Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

The album received predominantly positive reviews for its musical production, with a mixed reaction on Jackson's choice to dedicate the album to social and political themes. Jon Pareles of The New York Times commented: "Her motives may be sincere; the results are unconvincing." Comparing her creation of a concept album to The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) by Pink Floyd and Appetite for Destruction (1987) by Guns N' Roses, he states, "the album becomes a cause without a rebellion." Though unmoved by the album's theme, he compliments its musical formula, stating: "The tone of the music is airless, sealing out imprecision and reveling in crisp, machine-generated rhythms; Ms. Jackson's piping voice, layered upon itself in punchy unisons or lavish harmonies, never cracks or falters." Robert Christgau of The Village Voice commented: "if the P-Funk pretensions of 'nation' are a little much from somebody whose knowledge of the world is based on the 6 o'clock news, the 'rhythm' is real, and I give her credit for it. Her voice is as unequal to her vaguely admonitory politics as it was to her declaration of sexual availability, but the music is the message: never before have Jam & Lewis rocked so hard for so long." James Jones of USA Today commented that "the lyrics get a bit corny at times, and Jackson's thin, wispy voice lacks the punch or emotion to convincingly preach on homelessness and drugs, but the slick production of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis keeps you dancing just the same."

Vince Aletti of Rolling Stone magazine likened Jackson to a politician, "abandoning the narrow 'I' for the universal 'we' and inviting us to do the same." Aletti complimented Jackson's political resolve and musical accompaniment as she " despair with optimism, anger with hope, in the currently fashionable formula", without forgetting social progress is a result of hard work. San Francisco Chronicle writer Michael Snyder considered the album a worthy successor to Jackson's previous album, Control, because it "adds a little sociopolitical substance to the usual high-grade hip-hop" as she "bounces between the two extremes of romance and generalized, politically correct topicality." Dennis Hunt of Los Angeles Times compared Jackson to Madonna, stating that she aspires to become "the kind of dance-music queen who can also sing ballads and pop tunes. The album runs the gamut from social commentary to lusty, sensual tunes, from dance music to songs laced with jazz and Brazilian textures." Steve Morse of The Boston Globe compared the album's commercial success of to that of Aerosmith, Billy Joel, and other members of the Jackson family, attributing such accomplishment to the fact that Jackson created "a dance record with a ruthlessly frank social conscience that addresses drugs, homelessness, illiteracy and teen runaways. She's reached far beyond dance music's fluffy image to unite even serious rockers and rappers who usually look the other way."

The album earned five Grammy Award nominations in 1990: Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female and Best Rhythm & Blues Song for "Miss You Much", Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s) and Best Music Video, Long Form for "Rhythm Nation", and Producer of the Year, Non-Classical, winning Best Music Video. Music critic Deborah Wilker stated the fact that Jackson was not nominated for Album of the Year was a "huge oversight." The following year Jackson earned nominations for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female for "Black Cat", and Best Rhythm & Blues Song and Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female for "Alright".

Some commentary on the success of the album was centered around the idea that Jackson was a manufactured act. Music critic Robert Hilburn wrote: "Known for years as simply 'Michael's little sister,' Jackson, 24, was supposed to have graduated to a stronger identity in 1986 when her Control album sold 9 million copies worldwide and established her as a queen of dance pop ... her two earlier solo albums had been so forgettable, it was easy for outsiders to assume that the success of Control was due solely to Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the former Prince allies who produced the album and co-wrote most of its songs." Hilburn adds that the commercial success of her former choreographer, Paula Abdul, as a solo act fueled this belief. In response, Jackson stated "... it bothers me that some people think someone gave me an image or told me what songs to sing or what clothes to wear. I'm not a robot. I want people to know that I'm real ... 'She's only successful because of Terry Lewis and Jimmy Jam or Paula Abdul ... or she's Michael's sister' or whatever. That really bothered me." Jimmy Jam stated "when someone says, 'Well, she brought in Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis,' you've got to remember that we weren't exactly ... Quincy Jones ... 'Control' was our first smash. The same with Paula. It wasn't like Janet Fred Astaire ... She took a chance on all of us." Diana Baron, then-executive director of A&M publicity stated: "Janet is probably one of the hardest-working and most determined artists I've ever been around ... She has incredible strength and focus. She's willing to put in all the work to achieve her desired end. All this talk about her being a 'pop creation' couldn't be further from the truth."

A later review by Alex Henderson of Allmusic criticized Jackson's "wafer-thin" voice, but commented that her soul, spirit and enthusiasm make up for the limits of her vocal range on the numerous political and non-political "gems" throughout the album. Henderson describes the album as "an even higher artistic plateau" than Control, and adds: "For those purchasing their first Janet Jackson release, Rhythm Nation would be an even wiser investment than Control—and that's saying a lot." Sputnikmusic's Zachary Powell stated that while her first three albums took her out of the Jackson family shadow, "Rhythm Nation put the exclamation point on her career ... The album itself is powered by the quality invested in it, top notch production from Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and a musically diverse collection of songs flowing with the natural talent Jackson possesses make for a work of many natures." Eric Henderson of Slant Magazine calls the album the "perfect storm that is her 1989 masterpiece". He also complimented Jam and Lewis's production, stating: "Jam and Lewis's work on Rhythm Nation expanded Janet's range in every conceivable direction. She was more credibly feminine, more crucially masculine, more viably adult, more believably childlike. This was, of course, critical to a project in which Janet assumed the role of mouthpiece for a nationless, multicultural utopia. Jam and Lewis helped sell Janet's notion of a consciousness raised."