Justified

2.5/5

2.1 It's just pretty shite isn't it. It's not too offensive to my ears though, which is why it doesn't keep into the 1 territory. And Rock Your Body is a legit good song, good beat, although the last minute was very unnecessary. Let the song close out man. But the rest... Eesh. Cross between a rip off of Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, with a Latin twist. There's nothing really endearing about it. Really don't think everyone must listen to it, maybe as a time capsule of early 2000s pop, but I swear we've had that in doses already (Britney, Christina etc.)

Boy band, solo breakout. Decent vioce for boy band sound. Some good songs. Known for his erratic behavior that’s hurt his career.

This score is justified. 2/5

Some nice moments but in the end not my stuff. Might be nice for people who like pop.

I don't want to listen to this, but I'm going to do it out of obligation. This is a tough listen. Modern pop-y Justin Timberlake is so much better than this. It's really cringy. The lyrics are like what high schoolers when I was growing up would think is sexy. It's really well produced, but if you shine shit, you just have shiny shit. I don't think this is shit, but it's not far off. Favorite Song(s): Still on My Brain

Good for what it was, good dance music of its time. Dated, but those songs kind of hold up. Rock Your Body is still catchy. The slow songs are bad and it would have been a better album half as long without them.

JT was able to gaslight us as a society into not realizing how much a lame dweeb he is for like 15 years and this album was a big part of that. There's a few really solid singles on this thing that certainly helped. But once again, the dreaded CD album length curse rears it's ugly head. An hour of this is a bit much.

Timberlake is okay for pop, but that isn't saying much.

Justified (2002) is Justin Timberlake debut solo album recorded during a hiatus from NSYNC which became indefinite as his solo career took off. When Justified was released he was only 21 but had already released four albums with NSYNC. Justified is a contemporary R&B album, which isn’t a genre that I’m particularly into. Timberlake, who had started out as a child star on the Disney channel was keen pivot his career away from Disney / Boy Band sensibilities into a more mature R&B style. I understand why a 21 year old heartthrob would want to release an album focussed on themes of lust, love and heartbreak and I’m sure his audience lapped it up, but a lot of it is quite cringe. There are two standout singles ‘Cry Me a River’ and ‘Rock Your Body’ both of which reached number two in the UK singles chart. ‘Cry Me a River’ is a whiny, but very catchy song, reputed to be about his break-up with Britney Spears. ‘Rock Your Body’ is the highlight of the album - it’s a very funky R&B track that just makes you want to dance. The rest of the album doesn’t do much for me. In places he sounds like a Michael Jackson wannabe, in others like a watered down Stevie Wonder. Not an album I’d go out of my way to listen to again, but I will pop ‘Rock Your Body’ onto my five star songs playlist. I do feel a bit mean to Jeff Beck in retrospect for also rating his album Truth 2 out of 5. I guess I should explain that I am rating these albums as I experience them in the moment, not ranking them against each other. Disk 1: Señorita - 2/5 Like I Love You (featuring Clipse) - 3/5 (Oh No) What You Got - 2/5; Take It from Here - 1/5; Cry Me a River - 4/5 Rock Your Body - 5/5 Nothin’ Else - 1/5; Last Night - 1/5; Still on My Brain - 2/5 (And She Said) Take Me Now (featuring Janet Jackson) - 2/5 Right for Me (featuring Bubba Sparxxx) - 2/5; Let’s Take a Ride - 1/5; Never Again - 1/5

It must have been hard to justify the inclusion of that album in the book

I really don't see the point of having this here, but hey it wouldn't be the first time either.

Another soundtrack for a early 2000s dance movie.

Don’t mind some JT first half of album is bangers , love you like you do soon as it kicks in with that pharell Williams drum groove immediately funky and catchy , senorita. A clubbing classic , rock your body great hook and bass line but felt the other half fell short of the song quality quite a lot

Pretty cheesy to be honest 1 or 2 semi good songs but it does drag at you after a while

There is something un-enduring about this record.

Wanted to hate it, then thought it was okay, then it got old quickly. Too long, and JT is pretty smooth on some tracks, but extremely annoying on others.

Just cry, not because it was good, but because it was terrible and I hope to never hear this album again.

It's good for the hits, but the rest is dated and unmemorable. Nothing worth going back to.

2/5

It was as bad as I expected.

It's all a bit desperate and the album now sounds dated and like something that's more of a footnote than something that had any lasting impact. Even on its own terms it's not great. The constant aping Michael Jackson just highlights that he's not on the same level. As it goes on the album drags more and more. The songwriting isn't up to much (your out of this world, but you're not green is one of the worst lines I've heard).

What a try-hard

That’s not more than a 2. Boring pop.

Everything about this album being on this list makes me tired. It's another f'ing 2* that I'm too tired to replace. I'm too tired to rate another 2* - it's not terrible, it's not good, and it's not something anyone HAS to listen to before they die. So, it's a 2, and I'm done.

It's fine. Having this against a Michael Jackson album did no favors for my opinion of this one. Not hating but none of his good stuff is on this album.

Wasn’t a fan of this in 2002, and I’m still not in 2026

I don’t feel justified to enjoy this 2/5 because a few of the singles are solid

I don't know anything about '00s music, but my impression is that this style became possible thanks to new computer-based production technology. I would describe it as a fusion of elements from pop, rap, maybe R&B, with a modern-sounding (for 2002) digital polish. However, the shiny cool sound does not justify the absence of actual content. I cannot remember any of the melodies, and the vibe is so bland there is little difference between the love songs and the heartbreak songs.

Well... No, thanks

Surprised how how badly written so many of these songs are, even for the time. It's not 1 star bad, but just generally disappointing. People really heard Senorita and were like yeah, give me 60 more minutes of this.

Generic, radio friendly pop music.

I know why it was here because at the time this album was raved about as a return to classic soul but it comes of like a white dude trying to mimic Stevie Wonder on a lot of the songs. There’s a reason they released the four songs as singles they did, because the rest are not nearly as good. This hasn’t aged well at all, just like Justin himself. I’d probably give it a 2.5 if I could because two seems too harsh but it definitely doesn’t merit a 3 star review, so be it.

Contemporary R&B, as a genre, rarely resonates with me. It is entirely a matter of personal taste rather than a critique of the musicianship or production values, both of which are often excellent, but the genre simply fails to elicit a positive listening experience for me. Put simply, it does not thrill me. The few exceptions occur only when a track veers toward the pop end of the spectrum. Consequently, I find Justified to be a two-star album; it fails to leave a lasting impression and leaves me somewhat nonplussed. While there are a few bright moments, there is nothing here that compels me to revisit the record as a whole. Finally, as someone who grew up buying vinyl, I place a high value on album art. Given the importance of this release, Timberlake’s definitive breakout as a solo artist, is this really the best they could do? It is quite frankly appalling. 1 "Señorita" (2/5) 2 "Like I Love You" (featuring Clipse) (3/5) 3 "(Oh No) What You Got" (3/5) 4 "Take It from Here" (2/5) 5 "Cry Me a River" (3/5) 6 "Rock Your Body" (3/5) 7 "Nothin' Else" (2/5) 8 "Last Night" (3/5) 9 "Still on My Brain" (2/5) 10 "(And She Said) Take Me Now" (featuring Janet Jackson) (2/5) 11 "Right for Me" (featuring Bubba Sparxxx) (2/5) 12 "Let's Take a Ride" (2/5) 13 "Never Again" (2/5) Total - 31 Average - 2.38 239/1001 132/239 albums reviewed were new to me.

#845. All of these Y2K pop albums just didn't age well, did they? 2/5: meh

Lowkey calculated.

‘Cry me a River’ and ‘Rock Your Body’ were the hits here, but many of the other tracks were quite awful. Overlong and a chore to make it through for me, didn’t really have the patience for this. I won’t say that JT has no talent and no business being as big a star as he is, but this album was lacking.

The album's as bland as I expected. Half of the songs were clones of each other. The closer tries to differentiate itself from the rest of "Justified" with a piano accompaniment. Whose idea was it for Justin Timberlake to rap (badly) in "Right for Me"? "Cry Me a River" was the only great song from the album. 2 stars for "Justified".

Former Mouseketeer desperately wants to be taken seriously, so his music is now aimed at teens instead of preteens. This album is competently made, but there's just no soul or feeling. It's white boy R&B made in a lab to be popular. The copy of the book I own is the 2018 edition, which does not include this album, so I can't even try and glean insight as to why this record is included. My best guess is that since it's JT's first solo project, critics found it notable. Unfortunately, there is nothing here that is new interesting if you already listen to other R&B acts of the time. Bush era pop music is a special kind of shallow hell. It's all style over substance and this album is no different.

Overall Rating - 2.46/5 (4.92/10). Forgettable, White-Boy Rap, mostly.

Basically over produced, soulless pop music. Has a couple of catchy songs but for the most part it felt like a $ grab

You put THIS ALBUM and not “FutureSex/LoveSound”?? The album that literally shaped sound of last half of a decade, and inspired direction for pop/rnb in 10s? The album that have 6 huge Top40 singles, 3 of em that known and loved even to this day? I mean… it’s a choice, it’s a choice.

Nothing against JT, only a couple songs from this album really caught my attention. I do still like Cry me a River though

Hadn't noticed the Another One Bites the Dust drumming around midway through Rock Your Body. Nothin' Else: I like the ominous tune of the verses; they also made me think of Paint It Black. "You're out of this world except you're not green" is hilarous too. Nothing too standout aside from the famous ones and Last Night, which has a really cute hook...okay just got to the end of the song...he manages to ruin it in the last five minutes with that cringe haha. Actually a lot of them have good hooks, but the tunes all end up being very similar to eachother. Unexpected sweet, slow, piano, violin last one though! Really nice.

2+/5 There is some great early 00s nostalgia on here, but outside the singles, the album is pretty empty.

Does anyone else find the Neptunes’ production just so repetitive and boring?? These overproduced albums with JT squawking away like he wants to be MJ just does nothing much for me. Even the ‘hits’ (Cry Me A River, Rock Your Body) are pretty dull in my eyes. The man is clearly talented, but just not my cup of tea

Die Klassiker sind richtig toll, Balladen bisl meh und vieles irgendwie nervig es fehlen immer die Mitten. Aber die Klassiker richtig toll. Album Brauch ich nicht aber die Singles sind top. Trotzdem nur 2/5 weil Singles Yes Rest no

I know he’s talented, but this isn’t my thing.

3/10 - Meh, bland 2000’s pop.

This is #day521 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… this kind of pop and R&B was absolutely everywhere in the early '00s, when TV and radio were kings. You definitely don't have to hear this record before you die (no wonder it eventually got dropped from the list), unless your childhood years fell in the '00s and you feel like crying yourself a river over being old. This is a 2 out of 5. Looking forward to #day522.

justin is definitely not doing any heavy lifting on this album like the songs are not bad but they don't fit him at all. i guess it's the effect of the 20 years that have passed since the release the songs are sooooo long too i was bored by the end

Justin has a lot of talent and a good voice. This just personally isn't an album I would ever turn to. I think he does best with the poppier hits vs. the slower ballads. 4.5/10 (2.25/5)

Why is this album so frickin long at least it was better than terrible. An hour of white girl music made by a white boy doesn't get you very far in my book.

2.5

My partner bought this when it came out and I asked her to only play when I wasn’t in! It’s not that bad but not really my bag. I think Trousersnake is a better actor than popstar!

Two really fun songs surrounded by a lot of forgettable and underbaked filler. Has a touch of maturity that is fun to hear, but a lot of the tracks feel like they needed extra production or innovation to stand out more. Not a coincidence that the pop-ier songs stand above the rest. Top tracks: Cry Me a River, Rock Your Body

Hadn't realised be was inspired by Michael Jackson, but upon listening it's clear.

No matter how hard it tries, this album cannot convince me that JT is either cool or sexy

I think we've extended far too much grace to Pharell Williams based on his Random Access Memories appearances, and by we I mean me specifically because this is probably not a widespread problem. at any rate he needs to be stopped the reviews on this site for this album are so smug and pretentious I kind of want to bump it up a point it is not a good sign when Rock Your Body is the best song on a CD and wow it gets even whinier and shittier than Cry Me A River I know everybody waited until Man of the Woods to clown on this dude but we waited too long

Another I had to break down track by track to evaluate: Señorita 1 Like I Love You 4 (Oh No) What You Got 2 Take It from Here 3 Cry Me a River 4 Rock Your Body 4 Nothin’ Else 1 Last Night 2 Still on My Brain 2 (And She Said) Take Me Now 1 Right for Me 1 Let’s Take a Ride 2 Never Again 2 Avg 2.23 Overall a pretty inconsistent album with a weak end. Several bops toward the beginning which were great and I loved the Clipse feature, but not Justin's strongest work (though he made it in 6 weeks which is crazy). 2.2/5 -> 2/5

Passt mir persönlich überhaupt gar nicht. Als Album geht es noch halbwegs innerhalb des Stils. Aber ist auch schlecht gealtert.

Not my thing.

Conocía un par de canciones que fueron hits, pero mentiría si dijera que este álbum no se me hizo pesadísimo. Canción tras canción, esto fue convirtiéndose en una tortura que se sintió como mil eternidades. No era fan de Timberlake, pero ya escuchando un disco suyo completo, confirmo que su vocecita aguda me crispa los nervios. Eso sí, buena producción del álbum.

I like Justin Timberlake and accept that he’s an exceptional performer. That said, the music on this album is mostly forgettable and boring, and him performing it vastly exceeds the experience of just listening to and/or receiving it. Its inclusion here did trigger a thought project for me about what pivot he could have made to improve what is already an established career and legacy. I mean, his DWI didn’t help, but I think he was on a downward trajectory anyway because he has not done anything interested in a long time. I wonder if mining the experience of being a father would have been productive. (Maybe he did, I don’t listen closely to his stuff.) Fatherhood has its own range of emotions, none of which are present here or on any of his other stuff I’ve heard. I don’t know.

Much like Christina Aguilera's Stripped and Amy Winehouse's Frank, this album was only on the book's first edition and immediately replaced by the artist's follow-up in the second edition. So I wouldn't say the inclusion is very... ahem... Justified. Musically, this is pretty standard, maybe slightly above-average, early 00's R&B-influenced pop. Lots of the kinds of beats Timbaland and The Neptunes pioneered, both even have production credits on some of the songs here, while the former would become Timberlake's main collaboration on his next, and much better, three albums. Key tracks: Señorita Like I Love You Cry Me a River Rock Your Body (the McDonald's song "I'm Lovin' It" was also a single at the time but is not on here.)

С нептунсами связка имхо нерабочая. А вот с тимбелендом сочные трэки, и следующий альбом это подтверждает.

Most of the lyrics are cringy. I feel like a creep listening to it. Pharrell Williams salvages this album from being a one. I can’t give it more than a 2 when it makes me feels embarrassed to listen to it.

Famous pop album, but I didn't find anything particularly special about it.

meh

As a self-professed music fan, as crazy as it may sound, I've never deliberately listened to a Justin Timberlake song. Turns out he's not very good. One big parallel can be drawn with Frank Ocean: both artists have a jumble of musical elements that *should* be cause for great music, but then they just... don't sound good. I thought, hoped, that Señorita would be the only offender and it's all uphill from there. Like I Love You is certainly better, featuring a repetitive but nifty acoustic guitar lick and an extremely 2000s-typical vocal delivery. It's nostalgic, it's fun, it mostly uses octave-harmonising (lazy, but passable. A product of the time). Later, Cry Me a River boasts a strong melody and a fun delivery that doesn't kiss MJ's ass quite as much as other tracks. Rock Your Body, the biggest hit here, reads like an off-brand Another One Bites The Dust, but it's also pretty catchy. Never Again looks underappreciated – it's the only track with good piano, yet it has the least streams – so I've giving it a shoutout too. I'm skeptical of a white artist making heavy use of AAVE. It rubs me the wrong way. Some of this music definitely hasn't aged well – just like Eminem's delivery and lyrics from the same period. Though Timberlake is far less egregious than Eminem in the lyrical department. The material on Justified is written and delivered a lot like MJ's 80s material, but unfortunately this guy's clearly not up to the task. Take Off The Wall, Thriller, and Bad... and then Justified. Blech. I mean, it's not actively bad – so there isn't reason for a 1-star rating – but it's so inferior to the music it's trying to emulate that its rating has to suffer by principle. Oh, yeah, and it's about 20 minutes too long. Albums average 40 minutes in length for a reason. 2/5 Key tracks: Like I Love You, Cry Me a River, Never Again

It has two solid bangers and the rest are all over the place

No.

This is an exhausting listen. You get a few singles that remind you this is Justin Timberlake, but the filler is brutal. WE 👏 DON'T 👏 NEED 👏 FIVE 👏 MINUTE 👏 POP 👏 SONGS 👏👏 It’s all style with absolutely no substance. Spins: 1 Playlist Additions - Cry Me a River - Rock Your Body

Timberlake has a great voice, but this era of music was not my favorite.

This album was not made for me. That said, “Cry Me a River” is a great pop song

Great artist but 2 to 3 songs from him is more than enough. Other than “rock your body” and “cry me a river” it all just kind of ran together

Har jo noen bangers. Men føles dated.

I’m not saying Timberlake doesn’t deserve an album on the list, but it should be FutureSex/LoveSounds. If that one is on the list…well, I’m sorry, but he doesn’t deserve two albums on the list. (Personally, I prefer 20/20 Experience over either, but it should still be only FutureSex on the list)

OK album. So 2 stars. Why not 1 star? I'm going to assume that this is really good for those that like this genre. The production value was there. So was the cultural appropriation. I just don't see how this is one of the 1001. To me, it was a wasted hour.

Not my kind of music, just pure dance pop, completely disposable

Don't really need anything besides the singles off this album. It's well produced but has a lot of boring songs on it. Cry me a River and Rock Your Body are alright, the rest I don't care about all that much. Just really not my thing and not good enough to sway me from thinking otherwise.

some singles were cool, the rest of the album is boooring

Good, but far from great. It’s not a great candidate for this list really. Nothing original going on here, but some catchy tunes all the same. It was everywhere for a while, but not listened to it in a long time. Which says a lot really. 2.5

For those who complain about too much Brit-pop, this is retribution. This has no appeal. It's painfully bland, and cheezy.

I quite liked Take It from Here, Nothin' Else and Still On My Brain. The last two of those remind me of Stevie Wonder. Never Again is quite nice as well. I never liked the hits very much. Rock Your Body is definitely the best one of those.

Pas hyper fan de R&B, toujours un peu pareil et des sonorités qui me touchent pas trop. Cry me a river la plus connue mais pareil j'y suis pas trop sensible

They call him Timberlack. Timber Timber Timberlake. Really? Please don't put me in the ground yet. I haven't heard 2002's megahit album "Justified" by Justin Timerlake.

This is going to ruin the tour

It wasn't a bad album. However.....that's about all that I can say for it. It all sounded the same to me and nothing made it memorable for me. "Dick in a Box" might be the best thing that he's done.

There's a lot to commend about rejected latter-day Michael Jackson tracks sung by a highly punchable douche-bro but you won't find those commendations here.

One great song.

If the album ended after Rock Your Body, it would be considered a decent effort. What follows is 7 songs that sound pretty similar and seem to never end. This album is at least 30-35 minutes too long. Unfortunately, JT is not MJ.

While there are good songs on this, this does not feel like a Justin Timberlake album so much as a "Everyone we can convince to sing with Timberlake to fill out this" album.

2000s "R&B" (heavy on the air quotes) was a crime against humanity. But I'll still give it an extra star because it's kind of a catchy crime against humanity.

I can barely tolerate Michael Jackson so this had no chance. 2 stars or D+.

Maybe a couple songs that were hits, but seemed to be a lot of filler for an album that was over an hour long. Because of this, I will say 2.5 - round down.

He's super talented but this was too much of a Michael copy. Didn't need to be on the list.

"Cry Me a River" and "Rock Your Body" are both fine, it's clear why those were the singles from this album. The rest of this one is decidedly meh. Every song is 5 minutes long and super repetitive, which I guess is probably good for dance music in a club, but is tedious to listen to straight through. I was never a Justin Timberlake fan, even though I was smack dab exactly in his target demographic when he was at his peak.

Blind album, know the artist by name and his recent DUI lmao. Completely forgot this dude got famous from NSYNC, and then completely forgot that I am not really a fan of him or the band.

Blue-eyed pop R&B with strong whiffs of Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder. It’s well produced and arranged, as you’d expect from a guy with Timberlake’s star power, and there are a couple interesting songs. But overall, it feels colored by that vapid tabloid-party nip-slip ethos of its era and feels dated. I was already too old for that scene when this came out and if I’m going for turn-of-the-millennium soul, I’m putting on D’Angelo or Erykah Badu.

Boy band member goes solo. The vocals started sounding similar out of the gate, and reminded me of MJ. I am not a fan of JT overall, but some of the 2002 lyrics gave me cringe. Listened before? Not the entire album, but I am familiar with several tracks Saved to library? N Favorite track(s): Take It from Here. ⭐⭐ Didn't hate it. Didn't like it. Saved no tracks.

I like the strings on Take It From Here. Lyrics are meh when they're not cringe. An hour of this is too long. At least I got to skip Cry Me a River and Right For Me because I cannot listen to the mouth sounds. Thanks, misophonia! /s Listened before? N Saved to library? N Favorite track(s): N/A ⭐⭐: Didn't like it, didn't hate it. Saved no tracks.

Less welcome soundtrack to my younger years, I like about four moments on the album - feels way too long for a pop album and a little too much 'new MJ' for the noughties. That bridge/hooky extra verse on Rock your body though - magnifique...

Midway through the second song my girlfriend and I said at the same time, "This sounds just like Michael Jackson." And that comparison never stopped throughout the album. As others have noted, there is one very good song and it's Cry Me A River. It's the only one that sounds different and seems to be want to more than just an MJ clone. This isn't a bad album, but it's not one of the ones I needed to listen to before I die. There's a part of me that feels this deserves a three star rating, but the fact that every song is at least four and a half minutes long (way too long IMO) and the album is over an hour long will drop it to a two.

not in 1.000.000.000.000.001

Surprisingly decent, with some innovative production, but should have ended about 30 minutes sooner.

Not my fave.

Сольный дебют ДжейТи — темпоритический бардачок, который пускай и запустит будущую коллабу Тимберлейка с Тимбалэндом, но сам по себе лично меня не увлёк ни продакшеном, ни вайбом, ни исполнением.

Alright so this album has one actually perfect song (Cry Me A River, obviously) and Pharrell sure knows what he’s doing. Otherwise it’s probably the worst era of Justin Timberlake and feels kind of shallow and slick.

I legit fell asleep halfway through this. What did I miss? Probably nothing, I felt like I was having a stroke with those songs near the end.

Very dull as an album but, although they're not my cup of tea, the singles are competent pop songs I'd give it 1.5 if it were possible but 1 feels harsh

This album is overlong and the songs are pretty derivative of early 2000s pop R&B. But it doesn’t have a raft of huge hit singles and solid pop production. Not my cup of tea though

JT gets a high 2 from me I loved the 4 singles, some of the pop music I loved even in my early twenties which was rare and sounds just as good today. I only liked 2 of the album tracks, leaving 7 which passed me by or actually annoyed me. This album is a great example of why I struggled to get into pop music in the 2000s and early 2010s, I’m firmly an album person and pop stars just weren’t delivering full albums of good music

2002 - when the producer was king. 20 years on this feels very overcooked.

very 2000s

Why is this on the list? Almost all of this music is completely disposable. I will say, the production’s pretty good and I do like Rock Your Body, but most of this is subpar songwriting with a singing voice that constantly teeters between decent and insufferable. All the spoken bits make me want to slam Justin Timberlake’s face into a table, I can’t stand his speaking voice. I could feel my brain turning into mush towards the end of the album. The record isn’t entirely unenjoyable, but the parts I like are few and far between. 2/5

Not my cup of tea, it sounds like a dirtier version of Michael Jackson with lesser beats. The kids must have loved it at the time.

This wasn't that bad. Perfectly good for what it is. The singles are obvious highlights, but the album soon becomes quite samey and directionless. Not necessary to hear before death, by any means.

too long, -1

shut up ramen boy

Man, for a dude who was probably getting laid plenty, he sure sounds in this one like a dude who's desperate to get laid.

There are some jams on here from a production perspective, from Timbaland and others... I feel like this album dates itself moreso than the one with SexyBack on it.

2/5 kind of annoying pop.

Some of the songs are catchy, but there's a good amount of cringe in here too. Enough that it makes me uncomfortable listening. It's not as good as Madvillainy.

not even his best album. Fuck this, what the fuck, who needed to hear this?????

I prefer the FutureSex 20/20 stuff

It’s a pop album. It’s fine.

If a cumsock came to life and decided to make an album, this is the album it would make. Except even a sentient cumsock would probably think 63 minutes was taking the piss a bit.

The album starts strong but whimpers off.

Good producing, not my style as I can't stand R'nB. But kuddos to the guy for bouncing up after his boy's band and the carrer that we know.

Lol… seriously? The only thing saving this album is The Neptunes, they carried the production and wrote half the songs, like “Rock Your Body.” Meanwhile, I’m just wondering why N.E.R.D’s In Search of…, which dropped right before, isn’t on this list instead. Way more deserving. Without them, Justin’s debut would have been pure generic music. With them playing Cyrano, though, he ends up with one of the best pop records of the early 2000s. On his side, Justin looks good on the cover and dances well in videos, which is basically what people expected from him anyway.

I found out I don't really care for JT. Apart from "Cry Me a River", not a big fan of the rest.

The only Justin Timberlake album that deserves to be on here is FutureSex/LoveSounds, which is legitimately a 5 star album. It really did something and influenced pop music in a big way at the time. His debut, in comparison, is boring. Even without comparing it to future albums of his, this is nothing special. It's way too long, and "Cry Me A River" has not aged well. The singles are okay, but beyond that nothing stands out. It's all kind of corny and cringe. Really not sure how this album ended up on the list.

What a whiny dork this guy comes across here. Another prime example of how so much from the early 2000’s should just stay in the early 2000’s. Yea, sure his voice is fine and some of the beats are ok but there is so much filler on this. People bending over backwards telling Justin just how great it all is and then we end up with an hour of mostly bullshit. Just Take it From Here is the steamiest pile of garbage I’ve ever heard. “I wanna be your Broadway show on review. “Why?” So I can act out how god was when he made you.” Almost had to pull over and barf on the side of the 401 when I heard that song. I get R&B isn’t for me, I mostly hate it but this is trash right? I want to give it a 1 but I’ll be fair bc the best on Dork Your Body is pretty good. 2 stars

I've never been much of a fan of Justin's music. In fact, I've always said that he should have concentrated on comedy, where I think he is really truly talented. But, keeping an open mind while listening to this, I have to concede that he (along with the Neptunes) does indeed have some good songwriting chops. "Senora" is a very catchy tune, "Like I Love You" sounds a bit like something early N*E*R*D might have come out with, and "Rock Your Body" has some questionable beatboxing in it. On the better side of pop music, and at least it's not completely manufactured nonsense. The standout is "Cry Me A River". Catchy and intelligent songwriting, it's genuinely a great song. Unfortunately the rest of the album is filler. Justin is trying his best to emulate early Michael Jackson in a more-RnB-than-disco setting, and it all feels quite bland. It's the songs where he's not trying to sound like something from "Off the Wall" or "Thriller" that show some of the talent he has. But, ultimately besides a few decent songs, and one great one, I'm still hoping he concentrates on his comedy career.

Cry Me A River is fantastisch, sommige andere nummers ok, de rest matig, of slecht.

Rating: 3.5/10 Why is this on the list? It's not even the best Justin Timberlake album...

I despised this on release, my wife, then GF was a fan though and actually met him. As a result I heard these songs, mainly the singles, a lot I’ve mellowed to it these days and there’s undeniably some bangers on here but as with many pop albums, especially of this era, there’s way too much filler and it’s very dull stuff! So don’t mind the singles but I’m content to never hear this again

On the one hand, I enjoy pop music and am glad the genre is included on this list. On the other hand, meh. Never a big Justin Timberlake fan. The album is too long, but the real sin is that it's boring. Same rhythms and same sentiments repetated for an hour. There's two standout tracks, and you've probably heard those a million times if you were alive in 2002. As I was not a teen girl then, very little about this resonates. My nostalgia is untriggered. Brittney was better, and it's not close.

De naam alleen al roept weerstand op. Zet je het aan, dan krijg je slap, klef gedoe met een R&B-sausje en een vleugje Latin. Met grote letters staat overal 'COMMERCIEEL' op gekliederd, en hoewel commercieel heus niet per definitie fout is, ga je je bij een plaat als deze wel afvragen waarom hij dan in de 1001 moet. Bij tijd en wijle doet het denken aan Michael Jackson, met de gilletjes, het gehijg en de hoge stemmetjes. Maar dan zonder de strakke ritmes die het softe gedoe van Jacko optilden naar iets echt goeds. Pere Ubu had niet gehoeven, maar dit ook niet.

Ondanks dat Justin ruim voldoende muzikale creativiteit in zich heeft, had Pharell een grote rol bij dit album. Zeker iemand die iets heeft toegevoegd aan de muziek. Maar zoals eerder geschreven ook iemand die mij zelden weet te bereiken. De hits van dit album dragen ook zijn klanken. De (duidelijk) opvullers zijn heel wat saaier. Is dat dan de echte Justin? Ik kan mij goed voorstellen dat de pop-liefhebber dit album sterk waardeert. Zelf heb ik hier helemaal niets mee.

Ik heb even niet op mijn netvlies hoeveel boybands en afgeleiden daarvan we in deze lijst hebben. Het is natuurlijk best een lange periode in de muziekgeschiedenis geweest, 90s en early 00s, dat de hitlijsten werden gedomineerd door dit soort artiesten. Al hadden we daarvoor misschien ook al wel mensen als Lionel Ritchie en Diana Ross, die solo gingen na eerst onderdeel van een groepje te zijn geweest. Of dit soort muziek in een snoblijst als deze thuishoren blijft wel de vraag. Ik zou er geen nacht minder om slapen als ze er uit waren gelaten, maar zoals ik al zei hebben ze best een aandeel gehad, misschien niet zozeer in de muziekgeschiedenis, maar wel in de muziekindustrie. We horen het populairste jongetje van N-Sync hier, met hulp van producers, rappers en andere zangers/zangeressen. Er zit R&B in, wat rap, wat dancehall. Het is ergens wel een aanstekelijke mix van stijlen en het is (te) goed geproduceerd. Wat dat betreft kan ik er wel naar luisteren, maar het beklijft allemaal voor geen meter. Heel vergeetbaar dus en dat betekent meestal een 3. Maar ik vind het eigenlijk niet goed genoeg, het is te vergeetbaar, te nep, te overgeproduceerd. Het is meer alsof hij iemand anders nadoet (Pharrel bijv). NERD vond ik op zich best leuk hoor, maar dit voelt totaal zielloos. En dan mag hij nog blij zijn dat hij 2 sterren van me krijgt.

*shrug*

Annoying music.

3/10

This could have stayed in 2002.

This is a good example of the problems of this format of media — a book documenting the “best” of an ever-changing artistic landscape. As soon as 2006, when Justin Timberlake released FutureSex/LoveSound, this list selection became completely invalidated. FutureSex/LoveSound is better in almost every way than Justified, with much more creativity in its musical elements, more pop-power, a wider range of sonic influences, and staying power and influence on music as a whole….but this book was originally written in 2005. It got me thinking that this list is quite outdated. One could argue that music as a whole since 2005 has produce more must-hear albums than the entirety of music before 2005. There’s been an endless multiplication of genres into ever more niche sub-genres that’s accompanied the explosion in musical availability via streaming platforms. Combine that with the many online communities which enabled increased discourse in more precise pieces of the musical culture and unparalleled access to resources to create your own music, and you get ample opportunity for anyone who wants to create music to create music — good music. How can a book, a static ranking, possibly provide a lasting slice of the culture? As long as the culture is changing, and as long as the boundaries of what’s possible are being pushed, it can’t. So while I’ll continue to do the list, I’ll do it out of a desire to discover the past, and not out of a craving to find the best, since, as we see in the selection of this album, this book and all future books like this, will never have the best.

Cry me a river and Rock your body are the only two songs I remembered from this album. It turns out that those are the only two worth remembering.

Mewling approximation of singing with little regard for instrumentation, pandering to lowest common denominator themes of sex and dance without achieving sexy or successfully making your body move. This exists to market a washed up boyband member and has nothing to say.

not really my style of music, but there are some songs you can enjoy, but overall not that strong of an album. Bonus point bcs it covers a lot of different genres, and contains both upbeat and also ballad like songs.

When did albums start being an hour long? We can travel back the filler and sound over substance back to that moment. Before the CD age bands had to really want to make a double album. At this point there was nobody saying ‘stop’ and throwing out the 5 pointless mood pieces. This might have been a solid single album. Instead it rambles on with songs that lack any form. Though maybe I’m right and modern r’n’b is the worst music form ever created. It steals the name of one of the bedrocks of great music too. Doubly criminal.

Nawp

Fairly bland white boy soul. Robbie Williams is miles better than Justin, I'm afraid.

Ok

The falsetto on the first song to mimic a female voice is pretty cringe. Really, the who Michael Jackson from Wish affectation is pretty off-putting. The music is great but can't overcome the frontman. Cry me a River is a classic though.

I'll give it 2 stars for purely the nostalgia of going back to this one, and Cry me a River, but otherwise very generic sounding nokia ringtone R&B.

Two hit songs, that’s it.

Holy bloat

The "humorous" opening track was utter shite. All the sighs and whispering got really old super fast, I don't enjoy the über falsetto bits much either. While this album is clearly aimed at teen girls and young women, showing off vocal techniques on record is annoying, not to mention easy to finetune and can easily sounds very tacked-on. I love r'n'b and soul, just not the bastardized versions. Justin is a very technical singer, which he has been able to demonstrate later in a much more tastefull manner. I just wish this album had more good music, it feels like most of this album is fad chasing, committee designed, hit song emulating pop music running after the trends of last 2 years and trying to figure out what the future would bring. Majority of the tracks the Neptunes produced for Justified were originally intended for Michael Jackson, but after he turned them down the tracks were Justinized. All in all, it's trying to portray big r'n'b and soul vibes, slap on some modern hip hop and dance fads, only hitting the spot on few tracks for me.

HAHAHAHA!!!! This is hilarious! This album is definitely not something you need to hear before you die

Yuck Favorite songs: Rock Your Body, Like I Love You, Cry Me a River Least favorite songs: Take It From Here, Nothin' Else, Still on My Brain 2/5

A few undeniable bangers, a lot of awful lyrics and a great album title. Sadly it really falls off after the back to back of cry me a river>rock my body so it can’t be higher than a 2.5 imo

In case you have any questions about how bad this is, I've provided a lyric sample: You're out of this world Except you're not green I rest my case. 2/5

There are a handful of great songs on here (Rock Ya Body is a great Disco-MJ song) but only Cry Me A River is genuinely different and interesting. The rest goes by pleasantly enough but leaves no trace

not really for me

i’ve just had enough of him

I can see why 15 year old girls loved it. But I thought it was generally just a small step above awful. Rounding up to a two because I only felt it necessary to fast forward through two songs.

Did not stand the test of time.

Some good runs, very party-able, but the vocals can get annoying at times.

Justin tæmmelig-lækker, er ren nostalgi for mig. Boogie tiden, og alt det drama som var omkring ham. Musikalsk er det solidt R&B, men hits er hits af en grund. Det virker som et filler album som pakker en EP ind.

4 bangers og resten er ligegyldigt fyld. Klassisk tidlig ‘00 pop. Det bliver aldrig mig.

I get why it was popular at the time but I’m really not into this stuff. The best song was “Rock Your Body”. 2.5/5

I can see why some people could like a couple of the songs but otherwise.

Ok

Futuresucks/dumbsounds Listened to Futuresex afterwards. That’s a 5/5. This was a lukewarm watered down version of a much better album. The Lonely Island trilogy of songs with JT are better than this.

It’s crazy how much better FutureSex/LoveSounds is than this generic, soulless R&B trash is.

I can understand the appeal of this album as being a leap forward from the boy band sound, but I'm really not a fan of it. There's some energy here, for sure, but this is not something I would listen to again.

Didn’t hate this. A couple of songs I’d even say are good. But I agree with many that many of the tracks sound like a poser trying to emulate their favourite artists rather than forging their own path. 2.5/5

2.5/5

In the song "Take It From Here" there is a lyric that goes "I wanna be your mother" followed up by a derisive, joking, "...Wait." And I think that pretty much sums up the album for me. The lyricists, (I am going to assume timberlake did not work alone) in an attempt to portray this album as some modern r&b masterpiece by a young singer, makes a callback to Prince's "I Wanna Be Your Lover" and does away with it immediately by mocking the lyric it quotes... Effectively calling the level of intimacy and emotional connection that the original lyric alludes to, weird, ridiculous, not fitting in with the image of the sexually virile young man of 2002. There is not one ounce of originality or sincerity present in this entire album.

Early 2000s pop. 2 is being nice.

I don’t even know where to begin with this. First off, this thing is way too long for an album this bad, so, strike one right there. Strike two is the shitty lyrics that read as if they were written by a virgin acting like they’re a sex aficionado. His vocals become annoying very quickly. The backing track is flat and monotonous throughout the whole album. There are thoughts I’m leaving out, but that’s the gist of it, though. Fuck this shit. 2/5

Pretty boring tbh. Standouts were Cry Me a River and Rock Your Body, but literally every other track was a snoozefest for me. Nothing against his voice just meh

Blah, this was not only not great but also way too long!

Not for me. Don’t view this one as a top 1,000 album.

Tråkigt kommersiell pop utan tuggmotstånd. Fint spelat och sjunger. Gäsp! Tvåa

Dick in a box is straight fire, son

Production note: the shortest song here is 4:27—a choice! -1 for Freed Britney

Eh. Not a big fan of his in general but I think 20/20 is better.

Ugh. There are some decent pop songs on here, but I am not sure why wannabe Michael Jackson made it onto this list. I dug a few of these songs after this album came out, but I’d hardly rank this as anything worth putting on a 1001 albums you need to listen to.

I like this guy! In particular, his Wardrobe Malfunction, and his Dick in a Box! This album is just for dreamy little girls. That’s where the money is. Not for me.

Bah, whatever.

Precision-engineered to make white people dance. Super production and a dollop of charisma almost save it.

Ouin... Justin... Je ne suis pas certain de celui-là... Est-ce que je vais être capable de me rendre jusqu’au bout ? C’est pour la science... ! Ou l’avancée de l’humanité... ? C’est tellement pas pour moi, mais je ne peux m’empêcher d’apprécier le son et les ambiances. Le petit Justin s’est bien entouré pour son album : les producteurs The Neptunes (Pharrell Williams et co. : la gang the N.E.R.D.) et Timbaland (plein d’affaires pop, dont trois chansons de Bjork (!?) sur son album Volta), du monde qui savent faire des chansons pop, donc. Mais, de la pop, c’est souvent pas assez stimulant pour moi. J’approche de la fin !!!! C’est genre... pas mauvais... ? Mais... pas trop trop bon, en même temps... !? Ouf !! Feni ! Enfin !

Very boring, mostly filler and too long. The singles are decent enough but even then I think it's the Neptunes production for the most part carrying them

He’s a strange one in general. At one point he was the biggest star in music, then he was one of the biggest film draws but he’s left so little footprint. Album was ok but not one to revisit.

Rather generic Pop album...at least some songs were acceptable.

Man känner igen flera låtar men det är ju så tråkigt. Ser hellre färg torka än lyssna på det här.

Eh I didn't like it when it came out and I dislike it more knowing the Britney side. But this was everywhere!

This was not my bag then, nor is it now. I do get how a couple of the tracks exploded on the pop/club scene. “Rock your Body” and “Like I Love You” have some beats, hooks, and structure. The rest of it was pretty painful to get through. The full album is average at best for the genre, IMO. Not really Justified to make this list, except for the fact that he and his music was everywhere in the decade of the 2000’s and a little beyond. 2.5/5

This is not a good album. Doesn’t really hold up 20+ years later. At some points I honestly thought I was listening to Flight of The Conchords doing a parody. And then I realized, no…this really was intended to be a serious album. Oof. Justifiably forgettable.

Really bad. This particular era for this genre needs to be whited out from music history.

I don't know if his music has gotten more sophisticated or what, but this album was pretty cheesy and dated and I was happy when it was over. Another baffling choice for this list.

I am sure I actively avoided this music when it came out. It's hard to deny JT is a talented guy and from seeing him doing other things, like Saturday Night Live, he doesn't seem to take himself too seriously. So credit to him for that. This album was not a slog to get through, but I don't like this type of music.

Lemppari: Nothin’ else Vähiten lempparit: señorita, never again

Not sure why this is on the list.

Some OK tunes. A LOT of crap.

Just in (see what I did there!) case you didn't know who it is, his name is in the lyrics of the first three tracks (the third Mr JT). Never been my cup of tea. 2002 was the time I was getting sober, I don't think I took much notice of anything else around that time, so Mr JT passed me by, sounds like a good thing. He did a ft thing on HoLy GrAiL with Jay-Z which I thought was ok at the time, but that is really dated. In fact, I think Mr JT is dated and he hasn't really stood the test of time.

Well we know the answer to what Michael Jackson would have sounded like had he been white (oh wait) and in a boy band from the nineties. And a whole hour of this stuff. It's just very very formulaic.

This is going to ruin the tour

The production is well done, but I found the album boring as a whole. I am probably biased since I don't like him as a person, but did not enjoy this. Was also disappointed right away when I realized Senorita was not the song with Camilla Cabello. Favorite song was Rock Your Body. 3/10

Ugh, it's over an hour... OK, has a few jams, plus Timbaland & the Neptune's production saves a good bit of this.

Man, early 2000s pop albums really didn’t know how to stop at 40 minutes, did they? The album is frontloaded with singles, but the last 7 songs feel interchangeable, once you get past "Rock Your Body," the album starts to blur into a polished but samey stream of filler. The Neptunes (Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo) and Timbaland sure know how to write a catchy pop tune, but the production sheen can’t save the weaker tracks, and the emotional range just isn’t there to sustain a full album listen.

Noen bangers, ellers så er det meste bare tamt og klissete.

Canned.

I think he was trying to mimic Stevie Wonder, but the whole thing came across like a lot of pop at this time. Too over produced, too shiny, with the depth of a kiddie pool.

Can't...stand...listening..to..this.

One particularly awful song was playing on this one and I thought to myself "fuck, I'm never listening to this album again". Funny enough, that song was called Never Again

Janet Jackson deserved better

There are a few tracks here I dig fine enough, and I think the production is solid overall, but I just don't love the style as a whole. 2/5

wish I could give this more stars but JT's bravado is more exhausting & cringey in hindsight than endearing

As a fan of his FutureSex/LoveSounds album, I was curious about this one. Unfortunately, on his solo debut it sounds like he is doing a shit-ass Michael Jackson impression the whole time. Having said that, despite some douche baggy lyrics I can’t deny a few of these songs are catchy. “Cry Me A River” and “Rock Your Body” get my hearty endorsement.

This here seems like a fella pretty convinced of his own sex appeal. Sadly I don’t buy it. Some painfully cheesy lines in every song, buoyed by quality Neptunes production (even though some of it is very dated). Cry Me a River sounds cool as hell if you ignore the lyrics. JT’s got a good voice but zero soul. I don’t care if you can hit the notes, do you feel anything about it? I didn’t hate anything but even high school me thought this was cheesy.

sexmaster, Justinin ajat popin "kultapoikana" alkavat virallisesti olla ohi. Viime kesäkuussa Justin hyväksyi syyteneuvottelun rattijuopumustapauksessaa. Justin yritti vakuuttaa häntä pidättävää poliisia, joka ei tunnistanut häntä, siitä, että pidätys tuhoaisi koko maailmankiertueen. Nolo hetki tallentui poliisin kameralle. miten kehtaa pidättää mun sexboy justin.. en tiiä en wibaillut butmsitakbum 2002 020200202 wooo,w we will never ducikng get old.. never get old guyz.. now drink beeeeeeeer ... beeeeeeer.. what you got

Favorite Track: Rock Your Body

Meh. I find his style annoying and voice grating,

I dunno, listening to this didn’t feel very justified to me.

Don't outright hate it. But not sure why it is on this list. Did absolutely nothing for me

Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Michael Jackson all did it first and better. Its not unlistenable but not really list worthy

This cliched cheese isn't something I would ever choose to listen to, yet I knew four of the songs already as they were hammered on the radio back then. I remember writing this off as a Michael Jackson rip off, but listening now I can hear Pharrell all over it. I have to admit that the production on this is excellent. Normally I keep my reviews based purely on the music, but in this case I'm deducting a star for Justin throwing Janet Jackson under a bus. She is such a nice person and deserved a career more than this douche.

No iba a escucharlo directamente, pero le he dado una oportunidad. No está mal, aunque no es mi tipo de música. Hay momentos en que me ha recordado a Jamiroquai y eso ha sido lo más interesante.

Please stop adding the latest fad to the list

I feel like if I sang these songs to a girl now I'd get punched

Starts out funky and strong, and the singles are singles for a reason, but like most pop/R 'n' B releases from the period, this is way too long. The contemporary MJ/Stevie Wonder imitations only work for a limited duration.

Timbaland’s production is great, Timberlake’s vocals are smooth as silk and the songwriting on songs like “Cry Me A River” is as good as pop gets. There’s way too few of songs like that to make the runtime make sense - I’m essentially lacking the higher level of creativity present on some of his later albums. It’s not really that bad, it being here is just not justified.

Two bangers and a bunch of absolute shit.

Here we go—early 2000s pop in full force. Justified feels more like a time capsule than a must-hear album. I’m honestly baffled as to why this made it onto any "albums to hear before you die" list unless it’s just to appreciate how far we've come. I’ll give it some credit: “Nothin’ Else” has a nice little 60s soul vibe that actually worked. But then you’ve got “Never Again,” which lives up to its name—because I genuinely hope I never have to hear it again. Ever.

This type of R&B/pop is not my thing at all. The voice talent is there but nothing here grabbed me, I found it to be kind of flat and boring.

The album has some occasional good elements. None of them had anything to do with Justin though.

Could not get into it

I can't believe I use to love this. Pretty generic pop listening again, but some solid songs

The Timbaland bits here stand out. The rest is a bit sappy. Modern R&B < original R&B.

..

Some good singles mixed into an overly long album that doesn't deserve to be on the list. The 20/20 Experience does but not this. Meh. "You're out of this world but you're not green" is one of the WORST lyrics I've ever heard jfc

Kanske min mest cancellable åsikt men Justin Timberlakes låtar gör ingenting för mig öht.

It's better than expected, but still not great. Outstanding production doesn't make a great album, and beyond this taking home the prize of "producer and singer most trying to be the next Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson" I'm not entirely sure what to make of this. But yes, all questionable nastiness from Timberlake towards Spears aside, Cry Me A River is a great pop song.

Boys in boy bands need to grow up. When they’re ready to do that, they venture on to a solo career, and when it’s time for their reintroduction, the public needs to make sure they are ✨grown men✨ ready to do exactly what you think they want to do, and every young girl between the ages of 11 and 19 needs to know, too. It is this manufactured maturity of the pop boy who is too sheltered to ever actually grow up that turns off the 30-something year old men who used to dominate music criticism. I have always been a staunch poptimist, though, and that has led me to defend 99% of these boys. From Justin Bieber to Nick Jonas to Harry Styles, I have defended men, despite the fact that I pretty much never listen to male pop stars, and have always been more drawn to girl groups my whole life. I will not be defending Justin Timberlake today. I will, however, defend the attempt. I’ll defend The Neptunes, I’ll defend Timberland. The production on here– sure, it’s of its time, but it’s good and interesting and classic. I’ll defend the guest spots, because as strange as it may be to hear The Clipse on a JT track or be forced to remember who Bubba Sparxxx was, they work. I’ll especially defend Janet Jackson, not only for her contributions on Justified, but for everything that happened to her for simply being associated with Justin Timberlake at any point in time. And while I obviously won’t defend Justin the man, I’ll defend his talents, which were enough to make this work in theory. Most of all, I’ll defend the A&R, because on paper, Justified works. It has just enough edge with just enough of the zeitgeist’s flavor du jour plus just enough star power to make it click. And look, at the time, it clicked; you have to remember, most of the solo careers of ‘90s boy band retirees went absolutely nowhere. But JT was everywhere. Now, obviously, this was most obvious with FutureSex/LoveSounds, an album I don’t personally love but one that I think does belong in the book regardless, and it’s clear that the editors made the wrong choice. 
 But they made the wrong choice not only based on impact. They made the wrong choice because most of the music here is not worth your time. Sure, the scaffolding holding JT up is pristine. There is nothing wrong with the songs. I like the beats, the guests, the flow, the vibe. I even like some of the songs! I stand by “Rock Your Body” being a bop just like I did when I was 10, and I stand by some of the ballads, which I think fit JT’s vocals really well. But the problem with 80% of this record is that Justin does not sell it. Yes, there’s the ✨white boi who loves hip hop✨ problem that sinks Justified like a stone, but there’s a bigger problem. I don’t believe Justin Timberlake is the man he says he is. And I mean that literally– I don’t believe that he is a fully grown adult who can do any of the theoretically things he claims he can do to a woman. He definitely can’t make love to them, or even be an adequate fuck, he can’t support them, he can’t care for them, he can make them feel sexy, he can’t be the best you ever had. None of it. He sounds like a baby, both based on the lyrical content and based on the fact that his literal voice sounds like a child is singing. I was concerned that his voice was going to crack the whole time, or worse, drop on wax. Justified is the album of a literal child. The fact that he made this when he was 21 is mind-blowing, because he sounds so young, to a fault. On top of all this, it’s bloated, and while it has good bones, none of those bones stand out. If you want good Neptunes production, just listen to The Clipse. If you want good Timbo, listen to Aaliyah. If you want better Justin, listen to FutureSex/LoveSoundss. Hell, Nelly Furtado’s record with Timberland deserves more praise than Justified. The tour should’ve been ruined decades ago. Really not worth the time.

I don't think we understood Justin's full potential as an artist until the world saw the Trolls movie (2016). The film showcases the talents of a wonderful cast, and is filled with bright colors and a few fart jokes. Those are my favorite aspects of film.

Was fun. I didn’t remember so much of this album being filler though. Couple great songs but otherwise just fine.

Its pretty awful

Tää oli musta tosi tylsä. Ja vähän limainen noiden viettely-yritystensä kanssa… eli en tykännyt sanoituksista. Cry me a river on toki tosi hyvä.

Hänen estetiikkansa/tyylinsä/konseptinsa ei puhuttele lainkaan. Ainoa ongelma on se, että jotkut näistä biiseistä yksinkertaisesti porautuvat päähän. Ihan ok biittejä myös.

Every song sounds the same. The same generic lyrics where Justin talks about seducing whatever girl he sees. Boring. I’ll give it one extra star for it’s decent production.

…Does all pop music age poorly? The only songs I enjoyed were the ones I have nostalgia for.

A couple of decent hits from the time but overall a load of wank from an absolute cunt of a man.

I've never really cared for Justin Timberlake, and that's not going to change today.

Early 2000s club music. Not my jam.

(written like an angry Facebook post) Album title very misleading! We let this guy get away with too much, and the passage of time lets me say that with certainty. I think the biggest gripe I have with this album is that some fantastic Pharrell and Timbaland production is wasted on some just ok JT falsetto singing. My second biggest gripe with this album is that I’m not sure how seriously JT wants us to take him. Making a song like “Cry Me A River” and then proceeding to cry himself a river on the closing “Never Again”, all the while peppering the track list with various “hey girl I like your body” type of tracks. Mixed messaging, which I suppose I could look past if I was a JT stan…but I am not. And I think that’s where the barrier of entry lies with this Justified - if you are invested in the man then this is an album do substance for you. Otherwise, all this album is good for is a poorly-aged single about a Britney Spears breakup. And some solid pop production. Both Timbaland and Pharrell are so good at making sounds that sparkle and add flavor to a track. I have lots of good to say about the production, not much to say about the man behind the microphone. Sadly, “Cry Me a River” is my only worthwhile highlight, the album takes a noticeable nosedive from “Right For Me” and beyond. More mature than his boyband days? Sure, but not by much.

More inoffensive hair salon mousketeer Muzak. I prefer Dick in a Box.

Sometimes you get a debut album and marvel at how the act was able to hit the bullseye right out of the gate. Boston. Coldplay. Cyndi Lauper. Not Timberlake.

What it's the turn of the 21st Century and you want to hit the club? I have just the thing for you. What, you also want a few tracks to get a little...wink wink? This baby has all that too? What you want it to come in at a nice 45 minutes or so? No can do. It stretches a little too long at the end. By then you'll be too tired for the club, and the...uh...wink wink? You'll be done with that as well. But this album will keep going. It's fine though for that time and for what it is. A good departure from the clean cut boy band sound.

Kæft der er nogen bangers på den her, men kæft der er også meget filler. Neptunes og Timbaland er at their prime her, produktionen holder virkelig godt på de numre der ikke er pissekedelige.

Strong start.. Quickly faded into shitty ballads..

This album embodies everything that is wrong with Pop music in this millenium. 2/5

Très surévalué selon moi. Quelques bonnes chansons ici et là, mais l'album aurait pu facilement être coupé de moitié. La production est généralement très bonne, mais la voix de Justin est trop souvent caricaturale et les paroles sont souvent vraiment gênantes. Un exemple d'un album qui a mal vieilli, mais je me demande si au départ il n'y avait pas un gros biais des critiques. 4/10

Känner mig lite smutsig efter att ha haft Justins suggestiva viskningar i mitt öra under en dryg timme. De gör det inte riktigt för mig. Hela albumet präglat av den jobbiga, kåta stämningen. Väldigt corny och rätt ofräscht tbh ("Bet I'll have you NEKKID by the end of this song"). De flesta album brukar jag ge minst två lyssningar, men här känner jag inget sug att återvända efter första. Det är också, som Gessle skulle sagt, för långa låååtarrrrr! 13 låtar alla över 4 minuter, albumet hade tjänat på lite variation på den fronten. Trist när saker är som man förväntar sig. Jag hade älskat att bli överraskad och golvad av Timberlake, men så blev det inte. Dunderhiten Cry Me a River är ändå bra, det måste jag säga. Det är också kul att tänka att han sjunger om en fiktiv flod på Krimhalvön. Bästa låt: Cry Me a River.

This was just not my thing. There was a cohesive vibe throughout the album. I didn’t love the vocals. Found them a little whiny. Cry me a River was my favorite song

And just like that, I’m transported to the back of a jeepney at some disgusting hour

Ugh.... mediocre

If I would have not known that it was justin timberlake I might have more lenient. Good production, but it’s just poppy r&b

Everything after rock your body is album filler. Would be a three but runs too long.

It seems that with pop music from the 2000s the idea was to shun distinctiveness. The songs here are ordinary ... the same plain pop stuff that I've heard hundreds of times from other acts. Nothing sticks out.

I’ll admit this album wasn’t as bad as I expected. Pharrell Williams’ contributions definitely stand out and probably elevate the overall sound. However, I don’t think this album deserves a spot on a list of must-hear albums. It even makes me wonder what other albums got left off to include this one. And honestly, it felt a little too long for my liking.

One of my least favorite genres of music. But JT is cool, and the album and the sound is iconic. I can appreciate that. But its still middle school music to me = awkward prom vibes. I also might look like JT on this cover if I had more hair.

it was better than i expected/remember

uninspired and uninspiring

Heard it enough then. Pass

It‘s really cool but also I don‘t dig all that Kindergarten dis-game that‘s so prominentes spread across hiphop in general

I am not sure if I actually finished the album, but I don't think I'm a massive JT fan, sorry justin

I scoffed when I saw this album come up, but then I remembered the 4 pretty large bangers on it and was willing to give it a fair crack. Señorita remains a guilty pleasure of mine, and the production on Cry Me a River is cooler than I realised back in the day, but unfortunately nothing after track 6 is memorable - and some of it is downright poor. Also, I'm pretty sure some of the lyrics felt a bit creepy at the time, but they definitely do now.

Ei mun kuppi teetä

Justin Timberlake me fait penser à un enfant déguisé en homme avec une fausse moustache. Il veut nous convaincre qu’il est suave et funky, mais je n’y adhère pas. Les rythmes sont vraiment contagieux et réussis par contre

Most songs don't go anywhere and overstay their welcome in all the time consuming trite 2000's cliche ways. Feels like squandered potential in these early stages. His next two albums are much better.

I put this off for a long time because I suspected the back half was going to be full of mushy love songs and I was not wrong. Working with the Neptunes really brings the album the personality it has, but I'm happy I never have to hear Never Again again. 2.5

lol

Listening to this now, knowing what we know about his and Britney's relationship, makes segments of this almost sickeningly narcissistic. There's still a couple bops - hard not to with the Neptunes and Timbaland so heavily involved. Also, Bubba Sparxxx is here.

Some bangers but diluted in the length.

2.5 but rounding it down

This was really quite bland and too long.

Lowkey enjoyed this, still an awful early 2000’s pop album

Crap

66% Best: Rock Your Body Must-Hear? No

There are a few bangers here, “(oh no) what you got” and definitely “cry me a river” - but the album is polluted with D+. Soul and RnB. The times he sounds Stevie wonder-esque are the worst. He even tries his hand at a Missy Elliott cadence. I won’t be sad to hear “cry me a river” in my bi-annual cadence, but I won’t be coming back to this album.

What were they smoking to put this on the list. Some absolute bangers but a lot of waffle

A loooot of total crap, he's lucky Cry me a river and Rock your body are on this

I’m so glad Timberland got a weird problematic white dude to write dumb love songs for 12 year olds. Neato!

Aaah, je m’ennuyais de la musique de centre d’achat

Oh no. Is it, pun intended, Justified that this one is on the list? I don't think so. This is pure torture and was one of the hardest to go through with so far. Oof. 2/5 only because of Cry me a River and Rock your Body which are great pop songs imho.

2002 was a big year for music. I was 11, but as I relisten to this album with adult ears, I think the biggest impact of this album is how unavoidable it was at the time. And even now, the milquetoast singles are permanent CVS fodder. it doesn't seem offensive enough to merit further griping.

In the immortal words of the Arctic Monkeys, the bands are f**king w*nk and I'm not having a nice time. What a poor run I'm on at the minute, and JT's self-satisfied pop stylings aren't helping. Like so many pop albums, it was clear that most songs here are a total 'this'll do' effort to prop up the handful of committee-produced big shiny hits. Also, every song is waaaaay too long. Come on my beloved Project. Give me something.