Number Ones

Janet Jackson | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 17, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: A&M
• ASIN: B002PBA8QI
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,312 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #36 in Music > R&B > Contemporary R&B

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

Janet is an iconic figure in the worlds of music, entertainment, fashion and philanthropy. Mega-award-winning artist, singer, songwriter, producer, actor, dancer, Janet Jackson is all of these things and more. She possesses an unprecedented list of achievements, and remains at the forefront of her craft, a true inspiration. As an artist, Janet excites, enlightens, leads, and embraces her audience with insights into life's meaning and our deepest feelings. Her vocal gifts, musical style, choreography, lyrical exploration, and awareness of the human condition has made her one of the top artists of our time as well as a leading influence on people around the globe. Through words and actions, she has set an example of generosity, of empowerment, of compassion, and helped to lead efforts addressing some of society's greatest challenges.

As an actor, Janet made her big screen debut in 1993 with Poetic Justice, in which she starred opposite hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur and actress Regina King. Her ballad "Again" was featured in the film and received both a Golden Globe and Academy Award nomination. In the box office smash Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, Janet made her second feature film appearance as Denise Gaines, opposite Academy Award nominee Eddie Murphy. Nutty Professor II became her second film to open at number one at the box office. In her third feature film, Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?, Janet starred opposite Tyler Perry and received an Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Feature Motion Picture. The film was yet another number one opener at the box office. Janet's fourth film, Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too, will be released in 2010.

Janet is the only artist having Grammy nominations spanning the Dance, Pop, Rap, Rock, and R&B categories and to have number one hits on every chart except country. Among her many honors, she has accumulated 5 Grammys, multiple MTV Awards, Billboard Music Awards, and Soul Train Music Awards. Janet's concerts are stunning events that stimulate all the senses-- engaging mind, ears, eyes and the soul. Unbelievable choreography performed to perfection has become synonymous with Janet.

MTV presented Janet with the inaugural mtvICON Award solidifying her accomplishments and effect on pop culture. Some of the world's most recognized musical artists were enlisted to recreate the music videos and performances of her classic hits in honor of her work, influence and overall impact in the arena of music. The title of ICON was and continues to be hers.

Janet continues to focus on speaking out and giving back. Several of her tours have raised money for charities such as the Cities in Schools, and America's Promise. She has supported the Watts Willowbrook Boys & Girls Club of America, the Starlight Foundation, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, A Place Called Home providing after school programs in South Central LA, the American Foundation for AIDS Research, S.O.S. Children's Villages in South Africa, Cartier's Love Bracelet Program benefiting OCNA and sponsored an Airlift of Food and Medical supplies to famine-stricken Rwanda. Janet established the Rhythm Nation Scholarship with the UNCF and has assisted countless students striving to meet their educational goals.

She has been honored with many Humanitarian Awards due to her intense dedication to helping others. Recent honors reflecting the range of her involvement in charitable and social causes include the 2008 Humanitarian of the Year award from the Lisa Lopes Foundation, the 2008 Vanguard Award from GLAAD, and the 2004 Touching a Life Humanitarian and Philanthropic Award from the NBA. Janet's efforts have also been recognized by AIDS Project LA, the Congress for Racial Equality, and by the NAACP with their Chairman's Award. In September 2009, Janet chaired amFAR's inaugural fundraising event in Milan, Italy during Fashion Week and raised over 1.1 million dollars.

Next year, Janet will publish her first book, providing an intimate look at her life and how she has dealt with issues of self-esteem. Janet will reveal aspects not known before about her uniquely successful career in music, television and films.

Janet's next studio album is slated to be released in 2010.

Product Description

2009 two CD collection from the R&B diva, a career spanning collection that contains 33 of Janet's global #1 hits, plus the new hit, 'Make Me,' available on one album for the first time ever. Janet is one of the biggest, best-selling artists in Pop music history and one of the most successful and influential female artists of all time. She has sold over 65 million albums worldwide. Features 34 tracks including 'What Have You Don For My Lately', 'Miss You Much', 'Nasty', 'When I Think Of You' and 'Make Me'.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 51 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An AMAZING Collection! November 18, 2009

By iPod Fan 3

Format:Audio CD

So, I've been waiting for a new Janet collection for awhile, so when she announced "Number Ones", I was super excited. I was even happier when she announced the official track listing. I thought, except for the exclusion of "You Want This", it was perfect. And when I got the CD, it even exceeded my expectations. The remastering is superb! You hear it as soon as you put in the first CD and hear the very beginning of "What Have You Done For Me Lately". It really stands out on the first disc, especially songs like "When I Think Of You", "Let's Wait Awhile", and "Love Will Never Do (Without You)".

Another thing I like is the rare tracks, or at least rare versions. Thankfully they included the Single Remix of "Let's Wait Awhile" unlike on "Decade". Another great inclusion is the video mix of "All For You", which includes the dance break and was originally only available on the CD Single. I DO wish they would have just used the single edit for "Any Time, Any Place" instead of the R. Kelly Remix, which it didn't even say it was. Another 'false labeling' is the fact that it said "Janet feat. BLACKstreet" on "I Get Lonely", but was actually the solo album/radio edit instead. I like the solo version better, but I hate that they put one thing and it says another.

Overall, I would suggest this collection to major fans, minor fans, and everyone in between. It covers her past 23 years of music so well.

Here is the track listing including which version it is: (PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG)
DISC ONE
1. What Have You Done For Me Lately? - Album Version w/o Spoken Intro
2. Nasty - Album Version
3. When I Think of You - Album Version
4. Control - Album Version
5. Let's Wait Awhile - Single/Remix Version
6. The Pleasure Principle - Album Edit
7. Diamonds - Main Version
8. Miss You Much - Album Version
9. Rhythm Nation - Single Edit with Pledge Intro
10. Escapade - Album Version
11. Alright - Video Edit (aka 7" Mix) with Heavy D Rap
12. Come Back to Me - The 12" I'm Beggin' You Mix
13. Black Cat - Video Edit
14. Love Will Never Do (Without You) - Single Version
15. The Best Things in Life Are Free - 1992 Soundtrack Version
16. That's The Way Love Goes - Album Version

DISC TWO
1. If - Album Version
2. Again - Album Version
3. Because of Love - Album Version
4. Any Time, Any Place - R. Kelly Remix
5. Scream - Radio Edit
6. Runaway - Album Version
7. Got 'Til It's Gone - Clean Radio Edit
8. Together Again - LP/Radio Edit
9. I Get Lonely - LP Edit (*NOTE: Does NOT feature BLACKstreet)
10. Go Deep - Album Version
11. What's It Gonna Be?! - Radio Edit
12. Doesn't Really Matter - Full Soundtrack Version
13. All For You - Video Version with Dance Break
14. Someone to Call My Lover - Single/Radio Edit
15. All Nite (Don't Stop) - Album Version
16. Call On Me - Album Version (Including a 10 second intro from the end of "With U" on 20 Y.O.)
17. Feedback - Single Version (Almost same as album version, except with an extended outro)
18. Make Me - Single Version

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars 34 REMASTERED JANET TRACKS - 5 STAR WINNER November 17, 2009

By PourHomme80

Format:Audio CD

34 tracks on 2 discs remastered to perfection. I have fallen in love with Janet's music all over again.
PROS
1. Excellent Remasters of all her classic hits!
- "That's the Way Love Goes" sounds brilliant.
- "When I Think of You" never sounded better.
2. This is truly an almost all encompassing and comprehensive collection of Janet's career spanning hits, including duets she has done through the years! (Diamonds,Best Things In Life,etc)
3. New track - Make Me (Produced by Darkchild/Rodney Jenkins) Disco House/Pop Janet is Back. This song is a major stand-out.

CONS
1. I am not a fan of some of the versions chosen to be on this collection. The one that is really glaring is the hip hop sounding version of "Best Things In Life Are Free" Would have much preferred the more popular radio version which was also used in the music video over the one chosen to be on this hits set.
2. Album cover = Thought Janet's smile is a classic visual and just about everyone knows her and that beautiful smile, I think a more iconic image should have been used, either from the past or a new pic shot just for this album cover.

As you can see, we are short on cons here and the fact that you have amazing remastered tracks trumps any of the negatives I have mentioned. A&M and Janet's team have really done a spectacular job on making this a very neat and concise collection. There was another remastered comprehensive greatest hits that came out just a couple months ago from another artist (whose name I wont mention but that I absolutely love) which was disastrous in such a number of ways (production, remaster, artwork) and offensive to her and her fans that I really have to appreciate this strong release from Janet.

This is a real must-have for anyone who grew up in the 80's, 90's and today with Janet's great sounds!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice body of work, Ms. Jackson November 21, 2009

By tomdewcon

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Barring a major comeback--which I would gladly welcome--Janet Jackson's hit-making career seems to have come to an end when she performed with Justin Timberlake at a certain Super Bowl halftime show. Prior to that lapse in judgment, she had been one of America's pre-eminent pop-R&B singers--after all, she came from musical royalty. Even if she is never able to return to her former glory (sadly, radio is not kind to performers over 35, in any genre, no matter how good the music), this collection will stand as an impressive body of work. The first disc is the stronger of the two, and covers the years of 1986-1993. Many of these songs are certified classics: "What Have You Done for Me Lately" is a wonderfully defiant statement:, "That's the Way Love Goes" is a sexy treat, "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" still goes off like a bomb when it plays in your iPod, not to mention "Escapade", "Miss You Much", and "Nasty", among others. This disc also includes Janet's collaboration with Herb Alpert--a hit-maker before she was even born--whom Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis gave one final top ten hit, "Diamonds", as well as "The Best Things in Life Are Free", recorded with the late great Luther Vandross and those guys from New Edition. The second disc finds her career kicking into a lower gear, but not always for a lack of trying. The disc opens with the rest of Janet's 1993-94 work from the album "janet." This material is still great overall, but you can see the sexiness start to creep in--"Any Time, Any Place" is pretty ribald compared to "Escapade". This era also ushered in interludes--short skits that occur on R&B albums, marring the overall flow of the album. The only time these every really worked was on "Rhythm Nation 1814", when they were part of the flow and not like speed bumps standing in the way of good music. The disc also includes some important one-off items: the collaboration with her King of Pop brother, "Scream" (the first time it has appeared on a Janet album); a duet with Busta Rhymes(!) on "What's It Gonna Be?!" and a reprise of the hit single from "Design of a Decade", "Runaway". Surprisingly, "The Velvet Rope"--a dark, sexy album that showed many sides of Janet's personality--is well represented. It includes top five hits `Together Again" and "I Get Lonely", as well as dance/airplay hits "Go Deep" (good slice of pop) and "Got Til It's Gone" (a song I've never quite understood, but nice to have on here). The "All for You [Extra Track]" era is well-represented, too, by "Doesn't Really Matter" and "All For You" (both #1 pop hits) and "Someone to Call My Lover" with its "Ventura Highway" sample. Around this time, Janet seems to have pushed the limits of her image too far. She was more or less nude on the cover of "All For You", and then topless on the cover of "Damita Jo". She began to lose her funky independence and her clothes in favor of breathy tunes about her...climax. Rather than tantalizing, it just came off as desperate. Granted, many men sing about the same thing on their albums and I also find that desperate. Perhaps I am just showing my age, as this has been increasingly popular in today's music world. "Damita Jo" found Janet failing to reach the top 40 with any singles, in spite of a #45 debut for "Just a Little While" and strong R&B airplay for "I Want You". The lone inclusion from that album--a bloated disappointment that might have been better with some trimming, some different production, and better publicity--was a song that mainly just got dance airplay, "All Nite (Don't Stop)". Around this same time, Janet was also dating Jermaine Dupri, a decent-if-annoying producer whose M.O. is to say "uh-huh" and "yeah" all over his artists' productions. He seemed to steer Janet in a different direction--away from her record label, her longtime producers and her fanbase. Her next album, "20 Y.O", seemed like an attempt to recapture former glory. I streamed the album and couldn't find much to get excited about. The magic was gone. The album is represented here by "Call on Me", an okay duet with Nelly--another artist whose career seemed to decline as this decade wore on. With this album out of the way, Janet gave the world "Discipline". This album returned Janet to the top of the sales charts but did not include Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis behind the boards. The single "Feedback", which is pretty good if not great, is included here. The final track is new--called "Make Me", it recalls her brother's "Don't Stop `Til You Get Enough" as well as Janet's danceable past. Janet has split with Jermaine Dupri, so the future for her musically seems to be in her hands, to paraphrase "Again". Nearly every hit is here, save for "You Want This"; others such as "Son of a Gun" are not missed by me. And as for the packaging? The cover of this album looks pretty good as well--Janet is dressed and looks like, well, a lady. The few times when she has appeared on TV this year--her brother's memorial, his MTV VMA tribute, and the recent ABC interview--Janet has looked very classy and in "Control". We also get something too many albums lack these days--legible liner notes with writer/producer/album credits. Overall, this is an excellent package and a great addition to any collection of popular music from the last 25 years.