timberlake is a talented singer. But the attitude and subject matter of the songs is both superficial and one night. The hits are definitely hits though. Overall- decent enough. 2.5 to 3 / 5

Wow - ok. So “JT” is super cringe. I want to give him a negative rating. It’s not just the boy band aroma that sticks to him like bad cologne, it’s the MJ impersonation, the lyrics, everything really. But then there is the production. I just can’t fault it. It’s good. And the collaborations that make Timberlake seem like a rotten center in a well done dessert. The Michael Jackson influence is legitimate, it isn’t simply Timberlake’s acting persona. So how do I rate this? Crazy, but I think I’m actually giving it a 3. The production is that good. I really really dislike Justin himself. But I guess if you have a machine behind you… Boolean rating: yes, I suppose it was good to hear this. It was of a moment, that’s for sure. And it does prove that a well oiled studio machine can make manic even with a terrible front man.

Mid

He's clearly inspired by Michael Jackson and controversial take but I kinda think he achieves it and even manages to feel distinct. However, that opinion probably comes from the fact that I don't particularly think Michael Jackson music is all that impressive. Mid 3

Hitsen fortfarande ganska kul

Jackson wannabe

Hade höga förväntningar på denna efter att ha sett några av låttitlarna, men resten imponerade inte tyvärr.

5/5/26. Never heard the full album outside the singles. My favorite songs still hold up well, and the rest of the album is enjoyable. A little bland, but JT displayed some twists and turns.

There’s a lot of 90s and early 2000s music that I just don’t think society needs anymore and this is some of it. Overall not terrible though, but it’s time to move on.