The 90s produced a lot of great music. Many classic albums of the period, including Nirvana's IN UTERO and Tori Amos' UNDER THE PINK, are from the alternative music genre. Many are but not all. One of the decade's best albums is Janet Jackson's THE VELVET ROPE.
The title, for many, stood for sexuality and S&M. Not for nothing, after all, is there a song entitled "Rope Burn" on the album:
Tie me up, tie me down
(make me moan real loud)
Make me moan real loud
(take off my clothes)
Take off my clothes
No one has to know
Whisperin I wanna feel a soft rope burn
(no one has to know)
Wanna feel a
Rope burn
But The Velvet Rope also refers to the roped off area -- an area we are refused entrance to -- either by others or by ourselves.
Yes, it's a dance album but, yes, it's a deep album.
Marcch 29th, Janet will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and THE VELVET ROPE is one of the reasons. The album highlights her power and her honesty -- two qualities that even Leslie Moonves couldn't destroy when he tackled his decade war against her after her Superbowl appearance.
It's about freedom, as song after song makes clear. From "Free Xone:"
Free. . .
Next song?
Hahahahaha
Ohhhh boy
Mama Yoke
That used to be my nickname
He was on a airplane
Sittin next to this guy
Said he wasn't too shy
And he seemed real nice
Until he found out he was gay
That's so not mellow
Let's get free. . .
Let's get free
Let's get free
Now make it mellow
Now make it mellow
Freestyle
Xone 1
Boy meets boy
Boy loses boy
Boy gets cute boy back
Girl meets girl
Girl loses girl
Girl gets cute girl back
One rule
No rules
One love
Freexone
Let's get free. . .
Let's get free
Let's get free
Now make it mellow
Now make it mellow
"What About"?
The song not only explores what it's like to be the victim, it acknowledges how we victimize others. All to a slamming chorus and the obvious truth of "What about the time you said you didn't f**k her, she only gave you head?" It's a question that, during the 90s, you could have even asked a sitting president, though you'd have to wait a year after the album's release for the US to learn about Monica Lewinsky.
But there are soft songs as well, like her cover of Rod Stewart's "Tonight's The Night."
Those are some great songs. But they weren't singles.
The singles were "Got 'Til It's Gone."
The singles were "Every Time."
The singles were "I Get So Lonely."
And the singles especially were "Together Again."
15 tracks plus interludes, THE VELVET ROPE is a slamming album that reveals more depth than most of Janet's contemporaries would offer in a lifetime.