Rhythm Nation 1814

New jack swing isn't my thing. Probably great if it's yours, but ... why? Very 80s and sounds like one dead-ass boring 65 minute song ... that incessant drum machine is giving me meegraine, is it over yet... 3/10 2 generous stars.

I can usually get behind albums calling out for societal change, but I'm not really a big fan of this style of pop. The heavy industrialized and (imo) overproduced sound, poppy bass, steel-like snare drum sounds. It just doesn't really sit well with me. And it doesn't help that almost all of the songs sound the same. Escapade is a turning point for me, since it's really the first song to actually vary in sound. The next few songs are also interesting or different in their own ways. But the back half of the album probably keeps me from calling this a bad album, musically. I still don't love the album as a whole, but it ends up being not bad. Favorite Song(s): Escapade

Sounds like people are dancing in wet city alleys. It’s late at night, dancers and musicians strategically placed on fire escapes and loading docks. Everyone is dressed in tattered denim, leather, bandanas, and untied boots. That’s what it sounds like.

Nah. It's not so terrible that it deserves the lowly 1* but sorry JJ 2* is my final offer on this.

Þetta fannst mér alveg glatað. Átti erfitt með að klára plötuna. Overproduced. Ríkt fólk að blaðra um fátækt. Condescending.

Ekki fyrir mig.

Pas horrible mais pas fan de comment ca sonne

overproduced

Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 is the fourth studio album by Janet Jackson, originally released in 1989. This is a pretty interesting release by Janet Jackson. She pretty much abandoned the sound of her previous album and decided to shift to more serious themes, much to the dismay of her record label. Lyrics on here commonly deal with politics and world problems such as violence and poverty. This is all laid over that iconic Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis production which is a weird mix. She's singing about violence and it's backed by an 80s dance beat. This album is also pretty bloated. She kinda discards the concept towards the end of the album and tacks on some slow and meandering ballads. The more upbeat songs were definitely the highlight of this album, and I admire the initiative to go against the label's wishes and bring social issues to light. It's just a bit inconsistent on this record. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

This is the most 80's thing I have ever heard. But not in a good way. My god, was the snare synth a requirement to be at a 9.5 every song?

It’s okay. I’m not really into this genre. I do remember, though, that I really loved her later album The Velvet Rope, so hopefully that album is included in this 1001 book. But this style is just not for me

Z so 2

I really do not like 90s smooth RnB. This is edging way too close to it. I also am not a fan of Janet Jackson for maybe the same reason. The more upbeat 80 s pop songs were ok but the ballads was not my thing. Also way too long runtime.

Are all these songs the same? Probably. 2 stars, purely as I liked the "interludes" theme.

1989 fue un año

Not really my thing unfortunately

Not my pop

Pop stylings usually leave me cold, but the propulsiveness here gets me going--this is Sly caught up to 1989, or prefiguring Suzanne Vega; Rhythm Nation indeed. The Knowledge (and others) is great if I don't listen too carefully to the unimaginative lyrics. You go, girl.

Sorry, Janet - were these actually different songs? I thought I might be won over by some boppy tunes but instead overwhelmed by cloying samey-ness. My teeth hurt from the saccharine.

Meh

It feels like it's holding back on how funky it really wants to be, like someone told them to dial back the funk by 30%. It's not bad, but it never really caught my attention, and it was a bit too long and samey for me to give it any leeway.

The songs are fine, but they all sound basically the same (other than Black Cat which is a bit of an anomaly on this album). And they all seem really earnest in their subject matter.

Going to be honest, I did let my views of Janet Jackson as a person affect this rating.

*Baffling* how grunge, shoegaze, indie etc became so popular when late 80s pop was this over-produced nonsense. Talented, but empty of......... anything

I feel like poorly reviewing 80s music for being cheesy is kind of unfair, but that's not my problem.

Far too overproduced. MJ’s contribution is also annoying.

This isn't the sort of music I like. It's a bit over-produced, and while the sentiment behind the songs, I think it's a bit average.

Just not really something I enjoyed. Nothing wrong just not great

Some very big 80s pop production, some heavy handed social commentary, a couple pop tracks that hang together pretty well. But very much feels like less than the sum of its parts.

Eh Janet is fine but doesn't do a ton for me, feels like posturing

We live in a society ahhh album

Ok! This album is sooo typical Jackson. It was nice in the 80s and beginning of the 90s. And it was a great album back then. But listening to it now isn't really exciting. Of course it is nice dance music as was typical for the Jacksons. But I don't see this as music, which is timeless although quite a lot listen to it even today.

Meh album. There's so much late-80s sound here and it's overwhelming. I'm not a fan. **

nah 48/100

Not really my type of music - after a while all the tracks sounded the same.

Don't really like the new jack swing sound. There are couple of decent songs here but it's too long and the interludes are annoying.

I’ve never heard this entire alb but remember hearing the singles all the time from my youth. Definitely had a late 80s vibe- I don’t mind the new jack sound, it just become background for me after a while. It’s like eating candy-good at the start but leaves you wanting something more substantial. Definitely important in the evolution and scale of pop - for good or bad.

Vrolijke eighties drek opgebouwd uit een combinatie van Madonna en broer Michael, af en toe met super geëngageerde teksten maar steevast met oerlelijke drums. En dat dan een uur lang. Het is niet totaal kut, maar ik ga dit normaal gesproken natuurlijk niet vrijwillig zitten luisteren. Overbodig.

Nej. Jobbigt. Ville bara att det skulle ta slut. Blev minimalt bättre mot slutet (iaf de lugnare låtarna).

definitely a very percussive and groovy album - somewhat of a more sensual and laid back version of the 80s pop sound.

80s pop. Kind of a snore. I didn't outright hate it though.

Disappointing

Respect it for what it is but not really something I vibed with

I have more of fond memories for the album than fondness for the album. Music really sounded the same throughout and was really one note

So not interested.

Boring, nothing special. Prefer Michael.

Sounds way too much like Michael

Well produced. Some catchy tunes. Every song feels too long and I couldnt get through it.

Didn't care for this. I was surprised I didn't recognize any songs. I did laugh that this album thought it needed interludes between the songs. INTERLUDE: NO ACID

Rhythm Nation 1814 is big on social commentary but bad on music. So. Much. Snare. Just a load of generic sounds from an artist capable of so much better, just feels like she wanted a vehicle to be able to speak on things and didn't care as much about the music. 2.

This is not a good album, really. There's not one song on it that's really good, plenty that are quite bad, and the less said about the interludes the better. Very focused on the social commentary piece, which doesn't really land (which is fair 35 years later...), but the music is not good. 2/5.

Thoughts before listening: Janet Jackson and especially this album have taken on a new level of respect that I feel was never really the case when it was released...or maybe he just lived in her brother's shadow. I remember this album being popular, but I don't feel like it was ever mentioned with the levels of critical acclaim it has garnered in recent years. All I know of the album is that "Black Cat" is a banger. Review: Okay, I recognize a few more songs than "Black Cat", but thats by far the best song on the album. Maybe it was just the sound of r&b at the time, but I don't like the production on these songs. They sound so fake and cheesy. This is what a lot of Michael Jackson's songs sound like, but I feel he had better songs. Or at least more songs that I have a nostalgic connection to. I found myself pretty bored with this album....until "Black Cat" came on and I cranked it up. 2-stars.

There’s a few good songs on here but most of it is rather bland and the album is further marred by all the interludes

Rhythm Nation Miss You Much. Too political with her messaging. Sounds just like MJ.

Not my favorite. I don’t think I’m a big fan of the slow R&B. I did really like the song black cat though.

Interlude: Pledge n/a Rhythm Nation 2.3 Interlude: T.V. n/a State of the World 2.4 Interlude: Race n/a The Knowledge 2 Interlude: Let's Dance n/a Miss You Much 1.8 Interlude: Come Back n/a Love Will Never Do (Without You) 1.6 Livin' in a World (They Didn't Make) 2 Alright 1.8 Interlude: Hey Baby n/a Escapade 2 Interlude: No Acid n/a Black Cat 2.4 Lonely 2.2 Come Back to Me 1.7 Someday Is Tonight 1.6 Interlude: Livin'…In Complete Darkness n/a Score: 1.983333333

The vocals just seem so strange sometimes

Mom, I really want that Prince album! We have a Prince album at home. The Prince album at home:

I get it, but was never a fan. Tried again, feel the same way now as I did back then

Sure it was big for its time, lyrical content obviously good and still rings true today, but musically pretty generic 80s pop noises

If you like discos, it's great. Otherwise it's hopelessly overproduced music by marketing men. I can't really tell one track from another. The beats are brilliant, but that's all they really are: beats. No discernable tunes. Very much of the 1980s, but if you want real talent in this genre, try Prince's 1999 or Robert Palmer's Addicted to love.

I'll be honest this album on the front half frequently hit the same emotional response for me as the portion of Happy Xmas (War Is Over) where the children are singing "war is over if you want it". Which is to say I both couldn't take it seriously and also it makes me lowkey want to bash my head against something because I hate it so much. I don't mind social commentary in my music at all but there's just something about the delivery here that makes it somehow insincere to me. It probably doesn't help in me taking it seriously that the back half of the album seems to kind of abandon that theme after being so aggressive about it up front. The portions of the album where she wasn't singing about starving people/poor people/etc where fine enough but only a couple songs really grabbed me (Escapade and Black Cat). That all said, the sound of this album really "feels" like a specific time in pop to me so from that perspective maybe still worth a listen. Just not my personal cup of tea.

this album is far too long and overproduced. some gems for sure, but i wish she would’ve picked going full social commentary or full pop. the back and forth is unfulfilling.

Tiene un pasaje muy bueno, pero en su generalidad es un pop ochentoso medio de minita.

I genuinely tried, but it was too overproduced to enjoy

Bring back Micheal

Like a fourth-graders current events report set to a drum machine. I expected more bops out of this.

Inoffensive but otherwise meh. Owes a lot to Prince and Michael Jackson (no relation). Black Cat is a cool song, others are mostly unoriginal and weakly executed.

I wanted and expected to like this a bit more than I eventually did. It's fine, but didn't get me wanting to dance in the way I had hoped. Definitely dated in sound and style too.

Ok album, not anything I’d say someone NEEDS to hear.

Alright 80s pop album,but certainly nothing special. and the 47 interludes detract.

I learned a new genre today: new jack swing. I also learned that this genre sounds incredibly dated to me. Honestly, I'm a little stunned at how good of critical reviews this has (and incredibly strong commercial performance). This thing has a bunch of top hits from the time and I honestly thought it was incredibly mediocre. Here's my issues. First, she went with the "social commentary" route on quite a few songs here, and seems to have gotten a lot of acclaim for this. These songs all sound so insincere to me at best though, and incredibly cringy and cheesy at worst ("We've gotta teach our kids to read and write / That's the only way to win this fight for life"). I'm fine with a social commentary album, but this felt half-baked to me. And the "love" songs were more fine to me, but nothing crazy inspiring lyrically. And then the beats. While there are some reasonably catchy moments here and there, on this whole this is dated-sounding at best and grating at worst. I also thought the interludes were a bit distracting and unnecessary. I just really don't get this one. Some music just doesn't age well and I think this is in that category for me. I'm willing to concede that I'm not the target audience for this at all (R&B-pop social issue concept album) and it probably hit different 35 years ago than it does today, but I really didn't like it very much. One positive I'll say is that I actually think Janet Jackson seems really talented. She's an interesting one generally, since it seems like she was massively popular for awhile but has almost completely fallen off the map in modern times. The Super Bowl incident played a role I'm sure, but she has had basically no staying power compared to other major artists from the time. I'm tempted to give this a 3 based on the critical reviews, but I'm sticking with my guns here. This one wasn't for me, but I'm glad I heard it and I'm glad it resonated more with other people. Favorite song: Escapade Other: Miss You Much, Love Will Never Do (Without You), Come Back To Me 4/9/24

I really didn’t care for any of these songs and I found the interludes very annoying and totally unnecessary.

Not for me. Most of the first half of the album all sounded the same. There are a couple of ballads on the second half that helped mix it up a little. Surprised how much she sounded like Michael at times.

Not an album for me.. Forgot I how hate those late 80's synthesizers, this album goes heavy on them. The interludes seemed fake and contrived. Oh and way too long.

Rhythms out of time, thin voice. The album was certainly quite nice when it was released, but nothing for eternity.

There's nothing particularly objectionable here, but it is pretty bland. It's mostly highly produced R&B with some dance elements. Her voice is good, but this genre doesn't appeal to me much so there's not much here for me. I was ready for it to be over halfway in.

I was hoping years of nostalgia would help with this album but no. I don’t like New Jack Swing. At all. I don’t had Janet Jackson at all and I respect the themes of the album but this genre is not for me. It sounds artificial and soulless.

This sound like every other dance/pop album from the late 80s, early 90s. All its nostalgic value has outstayed its welcome around the 40 minute mark and then it’s just annoying.

It feels very indicative of an era. In otherwords, cool but outdated

Prejudice: knock it off Ignorance: knock it off Bigotry: knock it off Illiteracy: knock it off She can sing, I'll give her that, but most of the songs aged so badly. The ones that are not dance songs still sound good

pointless but at least listenable

4/10

Most tracks are ruined by the obnoxious, overbearing drums. Black Cat (easily the best song on the album) is the only up-tempo track that doesn’t suffer from this. The songs are too long without really going anywhere. I like long songs, but not when they are just repeating themselves. The album is too long, as a consequence.

Not for me. Dislike most aspects of this

Rhythm Nation the song is really very good to be honest, and not a song I knew. Seems to have aged really well despite/because of(?) the very period production. Several songs in and it's all polished but the similarity in production is leaving me tired and feeling I'm listening to the same thing over and over. That changed with the syrupy Living in a World... which I hated. Commendable message of course but nope musically. Then that production is back in force! All the same noises. Alright is... alright, as it happens. Escapade always reminded me of Jump for My Love by The Pointer Sisters. Another thought, Janet Jackson ballads and Michael Jackson ballads sound way too similar to eachother. Somewhere between a 2 and 3 for me, see how moody I am in the morning when it's ratin' time. Well I woke up and my cold is worse than yesterday, sorry Janet, those are the breaks.

I had forgotten this album existed…listened, and will forget.

Nothing much to it. Poor beats.

A lot of the 80s sound has come back in fashion but this Casio keyboard basic drum beats hadn’t yet. Probably for good reason as it all sounds way too basic.

Did not enjoy. Low 2.

kinda boring, not my type of music NNN

During State of the world I had a feeling this was gonna be a tough one to get through. Love will never do is a fun song, from there on it gets better. Not really my thing but not bad 2.1*

Vapid and boring

Many of these sound like "Equal Rights" from Popstar. Lyrically, this is rough.

Liked it more than I thought, but also wasn't going to listen to an hour of it

2+

It's a good album but I didn't like ot as much as a lot of my other 3's so it gets a 2. Good voice tho

I did not care at all for this. Too long and all sounded the same.

This was quite dull, just the same sort of thing all the way through, wasn't bad, but it just wasn't anything interesting.

Sounds very dated in a genre I don’t really like anyways so will not be returning to this one. Love the cover art tho Rating: 2.3

This is just not my thing. At over an hour long this was a slog. WAY overproduced. I found myself trying to figure out if there were any actual instruments played on this album. Everything sounded like it was done on a synthesizer or so overprocessed that it didn't sound like the instrument that was supposedly being played. Electronic drums are one of my pet peeves and they made too many of the songs sound the same. There's nothing here that I'd want to revisit.

Very mixed feelings about this one. Sometimes it hits, but most of the time it's very bland. Even annoyingly bland.

I couldn't really get into this, Janet. I'm sorry 2

"I thought it would be great if we could create our own nation" hmmm. That sounds like marketing BS to me but it didn't seem to hurt sales. Rhythm Nation was the best selling album of 1989. It was also released the same year Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing hit theaters, and also the same year that Public Enemy released It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back. PE and Spike Lee, not the most mainstream at that time. But Janet, had released Control three years earlier and was a 'Jackson' was definitely mainstream. A year later, Marlon Wayans launched In Living Colour, an edgy sketch comedy show with a majority black cast on the new FOX network. I think anything with a 'Jackson' name on it during that time would've been a hit regardless of the marketing speak. But I also think her sloppy attempt to tie this album to 'social issues' may have increased its timespan of relevancy, and possibly even staved off some critics growing weary of more Jacksons hogging the limelight. This is a straight 80's album with weird synth-y percussions and dancing. There's no shame in it unless you try and label it something its not.

I used to work with a woman who loved this album and spent literally hours telling me how Janet Jackson was the "greatest living talent", a "visionary", and how this album was the most perfect music ever made. I resisted all attempts from her to lend me a copy of this album and there was not much in the way of internet in the late 80s, so I never listened to Rhythm Nation. It turns out that my attempts to avoid this album were more successful than even I realised. I read that there were seven top 5 singles from this album and I had never heard any of them, even the title track was new to me. Turns out I wasn't missing much.

It's a fun dance album for sure, but 64 minutes of a fun dance album is entirely too much time. A lot of the social commentary, which itself is fairly enlightened, has its impact cut short in this format for me too. Favorite track: Rhythm Nation

Didn't do much for me.

Very industrial sounding beats Overproduced "concept" album about social issues I guess its a Funk/Pop/RnB/HipHop mashup? Every Song feels like it's one minute too long Good intentions, but ultimatly not for me

Not my cup of tea

Pop. Sintético

Lots of powerful lyrics and messages, sound doesn't feel as timeless but I'm sure I would have liked this more if I was a teen when it came out.

Nice vibe, can see a lot of Michael in this, not my sound but I didn't mind it.

Their first or second beat album

Not very good as an album, but some good songs in it. Nice slow eighties pop.

A couple of the songs, like "State of the World" are okay. The production sounds dated, especially when comparing it to Soul II Soul, which came out the following year, though this has the same sound as Madonna's "Like a Prayer" from around that time. Also, some of the "interludes" are annoying. That said I'll bump it up point for her tackling of social issues.

Not for me

It's far too long The production is of its time and not in a good way And whilst she can sing, her voice is also so light that it doesn't leave much of an impact An album I wish I could give 2.5 to but it's more of a 2 than a 3 so down it goes

Dated and every song sounds kinda just sounds like “nasty boys” but about poverty.

This is gonna be a big no for me dawg. On the nose lyrics about the worlds problems over outdated 80s pop production is a recipe for disaster. I don’t care. Janet’s voice is…fine, but buried so far back in the mix that it just gets lost in the random percussion slams.

This took me back to the days of riding along with my mom without control over what played on the radio; which is to say, I didn’t like it.

meh, not the worst but def crappy

Uninterested and wasn't looking forward to listening after scanning over the song list and painful running length of the album. Over produced, generically 80's, but not as commercially mainstream as I expected, so it was listenable. Jackson is no doubt a gifted performer and I prefer her music over her brother, well, all her brothers (which isn't saying much) and she has a fine voice. The concept and the songs are lost on me, but it's not surprising because this a genre and styling I usually avoid, not my taste in music. There are plenty of people that probably love this record and love Janet, but I'm not one of them.

Don't hate it, just feel it has no personality of it's own at all. 2

Meh dated 80’s pop music trying to be edgy, not for me.

Musically, I did not think was very good. Everything here sounds pretty dated. However, the album clearly is not just about the music.

She has a good voice, and you can tell effort was put in this album. But the sound of the samples and that 80s kind of style (?) sounds atrocious

Beetje futuristisch haast, je raakt afgeleid van alle gekke geluiden erdoorheen. Was voor die tijd vast vrij baanbrekend. Ik vind het moeilijk dat álle nummers politieke issues aankaarten terwijl de muziek er eigenlijk juist van afleid. Beetje funky voor zulke donkere themas. Muzikaal wel goed en ze heeft natuurlijk wel een goeie stem dus muzikaal wel goed.

Brother's a nonce

Pues no me ha gustado mucho...

There is so much talent in the Jackson family. However having talent doesn’t mean you’ll make a great album. Janet seems to have followed the pop structure of Michael but without any of the excitement that makes his music so enjoyable. This wasn’t really a chore to get through as it’s upbeat and poppy but none of the songs had me feeling intrigued. It felt like a spin-off of a Michael Jackson album that flopped. Nothing to revisit here. 5.0/10

Interminable

Meh. Pretty much the same song stretched on a whole hour.

I always had difficulty to enjoy overproduced pop of the late 80s, especially when it's so samey for a complete hour. Rhythm Nation and Black Cat are great songs, tho.

When people around my age talk about how much they love 80s music, I’m convinced they are only thinking of like the nine 80s hits everybody’s heard, including the stuff by Janet’s brother. They have not listened to this in full. Was it bad? No, not by my definition. Were the drums cool sometimes? Sure. But it all just keeps going and going and going for an hour, and every song has even cornier synths and even bigger echoier drums than the last song, and over it all Janet squeaks like a ten year old doing her best Whitney Houston impression. Goodbye 1980s. Please don’t come back. Best song: State of the World

Long, repetitive, and bland - Jackson’s vocals are impressive, but the contortions she puts them through render the point moot. The usual 80s obstacle course arrangement style means the LP feels like a spastic mess that can’t pick a lane as each track bounces off the walls rhythmically. Just another listen that faded into the background rather than grabbing my attention.

Solid and made statements

day 18. I don't really understand why I see some people calling this album a concept album. I feel like this album tried to do a lot of different things, but didn't do any of them particularly well, so the flow just feels weird, despite the use of the interludes to attempt to make it feel cohesive. The top half has several songs built around social injustices/political themes, and while I wanted to applaud those songs for taking on big topics I instead felt like they often came across overdone and cheap. Then, intermixed with those songs but moving toward the middle of the album were several upbeat, more typically themed 80's pop songs which became a bit too much for me to listen to all together (and often sounded dated), though there were some catchy ones I enjoyed in this section (faves on the album - Escapade, Black Cat). closing with 3 romantic ballads in a row is a choice.... by that point the album was stretching my patience already and I found these really generic. I don't know how I finished tbh. I clearly just wasn't feeling this one, idk, sorry Janet. 1.5/5 rounded to 2.

I'm sure this is a well-constructed album, but the harsh synth percussions, etc. are so grating to me that I cannot hear anything beyond them. It was a real struggle to get through this.

Just not my flavor. To me, sounds like a cheaper version of her brother’s music.

It's not terrible but it quickly becomes very boring. I just can't give this 3 stars as it's too boring and unoriginal to take seriously.

There's a vibe, an attractive rhythm a overall vision. However thus is the 80s so is has that GODDAMN AWFUL PRODUCTION. AGGGHHHH...Take those drums away now.

Tämän kuuntelu on kivaa. Mitä muuta voi toivoa? No, että musiikki olisi sen tyyppistä, että tekisi aidosti mieli kuunnella uudelleen (lue: vähemmän kasarin lopun kaaosbiittejä ja täyteen ahdettua soundia tukemassa ohutta lauluääntä). Mutta joo, ihan kivaa oli.

Ik werd hier steeds akeliger van. Het was ook zoveel van hetzelfde!

I was expecting so much more from a Janet Jackson album. This was just boring and generic.

Did we generalize all of the late 80s/early 90s female pop music into a single album but remove all the exciting parts? Yes, yes we did with this snoozefest. Nothing worth listening to on this.

I don’t get the hype and love of Janet Jackson. She’s not nearly as talented as her brother. All the interludes in the music are distracting from music in general, and when I listen to a music record I want to listen to music, not random sound bytes.

Meh

The interludes are ridiculous and bad, stopping any flow. There is no rhythm. Rough late 80s pop mess! 2 stars is a gift.

Okay, I guess. An album that's been part of my consciousness since it came out and was all over the radio. This came out in the summer between 6th and 7th grade and through no fault of its own, corresponded with the age kids stopped being kids and started being mean. Some lingering PTSD for sure going on there, but these songs (and many others) associate with that time. Now that I've got that out. This is the kind of music I listened to and "liked" because it's what was accessible. Needless to say, grunge could not have come too soon. 1 - bad 2 - average 3 - good 4 - great 5 - outstanding

I was looking forward to revisiting it, but it wasn't my cup of tea in 89 & it still isn’t.

An album that really feels like it ushers in the sound of 90's pop and R&B music. The issue is that isn't really a good thing. The cheesy synths and the "we need to make the world a better place" lyrics really don't do much for me.

Por lo visto en su momento lo petó, pero yo no le veo la gracia a este disco.

Beat generator machine got stuck on repeat

The 80's always feels like it's dated the worst out of any decade by far. A lot of this just doesn't work for me at all because it feels like it's from a different world. The music itself just feels so soulless. Maybe if I were wearing some mad, garish shellsuit or something then it would help me tap into this energy. I got about halfway through - I'm very certain it wasn't going to change direction. 2/5 because it was inoffensive enough and didn't actively irritate me. What a recommendation!!

She's a good singer and the album is well produced, but it's not really my taste. 2,5/5

I struggle with 80s songs that say “Bad thing bad” in upbeat pop songs (Looking at you, “Do they know it’s Christmas?”). The first half of this album falls under a similar umbrella for me. “Illiteracy, No!” Is quite possibly the worst lyric I’ve ever heard. Maybe that rhetoric is poignant for a certain demographic, but it reads as trite for me. I acknowledge that Janet did not make this album to appeal to my then-unborn white boy sensibilities. The album takes a decent upturn with “miss you much” but disappoints in the later songs. The one piece of praise I’ll give is for the flow of album which is very well sequenced.

It’s like someone took all of Michael’s B-Sides and crammed them onto an album with too many interludes. Feels like the song Rhythm Nation was just played in the background on repeat while they wrote the rest of the album.

Eh.

Over produced, to slick. Not for me

Coincidentally a couple days ago I watched Adam Neely talking about how this song literally broke laptops back in the day, and why. Completely interesting worth a watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y3RGeaxksY Overall I found the contrast between the lyrical content and the cold but bouncy vibe to be, well, weird. I think the songs generally succeed as dance music but are less successful as social commentary. I don't fault the attempt, it just didn't really work for me. Honestly this is what I expect AI generated music to sound like in the future when we have AI generated music. 2.5 stars.

Michael's little sister basically portrayed the world in the '80s, particularly the crimes, wars, drugs, poverty, and the weird pop obsession to synthetic drums. Only the last one is portrayed well.

80s Pop wie er im Buche steht. Klingt für mich teilweise von track zu track sehr ähnlich. Produktionsweise war in den 80ern glaube genau auf diesen Standard ausgerichtet. Siehe Michael.

High production value pop which doesn't sound quite bad but it's supposed to be a concept album and it fails on that level. The style doesn't fit the message and all and the lyrics are just so meh. Basically a rich celebrity just saying "The world is bad, bad things are happening, it's so sad, why is world like this".

Janet dropping those sick beats. Then other not so super stuff. It’s all about the dancing.

All I could think about during the album is the running man and parachute pants. She was saying some stuff of substance for sure. Would like to go 2.5.

Bloated, dated and self important.

This was entirely disappointing. Glimpses of talent towards the end of the very loooong album, but they’re not worth waiting for, and cliché statements made about love, racism and such. She should leave those to her brother.

Buen Pop 80ero, pero el mismo sonido en todo el album

Nothing in this was particularly interesting, but nothing was overly offensive either.

Janet I’m sure you’re lovely, but just leave it to Micheal, i didn’t really enjoy that! 2 stars because she was singing about pressing issues in the states at that time! Bumped her up from a 1

This album actually ended pretty well, but the first half was overly layered and busy with lyrics that were way too on the nose. Trying to be altruistic through cheesy 80's pop doesn't really work in my opinion. This album just felt like it was trying too hard.

Not good, not terrible, but surely more terrible than good.

Very dated, classic 'Orchestral Hit' midi sample littered throughout. Interludes are just plain annoying.

False and artificial-sounding from the first note. Yes, there are some likable (even infectious) grooves (e.g., “Rhythm Nation,” “Alright”) and some sweetness here and there (“Love Will Never Do,” “Livin in a World,” “Someday is Tonight”). But the heavy-handed (to put it mildly) production and canned beats mostly overwhelm the musicality such that there’s a distinct lack of soul that makes this feel utterly disposable and mostly forgettable.

C'est vraiment le genre d'album qui me donne mal à la tête d'écouter avec ce drum machine qui n'arrête pas de tout le long. Plus de 60 minutes de ''tube'', l'album a un concept mais c'est tellement diluer dans la grosse rythmique pop et électronique que c'est trop. Elle s'est chanter, ca c'est certain, mais son concept de nous parler de la misère du monde avec un album qui ressemble sonne comme un arc-en-ciel.... je trouve pas que ca fit et en plus, considérant qu'elle vient d'une famille royale de la pop... on repassera... Apres 10 chansons, j'ai l'impression d'en être encore à la première. Je comprend qu'il y a des hits, si on écoute séparément une chanson de tout l'album c'est bon. Mais un album concept aussi saturé, c'est over produit... Quand même ce n'est pas mauvais... 2.75.

Started fairly strong but really dropped off toward the end. Early tracks were decent dance jams, but the last three or so were slow ballads. I found it hard to get through the whole thing.

Like the message, can't stand the music

Okay. Not amazing.

I wish the lyrics were just as dated as the production, but unfortunately that's not the case. There's still something charming about the sound, I just don't care to hear a whole album of it.

Pop datado

Good for its time

I just wasn't into this at the time and really haven't time for it now. It's just not me although I guess she's trying to make a social commentary which is commendable but the music is so cliched and dated now. It's not that it's THAT bad, it's just a bit naff 30-odd years later.

nah

bra ljud men inte så speciellt intressant???

Some toe tappers, maybe a song or two I might dance to if I was drunk at a wedding or something. Otherwise... not my thing

bad

Fine!

Concept sucks but her heart was in the right place. Janet can sing

Pop comercial.

Por lo visto en su momento lo petó, pero yo no le veo la gracia a este disco.

sister jackson

Very well produced, but still not me.

Didn't dislike it as much as I thought I would, but not for me

Nothing noteworthy, and not for me.

Aside from being too long and too repetitive, this was okay.

Kovasti on samantyyppistä äänimaailmaa kuin veljensä tuotannossa. Liekö harkittua vai tahatonta. Ei tämä kuitenkaan ihan kauhean kovaa itseeni iskenyt. Slovarit toimii hyvin, mutta vähänkään räväkämmät biisit ovat vaan yksinkertaisen tylsiä. Kakkosen ja kolmosen välimaastossa taas kerran keikutaan. Tällä kertaa tuomio menee alaspäin.

80s lively heavy on the choreo

Not for me

I'll tell your mama I'll tell your friends I'll tell anyone I want this shit to end.

I cannot ever see myself listening to this album again. If someone puts it on or has a few songs on their playlist, I wouldn't complain, but this album doesn't really bring anything new to the table in terms of eighties music I like. Some of the songs kind of have the vibe of "I just did acid for the first time" which is definitely tired and done by the eighties. Also listener beware: the gated compression drums are on every track, and that only gets more apparent and tiresome over the 64 minute runtime. Conceptually, I think the album is kinda reaching a dystopia kind of feeling/vibe, but I think it falls short with how dated the instrumentation sounds. Funnily enough, I think "Sex Packets" by The Digital Underground has more to say about societal issues and dystopian themes than "Rhythm Nation 1814" does. Another issue I have is that there are a ton of interludes on the record, but none of them are really long enough to say or add anything to the album experience. Highlights: 2, and 14.

Well produced but for the most part generic sounding pop. Black cat is a stand out though.

Overproduced non sense of the 80's is not missed on this one. The hits are the only ones I enjoyed for nostalgic purposes.

Michael Jackson tava com uma cara diferente

Really not my thing, though I'm not sure I'm in the best headspace for listening to new music today. None of this album was memorable for me, sorry Janet.

never realized how activist this pop album was, got industrial vibes off it too

Meh. Not my bag. Some of it is well written. Some not so much. I'm not much of an R&B fan, especially, slow R&B ('cept Barry). Just doesn't speak to me.

I mean, it is just one song. That goes on too long. And very saccharine ballads on side 2.

Funky

Couldn't hear much of Jackson. Inoffensive

Ei osu meikläisen mukavuusalueelle eli väärän kohderyhmän arvio levystä on vmp.

Kyllä tän kuunteli, mut en näe itteäni kuuntelemassa toista kertaa

Artiste connue de nom. Beaucoup de pop/soul mais absolument pas de Jazz dans cet album. Encore un classement dans des genres très étonnants… L’album est trop long, les morceaux aussi. Et l’accompagnement est répétitif et quelconque. Je ne suis pas allé au bout. =>1/5

Can’t understand the connection between this album and the British Forces entering Washington DC and burning down the White House. Didn’t go well did it? As well has my listening experience of this album. 1/5 20/9/26

These may be the worst instrumentals I have ever heard in my life. They are a pure distillation of everything bad about the "80's sound". I have no way to objectively gauge the quality of the lyrics or vocal performance, because every line is undercut by what sounds like a toddler vomiting on a synthesizer. These could be the most masterfully written songs of all time and I simply would have no way of knowing because my body is actively rejecting this music like a bacterial infection. I can't comment on the political arguments in this album, because there is no political argument strong enough to survive with this soundtrack behind it. If these instrumentals were playing behind Churchill's speech during the battle of Britain, England would have surrendered immediately.

Not a fan. Not a style of music I enjoy, sounds dated, and I didn’t like Janet Jackson back when this was released. I struggled to get through this one.

A record coming out in 1989 that is so aggressively 80s that I'm immediately fatigued by the sound of the production. The sonic palette is jam packed with nearly every element somehow both crisply compressed and pushing into the red. The most memorable tracks have me reaching for the volume to turn it down. I'm sure if I were in a club, and only one single came on, the impact would be very different. I'd get up on the dance floor to join the multicultural rhythm nation. And while I took issue with some of Neneh Cherry's lyrics and naively privileged approach to progressive politics in Raw like Sushi, I can't even with Ms. Jackson. So many interludes hailing me as commercials for concepts the songs seek to reinforce. The mechanisms are entirely unsubtle. I'm to be interpellated by her (always) ideological messages. We are in a race between education and catastrophe, she says, and yet capital does not get name-checked in all her briefings of the listener. On planet Janet, each individual gets remade or transformed into an ideological subject who recognizes themselves as the intended recipient (nay! → consumer) of the music. All of this intended uplift as the corporate machine of the music industry weighs so heavily upon us. I appreciate her act of redirection (I cannot call it resistance) to channel these forces to produce popular music with themes that most any progressively minded person can't argue with and would be happy to let their 8 year old sing along to. Apparently in 2021, the Library of Congress selected the album for preservation in the National Recording Registry, deeming it "culturally, historically, or artistically significant" in its evaluation. It is a statement record. I can't speak to if Rhythm Nation 1814 positively impacted an individual such that their subject-hood was reshaped in ways they were ultimately better off for in their own eyes, but I can say that there's sufficient evidence today to declare her critique to be toothless such that we have to regard these as commercial gestures more than revolutionary ones despite all the regalia she adorns herself with.

Not my thing. 1

The missing link between crappy 80s synth pop and shitty 90s dance pop. Yay ! The corny, syrupy vocals made my ears bleed after two songs ; the epileptic drum machines and loud metallic claps almost gave me PTSD. As a bonus, I got to be lectured about poverty by someone with an estimated net worth of $180 million. I'm still wondering why I put myself through one hour of this nonsense. 1/10

Vapid rich person discovers the television then becomes distracted by their vapidity again, before trying to claim moral superiority immediately after faking an orgasm.

Omg. Hate the social conditioning and the killing kids and the world sucks woke mentality. Basic ah 80s sound, sounds like ever other. She wants to be Michael so bad.

Oh no. First things first whoever is banging those synth drums would you kindly stick them up your hole. The repetitive catterwalling is bad enough without said drums. This is truly and spectacularly awful.

Can't do it. Not made for me. Couldn't make it past the second track.

1. pledge - 0 2. nation - 1 3. tv - 0 4. ztate - 1 5. race - 0 6. knouuledge - 0 7. dance - 0 8. mizz - 1 9.back - 0 10. never - 0 11. living - 1 12. alright - 0 13. baby - 0 14. ezcapade - 1 15. acid - 0 16. cat - 0 17. lonely - 1 18. come - 1 19. tonight - 2 20. darknezz - 0

Parece un album hip hop, no me gustó, casi todo es el mismo ritmo, muy aburrido...

From the off I thought the New Jack Swing style of production was pretty cool... However, by the end of the first track the album lost me and it was in fact pretty damn boring and vapid throughout. A bad album, full of faux humanity, awful lyrical content, terrible production and not my jam at all.

Sounds like a bunch of outtakes from Michael Jackson's Bad album, both in songrwiting and the synths/sounds used. This made me realise that they even recycled many of the sounds a few years later on the Janet/Michael duet Scream.

no pude ni terminar de escucharlo, perdón. es intolerable la mina

Electronic pop noise. Unlistenable and annoying.

I think someone needs to make the snare even louder, more grating, and completely quantised so there's even less groove. It only felt like someone was driving a railroad spike into my skull on the 2 and 4, but maybe they could have amped that up to, I dunno, like an I beam or something?

Koło chuja mi przeleciało

Not my cup of tea

No va

Repetitivo

When the album title has a secret code number in it, the first track is an "Interlude" (on an album that *just started*) that has an "I'm 14 and this is deep" ring to it *and* the first actual song has the phrase "social injustice" right at start, you're gonna be in for a bumpy ride. *checks number of tracks* Oh dear God.

Lošija strana 80s glazbe, koju inače jako volim. Brat joj je puno bolje prošao. 1/5, 1/10

Incredibly heavy on the electronically synthesized drums, made every song sound the same to me. Basically it’s eighties pop, and I hated pop back in the eighties. Granted it’s better than what we have now, but I still don’t like it. Also, skipped all the unnecessary “interludes.” Quotes because if you name the first and last tracks interludes, you don’t know what that word means. Didn’t want to try “intro” and “outro,” maybe?

While listening to this I found myself thinking a lot of the marvellous Imogen Heap album 'Speak for Yourself'. That album is so extremely evocative of the y2k era that 'Headlock' became a Tiktok code to represent its modern revival. And, to my ears, it's the incredibly distinctive production which produces the effect. The style somehow epitomises the era. The same could be said of this Janet Jackson album and the late 1980s. I found myself transported to a time of affordable drum machines and pop artists early efforts to unleash their potential on a mainstream audience. Unfortunately, however, I did not like it there. Maybe I'm a shallow fashion victim and when the late 80s become cool again I'll be extolling this albums virtues. Or maybe the shift will be controlled by subtle macro factors which operate deep in my subconscious and the journey will help me see the light. Or maybe this album just isn't for me. Which ever it is, this time around, 'Rhythm Nation 1814' simply wasn't for me. The production style seriously gives me the ick and I found a lot of the songs rather dull. Maybe we'll need to do this entire project again in around twenty years to find out. Or maybe I'll just stick to Imogen Heap.

Sanctimonious dribble

Meh.

Just really don’t like any of this

Title track is good, but this descends into standard highly polished pop fare pretty quickly. Style over substance.

A pedophile's sister, corporate shill. Janet's lyrics are awfully preachy, telling us all what to do and how to think. This is trash with evil intent.

p630. 1989. 1 star. Proof that Michael was the talented one. Bland, badly dated, inexplicably popular 80s pop with no standout tunes. And her voice isn't that great. Instantly forgettable.

i hacked your account haha ok goodbye best wishes

Blah 1

This really isn’t my thing at all. At 20 tracks and well over an hour long, Rhythm Nation 1814 felt like it was always going to be a slog—and unfortunately, that’s exactly what it turned out to be. My immediate reaction was just how dated it sounds now. It absolutely screams late-80s, and not in a charming or nostalgic way. The production feels stiff and overcooked, and none of the songs landed with me at all. I also realised I don’t really remember any of these tracks, which suggests it completely passed me by at the time—and listening now, I can see why. The constant interludes don’t help either. They feel like unnecessary filler that only pad out an already overlong album, breaking any momentum it might have had. Favourite tracks: I genuinely couldn’t pick one. I found this an awful listen. Least favourite tracks: The interludes — pointless and distracting. Album artwork: Fine, but fairly standard and nothing special. Overall, this was a tough one to get through and not an album I’ll be revisiting.

Bland. Didn't she have a famous brother?

DNF. I can't handle this overly produced pop music on a first day back of work after the holidays. Felt so out of place and out of touch.

Inspelat i Minneapolis och med tydlig Prince-vibbar. Dock av betydligt lägre kvalité. Uppblandat med tråkiga beats känns det oerhört daterat. Popsoundet i skarven 80-, 90-tal låter sällan fantastiskt. Allt eftersom mindre Prince och mer Paula Abdul. Escapade är förvisso en hit av hög klass, men som sagt en fluga gör inget album.

nah

This album manages to be both extremely overproduced and awfully underinteresting. Also wasn't released in 1814. SCAM

Is there some kind of algorithm that determines I get to hear albums most likely to offend my lug ‘oles? Utter garbage from the first note, full of irritating cliches. Bloody awful dirge

As if they told Michael to make an annoying album

in my opinion in an attempt of trying to be fancy adding too many interludes and the songs are annoying

Not my bag at all

Over produced poor lyrics

Voce insopportabile, canzonette ridicole. Come cazzo fai a fare una canzone di quasi 5 minuti ripetendo sempre i soliti 2 versi e senza che la base cambi minimamente? Neanche Philip Glass approverebbe

No thanks !

It is a dead eyed, soulless album. She cannot sing. There is a thread of dreadful, sanctimonious “earth song” lyrics running through it and it is overproduced and polished to death. An empty product.

Pop comercial, la mejor Interlude:Let's Dance

I am so glad the 80s are over

Беспощадная попса конца 80-х.

Really obnoxious & repetitive 80's music. Sounds like a 3 year old wrote the lyrics.

Do not dig. This is the pop music equivalent of excessive plastic surgery, just fakey and overdone and obvious. The concerns about the world and for the masses feel contrived and not exactly in synch with dance music generally and cheesy synths particularly, not to mention the mass excess of the production. The readymade beats sound dated and make the whole thing feel utterly disposable. The reason such records are this are measured in units is that they sound mass-produced and manufactured as artificially and soullessly as consumer goods. Would’ve been interesting to hear what Janet could have gone in a less false and synthetic production approach, but this is such dreck one confesses to writing her off entirely and never giving any of her other records a chance (and not regretting it either).

Some of the absolute most generic shit I’ve ever heard. First couple songs sound like banging on trash cans.

Escapade is a banger and the rest of the album aint it

Da sam morala slušati samo jednu, bilo koju pjesmu s albuma, imala bih daleko bolje mišljenje. Ovako cijeli album ubija. I koliko glasni bubnjevi mogu biti, šta je ovo. P.S. nakon što sam u 5:20 jutros vidjela da mi je ovo album dana izuzetno sam lako opet zaspala.

A post-Sign O’ the Times rip-off, with surface-level social justice commentary. Feels like a publicity stunt (“Oooo Janet’s edgy now”). Summing my point, real, actual lyrics from The Knowledge: Prejudice (no) Ignorance (no) Bigotry (no) Illiteracy (no)

did not listen

Cannot overstate how lame this album is. I will admit I am not a fan of pop music, but this is the epitome of 80s coworker music, its just bland, it tries to be political but in the most milque toast way possible, just vague "lets rise up" type statements. Also why do so many album have like 20s long "tracks" of random noise? like why add that in?

Prejudice (no!) Ignorance (no!) Bigotry (no!) Illiteracy (no!) Shallow preachy lyrics (no!) 20 song albums (no!) Uninteresting formulaic style (no!) Flashing boob at the superbowl for attention (no!) 2/10

Not my listening choice.

I found this pretty painful to get through, in general I like synth-forward songs but there's definitely a line where it becomes much too much. This album really struggled to overcome what I believe is really weak music.

ich mochte janet jackson nie, und nach diesem album weiss ich wieder wieso: stimme, synthetisches schlagzeug und auch sonst ein wildes durcheinander. nah.

Sicher ein Meilenstein aber mit halt zu sehr Jackson.

Die Rhythmen sind mir zu knallig. Dazwischen ist wenig Musik.

Dogshit

Phew, I find Janet Jackson's pop songs boring and annoying. I tried to listen more closely to some of the tracks on the album. They really got on my nerves. I stopped the whole thing and prefer to listen to good music instead. 1/5

God I already hate this a few songs in. 2/3's in and I still hate pretty much everything about this. I get why people may like it who grew up in that era but I feel bad for them. Way too long and a struggle to finish. Can't wait to smash the 1 star tomorrow morning.

If you can judge someone's character by the lyrics they sing then Janet seems like a decent, empathetic person with noble aims, but I just get so little out of the music. The production and songwriting on both the upbeat tunes and the ballads leaves me cold. I was genuinely baffled to learn so many tracks on this album were hit singles. 1.5

80s money jackson pop(

Was für ein langweiliges Album.

Overproduced pop crap.

Verklebt die Ohren. Schlimm. Dann doch lieber die 47ste 90er Alternative Rock Band. Soundgarden fehlt noch...

Admittedly, I went into this not expecting to like it, which can be self-fulfilling. It can also yield surprises, and in this case, it did. I REALLY didn't like it. A 1-star rating is a statement, of sorts, and I was inclined to go with a 2 to indicate displeasure but not just seem like I was dismissing Ms. Jackson outright. But then I analyzed what I was reacting to, and it brought me to this place. First, whoever thought trying to pen songs about social awareness and homelessness and hunger and addiction but, by God, we'd better make it danceable, was misguided. Second, the production is awful. Is there an organic, acoustic sound on this thing (other than Jackson's vocals)? Trying to craft an album that's built on beats — "rhythm" is in the freaking title — requires a much defter hand. These rhythms are ham-hocked hammer-and-anvil drum machine blasts of fury. Everything is maxed out, there's no nuance. Third, Janet is just OK as a vocalist. I'm not trying to be mean, but her voice is often thin and overwhelmed by everything going on here. "Black Cat" was a temporary moment of cool, and that's really just me reacting to a bad-ass guitar riff. The drum madness continues. It's not enough to raise this from the mire it already created. So when the lyrics, the production, the arrangement, the talent, the performances, and the whole freaking premise is a miss... yeah. One star.

Nope

Pure crap

Will only be remembered for slipping a titty during the superbowl, Michael did nothing wrong uWu

Dross. Her brother had a pet monkey so I’ll give a star for that

Never heard a record before where there’s so much going on and nothing at all at the same time. Some of these songs sound like ADHD. Absolutely shite.

Might be the most overproduced album I've ever listed to, the perfect vehicle for trite 'children are the future' bollocks. Don't think I have anything else to say really, hated it.

Goodness me Janet.

Not for me at all and felt very of it's time, not in a good way

Immer nur der gleiche typische Ende der 80er Jahre Schlagzeug Sound. Wie nervig. Wenig Abwechslung.

Another couple of rejected tracks from the N64 Goldeneye soundtrack

I had to stop in the middle. Why would anybody want to hear it? There is so much better sounding Electro-Funk/R&B music from that era.

Furchtbar!

Utter rubbish. Doesn’t stand the test of time.

I was really looking forward to this album as I didn’t really remember it. However, it doesn’t seem to have aged well.

Njeeeh