Design Of A Decade 1986-1996 [Best of]

 

 

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This CD is absolutely incredible. The one and only reason that I took one star off is because of the weird concept. It includes all her hits from A&M records, as well as two new songs and "That's the Way Love Goes". I understand the reasoning, but it is still a bit awkward.

Regardless, that doesn't take away from the fantastic music. It starts off with "Runaway" which is a classic Janet 'holiday' song in the vein of 'Escapade". The camera click sound on each beat is very catchy and unique.

The next few tracks are from Janet's 1986 breakthrough "Control": "What Have you Done for me Lately", "Nasty" and "When I Think Of You". All classic singles that have the most seductive dance beats and attitude that makes Janet who she is.

It continues with four tracks from "Rhythm Nation 1814": "Escapade", "Miss You Much", "Love Will Never Do...", and "Alright" They all have futuristic, yet 80's pop beat to them which is the tone for the RN1814 album. Of course, they'll all extremely catchy. "Alight" appears in it's radio remix form, which is a nice little treat.

The album continues with two more "Control" tracks: The amazing "Control", and "The Pleasure Principle". Jimmy, Terry and Janet did great job on these. They are R&B classics that sound even better today. Next are "Black Cat" and "Rhythm Nation. The former is also in radio remix form which is a nice luxury. "Rhythm Nation" is basically the same as it's album version, with the exclusion of Janet's 'pledge speech' at the beginning.

The last four songs are slow jams, each from a different album. "That's the Way Love Goes" from 'janet.' is J's biggest hit, and with good reason. The beat is so sexy, as are Janet's vocals. The groove is absolutely blissful. Next is "Come Back to Me" (RN1814), a fantastic soothing R&B ballad that sounds ahead of it's time. "Let's Wait A while" is Janet's first hit ballad (from "Control"), and it's a very sweet song about waiting to have sex. Last but not least is another new track "Twenty Foreplay" which starts off as a sweet slow ballad, and then changes it's tone to a straight-up funky, love-making jam.

All-in-all,this CD demonstrates what an amazing talent Janet Jackson is, and what pleasure it is to have her as part of he music industry.

This is a good overview of Janet's early career. On DESIGN OF A DECADE, you get all the hits from her first breakthrough albums CONTROL and RHYTHM NATION 1814. Because she was with A&M on those albums, and this album is on A&M, there is only one song from her "janet." album ("That's The Way Love Goes") since that album was on Virgin. There's two new tracks as well. "Runaway" is a nice uptempo song about being with someone and traveling the world. "Twenty Foreplay" is a sexy rompy ballad that sounds great. They are worth having. However, if you have her albums, there's no need really for this album other than to have all the hits on one CD.

"Design of a Decade 1986-1996" is a compilation of most of Janet Jackson's hits within that time span. Every song plays a great role in music history. This presents listeners how she evolved as an artist within that time. Through strong independence, fighting against discrimination, and sex, she became more than a musician and a dancer. She's influenced a generation of pop musicians that came after her. The variety of music genres give listeners the added pleasure: pop, R&B, rock, and funk. Her great talents prove that she greatly deserves the recognition she's received.

Janet Jackson took her tracks from her previous three albums: "Control" (1986), "Rhythm Nation 1814" (1989), and "Janet" (1993). All three albums reached #1 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Charts. Despite the long time span between albums, the quality proves worth the wait. Every track through her career tells a story and gives listeners the amazing emotional pleasure. Therefore, they take them on a musical journey through her life, trials, and beliefs. Through every release, she amazed fans with her changed style, attitude, and looks. Within 1986-1996, she won four Grammys and several other awards.

Before 1986, she starred in two sitcoms briefly: "Good Times" (1978-1980) and "Diff'rent Strokes" (1981-1982). She also released two albums: self-titled (1982) and "Dream Street" (1984). Unfortunately, both albums flopped. "Control" is when her career lauched to enormous levels. She released six hit singles from this album, starting with "What Have You Done For Me Lately", all which are featured on "Design of a Decade". These tracks define her strong-willed independence. She fired her father manager before recording began. Her lyrics are accompanied by wonderful funky pop backgrounds. With the help of longtime producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the dance beats give listeners great dancing pleasure. Through the dancing, she expresses her more sensative side on the ballad "Let's Wait a While". Such quality proves that her success is only the beginning.

Her album "Rhythm Nation 1814" expresses her strong political beliefs, namely racism. This launched seven hit singles, all which are featured on "Design of a Decade". Musically, she explores more pop/dance rather than pop/funk. The occasional various genres keep listeners interested. The dance beats continue to attract audiences. She performs every track expressively and beautiful, offering a deeper look through her words. Through the signature dance music, she manages to record a rock song "Black Cat". Her final single from this album "Love Will Never Do Without You" readies listeners for her next album.

Janet Jackson's biggest selling album "Janet" surprises listeners most. Her previous well-known conservative look transforms to a sexually charged image. She launched six hit singles from this album. Due to record company contracts, "That's the Way Love Goes" is the only one featured on "Design of a Decade". This calm, groovy R&B song partially introduces listeners to the album's theme. This remains her most successful single to date. This was written and performed beautifully. Her voice perfectly matched with the intimate theme.

Through the career journey on "Design of a Decade", Janet Jackson rooms two new singles: "Runaway" and "Twenty Foreplay". The musical quality proves that she continues to evolve as an artist with this album release. "Runaway" is a great pop single that explores her career times. She quotes that through all of her success, her then-husband (in secret) was missing. The ballad "Twenty Foreplay" is a great song to relax to.

"Design of a Decade 1986-1996" is a great album for all Janet Jackson fans. This is sure to please listeners for a long time. Every song featured will become classics in the following years. Her successes after this prove that "part two" will come shortly. Go Janet!

Janet Jackson's albums after "Design of a Decade" (all recommended):
---"The Velvet Rope" (1997)
---"All For You" (2001)
---"Damita Jo" (2004)

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5.0 out of 5 stars HERstory,Past,Present and Future
In 1995,when Janet Jackson's King of Pop brother Michael released his HISTORY album,she released her first greatest hits package with a few new tracks. Read more

Published on July 1 2004 by andy8047

5.0 out of 5 stars Design Of A Decade 1986-1996 (1995)
Janet Jackson, the younger sister of Michael Jackson, and the youngest sibling of the Jackson children, was yet another more-than-popular Jackson and her first greatest hits... Read more

Published on Jun 23 2004 by Chad DeFeo

5.0 out of 5 stars Miss Janet
Well done! At the time of it's release this album really did capture the best of Janet's work. She has some real jams on here that in my opinion have not aged at all. Read more

Published on Jun 12 2004 by spirit51

5.0 out of 5 stars The Saga of a Legendary Pop and R&B Icon
It seemed as if Janet was already a living legend by the time of this album's release. I mean, she had gone from child star to rising singer to superstar pop icon all in a decade... Read more

Published on Jun 11 2004 by Timothy Pernell

5.0 out of 5 stars it started for me with this album
Janet was extremely funky in the Scream video and was fascinating to watch when jumping from continent to continent in the Runaway video. Read more

Published on May 29 2004

1.0 out of 5 stars BLAND AND INSIPID
THIS HAS TO CERTAINLY ONE OF THE WORST AND BORING AND UNINSPIRING CHEESY MUSIC EVER RECORDED.ALL THE SONGS ARE FILLER AND AWFUL BEYOND WORDS. Read more

Published on May 12 2004 by terrific guy

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Place To Get Janet Classics
If you don't want to pay to get Janet's past albums, this is a good supplement as this covers most of the bases! Read more

Published on May 11 2004 by Ervin Griffin

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT GREATEST HITS
1.Runaway-This is such a great song. I'm not surprised that it's the first single on here. The video is good to.
2. Read more

Published on May 3 2004 by Lisa

5.0 out of 5 stars Janets Greatest Hits
This is by far a great set of greatest hits!!. From 1986/1996 (in reality 1995!) there are great tracks here. I only wished she included more tracks fom the "janet. Read more

Published on April 25 2004 by Chris

5.0 out of 5 stars A 5-Star Stellar Janet Collection
This 1995 compilation, Design Of A Decade, is a fantastic collection of hits from Janet's two groundbreaking albums of the 80's, Control and Rhythm Nation 1814. Read more

Published on April 19 2004 by Brandon Ousley

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