Janet Jackson - Discipline

Janet Jackson’s latest album, Discipline, isn’t going to change your world, but it might just make you want to get up and dance. The album doesn’t necessarily reinvent the wheel when it comes to dance albums, any more than Paula Abdul’s does. Still, Discipline has interesting beats that make for an album worth spinning at a party, as long as no one’s easily offended by graphic lyrics.

The album opens up with something akin to those skits albums back in the nineties sometimes snuck in between songs—like the Shanice “Homey don’t play that” skit. Jackson tells her Japanese cyborg to play her album, and then the album commences.

If this were the only spoken interlude, it would be easy to overlook, but there’s more. There’s another one called “Bathroom Break.” Here, some girls are gossiping about getting “hollered at” while at a party. They’re taking a little break from dancing to compare notes with each other before heading back in to dance some more.

It’s also not the only track to feature the voice of a robot. “Rock with U” begins with some sort of digitalized voice enhancement. Using digitalized voice sounds about as new as using “U” as a stand in for “You.” …Which is also about as new as using “2nite” for “Tonight” or “B” for “Be,” both of which Jackson does, too. In other words, the album isn’t bringing anything new to the music scene.

Familiar can be good, though. From even the first play of the album, it is enjoyable. It sounds like all the other good pop on the radio. On the whole, the album is rather mellow. It’s got a cool, slow vibe punctuated by funky beats. You can almost picture people sexily swirling their hips around as they dance in a dimly lit room.

Sex is a big theme running through Discipline. We’re not talking sensuality here, we’re talking blatant sex. The lyrics verge on the pornographic. There is mention of size (and she’s not talking about a guy’s foot) and whips, as she breathily coos her lyrics. The album’s namesake even comes from Jackson’s S&M fantasy.

It’s great that nowadays women in their forties can still be recognized as sexual beings. Still, there is a time and a place for everything. Jackson’s text-message-like song titles and woman-on-the-prowl interludes come across as immature, while her over-the-top-sex lyrics offer TMI: Too Much Information.

If you’re a Janet Jackson fan, go ahead and add this to your collection. Otherwise, enjoy it at the clubs. And if you’re not getting your groove on at the clubs and never hear this album, you’re not missing anything.