Design of a Decade 1986/1996

Janet Jackson | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 10, 1995)
• Original Release Date: October 10, 1995
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: A&M
• ASIN: B000002G43
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (147 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,257 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GOOD PLACE TO START..., June 1, 2000

By 

Knyte "To The Stars" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Design of a Decade 1986/1996 (Audio CD)

Hey - I'm a Janet fan, and my favorite Janet album is 'Rhythm Nation 1814'. My favorite Janet video is "Alright". So that might clue you in to what I'm into since Janet has so many facets to her.

As far as this album goes, it's excellent. The best part, however is for those with the ear to notice that some of the 'Rhythm Nation' hits (which make up the majority of this album) are remixed single versions! That is, "Alright", "Black Cat", and "Come Back To Me" are all revised like they were on the radio...improvements on the ones you'll find on the album - especially "Come Back To Me".

But all the 'Control' hits are here (in their original form - get the remix album if you want the single versions) and there's "That's The Way Love Goes" from her 'Janet' campaign that makes you wanna pop that CD in to keep it going. "Twenty Foreplay" is an O.K. song but I absolutely love "Runaway" which seems to go back to her 'Rhythm Nation' days al la Escapade.

I just wish she included "On and On" - the B-side to "Throb", but other than that, this is a must own, especially since Janet is dropping her new album very soon, and her new single, "Never Fall In Love" is off the hook! (I guarantee this one will be a hit, or my name isn't Knyte.)

Trust me.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pop/soul at its polished finest, June 9, 2000

By 

John Jones "Musician" (Chicago IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Design of a Decade 1986/1996 (Audio CD)

Back in 1986 Janet Jackson, with callaborators/producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, set a new standard in R&B, making music that was knee-shakingly funky and still managed to cross over to the pop genre. In hindsight her hits from the late 80's and early 90's isn't so much a dated exercise in nostalgia as it is a measure of how good contemporary soul music can be.

Ok, so she's adorable, sweet as can be, etc...but let's face it. Janet has never possessed the sort of pipes that would steal material away from Whitney Houston. But Jam & Lewis capitalized on the limits of her voice by placing them smack dab on top of the heaviest, thickest grooves you'll ever find in pop music, and the contrast between the two is striking. Her low moans on the likes of "Nasty" and "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" opposite Jam & Lewis' pounding beats make for delicious ear candy; ditto for her energetic delivery on Prince-inspired dancefloor anthems like "Escapade" and the damn-near-perfect "Miss You Much." Janet even proves that she can flat-out rock on the guitar-heavy "Black Cat."

"Alright" is a brushed-up single remix, which serves the song well, considering it has minimal melody and no chord progression whatsoever. Why then, didn't they include the killer video version for "The Pleasure Principle" or the slick single remix for "Let's Wait Awhile"? The album versions of these two tracks sound a bit empty in comparison. Still, with new material at the level of the funky "Runaway" and the sultry "Twenty Foreplay," there's little to complain about. You're even treated to the best track from her "janet" release ("That's the Way Love Goes") without being subjected to the rest of that album's overheated, Madonna-wannabe sexuality. All in all this is as comprehensive and enjoyable a compilation as any casual fan of Janet or R&B in general could ask for.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but feels kind of incomplete, August 19, 2007

By 

Jeremy D. Wallace - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Design of a Decade 1986/1996 (Audio CD)

I recently got around to finally updating my cd collection, by ordering a few CD's from some artists I use to listen to - on cassette, in the 80's and early 90's (when I was a little boy and in my pre-teens)...you know, back when pop music was still good, bearable, and even a little bit meaningful...? Since I obviously couldn't afford to order a whole boatload of cd's, I got the greatest hits versions from some that used to be my favorites from the time - Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Prince, Madonna, George Michael, Billy Joel, Hall & Oates.
When I popped in this cd (Design of a Decade 1986/1996), it was good to hear Janet Jackson's smooth, beatufiful, soothing voice again, because I'll admit, it had been a very long time since I've listened to anything at all from her. The thing that kind of pissed me off though, and that I really just don't understand is why in the bloody hell did she or whoever put this one together decide to include only ONE song from her "Janet" CD? That and I personally think that the one song, "That's The Way Love Goes" they did include is by far the lesser of the hits she had come off of that CD. My personal all-time favorite song by Janet Jackson is "Again", anybody who has ever heard that song knows it is just simply f'n breathtaking! "Where Are You Now" is another really good song that came off that CD. But yet they're both somehow missing from this CD. I just don't get why she or they would've left those off.
Aside from that, it's an excellent CD, but I simply cannot overlook my personal favorite song by her being flat-out missing from it! If anybody knows of any other Janet Jackson - !!COMPLETE!! Greatest Hits (or anything along those lines) types of CD's, by all means please hit me up, and let me know what it's called and where I can find it - [...]. Thank you.