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CD - Bonus Tracks
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| CD - Bonus Tracks | $36.99 |
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When your secret marriage fizzles into an impending million-dollar divorce in less than four years, you either sing the blues or round up the girlfriends and hit the clubs. Janet Jackson -- who split with longtime companion and creative collaborator Rene Elizondo in 1999 -- opts for the latter on All for You, her follow-up to 1997's Velvet Rope. She chirps the title track's sparkling dance pop over a piano-and-bass hook borrowed from Luther Vandross's "The Glow of Love" and is altogether in a sunnier mood. Save for the confessional ballad "Truth" ("I'm not into pointing fingers, showing who's right and wrong") and the anger-fueled "Son of a Gun (Betcha Think This Song Is About You)"-- on which Carly Simon reprises the chorus from her scorned-woman anthem "You're So Vain" and Jackson spews the F-word as she vents against greedy men who "try to have their cake and eat it too"-- the sexy singer takes the drama in stride. With the help of tried-and-true production by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (plus an assist from hip-hop beat maestro Rockwilder), Jackson doesn't miss a beat, shining on club-thumpers such as "You Ain't Right" and the operatic rocker "Trust a Try." And the young woman who once urged her lover to "wait a while" is ready to play the gay divorcée: She purrs about the joys of sex-for-one on the X-rated "Love Scene (Oooh Baby)" and the even more explicit "Would You Mind" (let's just say she doesn't seem to mind much). Perhaps "Better Days" best sums up Jackson's new attitude. Musing first about her life's ups and downs over a poignant string arrangement, Jackson declares she's going to "leave old shit behind and move on with my life" as the song suddenly shifts into a sunny, acoustic guitar groove. Janet may have proclaimed that she was in Control back in 1986, but it wasn't until 2001 that she's come round to celebrating it -- on the charts, on the dance floor, and in real life. Tracy E. Hopkins, Barnes & Noble