About Opentopia
Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

Rhythm Nation 1814

Encyclopedia : R : RH : RHY : Rhythm Nation 1814

Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 (commonly titled simply Rhythm Nation or Rhythm Nation 1814) is the fourth studio album by American R&B artist Janet Jackson. It was released on September 19, 1989 and became the best selling album of 1990. It is the only album in history to score #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in three different calendar years (1989-1991).

Contents

Background

Rhythm Nation 1814, Jackson's 6x Platinum follow up to her 1986 hit album, Control, was an unprecedented success, with seven hit singles all from the same album. Rhythm Nation 1814 reached number one on both Pop and R&B charts. The album took three months to produce.

Rhythm Nation 1814 is a concept album addressing social ills, alternating with more typical love-song/dance song fare. Jackson's image was changed into a more serious look, with stark black and white cover art and a dimly lit photo of her dressed in a black pseudo-military outfit. The back cover of the album displays the following pledge: "We are a nation with no geographic boundaries, bound together through our beliefs. We are like-minded individuals, sharing a common vision, pushing toward a world rid of color-lines." Following the statement is this creed: "Music, Poetry, Dance, Unity".

The album was the first in history to generate seven top-five Billboard hits. The album's numerous hit singles were accompanied by more conceptual video versions. The album was produced by Jimmy Jam (James Harris III) and Terry Lewis, with co-production credit given to Janet Jackson. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis also penned or co-wrote the songs with Janet Jackson, as well as arranging the music, programming music, and playing much of the instrumental tracks. The song "Black Cat" was produced by another producer of the late-1980s, Jellybean Johnson.

The album was released by A&M Records on LP, chrome cassette and compact disc, which at the time demonstrated an expectation of broad appeal for the album on behalf of the record company. A companion video compilation has also been issued in both VHS and DVD. Complete lyrics were included in the album. All tracks were recorded and mixed in Minnesota. The album is dedicated to Katherine Jackson, Jackson's mother. Rhythm Nation 1814 brought Janet Jackson ten Billboard awards, including Top R&B Albums and Singles Artist, Best Pop and R&B Album Award, and Top Hot 100 Singles Artist. She also won a record-breaking 5 Billboard Music Video Awards. The singles, especially "Miss You Much" and "Rhythm Nation", received extensive airplay on radio and TV stations like MTV, BET and VH1 in addition to dance clubs around the world.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 275 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Track listing

(all songs written by James Harris, Janet Jackson, and Terry Lewis, except where noted)
  1. "Interlude: Pledge" – 0:47
  2. "Rhythm Nation" – 5:30
  3. "Interlude: T.V." – 0:21
  4. "State Of The World" – 4:48
  5. "Interlude: Race" – 0:04
  6. "The Knowledge" (Harris, Lewis) – 3:53
  7. "Interlude: Let's Dance" – 0:04
  8. "Miss You Much" (Harris, Lewis) – 4:12
  9. "Interlude: Come Back" – 0:20
  10. "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" (Harris, Lewis) – 5:50
  11. "Livin’ In A World (They Didn’t Make)" – 4:41
  12. "Alright" – 6:26
  13. "Interlude: Hey Baby" – 0:09
  14. "Escapade" – 4:43
  15. "Interlude: No Acid" – 0:05
  16. "Black Cat" (Jackson) – 4:50
  17. "Lonely" (Harris, Lewis) – 4:59
  18. "Come Back To Me" – 5:32
  19. "Someday Is Tonight" – 6:01
  20. "Interlude: Livin'... In Complete Darkness" – 1:07

Rhythm Nation 1814 B-Sides

Personnel (in order of appearance)

Singles released

Music Awards

Grammy awards

American Music Awards

MTV Video Music Awards

Billboard Music Awards

Billboard Music Video Awards

Soul Train Awards

BMI Pop Awards

NAACP Image Awards

The Album Title

From the Rhythm Nation 1814 Tour Book: "When we were making the track 'Rhythm Nation' we all got excited thinking that it would make a great anthem for dancers everywhere. Then somebody mentioned that Francis Scott-Key had written the American national anthem in 1814 and because of that, the number began to take on a significance for us. It wasn't until later that we realized 'R' is the 18th letter of the alphabet and 'N' is the 14th letter. What's even more coincidental is that Scott-Key wrote the song on September 14th and our album was shipping on September 18th even though it had originally been scheduled to come out in August."

The essay in the liner notes of Design of a Decade 1986/1996 also quote Janet as saying "1814 is also the year women were finally granted education beyond the eighth grade. That was a key fact for me."

The Film

In 1989, while the album was being finalised, Jackson was approached by record company executives to promote the record. The original idea was to do a live TV special to show off the new songs, but Janet resisted the idea on the basis of quality control (she thought the idea was 'cheesy'). An alternative way of promotion, the short film, was suggested. Together with director Dominic Sena, producer (and soon-to-be husband) Rene Elizondo and a team of dancers and choreographers, Jackson created the Rhythm Nation 1814 Film, featuring 4 songs from the album. Shot in black & white, the film tells the story of TJ and Kickdrum, 2 young aspiring musicians who are friends with Jackson. While Jackson entertains her friends at a warehouse, the kids slowly sink into a life of crime, until TJ is eventually killed, prompting Kickdrum to seek comfort in Jackson. 4 songs were featured- a club version of Black Cat, Miss You Much, The Knowledge and Rhythm Nation. The video was well received by critics who compared it to her brother Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, although it did not sell as well.

External link

Janet Jackson
Studio albums: Janet Jackson • Dream Street • Control • Rhythm Nation 1814
janet. • The Velvet Rope • All for You • Damita Jo • 20 Years Old

Other albums: • Janet. Remixed • Design of a Decade 1986/1996

Discography • Singles • Videography • Filmography • Tours • Awards and accolades

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Search Titles
0123456789
ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRST
UVWXYZ?

E-mail this article to:

Personal Message: