By BRETT JOHNSON, For The Associated Press
You'd think that after the flops of her last two sexually charged albums — "Damita Jo" and "20 Y.O." — Janet Jackson would be in full career-reinvention mode. Instead, on her latest disc, "Discipline," Jackson plows ahead down a similar path, teasing and titillating over dance-club beats and sultry-sounding ballads. The results, however, are decidedly mixed.
Despite a lukewarm reception at radio, the disc's first single "Feedback," is classic "sexy, sexy, sexy, sexy" Janet. The track's electro-synth melody and pumping bass line make for automatic dancefloor fodder. Meanwhile Jackson's familiar breathy vocal gushes one of the disc's better sex metaphors: "Strum me like a guitar/ blow out my amplifier/ when you hear the feedback/ keep going, take it higher."
Other highlights on the disc (which notably does not include any songs from longtime collaborators Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis) include "Luv," built on similar whiny synths and processed keyboards that T-Pain has popularized, the foot-stomping "Rollercoaster" and the pop-house track, "Rock With U." But too many between-song skits and slow jams detract from the disc's good times. The longing pleas on the piano-driven "Never Letchu Go" sound dated, while "Greatest X" is a saccharine-sweet reflection on an ex-boyfriend. The emotion seems calculated, rather than honest.
By disc's end, her message becomes painfully obvious: Jackson's a hot fortysomething with a sensitive side. Yet sadly we've heard it all before.
CHECK THIS TRACK OUT: Her older brother Michael may have made a similarly titled classic, but on "Rock With U," the younger Jackson offers her own version for club DJs and house fans.
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