CNET Networks Entertainment GameSpot | GameFAQs | SportsGamer | Metacritic | MP3.com | TV.com
Home | About Metacritic | About Metascores | What's New | Wireless Versions | Discussion Forums | Advertising Inquiries | Contact Us | RSS
Metacritic.com: We Deal With Criticism
     Help
> Switch to Advanced Search  
Film Video/DVD Music Games TV

Music

Upcoming Release Calendar
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2008
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Music In Our Forums

 

Upcoming & Recent Releases

sort by name sort by score

60 31Knots
82 Abe Vigoda
71 The Academy Is...
53 The Airborne Toxic Event
79 Alias
77 Theresa Andersson
76 Apollo Sunshine
47 The Automatic
79 Azeda Booth
75 Joan Baez
84 Bajofondo
56 David Banner
76 The Baseball Project
77 Beck
77 Black Affair
59 Black Ghosts
74 Black Kids
79 Blitzen Trapper
74 Bodies Of Water
70 Brazilian Girls
72 Brightblack Morning Light
66 The Broken West
50 Buckcherry
78 Lindsey Buckingham
90 The Bug
56 Caesars
78 Calexico
70 Glen Campbell
70 Brendan Canning
63 Cats In Paris
74 The Chemical Brothers
65 Cold War Kids
69 Alice Cooper
79 Rodney Crowell
63 CSS
67 Miley Cyrus
46 Dandy Warhols
65 Kimya Dawson
73 Dead Confederate
72 Death Vessel
74 Delta Spirit
79 Damien Dempsey
78 Ani DiFranco
58 DJ Khaled
66 The Donkeys
72 Dr. Dog
80 DragonForce
78 The Duhks
77 Dungen
73 Brian Eno + David Byrne
62 The Faint
67 The Fiery Furnaces
63 Ben Folds
64 iForward, Russia!
72 Friendly Fires
71 Fujiya & Miyagi
65 The Game
74 Inara George With Van Dyke Parks
74 Giant Sand
79 Girl Talk
83 Glasvegas
61 Golden Animals
64 Mike Gordon
68 Gym Class Heroes
78 GZA
66 Neil Halstead
64 Albert Hammond, Jr.
72 Juliana Hatfield
61 Hawthorne Heights
81 High Places
77 High Places
76 Zach Hill
85 The Hold Steady
83 David Holmes
80 Horse Feathers
74 Howling Hex
58 Jennifer Hudson
71 Human Highway
70 Ice Cube
66 Ida Maria
68 Jack's Mannequin
69 Jaguar Love
73 James
81 Jamey Johnson
70 Jonas Brothers
78 Damien Jurado
83 Kasai Allstars
57 Kerli
89 B.B. King
65 Kings Of Leon
67 Ladyhawke
73 Leila
54 Levellers
74 Jenny Lewis
76 Lykke Li
82 Lindstrom
72 Little Jackie
60 The Little Ones
57 LL Cool J
60 Lloyd
60 The Lord Dog Bird
85 Patty Loveless
76 John Mellencamp
71 The Melvins
70 Mercury Rev
77 Metallica
71 Metronomy
74 Mirah
75 Mogwai
64 Motorhead
66 Mugison
78 Nico Muhly
74 Murs
84 The Music Tapes
71 Nas
65 Nelly
79 Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis
50 New Kids On The Block
77 The New Year
85 Randy Newman
80 Ne-Yo
57 Nightmares On Wax
68 The Nightwatchman
78 Nine Inch Nails
62 Noah And The Whale
67 Oasis
75 Conor Oberst
78 Okkervil River
76 Old Crow Medicine Show
80 One Day As A Lion
75 Oneida
73 Joan Osborne
75 Oxford Collapse
85 Paavoharju
78 Amanda Palmer
65 Parenthetical Girls
89 Aaron Parks
73 Lee "Scratch" Perry
51 Kellie Pickler
70 Pivot
58 Plain White T's
89 Plush
64 Primal Scream
50 Pussycat Dolls
75 Ra Ra Riot
71 Ratatat
62 Re-Up Gang
62 Rex The Dog
76 Roots Manuva
71 Darius Rucker
72 The Rumble Strips
81 Raphael Saadiq
57 Sam Champion
73 Scars On Broadway
81 Pete Seeger
70 Ron Sexsmith
68 The Shaky Hands
39 Shwayze
58 Jessica Simpson
69 Slipknot
80 Patti Smith and Kevin Shields
73 Solange
69 Son, Ambulance
65 Rick Springfield
65 Staind
47 Stereo MC's
72 Stereolab
71 The Stills
73 The Subways
83 Sugarland
70 Matthew Sweet
74 T.I.
72 Robin Thicke
71 Thievery Corporation
77 Irma Thomas
79 Tindersticks
71 Tittsworth
90 Shugo Tokumaru
74 Emiliana Torrini
67 James Jackson Toth
72 Randy Travis
69 Tricky
89 TV On The Radio
78 The Uglysuit
92 Underoath
56 UNKLE
61 David Vandervelde
77 Chad VanGaalen
71 The Verve
76 Volcano!
68 Loudon Wainwright III
80 The Walkmen
66 Ben Weaver
83 The Week That Was
77 Paul Weller
70 Brian Wilson
76 Wire
63 XX Teens
71 Young Jeezy
55 Yung Berg

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

 



Printer-Friendly Version Email This Page Discuss In Our Forums

Damita Jo
by Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 53 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
7.8 out of 10
based on 13 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 56 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

The nipple-baring superstar's first album in three years features production from Dallas Austin, Babyface, Kanye West, and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis.

LABEL: Virgin
RELEASE DATE: 30 March 2004
DISCS: 1 disc
GENRE(S): Pop

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

83
E! Online
Strong and sensual.
Read Full Review
80
The Guardian
The obligatory boring ballads aside, the results are astonishing.
Read Full Review
80
Blender
What's titillating about Damita Jo isn't some easy flash of sexuality, but the varied soundbeds that Jackson and her producers create to house her love games, and the confidence with which she plays. [May 2004, p.116]
70
The New York Times
The album is even sleeker and sexier than its predecessor, "All for You," and in saner times, that would be enough to ensure its success. [28 Mar 2004]
Read Full Review
63
Los Angeles Times
All this heavy construction is undertaken in the service of one of pop's thinnest, wispiest voices, and although Jackson's lack of vocal presence leaves a void at the heart of "Damita Jo," she's enough of a personality to create a few serviceable personas.
Read Full Review
60
Q Magazine
The sex tracks themselves are more scary than seductive.... [But] the dancefloor tunes are far more slinky. [May 2004, p.107]
60
Billboard
At 22 tracks, "Damita Jo" has its fair share of hits and misses.
Read Full Review
58
Entertainment Weekly
For the most part, the songs are stylized set pieces--the furthest thing from steamy R&B--and they evaporate as you listen to them. [9 Apr 2004, p.83]
40
Dot Music
That it'll be her most scrutinised release is a problem, because its stilted, wearying, obsessive concentration on an uncomfortably forced notion of it's creator's sexuality means it's the only album she's made in the last dozen years that doesn't merit such focussed attention.
Read Full Review
40
All Music Guide
Without strong rhythmic or melodic hooks, the album's slow grooves blend together and Jackson disappears into the productions.
Read Full Review
40
Rolling Stone
Smacks of trying too hard.
Read Full Review
30
New York Magazine
Damita Jo, sadly, is an outdated product of the turn-of-the-millennium pop scene, in which female singers conflated sexual openness with empowerment.
Read Full Review
20
Playlouder
Finds her flailing club-footedly some twelve steps behind contemporary R&B, whispering distractedly through a seemingly unending array of interludes and phoning in songs that even Mariah at her most barely-there would dismiss as a trifle on the insipid side.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this album is 7.8 (out of 10) based on 56 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Joseph V gave it a7:
Not thrilled by this CD. I think it's her weakest. Maybe I just haven't gotten into it yet...

P Ray gave it an8:
All For You was rubbish, 20yo is rubbish, in contrast Damito Jo is everything that the latter two fail to be, the most naturally sexy, fresh, funky that Janet has sounded in years. Didnt need the marketing stunt if thats what it was. Unlike All For You which had some rubbish sex songs, this has good ones, unllike 20 yo which has some rubbish dance songs and a load of bland songs, Damito Jos efforts are all better than all the weak tracks on bothe those albums.

Jay B gave it a10:
Janet continues to do what she does best. Damita Jo showcases Janets ever increasing self awareness, while also containing the many sweet R&B tracks that has made her such a success. One of 2004's best R&B albums!

Chonte J gave it a10:
this is the cd of the year

Eliot T gave it a5:
This album is nowhere near as good as any of her past work...I can see why the album needed controversy...

aaliyah j gave it a10:
THIS IS THE BEST CD

Biggs gave it a 10:
Well crafted CD. Janet, Jam, and Lewis have done it again with help from a few others. Janet is a pleasure to listen to. You can feel her energy and space that she is in, LOVE.

Read more user comments...

Discuss this album in our forums

Return to top of page
Home | FILM | DVD/VIDEO | MUSIC | GAMES | TV | Forums | About Metacritic metacritic.com

Popular on CBS sites: Fantasy Football | Miley Cyrus | MLB | iPhone 3G | GPS | Recipes | Shwayze | NFL

About CNET Networks | Jobs | Advertise

© 2008 CNET Networks, Inc., a CBS Company. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use