{"id":38791,"date":"2013-03-21T08:00:43","date_gmt":"2013-03-21T13:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=38791"},"modified":"2013-03-20T16:40:28","modified_gmt":"2013-03-20T21:40:28","slug":"justin-timberlakes-2020-experience-a-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/03\/justin-timberlakes-2020-experience-a-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Justin Timberlake’s The 20\/20 Experience – A Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"1360260621_1360249469_justin-timberlake-album-cover-467\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There are no bounds to Justin Timberlake\u2019s celebrity. Musician, movie star, and all around charismatic figure, JT (as I\u2019ll affectionately call him) had fans running around Austin last week at SXSW with the mere suggestion that he MIGHT make a surprise appearance.<\/p>\n

While his star has certainly risen over the last several years, it has been despite the fact that his last album of original music is almost seven years old. \u00a0We\u2019ve had SexyBack for quite a while now and, to the relief of fans, JT is back this week his new album, The 20\/20 Experience<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I chose to write about the album with a sense of irony. \u00a0I\u2019m anything but \u201cup\u201d on the latest music. \u00a0I usually only hear the latest and most popular tracks when my kids hear a new song during P.E. at school and make me search (almost hopelessly) to find it on Spotify so they can have a small family dance party in our living room. \u00a0Despite my lack of cool, I waded into the waters of JT\u2019s album with a certain eagerness to, at least, be more pop-culturally literate.<\/p>\n

So, what did I think?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important for me to say that I didn\u2019t hate it. \u00a0There are some tracks that I\u2019d prefer never to hear again. \u00a0One in particular, \u201cSuit and Tie,\u201d led my seven year old daughter to ask, \u201cWhat\u2019s that noise?\u201d \u00a0All of this is to say that The 20\/20 Experience<\/em> is an imperfect album, but one that is sure to have some breakout hits.<\/p>\n

As I made my way through the album, I realized why I’m such a dunce when it comes to most pop music.\u00a0 JT (and many pop artists, for that matter) makes music for people who don\u2019t care about lyrics. \u00a0Most of the lyrics on The 20\/20 Experience<\/em> sound like they\u2019re derived from the Ryan Gosling \u201cHey Girl\u201d meme (which, by the way, would make a pretty amazing album), but without the wit. \u00a0Others, like \u201cStrawberry Bubblegum\u201d and \u201cSpaceship Coupe\u201d stand apart as two of the worst songs I\u2019ve ever heard, lyrically speaking (e.g. Hop into my spaceship coupe, There’s only room for two [Me and you] And with the top down, We’ll cruise around, Land and make love on the moon, Would you like that?).<\/p>\n

There are some bright spots along the way. \u00a0When I heard \u201cTunnel Vision,\u201d I got very sad that seventh graders no longer make mix tapes. \u00a0With lyrics like \u201cI look around and everything I see is beautiful cause all I see is you,\u201d this track is mix tape gold. \u00a0If I had had that song in my arsenal in 1995, I\u2019d have been holding hands like a mad man. \u00a0But, alas, I digress.<\/p>\n

Another track, \u201cLet the Groove Get In,\u201d with its primal beats, seems to scream for a cultural dance movement a la<\/em> the Macarena. \u00a0It\u2019s redefines catchy.\u00a0 \u201cMirrors\u201d sounds like it was pre-ordained as a Billboard #1 hit.<\/p>\n

Even at the highpoints of The 20\/20 Experience<\/em>, the album has a fatal flaw – the length of each track. \u00a0Three tracks clock in at over eight minutes. \u00a0Four cross the seven minute threshold. \u00a0Don McClean\u2019s “American Pie” spans eight minutes and thirty six seconds, but there are over 600 words in that song, not counting the chorus. \u00a0When Timberlake repeats the same 50-100 words over the same time span the tracks seem indulgent and unnecessarily long.<\/p>\n

I’ll step out there and venture a guess – if you liked Justin Timberlake before, you’ll probably enjoy his latest effort, though I suspect that even the most ardent JT fan will grow tired at the length of some tracks.\u00a0 I won’t throw any stones when it comes to musical choice, I certainly have my guilty pleasures.\u00a0 But, if you were curious what a 31 year old father of four living in the Austin suburbs thinks about the new JT album… wonder no more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are no bounds to Justin Timberlake\u2019s celebrity. Musician, movie star, and all around charismatic figure, JT (as I\u2019ll affectionately call him) had fans running around Austin last week at SXSW with the mere suggestion that he MIGHT make a surprise appearance. While his star has certainly risen over the last several years, it has… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,92],"tags":[55,1547,514,1548,116],"class_list":["post-38791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-blog","category-news","tag-catholic-2","tag-justin-timberlake","tag-music","tag-pop-music","tag-reviews-2","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":25449,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/10\/a-creation-liturgy-cd-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":38791,"position":0},"title":"A Creation Liturgy [CD Review]","author":"Crist\u00f3bal Almanza Herrera","date":"October 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This month, the Denver-based Christian-collective, Gungor released a new album entitled A Creation Liturgy. This past Spring, I wrote a review on an EP released by the band The Brilliance, also based in Denver, after a concert I attended here in Austin featuring both bands. I've wanted to write a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Creation Liturgy - Gungor","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/A-Creation-Liturgy.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10742,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/02\/the-start-soundwave-cd-release-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":38791,"position":1},"title":"The Start -Soundwave [CD Release Review]","author":"Crist\u00f3bal Almanza Herrera","date":"February 3, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"In the land of barbecue, you\u2019ll find more than just your choice of meats. The band Soundwave, mainly known as the house band for DCYC for the past 3 years, has just released a new album. This small town band from Lockhart, TX shows the extent of their God-given musical\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/TheStart-Soundwave1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4897,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2011\/09\/broke-open-review-matt-mahers-the-love-in-between\/","url_meta":{"origin":38791,"position":2},"title":"Broke open (Review: Matt Maher’s “The Love in Between”)","author":"Laura Gonzalez","date":"September 21, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been dancing since Sunday. Not physical, hip-swinging, arm flailing kind of dancing. The heart-fluttering, non-stop humming, whistling-in-the-halls dancing. All because of a contemporary Christian music album. Five years ago, I would not have believed it. \u00a0I guess my heart had to be a certain place before it was open\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/photo-300x289.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9285,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/01\/hope-in-death-a-review-of-give-us-rest\/","url_meta":{"origin":38791,"position":3},"title":"Hope in Death [A Review of Give Us Rest]","author":"Crist\u00f3bal Almanza Herrera","date":"January 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Great music can be some of the most beautiful art, and Christianity is in great need of more of it today. It\u2019s no secret that in contemporary music the Catholic Church is not at its high mark. Personally, I think that Gregorian chant from the Traditional Latin Mass is hard\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/GiveUsRest.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":40559,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/07\/dream-of-a-home-mike-mangione-concert-fundraiser\/","url_meta":{"origin":38791,"position":4},"title":"“Dream of a Home” Mike Mangione Concert Fundraiser","author":"Jason Elizondo","date":"July 12, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Austin, TX \u2013 Folk-rock singer\/songwriter Mike Mangione will be performing at St. Edward\u2019s University Jones Auditorium on July 19th at 8 p.m. with Paul Finley opening. Mike will be performing songs of his latest album, \u201cRed-Winged Blackbird Man,\u201d to hit stores September 3rd, in addition to his established repertoire. Tickets\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "World and News"","block_context":{"text":"World and News","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dream of a Home","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/DreamofaHome-464x700.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13674,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/03\/a-musical-reflection-on-lent-by-the-brilliance-ep-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":38791,"position":5},"title":"A Musical Reflection on Lent by The Brilliance [EP Review]","author":"Crist\u00f3bal Almanza Herrera","date":"March 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"A few weeks ago I went to the most unique Christian music concert I have ever attended. As an artist, I always enjoy supporting the arts that help to promote the faith in visual art and performance art, but I don\u2019t think I saw this coming. On March 1st, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/TheBrilliance-LentCD.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38791\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}