The third solo album dropped by Justin Timberlake this year, The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2 is the completion of his second release of the year, The 20/20 Experience.
The 11-track album can be described as lackluster at best. Many of the songs include unnecessary swearing and blatant sexual references.
“True Blood” boasts a short, strong guitar solo but drags on to a length of 9 and a half minutes. (Not to mention the fact that it’s a few years too late to try and fit into the vampire craze that swept the nation.)
The third track, “Cabaret,” has one redeeming quality: Drake. Unlike Jay-Z’s rap in “Suit and Tie” (The 20/20 Experience), Drake has smart lyrics and does not slow the track down. His feature is one of the best parts of the album.
“TKO” is the first track on the album with a chorus that’s easy to sing-a-long with and is catchy enough to be popular.
The single, “Take Back the Night,” offers none of the catchiness of previous singles and does not have the heart that we have come to expect from Timberlake. It has currently peaked at No. 29 with no promise of venturing higher.
Timberlake is no doubt one of the favorite artists of the year. This album, however, has over 60 minutes of material and none of it comes close to the success of “Suit and Tie” or “Mirrors,” Timberlake’s most popular singles from the previous album.
Where the previous album was a new sound that brought a fresh look on Timberlake’s career, this newest album relies too much on collaborator Timbaland. Many of the tracks resemble the Timberlake/Timbaland pairing on FutureSex/LoveSounds, Timberlake’s 2006 release. The tracks border on being over-produced and have too much going on.
Timberlake should have let the first release of The 20/20 Experience stand alone. This follow-up album may set back his comeback success. The clichéd lyrics and lack of creativity led to a dud of an album.
The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2 is available on iTunes with clean and explicit versions, as well as The 20/20 Experience – The Complete Experience in both clean and explicit versions.
