Design of a Decade 1986/1996

Janet Jackson

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 (139 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #5,454 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This decade-spanning compilation charts the singer-dancer-actress's transformation from rebellious teenager to sexy diva, along the way check-listing major hits like "Nasty," "Miss You Much," "What Have You Done for Me Lately?" and "Rhythm Nation." Two new tracks bookend the set, but even the older material--most of it helmed by writer-producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis--holds up remarkably well. --Courtney Kemp

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 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

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.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 'Decade' my ass, girl., March 17, 2005

By	Matt - See all my reviews

In spite of the misleading title, this collection of pop singles spanning a mere 4 years, 1986-1990, is a far better buy than either of the two albums from which its songs were culled.

Janet Jackson is one of those frustrating performers who has had a succession of excellent pop singles, the majority of which are necessary to own if you want the hit versions versus the more readily available full length releases where these same tracks tend to drag on forever and are locked into their respective albums by pointless, overlapping interludes.

Fortunately this collection presents the seperated mixes and the songs included here are fantastic examples of mid-late 80s pop at its finest.

From 1986s Control: "What Have You Done For Me Lately", "Nasty", "When I Think Of You", "Control", "Let's Wait Awhile" (shamefully not the single remix), and "The Pleasure Principle" (curiously not the Shep Pettibone remix used in the video as well as on the international single release, but an edit of the painfully bland album version).

From 1989s Rhythm Nation 1814: "Miss You Much", "Rhythm Nation" (the album version for which a special "pledge"-less intro has been mixed), "Escapade", "Alright" (fortunately the Shep Pettibone single remix and even more fortunately Heavy D's rap has been removed), "Come Back To Me" (the radio remix), "Black Cat" (ditto) and the edit of "Love Will Never Do (Without You)".

The rest of the album (a whopping 3 songs) is filled out by the lone Virgin Records offering "That's The Way Love Goes" and two at-the-time new cuts, "Runaway" and "Twenty Foreplay".

The US edition of Design Of A Decade is great for what you get. The international edition is even better, boasting two additional tracks ("Whoops Now" and "The Best Things In Life Are Free") and fewer album versions of tracks ("Nasty", "What Have You Done For Me Lately", "Miss You Much", "Control" and "Rhythm Nation" all appear in different versions...improved, concise edits originally found on their respective singles). The cover artwork also differs from country to country.

Coming back to the title for a moment (and I really don't mean to harp), it's a bit unfair for A&M Records to have titled this Design Of A Decade and worse still imply that it spans "1986/1996" when her 1991 to 1995 output is represented only by "That's The Way Love Goes". The omitted Virgin singles eligible for inclusion are among her biggest and most well known tracks, and at that time were what most consumers were anxious to hear alongside her 80s output, and probably what most (myself included) thought they were getting.

Furthermore, no attempt is made at including material from her first two A&M albums (1982s Janet Jackson and 1984s Dream Street). While this isn't technically a loss, with the limited resources A&M had for compiling a retrospective they could have thrown in a track or two to represent the first half of her time with them. At least then this could have been called Design Of A Decade with the subtitle 1982/1992, stopping just before the Virgin Records era.

Then there is the problem of how to follow up this release. With Fall 2005 (the tenth anniversary of Design's release) fast approaching and Janet Jackson's career in decline, it seems logical that Virgin would want to whip up their own 'Decade', which would have to stretch all the way back to the summer of 1993 to pick up what didn't appear on the first release, making then for an over-inflated thirteen year decade.

*ceases fire*

Though I definitely recommend opting for the better international edition, there is no denying that this is a fantastic collection of hit singles worthy of a place on anyones CD shelf.

9 of 9 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)

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.