Product Description

Need to replace your worn-out copies of CONTROL and RHYTHM NATION 1814? DESIGN OF A DECADE is the two-for-one answer, whittling those two '80s R&B landmarks down to their thirteenblockbuster hits, adding the 1993 single "That's The Way Love Goes" and two new tracks. It's one beat-crazy disc that will rival Madonna's THE IMMACULATE COLLECTION as the essential document of female pop of the '80s.
Janet Jackson's solo career began in 1982, but it didn't really take off until1986. CONTROL left everything else behind. The title track is a declaration of independence that explicitly dismissed her famous parents and her brief marriage to James DeBarge. In doing so, Jackson launched her music inexorably forward. CONTROL's songs are bottom-heavy, keyboard-controlled blasts of electronic pop that shook off her family's sweet soul in favour of the raw funk feel and steely techno sound of modern clubland. They continued the mid-'80s pop revolution started by brother Michael and Prince, and added an unmistakable feminist stamp. Yet the revolution also allowed such pillowypop moments as "Let's Wait Awhile", an apparent ode to virginity. RHYTHM NATION--from which seven of this compilation'stracks are drawn--went even further, blowing up the music'sfunky bottom and adding shots of heavy-metal guitar and heavy-mental social conscience.
DESIGN OF A DECADE begins and ends with new recordings. "Twenty Foreplay", a demand for total devotion from her lover, is a ballad on which Jackson sounds eerily like her brother, except in her sexual frankness. "Runaway" is a breezy, xylophone-driven pop tune that may seem like a retreat from her funkiest advances; then again, it may be just one more stretch in Janet Jackson's universal pop ambitions.

Track Listing

1. Runaway
2. What Have You Done For Me Lately
3. Nasty
4. When I Think Of You
5. Escapade
6. Miss You Much
7. Whoops Now
8. Love Will Never Do (Without You)
9. Alright
10. The Best Things In Life Are Free - Janet Jackson, Luther Vandross
11. Control
12. The Pleasure Principle
13. Black Cat
14. Rhythm Nation
15. Come Back To Me
16. Let's Wait Awhile
17. Twenty Foreplay

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9386 in Music
• Released on: 2001-05-18
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 80 minutes

Customer Reviews

A Pefect Collection for all of Janet's "Control" and "Rhythm Nation 1814" hits. And two "janet." songs too!
In 1995 Janet released "Design of a Decade 1986-1996", a collection of her best known "Control" and "Rhythm Nation 1814" hits. e.g. "What Have You Done For Me Lately", "Nasty", "When I THink of You", "Love Will Never Do (Without You)", "Rhythm Nation and surprisingly, "The Best Things In Life are Free", a duet with Luther Vandross for "Mo' Money".

The album starts with the new song "Runaway" ***** which has hard hip-hop beats and gentle African chords. "WHYDFML" ***** preceeds "Nasty" *****, with the tongue-in-cheek retort "Miss Jackson if you're nasty!". "When I Think of You" ***** is just as perfect as it sounded in 1986. "Escapade" **** is far more poppier than all the other songs, though still a good song. "Miss You Much" ***** is a brilliant dance song which will never age.

Taking a break from A&M songs you get the Virgin released "Whoops Now" *** which is really poppy and never fit in with the rest of songs off "janet." and dosen't fit in with the rest of "Design of a Decade 1986-1996" (At least "Escapade" is better!) "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" ***** is a brilliant song and has a "love-will-conquer-all theme. "Alright" **** not feeling this remix as much as the normal version, but still listenable. "The Best Things In Life Are Free" ***** Now ya talkin! This song is absolutely brilliant (or should I say remix!). "Control" ***** is rather different, rather like "Rhythm Nation" because of it's new jack swing elements but really good. "The Pleasure Principle" ***** I'm in love with this song. The video is an absolutely brilliant and lots of people have copied it in their videos. Songwise, absolutely BRILLIANT! "Black Cat" ***** This remix is rather rocky and doesn't really fit in though it is good. "Rhythm Nation" ***** Nothing can top this song off, it's an absolute classic!

Taking a break from A&M released songs coming up is the Virgin released "That's the Way Love Goes" ***** A slow jam, knon as the soundtrack of the summer of '93! "Come Back to Me" *** I hate this remix! The normal version is much, much better! "Let's wait Awhile" **** Alright, I 'spose, rather soully in comparison to all the other songs. Lastly, closing the album is the new song "Twenty Foreplay" *** It is one of them rhapsodies which are about when you make love and it seems to stop the hands of time, though I prefer this to "Come Back to Me", this is nowhere near as good as "That's the Way Love Goes".

A few duff remixes, though mostly good.

OVERALL GRADE: 10/10

Don't get me wrong, this is one of the best Greatest Hits compilations ever released , 3rd after 1:The Immaculate Collection 2: GHV2 3: Design of a Decade 1986-1996! Buy it, you won't be dissapointed, because with her best '80s work in it, you'll enjoy it! (Though at 77 mins long I think it is a bit long!)

Janet Jackson - "Design Of A Decade"
This compilation is of Janet's hits from her A&M records down to very few Virgin songs plus two new recordings "Runaway" and "Twenty Foreplay". All of the songs are good, and the booklet includes the lyrics for the new songs plus Janet's achievements and thank you's. The tracks on this album six US #1s, aswell as UK hits. The tracks include "Runaway" (UK #6), Janet's very first single "What Have You Done For Me Lately" (UK #3), "Nasty" (UK #19), "When I Think Of You" (UK #10 and US #1), "Escapade" (UK #17 and US #1), "Miss You Much" (UK #22 and US #1), "Whoops Now" which was teamed up with "What'll I Do" as a single (UK #9), "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" (UK #34 and US #1), "Alright" (UK #20), "The Best Things In Life Are Free", Janet's duet with Luther Vandross (UK #2 Remix UK #7), "Control" (UK #42), "The Pleasure Principle" (UK #24), "Black Cat" (UK #15 and US #1), "Rhythm Nation" (UK #23), "That's The Way Love Goes" (UK #2 and US #1 for eight weeks), "Come Back To Me" (UK #20), "Let's Wait Awhile" (UK #3) and "Twenty Foreplay" (UK #22).

Overall score:- 10/10

The two new songs from this album soon became singles and "Runaway" being a Top 10 hit in the UK, whilst a Top 5 hit in the US. "That's The Way Love Goes" is Janet's biggest single from this album as it saw itself in at #2 in the UK (Janet's biggest UK Charting single) and it spent eight weeks at the top of the US Charts. "Design Of A Decade" was a #2 album in the UK. The singles came from the albums (all #1s in the US) "Control" (UK #8), "Rhythm Nation 1814" (UK #4), "Janet" (UK #1), also Janet's only #1 album in the UK and "The Best Things In Life Are Free" was new to this album. Obmissions include: "Again", "You Want This", "Any Time, Any Place" and "If". Possibly, "What'll I Do" and "Throb" are also obmissions. Overall though, a very good first decade for Janet, enough to make me buy this album. Pick it up now!

Rhythm Icon
Design of a Decade: 1986-1996 is a misleading title. The bulk of Janet Jackson's greatest-hits collection concentrates on Control and Rhythm Nation 1814, simply by contractual necessity. That is far from a fatal flaw. The hits from those two albums were state-of-the-art dance-pop productions at the time of their release, filled with bottomless beats and memorable, catchy hooks. None of the songs has lost any of its impact, from the funk of "Miss You Much" and "What Have You Done for Me Lately," to the ballads "Let's Wait Awhile" and "Come Back to Me." In addition to all 13 Top 40 hits from Control and Rhythm Nation - all but one went into the Top Five - Design of a Decade includes the biggest and best hit from janet., the sultry "That's the Way Love Goes," and two new songs, "Runaway" and "Twenty Foreplay." It's a credit to Janet that the two new numbers feel like genuine hits, not tacked-on filler, and help make the album a compulsively listenable greatest-hits collection.