Frank Ocean might have a gutsier pen game–and Usher more moves and Miguel more sex appeal–but 20/20 is easier to fall into a groove with than any of the best contemporary pop/R&B albums out right now.
Just like FutureSex before it, this innovative, sonically dazzling album sounds like it was beamed in from several years in the future—2020 sounds about right.
If it has a fault, it’s that it may not be the most original or groundbreaking R&B out there; the singer’s not going for anything that hasn’t been done before. But he’s doing with amazing charisma, consistency and strength, and that’s what makes a star.
Like Beyoncé, Timberlake is looking to put himself above the fray of those pushing boom-boom beats to quick, repetitive, and oftentimes-numbing hits.
Timberlake is back – and he’s sounding woollier than ever. The 20/20 Experience is the biggest pop event of 2013 so far, but it’s not quite a pop album.
If FutureSex/LoveSounds was Timberlake’s date with the dance floor, then this is his honeymoon album.
There is enough oomph for the youngins, yet a defined maturity that proves Timberlake’s overstanding of eventually aging out of the capricious sect of R&B.
It's probably going to end up as the defining pop album of 2013. In many ways, it's bold and experimental, but at its core, it's pure Timberlake.
20/20 succeeds because it’s groove-based, which is to say, it’s neither pop-based nor logic-based.
For some 20/20 may be difficult to digest, but Timberlake’s aspiration and vision really can’t be faulted. He is this generation’s crossover artist, no doubt.
Much has been made of the album's length, but Timberlake and Timbaland prove to have more than enough ingenuity to make it worth our while.
While it may be a little overlong at nearly an hour and a half, there are influences from 40-odd years of pop music expertly melted together by a master craftsman to create an album of consistently brilliant songs.
The 20/20 Experience is confused, sloppy, frustrating, too safe, a let-down. Timberlake’s lyrics are laughable. The album begs to be edited. While these observations hold true – at least part of the time – there remains another, incontrovertible, truth: 20/20 is a total blast.
20/20 is a statement album, one that succeeds more often than it fails, but occasionally buckles under the weight of its ambition, which is grander that its flimsy thematic contents are capable of sustaining over the long haul.
It’s a little too self-indulgent – the 'serious' work of a man who’s starred in an Oscar-winning film, rather than the energetic pop of a successful boyband escapee, but there’s no doubt he’s still got it.
With the exception of the single Mirrors, which seems best suited for a supermarket checkout line, The 20/20 Experience is an absolutely delicious guilty pleasure.
While titling your record The 20/20 Experience signifies a clarity of vision and perception from an artist who definitely has grand aspirations firmly in his sights, the album itself doesn’t quite reach the sharp, perfect coherence that Timberlake was clearly aiming for.
Despite its flaws, The 20/20 Experience is a genuinely adventurous pop album in a world of will-this-do?
The 20/20 Experience is an album that will only grow with repeated listens, and is an apt if slightly underwhelming addition to his story so far.
In 2013 JT’s on that marriage and luxury bath shit and while it’s a good listen, every song drags.
The 20/20 Experience’s either chameleonic or unfocused tracks speak poorly of an icon now constantly on the lookout for his next great cross-promotional opportunity.
A pleasant and grown but tedious release from a charismatic entertainer and exceptional vocal arranger who is not a great recording artist.
On 20/20, the Timberlake/Timbaland team seems content to set up a basic (and more often than not, bland) hook, repeat it ad infinitum, and tack on some superfluous bits until the desired, bloated end product comes into being.
It sounds like FutureSex, so you’ll desperately listen over and over hoping to replicate how that album made you feel and end up surrendering to its pleasant, sanitized soundscape. But you’ll feel nothing.
Even with his boundary-pushing songs and numerous (and often fascinating) interludes, he is still only a somewhat decent songwriter, and it’s Timbaland who winds up picking a lot of JT’s slack
after 7 years, JT finally releases new music... and it was great. as always, the vocals supplied were outstanding, but the production was on another level. Timbaland outdid himself with this one. although not all of the songs were great, they all had perfect production. there were some awesome radio hits (mirrors, suit and tie) along with cutesy love ballads (strawberry bubblegum, blue ocean floor). almost all of the songs could have been cut by 2-3 minutes, but i'm not gonna complain ... read more
So. The 20/20 Experience by Justin Timberlake. One of the most hyped up projects up of 2013, but was it worth the hype? Well, yes, but let me give you a background. 7 years. No music since FS/LS, and he's just acting now. People are begging for new music. So JT gets with Timbaland and makes an album in 20 days. A bit later, 2013 just began, and JT announces this album. People freak out. He drops a single. "Suit & Tie". Everyone likes it. Then he does "Mirrors". Even ... read more
It's not as streamlined as LoveSex, as some songs do drag, but the ambition and production cannot be denied. Also Mirrors might be his best song.
1 | Pusher Love Girl 8:02 | 86 |
2 | Suit & Tie 5:26 feat. JAY-Z | 94 |
3 | Don't Hold the Wall 7:10 | 83 |
4 | Strawberry Bubblegum 7:59 | 82 |
5 | Tunnel Vision 6:46 | 88 |
6 | Spaceship Coupe 7:17 | 81 |
7 | That Girl 4:47 | 76 |
8 | Let the Groove Get In 7:11 | 86 |
9 | Mirrors 8:05 | 95 |
10 | Blue Ocean Floor 7:22 | 85 |
#2 | / | Sputnikmusic |
#11 | / | Billboard |
#15 | / | Pretty Much Amazing |
#17 | / | Drowned in Sound |
#29 | / | Amazon |
#32 | / | Spin |
#40 | / | No Ripcord |
#44 | / | Pitchfork |
#48 | / | Crack Magazine |
#49 | / | Stereogum |