Justin Timberlake has made quite the name for himself in the last 15 years.
He has earned six Grammy awards from the work he has done in the music world. He has gained respect by showcasing his silky smooth dance moves and versatile vocal range in live performances. He owns his own record label, multiple restaurants and a clothing brand. Oh--and he also acts as a hobby. He has appeared in 24 TV shows and movies, including lead roles in highly-acclaimed blockbusters "The Social Network" and "Friends with Benefits." His appearances on television shows like "Saturday Night Live" have also added four Emmys to the showcase in his living room.
This guy is talented.
But let's take everything else out of the equation and focus on his music. After achieving wild success as the lead singer of 90s boy band 'NSYNC, 32-year-old Justin Timberlake pieced together a lucrative solo career by refusing to conform to the way every other artist is making music. He has stood out in the last decade by making a series of unprecedented creative decisions, such as long, wordy song titles ("What Goes Around.../...Comes Around Interlude" & "Sexy Ladies/Let Me Talk To You Prelude") and making his most popular single ("My Love") available only on the deluxe version of the record.
His third and latest studio release, "The 20/20 Experience," is no exception to this trend.
The album contains 10 songs which average just under seven minutes per track. This lengthy style is great for those of us who need to repaint our bathroom and don't want to step down from the ladder and wash our hands to change the track, but for the rest of the world, Timberlake's songs drag on until you are forced to manually switch to the next song.
The beat and the tune of each song is fantastic, but the excessive repetition is a bit hard to handle at times. Timberlake defended his decision on a London radio program, saying, "If Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin can do 10 minute songs, and Queen can do 10 minute songs, then why can't we? We'll figure out the radio edits later."
If we ignore that he fit 20 songs into a 10-track album, there is not a whole lot more to criticize. What really stands out on this album is the versatility we have come to love from Timberlake. "That Girl" takes us back to a jazz club in the 60s, and then we turn around and find ourselves at a tribal gathering in "Don't Hold the Wall" where vocals and heavy percussion can be heard. This creates a new experience for the listener, while traces of his boy-band days are present in songs like "Let the Groove Get In" and "Mirrors."
His premiere single "Suit & Tie" is a good representation of the album. His polished runs compliment the electric-blues backing, and his signature falsetto that drives all the ladies crazy is found everywhere. Due in no small part to this song, the swagger JT is developing has caused many to refer to him as the reincarnation of Sinatra (he's certainly just as well dressed). "Suit & Tie" sold 315,000 copies in its first week and jumped to number one in the iTunes Store just hours after being released.
In the seven years between this album and his last, Timberlake found himself in a position where there were extraordinarily high expectations from his fans, making it hard to blow everyone away. What becomes abundantly clear on this album, however, is that JT has some impalpable quality that makes his audience open their hearts to him. There is a lot of good material, but I would recommend buying only a couple tracks and leaving it at that.
Overall Grade: B
