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| The Velvet Rope | 
 enlarge | Artist: Janet Jackson
Label: Virgin Records Us
Category: Music
List Price: $17.98
Buy New: $0.25
You Save: $17.73 (99%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $0.25
Avg. Customer Rating:  (314 reviews)
Sales Rank: 16758
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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| Customer Reviews:
 Gothika : A Moment of Grief, Darkness Depression : Janet's True Legacy is This Album February 7, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As Janet Jacksons' darkest album, this one could easily be termed a `sombre masterpiece'. Coming as it did after her more lighthearted "janet" in 1993, this remains the most underrated and misunderstood album in Janet's catalog - from the cover art to the near gothic subject matter, this is by no means an easy listen - and definitely not for the casual pop and RB fan.br /br /Here are some of the subjects that Janet tackles on this album - race, religion, education, world economics, politics, abortion, homosexuality, polygamy, polyandry, relationships, divorce, pain, suffering, poverty, drugs, alcohol, sexuality, sensuality, SM, depression, suicide, homicide, death, rebirth, rape, abuse, mental torture, suffocation and insensitivity. If that wasn't enough, Janet even tackles more controversial subjects such as free love, and sexually transmitted diseases.br /br /However, if any of the above terms rub you the wrong way, not to worry. All of the above themes are wrapped up in slinky and upbeat RB grooves, so you can either listen to the lyrics, or tune everything out and just enjoy the melodies. And while speaking of melodies, there are tons here. The most tuneful of the lot - the black power anthem "Got till its Gone" is Janet's most `black' sounding song, in the best sense. The video for this portrayed the ills of apartheid and the song is interesting for its use of "Big Yellow Taxi" (yes, THAT song).br /br /However, "The Velvet Rope" did have its' fair share of hit singles. Prime amongst these was "Together Again", which was originally written by the singer as a tribute to someone who had passed away. The dancey song isn't my own personal favorite, but it works for what its' worth. Further singles "Go Deep" and the plaintive ballad "Everytime" (which is almost a direct copy of Jacksons' own "Again" from 1993) are both enjoyable.br /br /But where the album really soars is when the song is NOT a single. The album-only track "My Need" is definitely the best thing here (and amongst the two best Janet songs of all time, in my opinion). Everything on this song just WORKS. The same might also be said of the opening number (titled simply "The Velvet Rope") - this is an epic masterwork that uses some excellent piano sections from Vanessa Mae. br /br /The album also contains the slow burner "I Get Lonely", which all these years later still stands out as one of Janet's greatest songs (it really is a bonafide classic). In fact, this was one of her albums where all the interludes made sense, and her more risque subjects were addressed without fear of judgement or ridicule. For example, her lesbian confessions on "Free Xone" and the same-sex-heavy subject matter are talked about with normalcy and honesty - a fact that will draw alternative listeners to this album in hordes.br /br /For an album from 1997, "The Velvet Rope" holds up beautifully even in the 2000s. It wasn't hugely successful upon first release, but its definitely a wonderful record when inspected through any microscope. Musically, lyrically, and execution-wise, this is definitely the best Janet Jackson album out there. My own favorite Janet album is the popular `janet' from 1993, due to reasons of association, but I have to admit that this one is definitely her greatest work.br /br /Five Stars. br /br /br /br /br /br /
 Janet was there at My side when I was dark, lost and no one wanted to be around Me! 4 stars. November 11, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Janet was there at My side when I was dark, lost and no one wanted to be around Me! 3.84 stars., November 11, 2007br /By Adrian Cooper (Dunkirk, NY USA) - See all my reviewsbr /(REAL NAME) br /br /1. Interlude Twisted Elegance Janet Jackson 0:42 ***1/2 stars.br /2. Velvet Rope Janet Jackson Feat. Vanessa Mae 4:55 ***1/2 stars.br /3. You 4:42 ***1/2 stars.br /4. Got 'Til It's Gone Feat. Q-Tip And Joni Mitchell 4:01 **** stars.br /5. Interlude Speaker Phone 0:54 **** stars.br /6. My Need Janet Jackson 3:44 **** stars.br /7. Interlude Fasten Your Seatbelts 0:19 *** stars.br /8. Go Deep 4:42 ***3/4 stars.br /9. Free Xone 4:57 ***3/4 stars.br /10. Interlude Memory 0:04 **** stars.br /11. Together Again 5:01 ****1/2 stars.br /12. Interlude Online 0:19 **** stars.br /13. Empty 4:32 ****1/2 stars.br /14. Interlude 0:12 ** stars.br /15. What About 4:24 ***1/2 stars.br /16. Every Time 4:17 **** stars.br /Tonight's The Night 5:07 ***3/4 stars.br /18. I Get Lonely 5:17 ***** stars.br /19. Rope Burn 4:15 ***1/2 stars.br /20. Anything 4:54 **** stars.br /21. Interlude Sad [Explicit] 0:10 ***** stars.br /22. Special (Hidd. Track: 'Can't Be Stopped') 7:54 ***3/4 stars.br /br /85 22 = 3.8636363636363638br /br /3.8636363636363638 = 3.86br /br /3.9 = 4br /br /4 stars.
The Dark Road to Liberation November 11, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Janet killed me softly with the Velvet Rope CD in that she was singing my life with her words. This is not only the best work of Janet's, but the best of producers Jimmy Jam Terry Lewis as well. The CD opens with the clever and mysterious title track that invites us into a lair filled with demons that she bravely faced at that point in her life. So begins the most personal, most revealing, and most uninhibited musical journey I've ever experienced. br /br /"Velvet Rope" - A recognition of the fact that we all have personal, private struggles and an invitation to share hers with the listeners.br /br /"You" - An emotional agressive self-examination the one in the mirror calls her out. br /br /"Got Til Its Gone"- An expression of regret that leads to love lost.br /br /"My Need", "Tonight's The Night", "Rope Burn", "Anything" - Different arrays of sexual insatiabilty and desperation.br /br /"Go Deep" - Nice party cut celebrating going out with the crew.br /br /"Free Xone" - an intriguing social commentary on America's hypocritical conservative view of sexualitybr /br /"Together Again" - A beautiful celebration of the life of a loved one gone too soon.br /br /"Empty" - Obsession, and we have all been unexplainably obsessed with someone or something to some degree. This is one of my favorites on the CD!br /br /"What About" - Liberation from an abusive relationship. Perhaps her most important song.br /br /"Every Time" - The fear of falling helplessly in love. br /br /"Special" - Words to remember. She explains how it's those personal struggles and how we deal with them that make us who we are and make us special.br /br /I could go on and on about this CD. I fear that there will never be another CD that makes such an impression on me as The Velvet Rope. And yet 10 years later, I remain a work in progess.
The 10th Anniversary Of The Best Album Ever Made: Janet Jackson's October 7, 2007
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
"It's my belief that we all have the need to feel special and it's this need that can bring out the best in us yet the worst in us. This need created the velvet rope."br /-Janet Jacksonbr /br /Ten years ago today, October 7th, 1997 Janet Jackson released what is her most profound and thought provoking piece of work ever, "The Velvet Rope." In my opinion it is the best and will always be the best album ever made. There is probably not a professional music reviewer anywhere who will agree with me but that's okay. Beside the musical merits of the album it has a much deeper emotional resonance with me.br /br /At the time this album came out I was fourteen years old, a freshman in high school. I had already been a casual fan of Janet's since "Rhythm Nation 1814" and all throughout the "janet." years but I was still a kid and I really didn't get into her until then. Even at that time I was still young and was only getting $1.75 a day spending money for school, needless to say I didn't buy this album when it was first released.br /br /My first memory of hearing it in it's entirety was laying on the floor of my eldest sister's house one Saturday afternoon listening to it on her portable CD player. I was so enthralled by the sounds of the album and the amazing graphic design, photographs and imagery of the album booklet. That day was the day that I fell in love with music. Finally at 16 years old "The Velvet Rope" was the first CD I ever bought with my own money.br /br /"The Velvet Rope" is an eclectic opus with touches of RB, pop, rock, dance, and classical music. It plays out like a theatrical production and is best heard in full. Every interlude, every word of all twenty-two tracks of this CD are all important. They all work together to cohesively bring forth the message, to tell of your need, my need, our need, the need to feel special. The need that brings out the best and yet the worst of us, the need that created "The Velvet Rope." The velvet rope that helps us hide our feelings, holds back our public and binds us up for our lovers.br /br /Coming off of the most successful album of her career 1993's "janet.," which sold over 17 million records worldwide and was the first record by a female artist to debut at #1 in the United States in the Nielsen SoundScan era. She released six singles off of this album and toured almost two years promoting it. This was her first album with Virgin Records the company with which she signed a 40 million dollar record contract, which at that time broke the record for the largest record deal ever. "janet." was largely a happy, RB/pop record which was a mix between upbeat catchy songs and slower more seductive songs. "The Velvet Rope", released four years later was a much darker record, reflective of the sadness Janet was feeling at the time. The album was panned by critics for being too controversial but was a fan favorite. It was and actually still is Janet's most introspective record.br /br /This album embodies so many feelings and emotions: happiness on "Go Deep", hope on "Together Again", regret on "Got 'Til It's Gone", loneliness on "I Get Lonely", anticipation on "Tonight's The Night", pride on "Can't Be Stopped", self realization on "You", horniness on "My Need", emptiness on "Empty", anger on "What About", fear on "Every Time." There are so many subjects that Janet touched on the this album that had been seldom talked about ever in popular music: spousal abuse on "What About", sado-masochism on "Rope Burn", masturbation on "Interlude - Speaker Phone", homosexuality, lesbianism and bisexuality on "Free Xone" and "Tonight's The Night."br /br /My two favorite Janet Jackson songs ever are on this album. "I Get Lonely" and "Rope Burn" are in my opinion two of Janet's best vocal performances coupled with live instruments and Janet's trademark background vocals that ooze sensuality. The title track "Velvet Rope" blends Janet's vocals with a most interesting array of background dings and tingles coupled with classical violinist Vanessa Mae's rousing violin solo that brings the song to its aural and emotional apex. "You" is brilliantly written song whose vamp remained an enigma to me for years until someone explained to me that she was spelling conscience backwards "e-c-n-e-i-c-s-n-o-c."br /br /Besides being conceptually and audibly interesting the visuals for the album were dazzling. The album cover was different than that of her previous albums. It was hardly glamorous just a picture of Janet in a black shirt with frizzy red hair her her head hung slightly down, not looking into the camera. Her name isn't even conspicuously emblazoned across the picture. It is subtly spelled out in a blurred block formation embossed in the top half of the picture. You can only notice it if you tilt it and look at the picture in the light. The pictures inside of Janet sporting her nipple and septum piercings, covered in latex and tied up in bondage were indeed works of art themselves. The videos the Grammy winning, "Got Til' It's Gone" with it's African apartheid theme and "Together Again" set in the jungle in which she hugs herself and touches her own [...], "I Get Lonely" with it's almost futuristic feel and amazing transitions cemented Janet's status as not just a musical but a visual artist.br /br /Many of the themes of the album hit home for me. "Empty", a song about finding love on the internet was quite timely due to the fact that the internet and instant messaging had just started to rise in popularity. The emptiness that she felt when the person she talked to wasn't there and the questioning whether what they had could be real resonated for me as a person who has dated via the internet before. Lyrics such as these spoke right to me:br /br /"I'm rushin' home to turn you onbr /Sometimes you're there sometimes you're gonebr /Wait for hours for your returnbr /So tell me please, am I wasting my time?br /Your phrases, descriptive, and through the textured wordsbr /With beauty, you post it, and use such colored verbsbr /br /So tell me you think that maybe we've gone insane?br /To find a, a lover and through the words of painbr /We've never met, oohbr /br /When I close my eyes, I can see your facebr /When I lick my lips, I can taste your smilebr /When I see your name, my heart starts to racebr /If I can't read your thoughts, then I feel empty"br /br /Songs like "Velvet Rope" and "You" spoke to the self confidence issues I was having with lyrics that brought forth truth and clarity and let me know that I wasn't alone. If a mega superstar like Janet Jackson can wake up sometimes feeling unloved, unworthy and empty and make her way through it, so could I.br /br /You never forget your first love and though many albums have come along since, some poppier, some bluesier, some edgier but "The Velvet Rope" will always be my favorite and have a special irreplaceable place in my heart.br /
Timeless August 15, 2007
A masterpiece is a work of art that can stand the test of time and people's reaction towards it. When 'The Velvet Rope' debuted, I felt immediately connected to it and the disc would often be found in my stereo over the next three years. At the time of it's release, I was a bit unhappy but too busy to notice it as I worked 2 full-time jobs and catered to my friends' wishes left and right. Ten years later, I find myself trying to fight depression and face demons from long ago. I pulled out 'The Velvet Rope' and found its power and message can still speak to me...loudly. Janet Jackson's bout with depression had produced a truly beautiful piece of work. Nothing Janet has done before or since can or will shine as bright or be as reveting as this album. Don't get me wrong, I've always been a fan of Janet Jackson ever since I first layed eyes on her, but such a personal and mature piece like 'The Velvet Rope' will never go ignored. As I move forward in life, a copy of this album will always be in my hand...
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