While Justin Timberlake was busy pursuing a career in acting, I was busy wondering whether or not he’d ever come out with a new album. After a seven-year hiatus, however, he finally released The 20/20 Experience, an album almost worth the wait.
I may be a little biased as a loyal Justin Timberlake fan myself, but The 20/20 Experience _almost lives up to the hype and the impossibly high expectations created by 2006’s wildy succesful _FurtureSex/LoveSounds and J.T.’s subsequent long hiatus. But the key word here is “almost,” as Timberlake falls just short of creating an album to rival his last. Of course, that’s still quite an accomplishment, as FutureSex/LoveSounds is one of the best albums of the last decade.
The 20/20 Experience sounds like one, 10-movement composition. Unlike FutureSex, which had so many standout songs with their own unique sound, there is a sad lack of variation within The 20/20 Experience. Even so, this album is a solid effort on Timberlake’s part, fantastic in its entirety rather than on a song-by-song basis.
Alongside producers Timbaland and J-Roc, Timberlake manages to pull off a slew of seven-minute creations — quite remarkable considering the increasingly short attention spans that characterize modern Americans. Timbaland should take most, if not all, the credit for this. When the album starts to fall into uninspired monotony, Timbaland arrives to save the day — or song, as the case may be. The East Asian instrumentals of “Don’t Hold the Wall” and the synths of “Tunnel Vision” keep both songs from becoming seven minutes of repetitive tedium.
It’s obvious that Timberlake’s marriage to actress Jessica Biel has had an effect on his work, evidenced by lyrics like “I’m in love with that girl, and she told me that she’s in love with me,” from the track “That Girl.” The album is an ode to the joys of love, marriage and music, creating a feeling of contentment that ties the album together. It’s a welcome change from the usual fare — songs about unrequited love and the sorrows of a broken heart.
Although The 20/20 Experience may not have been Timberlake’s best work, his falsetto voice and characteristic croon is enough to make this album an enjoyable experience. With a sequel in the works, perhaps Timberlake will be able to surprise us all with something less cautious and more along the lines of the timeless “Cry Me a River.”
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