Janet Jackson
All For You

THE REVIEW

With "All For You" Mrs. Jackson decided in 2001 to abandon those sizzling and committed themes that had characterized her previous releases, "Rhythm Nation 1814," "janet.," "The Velvet Rope." Themes such as depression, human rights, equality, sex, and sexuality in all the possible forms, modes, and varieties that can be narrated. With this album, Janet shows the most frivolous side of herself, dancing, poppish, joyful and carefree, placing in her personal treasure chest that sadness, certainly a source of great creativity and originality, but now outdated, surpassed, almost anachronistic, unsuitable to represent this new, unmissable artistic phase.

Despite Jackson having already embraced new sounds in "The Velvet Rope", from mature urban to a dirtier and "black" hip-hop (Got 'Til It's Gone), abandoning that dominant and roaring New Jack Swing in "janet.", the sound experimentation achieved in "All For You" resulted in decidedly more concrete and successful outcomes: ranging from modern R&B to a decidedly original and valid pop-dance-urban mix. Musical paths almost unknown or long abandoned, such as rock, ambient, and chill out, are also attempted. In short, a melting pot of sounds that provides the work with an absolutely pleasant compactness. In "All For You" the artist's intention to focus more on sound rather than on "Lyrics" and themes to be performed is clear, without completely neglecting the literary context and textual content, which, although presented in a frivolous and carefree manner, are quite steamy, earning Janet her first "Parental Advisory" on the album, a black label indicating adult themes and/or vulgar or inappropriate language for a younger audience (who, in my personal opinion, would have bought the album just to admire (and not only) the languid Mrs. Jackson in her natural state on the cover, slightly covered by a white sheet).

The first track to mention is the title track "All For You", a delightful example of dancey and cheerful R&B-pop, represents the first true light after the darkness of "The Velvet Rope", a simple text devoid of moral complications and the like, a huge success in its home country (#1 on the Billboard Hot 100) and beyond, probably one of the most successful tracks even outside Uncle Sam's territory. Tribal sounds combined with R&B/Urban are perfectly audible in "Come On Get Up", a track perfectly suited for a club, while a bizarre mix of Rock and Pop/R&B, preceded by haunting violins that act as "Prelude" to the track, is the perfect sound representation of "Trust A Try", certainly the darkest and "dirtiest" track of the whole work.

The heart of the album is the "quadrilogy" "When We Oooo - China Love - Love Scene (Ooh Baby) - Would You Mind", four tracks animated by a single intent: to present in a voluptuous and sensual way the most intimate and scandalous fantasies of the African-American singer, her personal and unrepeatable conception of passion. A setting of Rhythm&Blues, ambient, and lounge sounds blends with the warm, whispered, soft voice of Janet in "When We Oooo", decidedly the most convincing piece of the saga, an anthem to orgasm, to sex, to what happens under the (her) sheets, in short: note already the title of the track (particularly this Oooo) to get an idea of what Miss Jackson might be talking about with her listeners.

"Son Of A Gun (I Betcha Think This Song Is About You)" (with the prestigious presence of Carly Simon who, in addition to allowing sampling in this track of her greatest hit "You're So Vain", commits to filling new and unreleased verses) marks the transition from old R&B and 90s Old School Hip-Hop to modern and contemporary Rhythm&Blues that would have Usher, Alicia Keys, and other illustrious representatives. The two gritty, aggressive, and outraged voices of Jackson and Simon, aiming to harshly humiliate a man guilty of violence, blend with an energetic and pulsating beat.

Frivolity, joyfulness, playfulness, cheerfulness: all that distinguishes the singles-tracks "Someone To Call My Lover" and "Doesn't Really Matter" (the latter the soundtrack to the movie Nutty Professor II: The Klumps). The first winks at the heart, or rather, at the ears of Americans, mixing the usual Pop-R&B with country tones, the second is a cheerful, simple, and carefree poppish track.

"All For You" was Janet Jackson's last great success, her last true triumph, the last time the USA and beyond would universally nod in front of her work and her art: followed by the scandal of the Super Bowl in 2004 (the exposure of her ample and generous breast by the boyish friend Timberlake), the flop of "Damita Jo", the failed attempts at regaining the faithful music crowd with "20 Y.O." (conceived as the celebration of twenty years of success from the first true great triumph, namely the album "Control" of 1986) and "Discipline", the sudden death of her beloved brother Michael. A downward trajectory that unfortunately does not seem to want to recover and trace a new high point. The hope is for a new, however successful and convincing return to the music biz scene, a world from which, according to authoritative tabloids but also based on unscrupulous ridiculous scoops, Janet would be about to retire forever. The hope is therefore for a new big leap forward.