The pop star offers his ambitious, grandiose sophomore album: Almost entirely produced by Timbaland ... the album abandons the feelgood sheen which the Neptunes peddled so adroitly on his debut, Justified, but makes up for it with the largesse of its sonic embrace.
FutureSex/LoveSounds manages to be safe, subversive, surprising, and sultry all at the same time.
It may not have four singles in it as strong as Justified had, but overall it's a far more accomplished record: he's a more skilled vocalist; his songwriting has improved, if only slightly; and it's an album that actually maintains quality throughout instead of dipping off half way through.
Despite its lack of depth, FutureSex discovers itself as a mess of mainstream gold, a mess strewn about so it looks more disheveled and complicated than it actually is. A consortium of dazzling instances, it’s impossible to deny a hefty portion of this album, shrouded flaws and all.
Timberlake manages to shine, but would’ve faired better had the whole album remained consistent. Still, FutureSex/LoveSounds is a giant step forward for Timberlake, and a guarantee that he’s here for the long haul.
On his skilled but sometimes labored follow-up ... the liberated ‘NSync frontman bears the weight of experience that drags down so many maturing lovermen.
FutureSex/LoveSounds isn’t the album I hoped or predicted it would be, and it also isn’t the future-pop many will claim it to be. But it’s a lot like Justified in that it’s a solid collection of expertly produced pop songs whose flaws will be devoured by its almost guaranteed string of hits.
While FutureSex/LoveSounds is not a masterpiece, it's damn good ... More than that, though, I respect Timberlake's willingness to experiment and dance outside of his comfort zone.
The enjoyable, forgettable FutureSex/LoveSounds may be a just-okay Timberlake album, but it’s a great Timbaland demo reel.
The lyrics don't really matter, as long as there's endlessly shifting sonic fireworks on offer to distract your attention.
After a while, the combination of compound noun titles - "Sexyback", "Lovestoned", etc - and superstud preening does leave one wondering when Timberlake is going to bring something truly original to his game.
In all honesty it was all too good to be true that the superstar appeared to really take his music seriously by experimenting with his sound, so the chunk of crap that makes up the last part of FutureSex/LoveSounds is unsurprising.
A set of forward-thinking pop reminiscent of Sign O' The Times-era Prince.
While a certain segment of the population find overly sensitive young men with girlishly high voices very appealing, Timberlake's attempt to present a rough, tough image on the sleeve of FutureSex/LoveSounds is just as ridiculous as that hilarious Vibe cover shot of him wearing a White Panther Party MC5 T-shirt.
(Reinventing my review style a bit so it looks a little weird, bare with me please lmao)
One of my biggest guilty pleasure albums >:D
Talk about an underrated classic when you hear one, this is so supremely amazing! I remember a long time ago, I used to despise Justin Timberlake’s music, I thought he was just a monotonous and irksome pop hits artist, never willing to experiment and would make the same old annoying radio smashers constantly. I thought this because I only heard a ... read more
I used to blindly hate JT’s music just because he made that one song in the Trolls movie that is pretty bad. I then saw the user scores for this album and his 2013 albums, and I was like, “Dang, are these albums really that good?”
Turns out that this album is a pretty big banger. This is where he improved his songwriting and his singing. It’s also different from all the rest of the albums that came out in that era of pop music, which can be a great thing depending on ... read more
Justin's best album. Smooth, fun, and catchy as fuck all the way through with some amazing Timbaland production as cherry on top. Also the charisma he has on here is just off the charts.
With his sophomore album Justin successfully transitioned from being the boy in a boyband to a successful solo recording artist.
From a production standpoint this is the perfect album, the songs are catchy enough for radio but not generic enough to the point where you hate them, they still sound fresh even after 18 years, the lyrics of the album are actually pretty good, much better than the ones on his debut album, the maturity shows, you can tell the almost 4 year break worked, had he ... read more
Timberlake X Timbaland out of this world. Nostalgia for a time when pop could make a name for itself. "As the name suggests, the concept is "sexy", highlighting the retro elements while weakening the R&B colours and amplifying the proportion of hip-hop and dance elements. With its dynamic and clear rhythms and catchy melodies, the whole album is a glamorous and glittering pop album. In the midst of the mesmerising electro, retro and avant-garde merge to create a brand new ... read more
1 | FutureSex / LoveSound 4:01 | 85 |
2 | SexyBack 4:02 feat. Timbaland | 95 |
3 | Sexy Ladies 3:58 | 79 |
4 | Medley: Let Me Talk to You / My Love 6:10 feat. T.I. | 93 |
5 | LoveStoned / I Think She Knows (Interlude) 7:24 | 94 |
6 | What Goes Around.../...Comes Around (Interlude) 7:28 | 95 |
7 | Chop Me Up 5:04 feat. Timbaland, Three 6 Mafia | 77 |
8 | Damn Girl 5:12 feat. will.i.am | 71 |
9 | Summer Love 4:12 | 86 |
10 | Set the Mood Prelude / Until the End of Time 7:33 | 84 |
11 | Losing My Way 5:22 | 80 |
12 | (Another Song) All Over Again 5:45 | 81 |
#9 | / | Slant Magazine |
#25 | / | Pitchfork |
#26 | / | Rolling Stone |
#91 | / | Paste |