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| The Velvet Rope | 
 enlarge | Artist: Janet Jackson
Label: Virgin Records Us
Category: Music
List Price: $17.98
Buy New: $0.39
You Save: $17.59 (98%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $0.39
Avg. Customer Rating:  (314 reviews)
Sales Rank: 14409
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 44762
UPC: 724384476229
EAN: 0724384476229
ASIN: B000000WEX
Release Date: October 7, 1997
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Interlude: Twisted Elegance - Janet Jackson, Harris, James [Prod | | • | Velvet Rope | | • | You - Janet Jackson, Elizondo, Rene Jr. | | • | Got 'Til It's Gone | | • | Interlude: Speaker Phone - Janet Jackson, Harris, James [Prod | | • | My Need | | • | Go Deep | | • | Free Xone | | • | Together Again | | • | Empty | | • | What About | | • | Every Time | | • | Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright) - Janet Jackson, Stewart, Rod | | • | I Get Lonely | | • | Rope Burn | | • | Anything | | • | Special |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Teaming with her most accomplished collaborators, producer-songwriters Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Janet Jackson delivers what is easily her finest record since Rhythm Nation--and arguably her best ever. Highlights include jams like "You" and "Got 'Til It's Gone," which recontextualizes samples from War and Joni Mitchell, respectively; the funky memorial to a dear departed, "Together Again"; and a slinky cover of Rod Stewart's "Tonight's the Night." Best of all, though, is "What About." An accusatory throwdown for a lover who beats and cheats even as he professes his love, it swings angrily between tender quiet and raging bitter funk. --David Cantwell
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| Customer Reviews: Read 309 more reviews...
 Very Special September 13, 2008
The Velvet Rope is an album with a purpose: to unravel the enigma of our human actions. Janet Jackson has made it clear in the title track that "we have a special need to feel that we belong". This is Jackson's answer to why we do some of the things we do. While the album is sexually explicit, every explicit moment simply leads back to the human need to feel special. Janet Jackson's jump into the arena of sexually explicit music is done with grace, and compared to some of her contemporaries, Jackson dominates (no innuendo intended!). While Madonna's songs such as "Erotica" showed how sex can be a means of pain and pleasure, The Velvet Rope's songs transcend raw pleasure. One might say it is about the need for love. Though Jackson's voice is a soft wispy one, she is capable of breathing life into songs due to her personal experiences with depression and marital problems, her experiences outside of her own concept of the "velvet rope". This album is a heartfelt reminder that we all need to be accepted by ourselves as well as others. Truly a masterpiece!
 Serious Janet almost strangled with velvet rope (3.5 stars) July 31, 2008
The timing for "The Velvet Rope" must have been excellent. Released in the fall of 1997, Janet's album got a favorable review in Time magazine and over the years it developed a cult status among her fans, but also many casual listeners fell in love with it. The question remains: Why?
On the surface an antidote to the happy and loose blockbuster "janet." album of 1993, this is a darker, brooding, personal and sexually charged CD. However, this alone does not necessarily make for great music.
In fact, the album copies "janet." in more ways than one. Not only in the matters of length and use of Jackson's very own type of interludes. Sometimes it resembles its predecessor more than it should - the song "Every Time" sounds like "Again" Part Two and comes at just about the same time as that beautiful smash came on "janet." Overall, both "janet." and "The Velvet Rope" start with fresh, danceable tunes and get slower towards the end. But while "janet." finished with good songs like "Where Are You Now" and "Any Time, Any Place," the last two good songs on "The Velvet Rope" are "I Get Lonely" and a cover of Rod Stewart's "Tonight's The Night". "Rope Burn" and "Anything" may be pushing sexual boundaries, but as tunes both are merely boring and even the optimistic closer "Special" does not remedy the situation much.
Beats at the beginning of the album reach a peak on "Got 'Til It's Gone", one of the first real hip-hop singles that still hold water now (even though the artist's reputation was tarnished by not crediting British singer Des'Ree hit "Feel So High", which was also recognized by the court). Other faster tracks offer some novelty beats, but lackluster songwriting.
As for the highlights, though, the middle of album showcases Janet at her late 1990's best. The dance hit "Together Again", "Empty", depicting a computer-love obsession and rock-guitar-fed "What About" on an abusive relationship all carry great music over meaningful lyrics.
In the final analysis, Janet Jackson's career took a different turn with "The Velvet Rope". Although praised as the bold, courageus step toward meaningful music, in fact it meant that she was not anymore delivering super-consistent albums full of potential great hits. With Janet this was a trademark, as from her first three regular albums almost every single song was a potential hit - the songs were so good, not just a fluffy forgettable fare you hear on radios these days.
"The Velvet Rope" is different. It marks a start of Janet producing uneven albums. "All For You" in 2001 showed a certain promise (being a better, stronger record that Rope), but the slow decline of the legend has continued ever since then.
 Janet gets so lonely. July 30, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
The Velvet Rope by Janet Jackson is a mixed bag for me. The songs I do like include: Go Deep, I Get Lonely, Everytime, a cover of Rod Stewart's Tonight's the Night, Anything, and What About? The rest of the songs are pretty much filler, Janet's voice is so soft, you can't distinguish what she is singing about, thank god the lyrics are included. The Velvet Rope is probably her most personal album and I appreciate that but this isn't an album I listen too much.
Dark, expressive, introspective...a masterpiece May 7, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
One of the traditions in my parents' house was stuffing the stockings at Christmas with smaller gifts. CDs, movies, books...something to keep us kids busy while our parents attempted to stay asleep for just a few more minutes. In 1997, I ran downstairs to discover The Velvet Rope sitting in my stocking. Having been a Janet fan since Control, I instantly popped it into my over-sized portable CD player and listened.
It was the one Christmas where my parents actually were able to sleep in.
At the time when I was an impressionable and naive 15 year old, I didn't understand everything that was going on and after the one listen, I put it aside and went back to the safer Janet; the known Janet. It wasn't until a few years later, after hearing repeats of some of Janet's songs that I realized how many great songs came from that album. The Velvet Rope marks Janet's pinnacle achievement. It was her masterpiece, a culmination of everything that came before.
Things hinted at and talked around where instead thrust into the open air. It's a startling CD and a very honest one. Ten years later, I still find myself popping the CD in and never-not even once-hitting skip. From the moment the piercing electric violin strikes the first shiver-inducing note to the final song that provides a glimpse of happiness, The Velvet Rope has capitvated me, over and over.
With later albums on the lightweight and airy side, I turn to The Velvet Rope to find Janet at a time in her life where her music was sexy, dark and personal. I love this album and if you haven't listened to it, check it out.
"The Velvet Rope"-A Twisted Masterpiece February 9, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
In 1997, Janet Jackson went throught one of the toughest times of her career. Suffering from severe depression, Janet ran to her music and used it as her therapy. Unknowingly, Janet would create one of the most bizarre yet incredible albums of all time. Rivaling even the epic powerhouse "Rhythm Nation 11814" as the best album of her career, "The Velvet Rope" has such a significant depth in it's music that most artists dream of. Like "Rhythm Nation", Janet covers a vareity of strong topics like depression, loneliness, domestic abuse, AIDS, death, homophobia, even bondage! The music is so surreal and one of the few albums that I've truly idenfied with as I too have suffered from severe depression. This flawless album can be summed up like this:
Twisted Elegance-Janet utters the title and declares that we have a need to feel special and that it create The Velvet Rope.
Velvet Rope-A haunting, thought-provoking track that has Janet singing mysteriously. The lyrics are poetic and the arrangements are stunning with Vanessa Mae's great input.-5/5 stars
You-One of the most bizarre songs of Janet's career with a flashy yet retrospective beat and Janet singing in a very deep even inhuman. A song about self-reflection, it song that has you wondering about you you think you really are.-5/5 stars
Got Til' It's Gone-One of my favorite songs from Janet's career and one of her most underrated, this is a dreary yet soulful r&b groove that's about yearning for the things you lost and wished you had again. With an exceptional rap solo from Q-tip, Janet's whispery yet chilling vocals, and an ingenuis sample of Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi", this is musical bliss!-5/5 stars
Interlude: Speaker Phone-A dirty yet hilarious coversation between Janet and (possibly?) Lisa Marie. "You're cooche gonna swell up and fall apart", lol!
My Need-A fast paced r&b track that has Janet singing about her sexual desires for the night. It's very cool and well arranged track that is catchy and matches the mood of the album perfectly.-4.5/5 stars
Interlude: Fasten Your Seatbelts-A funny intro to the next song with Janet and her friends telling listeners to fasten their seatbelts.
Go Deep-A great fun-filled club groove that is a refreshing change from the darkness of the album with great arrangements and an undeniablly catachy chorus.-5/5 stars
Free Xone-Another bizarro song with the track shifting from a subtle beat to swinging uptempo beat. Janet hardly sings but the lyrics are strong as it speaks on homophoia and the arrangement truly handled flawlessly-4.5 stars
Interlude: Memory-Janet gives touching quote about memory and pain.
Together Again-One of the greatest songs of her career with an infectious beat, Janet's wonderful vocals and touching lyrics about losing her friend to AIDS. It's no wonder it was her most successful single worldwide!-5/5 stars
Interlude: Online-The sounds of internet use fill the background.
Empty-A breathtaking song beyond it's time which is about the emptiness of online chats since it was relatively new in the late 90s. Janet just excels throughout the song.-5/5 stars
Interlude: Full-Janet gives another amazing quote: "How empty of me...to be so full of you."
What About-The most intense song Janet has ever done! It switches from a calm, soothing beat to an raging rock/r&b flare with jaw-dropping lyrics. Janet give one of the best vocal performances as she switches from vuneraable state to an enrage siren with such ease. A powerful song with a heartbreaking message about domestic abuse, this is an unforgettable masterpiece!-5/5 stars
Everytime-A beautiful ballad that sees Janet showing that vunerable side of herself so well.-4.5/ stars
Tonight's The Night- An effortless and refreshing rendition of Neil Young's 1975 classic.-4.5/5 stars.
I Get Lonely-Probably her best r&b song since "That's The Way Love Goes". With a heavy soulful beat, Janet's smokin vocals, and lovely lyrics about loneliness, it's all so good!-5/5 stars
Rope Burn-The most controversial song on the album that finds Janet for the first time pushing her sexual limits! The lyrics are very risque and ratchy yet Janet still pulls it off...this time anyway.-4.5/5 stars
Anything-A very dark and soothing ballad that sees Janet still sexually frustrated and urging her lover that she would do about anything to get some. The smooth arrangements and Janet's quality carm make this irresitible!-5/5 stars
Interlude: Sad-"You must learn to water your spiritual garden." Nicely siad, very poetic!
Special-A graceful ballad that has Janet sounding so sweet and vunerable as she explains that she has the need to feel special by singing about her life.-4.5/ stars
*Hidden Track* Can't Be Stopped-A glamourious uptempo track that should have been an offical track. The beat is cool with Janet singing with confidence about being invunerable when it comes prejudice, her gender, etc. A perfect finish!-5/5 stars
I can't explain it in any other words how incredible this really album is. To this day, it's timeless and is better than ALL of the crap these young artists are putting out today. "The Velvet Rope" is an album that makes you think about the music you're listening to instead lsiteners just jamming to it. Janet truly created her finest and unfornately, last truly classic album as her albums of the 2000s just can't touch the brilliance of this phenomenal effort.
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