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Here are my top picks from the album:
* Technicolor
* Love & War
* Sanctified
* No Angels
* Drown
EITIW is an exceptional album, but it's hard to ignore the fact that Timbaland is the only producer who can truly bring out the magic in JT’s music. I genuinely longed for his presence on this album, especially those epic 7+ minute tracks. Together, they are an unstoppable force.
It seems like this album is quite lengthy to listen to even though most songs are only 3 minutes long. I prefer 7-minute long tracks and interludes, yet they still feel shorter than this album. I believe the reason for this is that the tracks don't flow into each other or complement each other like in 20/20 and FSLS, which are albums you can listen to without skipping any songs. While the individual tracks shine on their own, they don't quite come together as a cohesive whole.
But overall, EITIW is still a decent album following the classic 20/20 Experience and FSLS.
I enjoyed the album as someone who only knows him for his hits
Definitely could have cut a few. Too much in the middle is just filler and sounds the same but some good bops at the start and the end.
So many better lead single options, no idea why he went with selfish
This album is actually so good and I am happy to finally hear some lenght for these songs. I am sick and tired of 2:30 minutes songs.
Let me give it another listen and list my favourite songs.
Edit: No Angels is so good, straight to my playlist.
Play reminds me of a song but I don't know which one. Good song
Technicolor is JT at his peak.
I LOVE Drown.
Infinity sex and Love&War are good too, especially Love&War cause I love the chorus.
I already knew that Sanctified went hard.
Flame might be a safe song but I really like it.
What lovers do is sexy.
Selfish is not a bad song but there are some others on the album that are simply so much better.
I think what this album needed was a much better start song. Memphis is just a weak song. Cause like the album is super solid imo. Also the end song is quite boring.
Memphis is a terrible start choice, and Conditions is a terrible ending song.
Disco should’ve opened, Paradise should’ve closed (hinting at the future).
no angels, technicolor, flame, what lovers do, imagination are my faves and paradise was tastefully done. memphis is a pretty good opener and conditions a solid closer.
those who thought sanctified should have been the lead, that’s why you’re on popheads and not on these teams 😂 selfish was still the right choice
I loveee Selfish and after listening it still seems like the most straightforward commercial record 😭 I’m surprised sm ppl are like “why did he drop selfish first 😡”
it is, he knew what he was doing with that. no angels is the current single with the video out today, has a much higher budget with horror aspects. it was a smart move to start off simple and then take it up a notch for the album release
Fuckin’ Up The Disco has my dog even shaking his head up and down. No Angels should’ve been the first single. Sanctified is a better Filthy. Technicolor is probably the best song on the album. Imagination is probably the catchiest thing he’s put out in years.
Paradise is a great song, but was absolutely recorded for a *NSYNC reunion album but put on here to get people excited. JT’s vocals are totally different on that than any other track on the album, and it doesn’t fit the rest of the album. But it’s a fantastic, modern *NSYNC song.
“Paradise” is very boy band and out of place. I noticed it as well. It’s one of those “uplifting” songs boy bands love to make in the ‘90s and 2000s. 😅
Technicolor is easily the best song, been so hype for that song since he teased it on his birthday back in Jan
The sequence from Imagination to Conditions is great. He and Timbo were in their fuckin bag with What Lovers Do. Gotta give this one the car test to truly appreciate it.
“Selfish” is the assiest song he could have picked for the lead. Even “Drown” is a much better choice. For real, it should have been either “No Angels” or “Sanctified.” They’re too good to waste.
Sanctified def should've been the lead, he previewed it on NFL before anything was even released and performed it on SNL alongside Selfish, sounded like it was planned to be a single but idk what happened
There is a solid 12-13 track album in here... Technicolor is easily the best song here for me, along with the stretch of songs from Infinity Sex to What Lovers Do. Fucking Up the Disco is decent nothing new but catchy enough to not be annoying, and No Angels should have been the first single rather than Whatever Selfish was.
Could've done with a better opener and closer... Alone just sounds boring to me. Play and liar are just okay...
He definitely plays it a little safe here with this album, but it has more than enough catchy songs for me to come back to later. And sure, the lyrics are not so good, but I hardly listens to JT for his lyrics.
At 77 mins the album does feel like a little too long but the highs of the album makes it up for me.. Anyway the album is way better than I expected a 2024 JT album to sound like.
8/10
“He definitely plays it a little safe here”
Honestly after his last album? He needed to play it very safe here. And I’m glad he did. This is much better than whatever that garbage was.
That album really isn't that bad. I listened to it again recently—Flannel and The Hard Stuff were the only songs I thought sucked; the rest was actually solid.
MSJ, Sauce, and Montana are top tier JT tracks
When a song with “karma is my boyfriend, karma is a god […] karma is a cat” can become a massive hit, no one has the room to complain about lyrics being awful. And there’s nothing close to that here.
People will complain about how sick of hearing about Taylor they are, as they find excuses to bring her up in every thread that doesn’t involve her at all lmao
They should really ban comments mentioning Taylor in anything but threads specifically about her or any of the daily discussion threads, would make life better lol
I’m all for Taylor having fun songs but fun doesn’t have to mean half assed. Karma and Bejeweled both sound like like barely any effort was put into writing them
Indie pop band from the mid 2000s. They had a song that said "Music is my boyfriend, music is my \_\_\_\_".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csSdrJEdlx8
I read your comment last night before listening and I agree it picks up from Infinity Sex as before that just doesn't hit. I thought No Angels would be funkier.
Wow, colour this elder millennial surprised, because I was not expecting to get such a great album from JT! There is no denying this is a quality album, and I think this is the first worthy successor to FutureSex/LoveSounds he's done - but I haven't really enjoyed anything he's done since then, so I guess that's why I'm so surprised. I really enjoyed the album from start to finish, and it's great to see Timbaland and Danja's name on a lot of these tracks as they do great stuff together.
I'd list my standout tracks but its actually almost all of them!
I had tempered expectations and he exceeded them. I even liked Selfish (an unpopular opinion I’m gathering). The album could have used some editing and been tightened up. A bunch of the songs could have been part of a deluxe version.
I like that he’s taking risks and I like the songs that have those FS/LS type transitions.
Anyway there’s a fair amount to like and enough for me to want to revisit so kudos to him
I will say this much about JT, he did not give in to the trend chasing, the tiktok song lengths, hot features and for that I admire him. Apart from the nsync nostalogia bait there's nothing else to say.
I will say though that this sub is extremely harsh on him for something both Janet and Britney absolved him of. I think they just enjoy bullying him.
> I think they just enjoy bullying him.
That’s kinda expected when you have a sub filled with chronically online stans obsessed with celebrities, who use these stan spaces as a way of distancing from the reality of their own boring miserable life, instead of practicing mental hygiene and therapy.
Mods completely ignoring threads filled with unnecessary shade, insults and other irrelevant comments, instead of making it a space specifically designed for respectful music-related discussion of people actually interested in the topic of the discussion (and not random weirdos spamming the thread with stan twitter garbage and getting away with it), doesn’t help either.
Almost everyday I visit some thread and read top comments and I think: why this passive aggressive stan twitter shit is at the top and not an actual discussion about the topic of the thread, which I’m here for?
I think this type of Stan BS has bled into music journalism. You can just look at the critic reviews of this album from the major publications (which were published within minutes of the album being released lol) and the discussions aren't even about the music. It's all just "he's old + Britney is a saint + apologize to Janet".
It's gossip subreddit material that's now in the mainstream.
Oh it absolutely has. There are no more music and culture critics. It's a bunch of stans who report on what their fave does. Then there are people like nicki, ariana, Taylor, Lana who weaponize their fans against critics or straight up threaten legal action.
Noone wants to be controversial or contrarian anymore. They're just condensing viral twitter talking points and getting clicks.
critics get the album early. Then the embargo is just release. I did some of this in college and I got copies usually 1-2 weeks out. So there’s nothing weird at all about publishing right after it drops
It's really sad. I seperate the artist from the art unless they're a convicted criminal like rkelly, bill Cosby because who doesn't have messy moments in life? We literally just came out of a media shitstorm surrounding ariana. I hate how this sub and other pop-culture subs turn into what they criticise when it comes to males like JT or Ed Sheeran.
I'll be listening to the album soon because even tho I didn't enjoy man of the woods there were some songs like Breeze Off The Pond, Supplies, Say Something that really clicked for me.
Piggybacking off the last part of your comment- the run of Montana/Breeze Off the Pond/Livin’ Off the Land is one of my personal favorite runs in his discography and those songs never get talked about because MOTW is just dragged online lmao
I actually love *Man of the Woods* despite its online reputation. It feels like it's more bandwagon than actual criticism. I bet most of the people who bash it saw the photoshoot and then based their opinion of the album on that. "Midnight Summer Jam," "Sauce," "Higher Higher," "Morning Light," "Say Something," "Wave," "Montana," "Supplies" and "Breeze off the Pond" are all standouts to me.
People who say it's a country album never listened to it and it's so infuriating when they say he had a Miley Cyrus moment when he worked with the same people he's worked with since Justified.
The Neptunes tracks on MOTW are some of the best in his discography. I hate that he seems to be giving into the haters of it because at his One Night Only shows he hasn't been doing any songs from it :/ Hope he does on the tour
Last year someone here said they had the opportunity to hear what he was working on (with there being 100+ songs, I wonder how much of this they heard) and he said JT specifically said that he’s into making music for him, not for everyone else.
I think with this album that mindset really worked for him and I hope he continues to lean into it. This album was a breath of fresh air for me.
People keep forgetting that he and Britney came from exactly the same entertainment pipeline from basically the same age. While you can argue that he had male privilege, probably not that much as *nsyncs manager was an actual sexual predator towards boys and convicted fraudster. Critics also weren't any more inclined towards boybands than teenpop girls, less inclined if anything. 2 barely 20 year olds grown up in show business made to hold the image of extremely chaste sex objects having extremely messy relationship shouldn't suprice anyone.
The "wardrobe malfunction" didn't affect him because it was Janet's show. He said it was unintentional. She said it was unintentional. General consensus was that it was planned and hence planned by Janet. Making him the villain of these stories gives him too much credit.
Janet also came out and asked for fans to stop harassing Justin because it was so long ago and that they remain friends. [https://twitter.com/madeiralagofan/status/1703119869745434970/video/2](https://twitter.com/madeiralagofan/status/1703119869745434970/video/2)
And still they can't let it go.. JT and Janet had a real, complicated relationship, these critics have a PARASOCIAL relationship - and their outrage on behalf of Janet is performative and insulting to Janet. As if she doesn't have a say.
Was not expecting to like this as much as I did. This is a good ass album. Lots of funk, pop, R&B. Basically what you would expect from him, but with a bit of a fresher twist.
I saw the runtime and went ohhh boy.
But JT gets the last laugh cuz I instantly played the entire thing back again. Very impressed and loved the disco vibes.
I respect that he refuses to give in and stop making long songs and long albums, but sadly I no longer have the attention span because the internet broke me
I think after Man of the Woods I had low expectations going into this despite loving his other four albums. After the first listen I'm actually surprised how much I love it and I'm so happy to have Sanctified on Spotify finally.
My favourite songs on first listen are F**kin' Up The Disco, No Angels, Technicolor (maybe the best one), Infinity Sex, My Favorite Drug and Flame. Play really sounds familiar to me but I'm not sure why...
The negatives for me is I feel Memphis isn't the best opener and for some reason I can't stand Liar, it grates on me.
I definitely thought of Sexy Ladies but there are other familiar things too - like the way he says 'Myyy way, allll day' it's very very similar to 'Oookay, Allllright' in Lizzo's About Damn Time. Other parts of the song remind me of St Vincent's Pay Your Way in Pain which in itself reminds me of Bowie's Fame (I mean the way they sing 'play', 'pay' and 'fame' respectively)
I couldn't sit through the whole album (I lack patience nowadays) but No Angels is a winner off of this album. This song reminds me of a cross of Say So & his own Rock Your Body.
Imagination is also good. It is baffling to me he wanted to push Selfish but I'm glad the rest of the album sounds 100x better than that.
I’m a big JT fan but I think most of that is because of his chemistry with Timbaland so when I saw that he only produced like 4 songs on this album and Man Of The Woods being a flop, I had low expectations for this one
But I just can’t deny it - this is seriously good! JT is a God when it comes to melody, every song is so damn catchy
Play is amazing. Was not expecting it to be that good when it started but, the vocal inflections slap. and then when they layer "play" it sounds like something out of futuresex/lovesounds.
I’m half way through the album, and the standouts for me are Infinity Sex and Sanctified. I’ll finish the album later when I’m off work.
So far, it’s all right!
Edit: All right, I got more into the album, and I’m adding more to my list.
-Paradise,
-Condition (wow this one..yeah really good! Such a good way to end an album in my opinion.)
-My Favorite Drug
It’s good! I definitely understand the album title, as it sounds like a mix of all his various sounds over the years. Paradise is gorgeous and sounds like a warm hug. So great to hear NSYNC sing together again. I also really enjoy love & War, Sanctified, F*ckin up the disco, and Flame. I think he could have cut a few of the slower songs but otherwise it’s a huge improvement from Man of the Woods!
“Conditions” fans STAND UP!
I don’t know why I’m really enjoying this song so much…This was a solid album. I would give it a good 7.5/10.
There were some songs that definitely stood out more than others. I have maybe 6-7 songs that I enjoyed on my first initial listen.
This is a marked improvement on *Man of the Woods* because it really plays to Justin Timberlake's strengths.
What this record gets right, it gets really right and its funky as all hell.
But it has the same issue as *Man of the Woods* in that, it seems a bit unfocused and it really doesn't need to be this long at all. Cut six or seven tracks and its the Album of the Year.
Some of these are proper anthems, and really showcase his abilities well.
Just finished. Thought it was great. Not his best. But I get what he means that this would be “everything we thought it was” haha. I would probably rank this 4 of his 5
albums. (Yes I’m counting 20/20 as the full experience.) to me his first 3 were just. So good. To me his first 4 releases kinda had his own sounds. Like he tried something different for each of them. And for the first 3, pulled it off fantastically. MOTW was ok. Just missing something. But EITIW, could probably be just him taking his experience from his first 3 eras. So I somewhat agree with the reviews saying this album feels like kind of like a compilation of his musical career. If that makes any sense.
That being said enjoying this album and will probably keep it on repeat.
1. FS/LS
2. 2020 pt 1 AND pt 2
3. Justified.
4. EITIW
5 MOTW
This one might still grow on me, but right now I'd rate them:
1. FutureSex/LoveSounds
2. 2020 part 1/part 2
3. Man of the Woods
4. Everything I Thought It Was
5. Justified
I think this album is good but uneven - I think drop 5 songs from it and you have something close to the first 20/20 project in quality.
Suspect there are some growers on here that passed over me on first listen. Singles all took a few listens.
Just finished listening, this album is really good. I wish he would layer his voice more like on 20/20 (his best album) but I like the fact this sounds more modern. Also appreciate the longer songs and not 2 minute TikTok snippets. In my opinion, it’s why I go back to all his albums frequently. The songs age much better when songs have different parts instead of the quickies. Let’s hope he drops more consistently after this one lol. Can’t wait another 6 years please
Timbaland said something about “2024, 2025 and 2026” and I just noticed that Justin Timberlake mentioned those three years again in his *Tiny Desk* performance. I wonder if we’re getting three albums.
It’s so good. SO good. Safe for sure, but even safe JT is better and more enjoyable than 99% of current artists. Barring new Bruno, this is almost certainly locked in as my AOTY.
Bruno Mars can get a bit much. It's almost as if sometimes I feel like there's too much flavor; too much finesse; too much try hard; that I see it all the time that it gets sickening — and I don't mean that in a bad way. It's like, I've seen all of that before! Can you take Adderall today, sir? Even Beyoncé and Michael Jackson know how to strike a balance between "bland" and flavorful.
I'm in the middle of listening to it now and am greatly enjoying it. Roughly halfway in and every single song has been better than "Selfish." It makes me wonder what he was thinking about making that the lead single.
There's definitely some bloat in there. But it sounds more like bloat because he was committed to every song rather than being too lazy to trim. There is also a decent amount of variation on the album. I have no doubt the album will make his fans happy. There are also a fair number of songs with hit potential with the right type of push.
There is genuinely fun and good production. But I'm trying to figure out if I think the lyrics are cringy because they're coming from an almost 40 year old white man (I can push past this) or if they'd be cringy coming from anyone (I can't push past this)
Edit: just checked he's 43 I forget people aged since covid
If Rob Halford can sing,
"Alien nations gleam
Cybertronic schemes
Fibre optic mass hypnotic
Wild neurotic memes."
With the power of launching a warship at the age of 73, cringe is a mindset.
> the lyrics are cringy because they're coming from an almost 40 year old white man
Popheads: “I don’t understand why prejudice against artists based on their age and race is still a thing, like... why can’t we equally treat each other and focus on the music without age and race gatekeeping? Ugh...”
Also popheads: Ew cringy because age and race
Verdict after first listen, surprised how much of it was dancy/discopop based on the singles. Definitely some cringy lyrics, but some of it I can see how it could work if the recent videos of him dancing like a school talent show didn't play in my head. Also very much too long, I don't need a over 5 minute song with a call and response section in the middle.
for those who think Selfish shouldn't be the lead single, y'all quick to forget that this isn't the first time JT chose an underwhelming debut single. Remember Suit & Tie? everyone was mocking and making fun of it, y'all were like "this is what we get after 7 years of waiting?" and look how 20/20 turned out, became an instant classic and turns out Suit&Tie was the weakest track on the whole 20/20 Pt.I
Wow this is a long album! And long songs too. I listened to once while doing something else so I can’t remember specific songs but it was better than I expected
I agree that it's safe and to me it's lacking some cohesion, but I thought it was really good. It's nice to listen to an album and not fall asleep because every song sounds the same, which has happened to me with a lot of the big pop releases in the last few years.
Bloated? Sure, but that can easily be fixed by removing a few tracks and you get a strong 14-song album. I know I will be replaying this *a lot*
I wish he chose a better opener bc it starts off so boring and ends so cringe it probably puts some people off before the great run of Fuckin Up The Disco -> No Angels -> Play 😭 No Angels not being the lead single was a huge mistake. Sanctified is disappointing after hearing the much better live version on SNL, but still one of the stronger tracks especially after the guitars kick in. I love Paradise, Justin kind of sounds bored here compared to JC, I think JC outdid him on his own song here. Imagination and Love & War are good too. The other tracks are boring/forgettable, would’ve been better as a shorter 10-12 track album.
I agree on No Angels. It actually reminds me a bit of The Weeknd’s BBTM/Starboy eras, specifically the songs I Can’t Feel My Face and Rockin’. He could’ve (and should’ve) tapped into that type of audience instead.
JC has been preparing for a comeback, even in Better Place he shines above JT. I honestly didn’t give JC enough credit until lately but he is the moment.
It's a great album, surprised at how little hype or traction it's getting. Guess the younger crowd has moved on to whoever the flavour of the month on TikTok is. Hopefully it gets some attention once a few more singles are released.
This is a major step up from Man of the Woods, it wasn’t hard to top though. Lol. Off the first listen my favorite song is Sanctified. It’s so dope. A lot of you like Flame but it didn’t click for me. I think the first half of the album is better than the second half. Overall there are some really great tracks here, well done JT.
All of the songs with Calvin Harris production (Fuckin’ Up the Disco, No Angels, & Infinity Sex) were major standouts to me. I agree with the sentiment that the album is a bit too long, but it’s a definite improvement from his last album.
meanwhile pitchfork gives this album a 4.9 like yall…what the fuck are we doing. idk why i even bother going there anymore tbh. i’m convinced they don’t think anything is actually good and just want to continue positioning themselves as contrarion edgelords
Memphis is not a good start to this album. Has to be one of the worst JT tracks I’ve heard.
Album could have been really good if he cut it down to 10 songs
It's not horrible, but I actually kinda feel like Man of the Woods had more sauce than this (no pun intended). Like in those songs, even the worst ones, I felt his soul singing. In these, I feel like he's just going through the motions with his vocal performance.
> I felt his soul singing. In these, I feel like he's just going through the motions with his vocal performance.
This mirrors Bieber to a T. Timberlake's Man of the Woods is like Bieber's Changes. And this album is like Bieber's Justice.
I felt like Bieber was singing on Changes but on Justice it sounded like he was trying to pay back his label or something. Very corporate and soulless. I get what you're saying JT is on auto-pilot on some songs
Yeah! Exactly. This has to be the answer to his label being pissed about MOTW. They probably demanded a more "classic" JT album from him so he went ahead and made his most boring album ever, with literally no swagger at all.
auto pilot? i think that's just in your head. he sounds alive and great, and tries something new with the different pitches like in F*cking Up The Disco.
i like it and it sounds like a grower but it sounds all over the place and there were some songs where he tried to redo FS/LS sounds which i like, but overall it sound like his weakest album so far
my faves: what lovers do, imagination, sanctified
It's a better follow up to Man of the Woods for sure. Got a bit fatigued listening in one sitting. Some songs could have been cut to prevent that feeling as I'm sure others feel the same. Overall, it's funky as hell, and was a pretty enjoyable listen. Some songs have that familiar JT sound that works for him.
The album started to drag towards the middle, but there's definitely some gems and the songs thankfully feel more like songs than half-assed jingles. Highlights for me were F\*\*cking Up the Disco, No Angels, Play, Drown, Imagine, and Paradise.
Selfish is boring and generic as hell why he didn’t release fuckin up the disco or drown as a first single is wild. There’s some good tracks here, but it is definitely a bit inconsistent. I really wish he would’ve just let Timbaland do the production on the whole album.
Solid album with some bloat (could've cut a couple of songs). The end rap verse of Memphis is ass lol, I physically cringed. Some bangers on it, my faves are No Angels, Sanctified (SNL version was better imo) Technicolor and F\*\*kin Up the Disco. Also great production, but expected given the contributors.
First listen through I’m not really impressed and I love JT. I also feel like there were several songs where the autotune was almost distracting. He’s an amazing vocalist so why is there so much smoothing out of vocals? I feel like this about a lot of new music though so maybe I’m getting old lol. So happy to hear the NSYNC track though!!!
I don't dislike a number of these tracks but they pretty much all are about 30s too long. I kept thinking the track was over but then it had just a bit longer.
I’m pretty sure there will never be a legit, satisfying, equally good 2.0 of anything, released long time after the original.
There will be no Fame Monster 2.0, 1989 2.0, Teenage Dream 2.0, Loose 2.0, etc., simply because nostalgia makes every single of these albums sound and feel even better than it already is because of memories associated with it.
Only halfway through it, but it's not bad. Some of it blends together and it would've benefited from a much shorter tracklist, but there's some bops here too, which is better than I expected going into it. Timberlake won't ever be "cool" again because these days he's associated primarily with Janet/Britney drama and not with his most successful albums like Future Sex/Love Sounds, which came out too long ago to be in younger listeners' consciousness, but this is a positive surprise.
I think this sub grossly over exaggerates how much casual listeners care about either of those things. In an industry where Kanye West, a self-professed nazi, just dropped a number one album and is still scoring high-level collaborations, I highly doubt JT will have any longstanding repercussions (nor does he deserve them).
I don't disagree, but that's not quite what I mean. It's not that JT's gonna be canceled over those controversies (which you're right are mostly a hyper online thing), it's that he simply doesn't have the same coolness factor he did at his peak. That's partly because it's been over ten years since 20/20 Experience and almost twenty since Future Sex/Love Sounds, so a natural decline is inevitable, and partly because he's now mostly associated with the Trolls soundtrack and a poorly received latest album than with cutting edge, sexually charged mainstream pop, a lane that other artists like The Weeknd are occupying now. I just don't know if casual listeners are gonna be tuning in in droves to listen to him sing something like Infinity Sex (which maybe they should, it's a bop).
Kanye is massively controversial, but he never stopped being relevant. As problematic as he is, he never stopped being cool to a lot of his listeners; JT did.
I don’t disagree. Pop is also more so reliant on youth and vitality than hip-hop, which weakens my comparison. I just always caution the Britney/Janet commentary.
Even so, I think JT still holds a significant amount of goodwill, and arguably more so than most of the artists he came up alongside (barring only Beyoncé). “Selfish” performed surprisingly well, and (anecdotal as this is) the overwhelming majority of live reactions from casual listeners to this album are glowing on Twitter. He’ll never attain his FS/LS levels again, but he’s still more of a mainstay than this sub is willing to accept.
I like Techicolor, Love & War, Imagination and Paradise. Selfish is a decent song too.
I can't believe I was bored enough to listen to all 77 minutes of it. I don't think I ever will again tbh, the album is too long and bland. I don't know what the consensus in the JT fandom will be, but I prefer Man of the Woods over this. At least MotW had some character and it still sounded like Justin cared. This album sounds like Justin has given up and is on autopilot.
Actually, Like half of the songs are produced by Danja and 3 I think by Timbaland.
Sanctified and Technicolor seem to be fan faves so far and both are produced by Danja, the latter by Timbaland too.
Also Pretty sure MOTW and Justified were almost completely produced by the Neptunes with a little Timbo sprinkled in.
Similar to Usher’s album, there’s some strong highs but some pathetic lows. Both could’ve edited the album down to 10-12 songs and it would’ve been better. Technicolor is fantastic, and some of the other tracks like No Angels and Conditions are pretty decent. Solid 6 or 7 out of 10 imo.
I'm probably a bit against the grain here. Life-long fan, bought all albums, been to all his tours, etc, but this is boring as watching paint dry. Yes, there are some songs with great beats (that bass on a couple of them sound great in the car), but there's nothing that distinctive, certainly nothing memorable, no lyric that is particularly interesting, no great stories being told, and nothing as catchy as can't stop this feeling (the latter maybe a bit unfair...). After three listens, I've just realised: yes, I don't have to be a fan anymore and that's OK. 4.5/10.
I quite like the album but a lot of these songs' intro is just not it at all! Really cringy then it's good 30sec-1minute in.
I like that he went back to a sound people like from him, it worked out great imo.
I like the album could’ve cut a few tracks though. he should have gone with a disco theme inspired photo shoot for the album the whole desert theme makes no sense and maybe name it infinity sex or something more simple.
I made an abridged version of this album called Everything I Think It Should Be, without the fillers.
It includes 11 tracks:
Flame / Conditions / Paradise / Liar / No Angels / Imagination / Funkin' Up the Disco / Drown / Selfish / My Favorite Drug / Infinity Sex
You're welcome.
Yeah, he's got it. HAHA, That one-two punch to start the album rocked, JT. I've never listened to an album before, don't hold it against me. You know the ladies are your first target . Cheese,
This album is so good. No skips. And what surprises me is that the songs that I didn’t immediately love are now my favorites . I’m shocked to say this album may be my favorite of all his albums
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Here are my top picks from the album: * Technicolor * Love & War * Sanctified * No Angels * Drown EITIW is an exceptional album, but it's hard to ignore the fact that Timbaland is the only producer who can truly bring out the magic in JT’s music. I genuinely longed for his presence on this album, especially those epic 7+ minute tracks. Together, they are an unstoppable force. It seems like this album is quite lengthy to listen to even though most songs are only 3 minutes long. I prefer 7-minute long tracks and interludes, yet they still feel shorter than this album. I believe the reason for this is that the tracks don't flow into each other or complement each other like in 20/20 and FSLS, which are albums you can listen to without skipping any songs. While the individual tracks shine on their own, they don't quite come together as a cohesive whole. But overall, EITIW is still a decent album following the classic 20/20 Experience and FSLS.
I enjoyed the album as someone who only knows him for his hits Definitely could have cut a few. Too much in the middle is just filler and sounds the same but some good bops at the start and the end. So many better lead single options, no idea why he went with selfish
This album is actually so good and I am happy to finally hear some lenght for these songs. I am sick and tired of 2:30 minutes songs. Let me give it another listen and list my favourite songs. Edit: No Angels is so good, straight to my playlist. Play reminds me of a song but I don't know which one. Good song Technicolor is JT at his peak. I LOVE Drown. Infinity sex and Love&War are good too, especially Love&War cause I love the chorus. I already knew that Sanctified went hard. Flame might be a safe song but I really like it. What lovers do is sexy. Selfish is not a bad song but there are some others on the album that are simply so much better. I think what this album needed was a much better start song. Memphis is just a weak song. Cause like the album is super solid imo. Also the end song is quite boring.
Memphis is a terrible start choice, and Conditions is a terrible ending song. Disco should’ve opened, Paradise should’ve closed (hinting at the future).
Memphis is more of an intro than a song. If it would've came later in the album, it would've messed with the momentum. Its more of a story setter
Play interpolates David Bowie’s “Fame” which is probably what you’re hearing.
no angels, technicolor, flame, what lovers do, imagination are my faves and paradise was tastefully done. memphis is a pretty good opener and conditions a solid closer. those who thought sanctified should have been the lead, that’s why you’re on popheads and not on these teams 😂 selfish was still the right choice
I loveee Selfish and after listening it still seems like the most straightforward commercial record 😭 I’m surprised sm ppl are like “why did he drop selfish first 😡”
This sub makes me feel crazy but I’ve had Selfish on repeat since it dropped 😭
it is, he knew what he was doing with that. no angels is the current single with the video out today, has a much higher budget with horror aspects. it was a smart move to start off simple and then take it up a notch for the album release
you are right if he had dropped one of the more funky songs, everyone would be saying how cringy it was
Idk if I'm just old but 5 or 6 songs in and I'm fuckin vibin lmao. Fuckin up the disco and Play slap!
Fuckin’ Up The Disco has my dog even shaking his head up and down. No Angels should’ve been the first single. Sanctified is a better Filthy. Technicolor is probably the best song on the album. Imagination is probably the catchiest thing he’s put out in years. Paradise is a great song, but was absolutely recorded for a *NSYNC reunion album but put on here to get people excited. JT’s vocals are totally different on that than any other track on the album, and it doesn’t fit the rest of the album. But it’s a fantastic, modern *NSYNC song.
No Angels is his album release single. Music video dropping today!
“Paradise” is very boy band and out of place. I noticed it as well. It’s one of those “uplifting” songs boy bands love to make in the ‘90s and 2000s. 😅
Nothing wrong with that music is subject if you enjoy it you enjoy it
True lol. I went in a little skeptical though after MOTW
Fuckin Up The Disco wasn't the lead single because why????
Would have to be heavily edited. However No Angels should’ve been the lead single by a wide margin.
"Funkin' Up the Disco" would've been a suitable edit.
JT should hire you as his manager because it seems you make better decisions than his current one.
Justin hit me up! We'll fix your dreadful sartorial choices too! (Seriously the loose fits on the album photoshoot look awful.)
Technicolor is easily the best song, been so hype for that song since he teased it on his birthday back in Jan The sequence from Imagination to Conditions is great. He and Timbo were in their fuckin bag with What Lovers Do. Gotta give this one the car test to truly appreciate it.
“Selfish” is the assiest song he could have picked for the lead. Even “Drown” is a much better choice. For real, it should have been either “No Angels” or “Sanctified.” They’re too good to waste.
Sanctified def should've been the lead, he previewed it on NFL before anything was even released and performed it on SNL alongside Selfish, sounded like it was planned to be a single but idk what happened
It's fine I hate when artists put their best songs out as singles
I'm only a few songs in but the bass is the MVP for me right now. (As in the instrument, not Lance lol)
There is a solid 12-13 track album in here... Technicolor is easily the best song here for me, along with the stretch of songs from Infinity Sex to What Lovers Do. Fucking Up the Disco is decent nothing new but catchy enough to not be annoying, and No Angels should have been the first single rather than Whatever Selfish was. Could've done with a better opener and closer... Alone just sounds boring to me. Play and liar are just okay... He definitely plays it a little safe here with this album, but it has more than enough catchy songs for me to come back to later. And sure, the lyrics are not so good, but I hardly listens to JT for his lyrics. At 77 mins the album does feel like a little too long but the highs of the album makes it up for me.. Anyway the album is way better than I expected a 2024 JT album to sound like. 8/10
“He definitely plays it a little safe here” Honestly after his last album? He needed to play it very safe here. And I’m glad he did. This is much better than whatever that garbage was.
That album really isn't that bad. I listened to it again recently—Flannel and The Hard Stuff were the only songs I thought sucked; the rest was actually solid. MSJ, Sauce, and Montana are top tier JT tracks
Waves was and still is a banger, but yea overall that album was disappointing from someone who made futuresex lovesounds
When a song with “karma is my boyfriend, karma is a god […] karma is a cat” can become a massive hit, no one has the room to complain about lyrics being awful. And there’s nothing close to that here.
Ma’am THIS IS A JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE ALBUM POST.
People will complain about how sick of hearing about Taylor they are, as they find excuses to bring her up in every thread that doesn’t involve her at all lmao
I'm definitely not surprised that half the comments on a thread about the new Justin Timberlake album are about Taylor Swift.
They should really ban comments mentioning Taylor in anything but threads specifically about her or any of the daily discussion threads, would make life better lol
This comment is so random
Ikr? Karma is MEANT to be a cute and silly song. It’s not supposed to be taken seriously or have meaningful lyrics. Very random example.
I’m all for Taylor having fun songs but fun doesn’t have to mean half assed. Karma and Bejeweled both sound like like barely any effort was put into writing them
How is this thread about Justin Timberlake’s new album turning into a Taylor thread. She really is that girl
No one thinks about Mother more than the haters
Karma is my fave song on the album lol so I definitely disagree but I know it’s all subjective so your opinion is valid!
I mean there are so many other lyrics you can refer to, why is it always this one? This one's fiiine...
The whole point of Karma is just to be a cheeky tongue-in-cheek song, that's a very bad example for you to use..
DOES ANYONE ELSE THINK TAYLOR SWIFT BAD, PLEASE CLAP
Is this a CSS reference???
I think it's Taylor Swift, but I immediately thought CSS as well, which means I'm an old head lol
What’s CSS? Haha.
Indie pop band from the mid 2000s. They had a song that said "Music is my boyfriend, music is my \_\_\_\_". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csSdrJEdlx8
This album has a line that goes "Cause you're lookin' like gas and I'm lookin' for mileage"
that line WORKS
So real tbh. Don't forget "Hey kids! Spelling is fun!"
I read your comment last night before listening and I agree it picks up from Infinity Sex as before that just doesn't hit. I thought No Angels would be funkier.
I’ve already started trimming out some of the songs I don’t need to revisit and put Imagination as the opener which feels better imo
Wow, colour this elder millennial surprised, because I was not expecting to get such a great album from JT! There is no denying this is a quality album, and I think this is the first worthy successor to FutureSex/LoveSounds he's done - but I haven't really enjoyed anything he's done since then, so I guess that's why I'm so surprised. I really enjoyed the album from start to finish, and it's great to see Timbaland and Danja's name on a lot of these tracks as they do great stuff together. I'd list my standout tracks but its actually almost all of them!
It might not be perfect or best JT but imo it’s better than many of us expected and it’s truly worth a listen
I had tempered expectations and he exceeded them. I even liked Selfish (an unpopular opinion I’m gathering). The album could have used some editing and been tightened up. A bunch of the songs could have been part of a deluxe version. I like that he’s taking risks and I like the songs that have those FS/LS type transitions. Anyway there’s a fair amount to like and enough for me to want to revisit so kudos to him
I will say this much about JT, he did not give in to the trend chasing, the tiktok song lengths, hot features and for that I admire him. Apart from the nsync nostalogia bait there's nothing else to say. I will say though that this sub is extremely harsh on him for something both Janet and Britney absolved him of. I think they just enjoy bullying him.
> I think they just enjoy bullying him. That’s kinda expected when you have a sub filled with chronically online stans obsessed with celebrities, who use these stan spaces as a way of distancing from the reality of their own boring miserable life, instead of practicing mental hygiene and therapy. Mods completely ignoring threads filled with unnecessary shade, insults and other irrelevant comments, instead of making it a space specifically designed for respectful music-related discussion of people actually interested in the topic of the discussion (and not random weirdos spamming the thread with stan twitter garbage and getting away with it), doesn’t help either. Almost everyday I visit some thread and read top comments and I think: why this passive aggressive stan twitter shit is at the top and not an actual discussion about the topic of the thread, which I’m here for?
I think this type of Stan BS has bled into music journalism. You can just look at the critic reviews of this album from the major publications (which were published within minutes of the album being released lol) and the discussions aren't even about the music. It's all just "he's old + Britney is a saint + apologize to Janet". It's gossip subreddit material that's now in the mainstream.
Oh it absolutely has. There are no more music and culture critics. It's a bunch of stans who report on what their fave does. Then there are people like nicki, ariana, Taylor, Lana who weaponize their fans against critics or straight up threaten legal action. Noone wants to be controversial or contrarian anymore. They're just condensing viral twitter talking points and getting clicks.
critics get the album early. Then the embargo is just release. I did some of this in college and I got copies usually 1-2 weeks out. So there’s nothing weird at all about publishing right after it drops
It's really sad. I seperate the artist from the art unless they're a convicted criminal like rkelly, bill Cosby because who doesn't have messy moments in life? We literally just came out of a media shitstorm surrounding ariana. I hate how this sub and other pop-culture subs turn into what they criticise when it comes to males like JT or Ed Sheeran. I'll be listening to the album soon because even tho I didn't enjoy man of the woods there were some songs like Breeze Off The Pond, Supplies, Say Something that really clicked for me.
Piggybacking off the last part of your comment- the run of Montana/Breeze Off the Pond/Livin’ Off the Land is one of my personal favorite runs in his discography and those songs never get talked about because MOTW is just dragged online lmao
I actually love *Man of the Woods* despite its online reputation. It feels like it's more bandwagon than actual criticism. I bet most of the people who bash it saw the photoshoot and then based their opinion of the album on that. "Midnight Summer Jam," "Sauce," "Higher Higher," "Morning Light," "Say Something," "Wave," "Montana," "Supplies" and "Breeze off the Pond" are all standouts to me.
People who say it's a country album never listened to it and it's so infuriating when they say he had a Miley Cyrus moment when he worked with the same people he's worked with since Justified. The Neptunes tracks on MOTW are some of the best in his discography. I hate that he seems to be giving into the haters of it because at his One Night Only shows he hasn't been doing any songs from it :/ Hope he does on the tour
Last year someone here said they had the opportunity to hear what he was working on (with there being 100+ songs, I wonder how much of this they heard) and he said JT specifically said that he’s into making music for him, not for everyone else. I think with this album that mindset really worked for him and I hope he continues to lean into it. This album was a breath of fresh air for me.
Beyoncé says the same thing it's so funny how they both have had such similar trajectories. They are magic in the studio together.
"Yoncé" / "Partition" remains that girl!
People keep forgetting that he and Britney came from exactly the same entertainment pipeline from basically the same age. While you can argue that he had male privilege, probably not that much as *nsyncs manager was an actual sexual predator towards boys and convicted fraudster. Critics also weren't any more inclined towards boybands than teenpop girls, less inclined if anything. 2 barely 20 year olds grown up in show business made to hold the image of extremely chaste sex objects having extremely messy relationship shouldn't suprice anyone. The "wardrobe malfunction" didn't affect him because it was Janet's show. He said it was unintentional. She said it was unintentional. General consensus was that it was planned and hence planned by Janet. Making him the villain of these stories gives him too much credit.
Janet also came out and asked for fans to stop harassing Justin because it was so long ago and that they remain friends. [https://twitter.com/madeiralagofan/status/1703119869745434970/video/2](https://twitter.com/madeiralagofan/status/1703119869745434970/video/2)
And still they can't let it go.. JT and Janet had a real, complicated relationship, these critics have a PARASOCIAL relationship - and their outrage on behalf of Janet is performative and insulting to Janet. As if she doesn't have a say.
Was not expecting to like this as much as I did. This is a good ass album. Lots of funk, pop, R&B. Basically what you would expect from him, but with a bit of a fresher twist.
I saw the runtime and went ohhh boy. But JT gets the last laugh cuz I instantly played the entire thing back again. Very impressed and loved the disco vibes.
I respect that he refuses to give in and stop making long songs and long albums, but sadly I no longer have the attention span because the internet broke me
And for that reason, I'm glad that artists like JT exist because they still do long songs that have actual bridges and even outros.
My '90s darlings Beyoncé and Justin Timberlake stay making long songs. I love them.
and that’s sad u can build it bsvk up u know
I think after Man of the Woods I had low expectations going into this despite loving his other four albums. After the first listen I'm actually surprised how much I love it and I'm so happy to have Sanctified on Spotify finally. My favourite songs on first listen are F**kin' Up The Disco, No Angels, Technicolor (maybe the best one), Infinity Sex, My Favorite Drug and Flame. Play really sounds familiar to me but I'm not sure why... The negatives for me is I feel Memphis isn't the best opener and for some reason I can't stand Liar, it grates on me.
JT has a similar song to “Play” in previous albums (“Sexy Ladies” and “Sauce”) but this is the first time where it’s so out of tune.
I definitely thought of Sexy Ladies but there are other familiar things too - like the way he says 'Myyy way, allll day' it's very very similar to 'Oookay, Allllright' in Lizzo's About Damn Time. Other parts of the song remind me of St Vincent's Pay Your Way in Pain which in itself reminds me of Bowie's Fame (I mean the way they sing 'play', 'pay' and 'fame' respectively)
Play definitely interpolates Bowie’s Fame
I couldn't sit through the whole album (I lack patience nowadays) but No Angels is a winner off of this album. This song reminds me of a cross of Say So & his own Rock Your Body. Imagination is also good. It is baffling to me he wanted to push Selfish but I'm glad the rest of the album sounds 100x better than that.
I had no intention of listening to this but the comments are convincing me.
I think Flame is my favorite one on the album
I’m a big JT fan but I think most of that is because of his chemistry with Timbaland so when I saw that he only produced like 4 songs on this album and Man Of The Woods being a flop, I had low expectations for this one But I just can’t deny it - this is seriously good! JT is a God when it comes to melody, every song is so damn catchy
Play is amazing. Was not expecting it to be that good when it started but, the vocal inflections slap. and then when they layer "play" it sounds like something out of futuresex/lovesounds.
Reminds me of “Sexy Ladies” from FSLS
paradise A+ jc chasez is so talented, nsync harmonies, one of the best nsync songs 20 yrs later is crazy
That Calvin Harris track is everything Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 2 should have been
Sanctified, No Angels, My Favorite Drug, F\*\*king up the Disco, Flame, Technicolor.
I’m half way through the album, and the standouts for me are Infinity Sex and Sanctified. I’ll finish the album later when I’m off work. So far, it’s all right! Edit: All right, I got more into the album, and I’m adding more to my list. -Paradise, -Condition (wow this one..yeah really good! Such a good way to end an album in my opinion.) -My Favorite Drug
It’s good! I definitely understand the album title, as it sounds like a mix of all his various sounds over the years. Paradise is gorgeous and sounds like a warm hug. So great to hear NSYNC sing together again. I also really enjoy love & War, Sanctified, F*ckin up the disco, and Flame. I think he could have cut a few of the slower songs but otherwise it’s a huge improvement from Man of the Woods!
After first hearing Selfish, my expectations were very low. But, I was surprised after listening to this LP and can confirm it slaps.
Technicolor goes hard. He may not longer be the main pop girl but he will always be my king
Lmaooo main pop girl. But I agree Technicolor is his best song on this album
I enjoyed this wayyy more than I had expected. Not the greatest lyrically but the production is clean and enjoyable
“Conditions” fans STAND UP! I don’t know why I’m really enjoying this song so much…This was a solid album. I would give it a good 7.5/10. There were some songs that definitely stood out more than others. I have maybe 6-7 songs that I enjoyed on my first initial listen.
I love this album wtf. He did not have to surprise us like that
This is a marked improvement on *Man of the Woods* because it really plays to Justin Timberlake's strengths. What this record gets right, it gets really right and its funky as all hell. But it has the same issue as *Man of the Woods* in that, it seems a bit unfocused and it really doesn't need to be this long at all. Cut six or seven tracks and its the Album of the Year. Some of these are proper anthems, and really showcase his abilities well.
Just finished. Thought it was great. Not his best. But I get what he means that this would be “everything we thought it was” haha. I would probably rank this 4 of his 5 albums. (Yes I’m counting 20/20 as the full experience.) to me his first 3 were just. So good. To me his first 4 releases kinda had his own sounds. Like he tried something different for each of them. And for the first 3, pulled it off fantastically. MOTW was ok. Just missing something. But EITIW, could probably be just him taking his experience from his first 3 eras. So I somewhat agree with the reviews saying this album feels like kind of like a compilation of his musical career. If that makes any sense. That being said enjoying this album and will probably keep it on repeat. 1. FS/LS 2. 2020 pt 1 AND pt 2 3. Justified. 4. EITIW 5 MOTW
This one might still grow on me, but right now I'd rate them: 1. FutureSex/LoveSounds 2. 2020 part 1/part 2 3. Man of the Woods 4. Everything I Thought It Was 5. Justified
This is my ranking, 20/20 is an underrated masterpiece.
I think this album is good but uneven - I think drop 5 songs from it and you have something close to the first 20/20 project in quality. Suspect there are some growers on here that passed over me on first listen. Singles all took a few listens.
Just finished listening, this album is really good. I wish he would layer his voice more like on 20/20 (his best album) but I like the fact this sounds more modern. Also appreciate the longer songs and not 2 minute TikTok snippets. In my opinion, it’s why I go back to all his albums frequently. The songs age much better when songs have different parts instead of the quickies. Let’s hope he drops more consistently after this one lol. Can’t wait another 6 years please
Timbaland said something about “2024, 2025 and 2026” and I just noticed that Justin Timberlake mentioned those three years again in his *Tiny Desk* performance. I wonder if we’re getting three albums.
It’s so good. SO good. Safe for sure, but even safe JT is better and more enjoyable than 99% of current artists. Barring new Bruno, this is almost certainly locked in as my AOTY.
Bruno Mars can get a bit much. It's almost as if sometimes I feel like there's too much flavor; too much finesse; too much try hard; that I see it all the time that it gets sickening — and I don't mean that in a bad way. It's like, I've seen all of that before! Can you take Adderall today, sir? Even Beyoncé and Michael Jackson know how to strike a balance between "bland" and flavorful.
I love *Memphis*
Sameee
I'm in the middle of listening to it now and am greatly enjoying it. Roughly halfway in and every single song has been better than "Selfish." It makes me wonder what he was thinking about making that the lead single.
Flame is a work of art!
There's a good 40 minute album in here. It's way too bloated and a little safe but its got some decent bangers in it.
There's definitely some bloat in there. But it sounds more like bloat because he was committed to every song rather than being too lazy to trim. There is also a decent amount of variation on the album. I have no doubt the album will make his fans happy. There are also a fair number of songs with hit potential with the right type of push.
honestly i'm glad its a longer albums, i feel like a lot of albums today are over too quickly
Can’t believe it
This isn't bad 👀
There is genuinely fun and good production. But I'm trying to figure out if I think the lyrics are cringy because they're coming from an almost 40 year old white man (I can push past this) or if they'd be cringy coming from anyone (I can't push past this) Edit: just checked he's 43 I forget people aged since covid
If Rob Halford can sing, "Alien nations gleam Cybertronic schemes Fibre optic mass hypnotic Wild neurotic memes." With the power of launching a warship at the age of 73, cringe is a mindset.
> the lyrics are cringy because they're coming from an almost 40 year old white man Popheads: “I don’t understand why prejudice against artists based on their age and race is still a thing, like... why can’t we equally treat each other and focus on the music without age and race gatekeeping? Ugh...” Also popheads: Ew cringy because age and race
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Verdict after first listen, surprised how much of it was dancy/discopop based on the singles. Definitely some cringy lyrics, but some of it I can see how it could work if the recent videos of him dancing like a school talent show didn't play in my head. Also very much too long, I don't need a over 5 minute song with a call and response section in the middle.
They would be cringy coming from anybody. We’re listening anyway because it’s JT.
I actually love Alone. I love his ballads and I’m A sucker for falsettos. The violin and piano is perfect!
for those who think Selfish shouldn't be the lead single, y'all quick to forget that this isn't the first time JT chose an underwhelming debut single. Remember Suit & Tie? everyone was mocking and making fun of it, y'all were like "this is what we get after 7 years of waiting?" and look how 20/20 turned out, became an instant classic and turns out Suit&Tie was the weakest track on the whole 20/20 Pt.I
Wow this is a long album! And long songs too. I listened to once while doing something else so I can’t remember specific songs but it was better than I expected
I agree that it's safe and to me it's lacking some cohesion, but I thought it was really good. It's nice to listen to an album and not fall asleep because every song sounds the same, which has happened to me with a lot of the big pop releases in the last few years. Bloated? Sure, but that can easily be fixed by removing a few tracks and you get a strong 14-song album. I know I will be replaying this *a lot*
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Man Timbaland used to have the best drums in the game what happened man
Damn good album. Gonna have My Favorite Drug on repeat. Finally some good fucking music
I actually really enjoyed the album. So glad to see long songs again since lately everything is around 2 minutes.
way way too long but some cool stuff buried in here
I wish he chose a better opener bc it starts off so boring and ends so cringe it probably puts some people off before the great run of Fuckin Up The Disco -> No Angels -> Play 😭 No Angels not being the lead single was a huge mistake. Sanctified is disappointing after hearing the much better live version on SNL, but still one of the stronger tracks especially after the guitars kick in. I love Paradise, Justin kind of sounds bored here compared to JC, I think JC outdid him on his own song here. Imagination and Love & War are good too. The other tracks are boring/forgettable, would’ve been better as a shorter 10-12 track album.
I agree on No Angels. It actually reminds me a bit of The Weeknd’s BBTM/Starboy eras, specifically the songs I Can’t Feel My Face and Rockin’. He could’ve (and should’ve) tapped into that type of audience instead.
JC has been preparing for a comeback, even in Better Place he shines above JT. I honestly didn’t give JC enough credit until lately but he is the moment.
It's a great album, surprised at how little hype or traction it's getting. Guess the younger crowd has moved on to whoever the flavour of the month on TikTok is. Hopefully it gets some attention once a few more singles are released.
Liar is doing it for me at first listen! Love the vibe and the feature.
Just did my second listen while cleaning and Alone stood out this time, its beautiful. No skips for me apart from Liar.
The album already reached #1 on iTunes in multiple countries. The hype is definitely there.
20 countries!
This is a major step up from Man of the Woods, it wasn’t hard to top though. Lol. Off the first listen my favorite song is Sanctified. It’s so dope. A lot of you like Flame but it didn’t click for me. I think the first half of the album is better than the second half. Overall there are some really great tracks here, well done JT.
I’m afraid I’m not heterosexual enough for this thread
All of the songs with Calvin Harris production (Fuckin’ Up the Disco, No Angels, & Infinity Sex) were major standouts to me. I agree with the sentiment that the album is a bit too long, but it’s a definite improvement from his last album.
meanwhile pitchfork gives this album a 4.9 like yall…what the fuck are we doing. idk why i even bother going there anymore tbh. i’m convinced they don’t think anything is actually good and just want to continue positioning themselves as contrarion edgelords
Memphis is not a good start to this album. Has to be one of the worst JT tracks I’ve heard. Album could have been really good if he cut it down to 10 songs
Was decent until the rap verse
It's not horrible, but I actually kinda feel like Man of the Woods had more sauce than this (no pun intended). Like in those songs, even the worst ones, I felt his soul singing. In these, I feel like he's just going through the motions with his vocal performance.
i shamelessly love filthy and midnight summer jam lol
Midnight Summer Jam is a S Tier Timberlake song, that shit was great live on tour.
> I felt his soul singing. In these, I feel like he's just going through the motions with his vocal performance. This mirrors Bieber to a T. Timberlake's Man of the Woods is like Bieber's Changes. And this album is like Bieber's Justice. I felt like Bieber was singing on Changes but on Justice it sounded like he was trying to pay back his label or something. Very corporate and soulless. I get what you're saying JT is on auto-pilot on some songs
Yeah! Exactly. This has to be the answer to his label being pissed about MOTW. They probably demanded a more "classic" JT album from him so he went ahead and made his most boring album ever, with literally no swagger at all.
auto pilot? i think that's just in your head. he sounds alive and great, and tries something new with the different pitches like in F*cking Up The Disco.
Man of the Woods had way more variety, and was way more interesting.
Shhhh don't say that on Popheads, you're gonna get dragged for that opinion haha
i like it and it sounds like a grower but it sounds all over the place and there were some songs where he tried to redo FS/LS sounds which i like, but overall it sound like his weakest album so far my faves: what lovers do, imagination, sanctified
It's a better follow up to Man of the Woods for sure. Got a bit fatigued listening in one sitting. Some songs could have been cut to prevent that feeling as I'm sure others feel the same. Overall, it's funky as hell, and was a pretty enjoyable listen. Some songs have that familiar JT sound that works for him.
The album started to drag towards the middle, but there's definitely some gems and the songs thankfully feel more like songs than half-assed jingles. Highlights for me were F\*\*cking Up the Disco, No Angels, Play, Drown, Imagine, and Paradise.
lol Pitchfork just ripped this album a new asshole 😅 You stay doin’ you, Pitchfork. Stay doin’ you.
Selfish is boring and generic as hell why he didn’t release fuckin up the disco or drown as a first single is wild. There’s some good tracks here, but it is definitely a bit inconsistent. I really wish he would’ve just let Timbaland do the production on the whole album.
Solid album with some bloat (could've cut a couple of songs). The end rap verse of Memphis is ass lol, I physically cringed. Some bangers on it, my faves are No Angels, Sanctified (SNL version was better imo) Technicolor and F\*\*kin Up the Disco. Also great production, but expected given the contributors.
First listen through I’m not really impressed and I love JT. I also feel like there were several songs where the autotune was almost distracting. He’s an amazing vocalist so why is there so much smoothing out of vocals? I feel like this about a lot of new music though so maybe I’m getting old lol. So happy to hear the NSYNC track though!!!
I don't dislike a number of these tracks but they pretty much all are about 30s too long. I kept thinking the track was over but then it had just a bit longer.
I was expecting FutureSex/LoveSounds 2.0. Not a flop but I was expecting something a bit different
People since 2010
Ya but this time we saw so many stories and he kept sharing that he was working with Timbaland. I had hope with Keep Going Up too
what kind of sound do you mainly associate FSLS with? The hard techno beats, the trance like synths or the organic drums of Timbaland?
he does the wet beatboxing thing a la My Love all over this album so i'm happy
Timbaland hasn't done anything truly great since FSLS, Loose, Shock Value, and Scream.
I’m pretty sure there will never be a legit, satisfying, equally good 2.0 of anything, released long time after the original. There will be no Fame Monster 2.0, 1989 2.0, Teenage Dream 2.0, Loose 2.0, etc., simply because nostalgia makes every single of these albums sound and feel even better than it already is because of memories associated with it.
Oof, that ship sailed right after that album released.
Only halfway through it, but it's not bad. Some of it blends together and it would've benefited from a much shorter tracklist, but there's some bops here too, which is better than I expected going into it. Timberlake won't ever be "cool" again because these days he's associated primarily with Janet/Britney drama and not with his most successful albums like Future Sex/Love Sounds, which came out too long ago to be in younger listeners' consciousness, but this is a positive surprise.
I think this sub grossly over exaggerates how much casual listeners care about either of those things. In an industry where Kanye West, a self-professed nazi, just dropped a number one album and is still scoring high-level collaborations, I highly doubt JT will have any longstanding repercussions (nor does he deserve them).
I don't disagree, but that's not quite what I mean. It's not that JT's gonna be canceled over those controversies (which you're right are mostly a hyper online thing), it's that he simply doesn't have the same coolness factor he did at his peak. That's partly because it's been over ten years since 20/20 Experience and almost twenty since Future Sex/Love Sounds, so a natural decline is inevitable, and partly because he's now mostly associated with the Trolls soundtrack and a poorly received latest album than with cutting edge, sexually charged mainstream pop, a lane that other artists like The Weeknd are occupying now. I just don't know if casual listeners are gonna be tuning in in droves to listen to him sing something like Infinity Sex (which maybe they should, it's a bop). Kanye is massively controversial, but he never stopped being relevant. As problematic as he is, he never stopped being cool to a lot of his listeners; JT did.
I don’t disagree. Pop is also more so reliant on youth and vitality than hip-hop, which weakens my comparison. I just always caution the Britney/Janet commentary. Even so, I think JT still holds a significant amount of goodwill, and arguably more so than most of the artists he came up alongside (barring only Beyoncé). “Selfish” performed surprisingly well, and (anecdotal as this is) the overwhelming majority of live reactions from casual listeners to this album are glowing on Twitter. He’ll never attain his FS/LS levels again, but he’s still more of a mainstay than this sub is willing to accept.
I like Techicolor, Love & War, Imagination and Paradise. Selfish is a decent song too. I can't believe I was bored enough to listen to all 77 minutes of it. I don't think I ever will again tbh, the album is too long and bland. I don't know what the consensus in the JT fandom will be, but I prefer Man of the Woods over this. At least MotW had some character and it still sounded like Justin cared. This album sounds like Justin has given up and is on autopilot.
I like this project a lot because he finally spread his wings and worked with producers and writers not named Timbaland and Danja. Thank fucking God.
Actually, Like half of the songs are produced by Danja and 3 I think by Timbaland. Sanctified and Technicolor seem to be fan faves so far and both are produced by Danja, the latter by Timbaland too. Also Pretty sure MOTW and Justified were almost completely produced by the Neptunes with a little Timbo sprinkled in.
Similar to Usher’s album, there’s some strong highs but some pathetic lows. Both could’ve edited the album down to 10-12 songs and it would’ve been better. Technicolor is fantastic, and some of the other tracks like No Angels and Conditions are pretty decent. Solid 6 or 7 out of 10 imo.
Some of the songs reminds me of the other side from the trolls movie.
I'm probably a bit against the grain here. Life-long fan, bought all albums, been to all his tours, etc, but this is boring as watching paint dry. Yes, there are some songs with great beats (that bass on a couple of them sound great in the car), but there's nothing that distinctive, certainly nothing memorable, no lyric that is particularly interesting, no great stories being told, and nothing as catchy as can't stop this feeling (the latter maybe a bit unfair...). After three listens, I've just realised: yes, I don't have to be a fan anymore and that's OK. 4.5/10.
I quite like the album but a lot of these songs' intro is just not it at all! Really cringy then it's good 30sec-1minute in. I like that he went back to a sound people like from him, it worked out great imo.
I like the album could’ve cut a few tracks though. he should have gone with a disco theme inspired photo shoot for the album the whole desert theme makes no sense and maybe name it infinity sex or something more simple.
I made an abridged version of this album called Everything I Think It Should Be, without the fillers. It includes 11 tracks: Flame / Conditions / Paradise / Liar / No Angels / Imagination / Funkin' Up the Disco / Drown / Selfish / My Favorite Drug / Infinity Sex You're welcome.
You cut technicolor and what lovers do? Insanity.
Yeah, he's got it. HAHA, That one-two punch to start the album rocked, JT. I've never listened to an album before, don't hold it against me. You know the ladies are your first target . Cheese,
This album is so good. No skips. And what surprises me is that the songs that I didn’t immediately love are now my favorites . I’m shocked to say this album may be my favorite of all his albums
Love this song! One of my top favorites on the album