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 This album paled in comparison with "Control." While "Control" was fresh and funky, this album was bombastic and overprocessed. There are certainly some good songs on this album, but they just aren't that much fun. "Rhythm Nation 1814" was the huge hit that "Control" should have been.
After "Control" came out, it wasn't long before I was looking forward to the follow-up. Of course, that follow-up was a long time in the making, and at times it seemed like it would never come. Then at last, in August 1989, we heard the first single from it, "Miss You Much." I thought the song was pretty good, but a lot different from what we were used to. Anyway, the album itself came out the following month. I went into a record store to buy it, and the salesperson told me that she had heard the album and that it had a lot of great songs on it. So, I promptly took it home and gave it a listen. Afterward, I was disappointed. The album itself is not bad at all. In fact, there really isn't a single bad song on it. However, something seems missing. While "Control" wasn't a particularly profound album, it was definitely fresh, unpretentious, and enjoyable. "Rhythm Nation," on the other hand, seemed to be very calculated--Janet and her collaborators were going for a big hit here. On this album, I think they tried very hard to be original, and therein lies the problem: The harder you *try* to be original, the more likely you *won't* be! This album has a rather bloated, pretentious, and even impersonal feel to it. It's also too long. Furthermore, many of the songs sound similar--especially the three ballads at the end, which kind of blend together. The social commentary gets a bit distracting at times as well. Nonetheless, there are some fine songs on here, most notably the title track, "Miss You Much," "Love Will Never Do," "Living in a World They Didn't Make," "Escapade," and "Black Cat." At the same time, many of these songs have an overproduced, canned sound too; there isn't a lot of carefree, un-self-conscious simplicity, which was present in abundance on "Control." This album just takes itself way too seriously. And then there's the very average song "Alright," whose title aptly describes its quality. "State of the World" and "The Knowledge" aren't bad, but they aren't particularly memorable either. The highlights of "Control" were "Nasty" and "The Pleasure Principle" IMO. However, "Rhythm Nation" doesn't have any tracks quite as appealing, although "Escapade" probably comes the closest. "Black Cat" seems to be written in the same vein as "Nasty," but while the latter was delivered with raw gusto, the energy on "Black Cat" seems a bit forced and artificial. Similarly, "Miss You Much" is a good dance song, but it doesn't match the slamming, sweeping groove of "The Pleasure Principle." All in all, "Rhythm Nation" is a very competent album. There's nothing particularly objectionable about it, but nothing really incredible about it either. Too many of the songs feel like they came straight from the assembly line and lack a sense of spontaneity and adventure. I can't even count the number of times I listened to "Control" all the way through. But "Rhythm Nation"? Probably not more than about a dozen, if only because I was trying to "get" what everybody else was seeing in it, which I never did. Although Ms. Jackson no doubt put a ton of work into this album and turned out some massive sales, "Rhythm Nation" never quite measures up to the standard she set for herself with "Control."
(Note: I'm skipping all the interludes and stuff like that-even those were cool especially the "No Acid" and "T.V." ones) 1. Rhythm Nation- The ULTIMATE dance track. I used to do this dance to entertain friends, I even got them to do it! Full of sharp beats and heavy percussion, on the edge of early 90's dance stuff (10/10) 2. State Of The World- A New Jack swiing vibe with a message twist, another dance song that Janet belts with heart (9/10) 3. The Knowledge- Very rap influenced, with a very strong message behind it. These songs are right up there with Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On?" days. (8/10) 4. Miss You Much- Love this song. Addicting and you will never get this song out of your head once you hear it! A break from the tough stuff and into Janet's love song world. (10/10) 5. Love Will Never Do (Without You)- My fave Janet song, I want this song to play at my wedding! :) With it's soaring lyrics and poppy melodic beats you can't go wrong with this sweet song. (10/10) 6. Livin' In A World They Didn't Make- The weaker "State Of World" type song, but with a pretty strong message about influencing children, the haunting part is at the end when a news reporter is talking about a man shooting at a school and then shooting himself and a baby crying at the end. Heavy stuff, I only listen to this song when I'm upset, really. (5/10) 7. Alright- Boom! After a sad song, you need this song to cheer you up! "Alright" is a funky song that has some darn good catchy lyrics and is a fun song to dance, exercise, sing whatever to. One of Janet's best, too bad that they didn't put the orginal on "Design Of A Decade". (10/10) 8. Escapade- "Gonna take you on an escapade". Janet's MAJOR hit, I've heard this song everywhere, once in a mall and once in the supermarket. A fun, fast-paced song that lures you to get up off the sofa and dance! (9/10) 9. Black Cat-Janet did something new and this was it. "Black Cat" rages with it's hard-rock appeal and it proves that Janet can sing any type of song. She rocks on this one! (7/10) 10. Lonely- Very eerie, dark and brooding with a lone guitar and Janet's soft vocals. This song I always put on whenever I have marching band trips out of town on the way home, when it's dark outside. It's perfect to just fall asleep too.(8/10) 11. Come Back To Me- My fave Janet ballad and the best on the whole album. Very pleading and mysterious. The lone keyboard and violins make this song a true winner along with the pleading lyrics. (10/10) 12. Someday Is Tonight- The weakest song on the album, not up to par with any of these above. Sounds a little bit like "Funny How The Time Flies" from "Control" but "Funny.." is wayy better than this. A dissapointing end to a great album, though the outro makes up for it. (2/10) I recommend anyone to buy this album whether you like Janet or not. This album is for everyone, white, black, whatever cause all Janet wanted to do was make the nation dance their pants off with this album and you most certainly will!
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This album really does not live up to the hype.
Janet has so many albums to choose from and i have to say that this album is one of them. Not only do you have 7 top five hits on here, but songs that weren't singles are just as good. the album is bumpin' and is one of the most essential albums of the 90s! LaterS!!
