Flashback

Let's forget wardrobe malfunctions and a too-strenuous obsession with her sexuality (she wasn't erotic so much as a purveyor of eroticism, like a newstand clerk who'll sell a teen Penthouse while smiling and winking) – Janet Jackson once recorded solid long statements. For too long I slighted Rhythm Nation 1814 in favor of its apolitical predecessor, but snagging a used copy a few days ago reminded me of what a staggering achievement it remains. As far as Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis' beats, only The Bomb Squad was purveying anything harder into Billboard's Top Ten album chart. Sure, the album showed that, for all their sonic mastery, Jam/Lewis weren't as resourceful as is commonly assumed ("Come Back To Me" is Alexander O'Neal's "Sunshine" is Human League's "Human," and don't pay close attention to how those synth stabs on "The Knowledge" remind you of "Nasty"); and Jackson often sounds like she just happened to be sitting in front of a microphone and decided to sing. Still, while a more powerful singer would have turned platitudes like the ones embedded in "Rhythm Nation" into statements, h/she might also have detracted from the beats. Note the percussion breakdown in the middle of the title track, the Herb Alpert trumpet mournfully blowing over "Someday is Tonight"'s rapt conclusion – a breeze through an abandoned Rustbelt factory – and that sampled Rob Base turntable screech effect underpinning "Alright." Only the hamfisted hair metal of "Black Cat" fails to impress: co-producer/guitarist Jellybean Johnson rocked to better effect on Alexander O'Neal's "Innocent."

In a sense, Rhythm Nation 1814 is the best industrial record ever made. Embracing the genre's facile alienation, finding ecstasy in shrill, deafening noise, Rhythm Nation scared Janet enough to find solace in the boudoir.