An Abridged version of Janet's Number Ones double disc4 Out Of 5 Stars
The Icon series has done a fair job of dropping quickie best of collections into the ever decreasing CD market place, keeping artists in the shops desptie any new material to offer. Janet Jackson's "Number Ones" is no exception, culling a tightly wound eleven hits in quick succession, ignoring albums prior to the blockbuster "Control" and including one lesser heard recent song, "Nothing," from Tyler Perry's "Why Did I get Married Too?" movie. But the concentration is on those big moments when Janet took "Control" over her music and images, along with producers of the moment, ex-Prince associates Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis.
They take up 10 of the twelve songs here, and it's easy to recognize why. The Minneapolis Sound, which combined equal parts industrial slam/pulverizing beat/Janet's commanding studio presence to work dance floor monsters, worked perfectly on those breakthrough hits like "Control," "What Have You Done For Me Lately" or "Miss You Much." Songs that were effectively without melody, but drove home completely on Janet's forceful personality and the Jam/Lewis conquering beats. It didn't take Janet long to diversify even more, as she began to pitch more socially active songs onto the charts, like her AIDS anthem "Together Again" and the lovely ballad "That's The Way Love Goes." She was also giving props to idols like Joni Mitchell (sampling "Big Yellow taxi" on "Got Till It's Gone" or more curiously, America's "Ventura Highway" on "Someone to call My Lover"; sadly these two tracks are not included).
But Jackson, like her brother Michael, decided at a certain stage to trust her own instincts and become her own artist. Even in this admittedly slight collection, she proves that her vision was the right one to peruse. More interested fans should probably bump up to the two disc "Number Ones," but for me, this Icon set fills my space just fine.
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