Discipline her for this junk

Although she’s one of the biggest artists of all time, Janet Jackson has struggled in recent years. Her last two albums, Damita Jo and 20 Y.O., were pretty forgettable. She’s stayed in the news through her various controversies, whether it be the Super Bowl flashing or her ever-fluctuating weight. But Jackson is back yet again trying to recapture her success with Discipline.

Janet’s last few albums haven’t been as successful because she has strayed away from more serious topics and swapped them with sexually fueled dance tracks. On Discipline she sticks with the latter sound, creating a handful of soulless pop songs comprising some of the worst lyrics of the year – lyrics that cannot be saved by a few interesting beats.

The beat on “Feedback” seems perfect for radio, and Janet’s vocals are fine. The lyrics, though, are horrendous. It works OK until she delivers classic lines such as “Flyer than a pelican find another chick better than I don’t see her / Cause my swag is serious / Something heavy like a first day period.”
Another issue for Discipline is an utter lack of originality. If the beat in “Luv” sounds eerily familiar, that’s because it sounds like it was lifted right from Kanye West’s “Good Life.” And “Rock With U” sees Janet repeating the title over and over for four minutes.

Discipline’s ballads don’t make up for any of the album’s errors either. “Can’t B Good,” “Never Letchu Go” and “Greatest X” continue the trend of oversimplified lyrics as Janet basically whispers over dreary arrangements.

“Greatest X” is the worst, featuring winning lyrics such as “I loved you, and you loved me / I just couldn’t see tomorrow / Now I know in my heart you’ll always be the greatest X ever.” Something like this wouldn’t even be expected from JoJo, let alone a legend like Janet.

With Discipline, Janet again follows current trends in music. Sadly, the results are laughable, and she’s forgotten what made her popular in the first place. And until she remembers, our generation of would-be fans will only remember her for racking up record FCC fines.