Discipline

Damita Jo, 20 Y.O., Unbreakable and this album (Janet’s 10th) all deserve critical reevaluation. The so-called Nipplegate of 2004’s Super Bowl—known among fans now as Janet Jackson Appreciation Day—killed airplay and promo for albums full of unrealized hits for far too long. On Discipline, she’d left behind longtime producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, but they weren’t really the problem. Beyoncé and Rihanna—in their 20s to Janet’s 42—had unseated her pop princess position. “Feedback” (a Rodney Jerkins production) went top 20 but deserved higher heights. The S&M lite of “Discipline” seemed like a desperate grab. (Sex sells? Not always.) But Discipline still bops.