Janet Jackson gets it all - SOUNDS FAMILIAR by Baby Gil

Janet Jackson has done it again. Michael’s little sister has once more shown herself to be quite capable of coming out with number one sellers. Her latest album All for You debuted at number one in Billboard Magazine’s top 200 album list, barely four weeks after the single of the same title also made it to the top. Initial sales for the album was recorded at 605,000 copies. Not N’Sync proportions but very good for somebody who has been around for quite a while.

Expect the numbers to get even better though. Janet has truly mastered the art of creating tunes that please plenty of listeners. All for You, her first studio album after three years is an excellent example. Radio already loves the beat and the lush arrangements. It is sweet, sexy and definitely danceable. It is also a respite from the vocal histrionics and other gimmicks that younger pop divas like to indulge in. Janet is effortlessly showing these kids a thing or two. Her vocals may not soar but they do scintillate and the brilliance is difficult to resist.

Best of all though, Janet serves up quite a feast with All for You. There are 14 songs and six interludes that add up to quite an earful. These entries cover a wide range of R&B goodies and they are mostly delicious. There is the lovely ballad Doesn’t Really Matter, which is the love theme from the Nutty Professor 2 soundtrack where she also starred opposite Eddie Murphy. This song was also her last number one single before All for You, her 10th, came along.

There is also the overtly sensual Would You Mind, which should give prudes something to rant about. Careful about radio airplay for this one although it is still not as gross as those supposedly sexy tunes we have been getting too much of lately. Would you believe there is also a new rapping take on the ’70s big seller You’re So Vain, now retitled Son of a Gun (I Betcha Think This Song is About You) with the original artist herself, Carly Simon. Janet gets an excellent for this one. Who would have thought that the very elegant Carly would ever get her feet and a lot more of her wading into the waters of hip hop? But she does with Janet.

As for the next number one single from the album, already waiting in the wings is Come On Get Up, which is a livelier echo of her earlier hit When I Think of You. If you want something sexy and cool, you can choose from either When We Oooh or Feels So Right. Or you might as well take on the whole package where not only every song but all of the contents, from every note and every word down to Janet’s sighs and thighs add up to an exciting whole. This girl thought about everything.

As for the other cuts included in the album, these are You Ain’t Right, Come On Get Up, China Love, Love Scene (Ooh Baby), Trust a Try, Truth, Someone to Call My Lover and Better Days. Incidentally, she also co-wrote all of the songs.

Enjoy this one. Billboard’s top 200

In Billboard’s top 200 album listing, Janet’s hot shot debut of All for You leads a pack of 10 that includes the following: Set This Circus Down by Tim McGraw; Now 6, a hit collection featuring various artists; Until the End of Time, another posthumous release from 2Pac; Open Letter by Case; Hotshot by Shaggy; Double Wide by Uncle Kracker; No Name Face by Lifehouse; No Angel by Dido; and Country Grammar by Nelly.

In the Hot 100 singles chart, it is Janet’s fourth week in number one with All for You. The others included in the list are: Survivor, by Destiny’s Child, which was expected to be number one until Janet came along; Thank You by Dido; Hanging by a Moment by Lifehouse; Ride With Me by Nelly featuring City Spud; Lady Marmalade, a remake of the disco classic by the powerpacked quartet of Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya & Pink from the soundtrack of the upcoming film Moulin Rouge, Angel by Shaggy featuring Rayvon; Missing You by Case; Follow Me by Uncle Kracker; and Never Had a Dream Come True by S Club 7.