Justin Timberlake’s long-awaited 3rd album finally unleashed itself upon the world this past March. Songs such as “Pusher Lover Girl,” “Suit and Tie,” and “Mirrors” have blown up the Billboard charts. This album perfectly displays that Timberlake still has that “it factor” that won over fans of his solo career back in 2003.
“The 20/20 Experience” follows the same brand of R&B artists such as Miguel, Maxwell and Robin Thicke have based their careers on. Like those artists, Timberlake mixes a heavy dose of classic R&B with a unique dash of modern sensibilities. Big bands and synths blend together to create a sound frozen in time, yet also progressive.
Where Timberlake sets himself different from the pack is the class he added album. Every song on Timberlake’s latest album conjures the images of men in suits and women in ballgowns grooving or swaying on the dancefloor. As with most music defined as classy, each song is quite long. In fact, the shortest track is “Suit and Tie” featuring Jay-Z, which clocks in at a whopping 5.27 minutes. By today’s standards, most people don’t have the attention span for that hence why radio stations snip off the song’s intro.
The songs’ length usually does not pose a problem if one has the patience to be an active listener. When artists create song edging on the eight minute mark, there has to be something to the song. Timberlake works hard to keep listeners interested until the end and mostly succeeds. However, with the songs “Pusher Lover Girl” and especially “Strawberry Bubblegum” (which is easily the most boring song on the album), the music overstays its welcome. “Pusher Lover Girl” could have been a minute shorter. “Strawberry Bubblegum” should have been left on the cutting room floor.
However, the album mostly consists of great songs with great pacing. “The 20/20 Experience” possibly is one of the best albums of the year so far. Highlights of the album included “Suit and Tie, ”Pusher Lover Girl,” “Don’t Hold the Wall,” and “Tunnel Vision.” With the exception of “Strawberry Bubblegum,” every song on the album is worth a listen.
The song-writing is top-of-the-line as usual with Timberlake. No clichés clutter the lyrics and if they do, Timberlake does an excellent job of disguising them.
I strongly advise any R&B and pop fan to check out this album. Timberlake fans shall not be disappointed. “The 20/20 Experience” is an excellent album and does his previous work justice. On September 30 2013, Timberlake plans to release the album’s sequel, “The 20/20 Experience (2 of 2).”
