This is an album I so wanted to like. Justified was good (although not, in my opinion at least, as good as JC Chasez's efforts) and Sexyback is a stomper of a hit single. Indeed despite having the album for a few weeks prior to its official release, I held back from a review because I didn't really want to give it a negative one. In the end however, I have no choice.
In the first instance, if Justin is really serious about him bringing "sexy back" then it's not a kind of sexy that will grab me any time soon.
And if he's really serious about "pushing the sound of pop music" (indeed at a recent press conference he asked the question "If I’m not going to push it, then who’s going to?") then ultimately he's failed in his quest. All he's really done is switch his musical horizons from Michael Jackson to Prince. However that is not to say that the album is completely without merits.
Sexyback remains a top quality single, even if it's position is affected by there being a few too many similar tracks on this collection, and there are a handful of tracks that are even better than that. Lovestoned merges violins and beatboxing to remarkably successful effect, What Goes Around is that rare thing (an R'n'B ballad I actually like) and the title track is surely destined to be another huge hit.
Despite the good moments though, overall the impression left is one of disappointment. For all his fame, and the celebrity girlfriend, Timberlake lacks charm and, somewhat ironically, style. And dare I say it, but for an album almost completely revolving around sex (just look at the titles of the opening trio of songs), he comes up with something which is rather oddly sexless. He promises much, but fails to deliver.
The three or four years away since Justified have hardly honed Timberlake's lyrical prowess, witness his attempt at pop-protest Losing My Way, but that might not have mattered so much if he'd been given some tunes but even there we get more misses than hits.
FutureSex/LoveSounds is by no means a dreadful record, but neither is it very good. Despite all the pre-release bluster by the man himself its the worst thing a Justin Timberlake record could be; ordinary.
There are enough slick singles to ensure another worldwide smash I'm sure, but I can't see it being as fondly remembered as Justified in the years to come.
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