By: Ryan Burns
 |
| No use hiding JT, we can all see you. |
Just
when I thought Justin had made a pretty enjoyable album for 2013 he turns right
around and releases a second part that no one knew about. Rumor has it he had a
boxing vocabulary-littered
album slated to be released before 20/20pt.2,
but he lost the flash drive with the only copy of the album on the way to the
manufacturer. In the stead of that tragedy, we have been treated to the less
impressive second installation of 20/20.
Exactly forty-eight hours after “Suit and Tie” had faded
from the airwaves and the catchy melody of “Mirrors” had solidified
in our ear canals, the narcotic-infused hit “Take Back the Night”…hit.
It reminds me of Robin Thicke’s numerous efforts of building on the catchy
themes of 1970’s R&B and Disco songs, only better. “Take Back” is 100% a
party song, complete with numerous background voices akin to certain Marvin
Gaye songs. The various people singing along carry on the melody at the end of
the song as if the recording studio had a hootenanny going on during the
sessions. It truly is a delight. Due to its freshness, it isn’t as annoying as
“Suit & Tie”, but I feel that soon may change, like every single top 40
hits since 1992.
Jay-Z
makes a delightfully hilarious appearance on the song “Murder” saying crazy shit
like “She got that Yoko Ono. You know that shit that made John Lennon go solo. Know
that shit gotta be lethal, if that pussy broke up the Beatles.” The song is
otherwise set up to be a club hit. Throbbing bass and horns set the scene for
JT to play around in. It’s a pretty good song, but has the potential to be
quite annoying if overplayed.
Much to
my surprise, the song “TKO”
caught me off guard. This gem is filled with boxing terms! I can only imagine that
it is a callback to the lost fisticuff concept album JT was planning to release
this year as well. A sort of memorial for what could have been. This song
graces us with such wonderful lines as, “Tried to go below the belt, through my
chest, perfect hit to the dome“. Further into the song, Timbaland lent his
voice, discussing getting his ass kicked by a vagina or something. I wept with joy during this song.
The
effect heavy “Only When I
Walk Away” was a very unsatisfying song. It seemed too long and there was
nothing particularly interesting about it, UNTIL the last minute. I don’t know
what the producers were thinking. Out of nowhere this fucking song turned into
a bad throwback to 1970’s dub music, complete with awful reggae horns that so
many contemporary University town DJs love to use. It seemed that the producers
aim was to be ironic and nostalgic. All it made me think about was other,
better music I could have been listening to. Fortunately, the song ended and
the rest of the album was quite enjoyable.
Overall,
the album is kind of impressive. JT clearly had numerous songs built up from
the 20/20 sessions. I’m not sure if
this was intended to be a follow-up album or B-sides. A lot of songs are pretty
good and catchy, but they certainly don’t stand up against the monster album Future Sex/Love Sounds or even 20/20pt.1.
I can only hopelessly wonder what could have been if only JT had been a little
more careful with the master recordings for Welter
Weight, the boxing album that should have been…
Final Say: Buy the Complete
Experience. It’s worth it as a whole.
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