The Velvet Rope

by

Janet Jackson

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"It's my belief that we all have the need to feel special and it's this need that can bring out the best in us yet the worst in us. This need created the velvet rope."

-Janet Jackson

Ten years ago today, October 7th, 1997 Janet Jackson released what is her most profound and thought provoking piece of work ever, "The Velvet Rope." In my opinion it is the best and will always be the best album ever made. There is probably not a professional music reviewer anywhere who will agree with me but that's okay. Beside the musical merits of the album it has a much deeper emotional resonance with me.

At the time this album came out I was fourteen years old, a freshman in high school. I had already been a casual fan of Janet's since "Rhythm Nation 1814" and all throughout the "janet." years but I was still a kid and I really didn't get into her until then. Even at that time I was still young and was only getting $1.75 a day spending money for school, needless to say I didn't buy this album when it was first released.

My first memory of hearing it in it's entirety was laying on the floor of my eldest sister's house one Saturday afternoon listening to it on her portable CD player. I was so enthralled by the sounds of the album and the amazing graphic design, photographs and imagery of the album booklet. That day was the day that I fell in love with music. Finally at 16 years old "The Velvet Rope" was the first CD I ever bought with my own money.

"The Velvet Rope" is an eclectic opus with touches of R&B, pop, rock, dance, and classical music. It plays out like a theatrical production and is best heard in full. Every interlude, every word of all twenty-two tracks of this CD are all important. They all work together to cohesively bring forth the message, to tell of your need, my need, our need, the need to feel special. The need that brings out the best and yet the worst of us, the need that created "The Velvet Rope." The velvet rope that helps us hide our feelings, holds back our public and binds us up for our lovers.

Coming off of the most successful album of her career 1993's "janet.," which sold over 17 million records worldwide and was the first record by a female artist to debut at #1 in the United States in the Nielsen SoundScan era. She released six singles off of this album and toured almost two years promoting it. This was her first album with Virgin Records the company with which she signed a 40 million dollar record contract, which at that time broke the record for the largest record deal ever. "janet." was largely a happy, R&B/pop record which was a mix between upbeat catchy songs and slower more seductive songs. "The Velvet Rope", released four years later was a much darker record, reflective of the sadness Janet was feeling at the time. The album was panned by critics for being too controversial but was a fan favorite. It was and actually still is Janet's most introspective record.

This album embodies so many feelings and emotions: happiness on "Go Deep", hope on "Together Again", regret on "Got 'Til It's Gone", loneliness on "I Get Lonely", anticipation on "Tonight's The Night", pride on "Can't Be Stopped", self realization on "You", horniness on "My Need", emptiness on "Empty", anger on "What About", fear on "Every Time." There are so many subjects that Janet touched on the this album that had been seldom talked about ever in popular music: spousal abuse on "What About", sado-masochism on "Rope Burn", masturbation on "Interlude - Speaker Phone", homosexuality, lesbianism and bisexuality on "Free Xone" and "Tonight's The Night."

My two favorite Janet Jackson songs ever are on this album. "I Get Lonely" and "Rope Burn" are in my opinion two of Janet's best vocal performances coupled with live instruments and Janet's trademark background vocals that ooze sensuality. The title track "Velvet Rope" blends Janet's vocals with a most interesting array of background dings and tingles coupled with classical violinist Vanessa Mae's rousing violin solo that brings the song to its aural and emotional apex. "You" is brilliantly written song whose vamp remained an enigma to me for years until someone explained to me that she was spelling conscience backwards "e-c-n-e-i-c-s-n-o-c."

Besides being conceptually and audibly interesting the visuals for the album were dazzling. The album cover was different than that of her previous albums. It was hardly glamorous just a picture of Janet in a black shirt with frizzy red hair her her head hung slightly down, not looking into the camera. Her name isn't even conspicuously emblazoned across the picture. It is subtly spelled out in a blurred block formation embossed in the top half of the picture. You can only notice it if you tilt it and look at the picture in the light. The pictures inside of Janet sporting her nipple and septum piercings, covered in latex and tied up in bondage were indeed works of art themselves. The videos the Grammy winning, "Got Til' It's Gone" with it's African apartheid theme and "Together Again" set in the jungle in which she hugs herself and touches her own [...], "I Get Lonely" with it's almost futuristic feel and amazing transitions cemented Janet's status as not just a musical but a visual artist.

Many of the themes of the album hit home for me. "Empty", a song about finding love on the internet was quite timely due to the fact that the internet and instant messaging had just started to rise in popularity. The emptiness that she felt when the person she talked to wasn't there and the questioning whether what they had could be real resonated for me as a person who has dated via the internet before. Lyrics such as these spoke right to me:

"I'm rushin' home to turn you on

Sometimes you're there sometimes you're gone

Wait for hours for your return

So tell me please, am I wasting my time?

Your phrases, descriptive, and through the textured words

With beauty, you post it, and use such colored verbs

So tell me you think that maybe we've gone insane?

To find a, a lover and through the words of pain

We've never met, ooh

When I close my eyes, I can see your face

When I lick my lips, I can taste your smile

When I see your name, my heart starts to race

If I can't read your thoughts, then I feel empty"

Songs like "Velvet Rope" and "You" spoke to the self confidence issues I was having with lyrics that brought forth truth and clarity and let me know that I wasn't alone. If a mega superstar like Janet Jackson can wake up sometimes feeling unloved, unworthy and empty and make her way through it, so could I.

You never forget your first love and though many albums have come along since, some poppier, some bluesier, some edgier but "The Velvet Rope" will always be my favorite and have a special irreplaceable place in my heart.

Jackson's 1997 release broadened her sound, while still remaining commercial enough, not to alienate her fans. She started to incorporate different styles of popular music in her records with her 1993 blockbuster album _janet_.

_Velvet Rope_ is similarly ambitious, though artistically not as successful (nor did it meet the commercial expectations set by the 1993 release). The album is ponderous, dark and moody. The songs are well-crafted, and immaculately produced, but lack the spark or creative fire that fueled Jackson's previous releases.

In terms of topics, the album is something to be commended. The songs tackle such difficult issues like homophobia, AIDS, domestic abuse, and in a particularly fine song, domestic abuse.

When Jackson earlier attempted to be a social critic on her 1989 hit _Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814_, the results were at times, utopic and overtly simple, making Jackson's social posturing a bit embarrassing.

This time, however, she covers topical issues with intelligence and grace. The rage behind "What About" her song about domestic abuse, fuels the guitar-heavy dance song. The offset of the calm, tranquil intro, to the angry cresendo of the chorus gives the song a stunning resonance.

Her cover of Rod Stewart's "Tonight's the Night," is well-sung, and Jackson's implied bisexuality (she keeps the "she's" in reference to the lover), sparks interest in the song. Also good is her "Free Xone," in which over a James Brown/Prince-like drum beat, she slams homophobia, by calling for a world, in which love is love. Also good is her collaboration with Q-Tip and Joni Mitchell on the groove-heavy, "Got Til It's Gone," an interesting song, with a minimal vocal participation by Jackson, but a catchy beat. The album's highlight, is her disco-romp dittie, "Together Again," an anthem for those of her friends she lost to AIDS. The song is a swirling slice of dance-pop, with beautiful lyrics celebrating the memories of her departed friends. This shows Jackson at her best--stunningly humane and sympathetic.

The other songs that work are what Jackson and company do best -- party songs. "Go Deep" is particularly fine. Also good is the slinky "I Get Lonely." "Everytime" is a memorable piano ballad, butis a pale copy of her Oscar-nominated hit, "Again."

The songs, when at Jackson's best are great, state-of-the-art dance-funk. However, much of the songs have an affected "honesty," that ironically rings false. Her pleas for "specialness" are especially laborous to listen to -- most notably in the messy title cut, as well as, the treacly closing ballad, "Special," which gives brother Michael Jackson a run for his money in "The Schmaltziest Uplift Song." The interludes are tedious, and the sexed-up songs sound forced, as well.

There is a hidden track, which is a funky slice of dance-pop that shows Jackson at her mature best. When she wants to be, Janet Jackson is one of the most interesting figures in popular music. "Special" is interrupted, abruptly, with Jackson saying, "work in progress." Judging from this record, the assertion is very true -- but the progress is fascinating to listen to.