Music
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best of 2009
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
Best of the Decade
Upcoming &
Recent Releases
75
2562
54
30 Seconds to Mars
62
50 Cent
71
AC/DC
70
The Album Leaf
52
Kris Allen
68
Tori Amos
66
Animal Collective
84
Animal Collective![]()
77
Annie
57
Apse
63
Asobi Seksu
59
Bad Lieutenant
83
Julianna Barwick![]()
82
Beach House![]()
72
Beak>
72
Bibio
65
Justin Bieber
76
Biffy Clyro
74
Blakroc
75
Mary J. Blige
78
Blockhead
52
Bon Jovi
54
Susan Boyle
57
The Bravery
39
Chris Brown
64
V.V. Brown
70
Basia Bulat
79
Chew Lips
74
Citay
65
Clipse
66
Cold War Kids
75
The Cribs
58
Dashboard Confessional
81
Dave Rawlings Machine![]()
70
Delphic
78
The Doors
58
Echo & The Bunnymen
73
Edan
59
Editors
69
Eels
80
Felt
74
First Aid Kit
69
Flyleaf
83
Four Tet![]()
82
Ben Frost![]()
82
Fucked Up![]()
83
Charlotte Gainsbourg![]()
63
The Gilded Palace Of Sin
68
Githead
65
Joe Goddard
58
Good Shoes
72
Gucci Mane
75
Holopaw
82
Jesca Hoop![]()
79
Hot Chip
72
The Hot Rats
88
Ray Wylie Hubbard![]()
54
Hurricane Chris
66
Allison Iraheta
59
Jay Sean
82
Freedy Johnston![]()
57
Nick Jonas And The Administration
73
Norah Jones
49
Juvenile
58
Ke$ha
62
R. Kelly
66
Alicia Keys
68
Kid Sister
81
King Midas Sound![]()
63
Lady Antebellum
76
Lady GaGa
71
Adam Lambert
78
Lawrence Arabia
61
Leona Lewis
74
Lightspeed Champion
36
Lil Wayne
82
Lindstrom & Christabelle![]()
77
Lissie
78
Los Campesinos!
70
Lostprophets
73
Magnetic Fields
72
Massive Attack
64
John Mayer
71
Paul McCartney
58
Katherine McPhee
86
Memory Tapes![]()
72
Midlake
88
Motion City Soundtrack![]()
63
Mr. Hudson
53
Mudvayne
75
Oh No Ono
70
OK Go
72
Ola Podrida
61
OneRepublic
80
Owen Pallett
80
Pantha du Prince
90
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers![]()
80
Phantogram
60
Pit Er Pat
63
Priestess
70
Radian
79
Corinne Bailey Rae
54
Rakim
79
Real Estate
77
Retribution Gospel Choir
76
Rihanna
64
Rjd2
65
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
77
Sade
77
Gil Scott-Heron
72
Shakira
82
Shining![]()
61
Snoop Dogg
62
Snow Patrol
71
The Soft Pack
80
Spoon
64
Ringo Starr
59
Stereophonics
76
Angie Stone
79
Surfer Blood
74
Switchfoot
75
Them Crooked Vultures
74
Robin Thicke
50
Timbaland
79
tUnE-YaRDs
80
Vampire Weekend
79
Laura Veirs
79
Tom Waits
78
Wale
65
The Watson Twins
66
Kanye West
76
The Whitefield Brothers
64
Robbie Williams
80
Yeasayer
62
Young Money
75
Neil Young
61
Rob Zombie
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
FutureSex / LoveSounds
EMAILPRINTby Justin Timberlake

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 25 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 196 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Jive
Release Date: 12 September 2006
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Pop, R&B
Summary
Timbaland, will.i.am and Rick Rubin are among the producers on the singer's second solo set.
Also By This Artist: Justified
Also On Metacritic
MUSIC: 'NSync: Celebrity
Also On The Web: JT @ MySpace Official Artist Site
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...
musicOMH.com
There's going to be a coronation very soon, and anyone who cares to invest will be handsomely rewarded by the future king.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times
"FutureSex/LoveSounds" isn't an easy listen at first. Its crazy layers meld together into a sticky bit of a mess, and the lyrics are mostly standard love stuff. But repeated listening helps the tunes unravel. [11 Sep 2006]
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
No dispute: Usher, Beyonce, Christina, Britney were just keeping the seat warm: The King’s back on his throne.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
It is this excess of ambition over achievement, as opposed to any real consistency, which makes FutureSex/LoveSounds more of an album than Justified was. Songs which sound puzzlingly self-indulgent in isolation-- most obviously, the smirking, tenuously tuneful first single "SexyBack"-- are cloaked in a compelling intensity and purposefulness when played in succession.
Read Full Review >Amazon.com
No modern-day male artist beats him when it comes to single-minded self assurance or suavity.
Read Full Review >Prefix Magazine
Timberlake's second solo record is dark and dirty to begin and smooth and sexy to finish. With only a few awkward cameo tracks to damage its reputation, this is going to be the soundtrack of the next few months.
Read Full Review >New Musical Express (NME)
Whereas his 2002 solo debut shot a glance back to Michael Jackson's 'Off The Wall', this is more indebted to 'Smooth Criminal', early '80s Prince and on its ballads, Stevie Wonder. [9 Sep 2006, p.37]
Blender
The vibe is all infectious, feverish build-up. [Nov 2006, p.155]
cokemachineglow
While it’s nowhere near Thriller or Purple Rain, it does manage a healthy attempt at a reinterpretation of both.
Read Full Review >The New York Times
How well do Mr. Timberlake and Timbaland work together? So well that they can make even the world’s most irritating percussion instrument, the human beatbox, sound pretty good.
Read Full Review >Slant Magazine
It's a lot like Justified in that it's a solid collection of expertly produced pop songs whose flaws will be devoured by its almost guaranteed string of hits.
Read Full Review >Billboard
Although the mix of dance beats, pounding basslines and palatable vocals is occasionally marred by mundane R&B tracks like "Until the End of Time," there are far more pop gems than slow jams.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
Although his best new tracks are thrilling... some of the up-tempo stuff flirts with mechanical muscle-flexing. [21 Sep 2006, p.86]
Entertainment Weekly
The enjoyable, forgettable FutureSex/LoveSounds may be a just-okay Timberlake album, but it's a great Timbaland demo reel.
Read Full Review >The Guardian
By its closer... FutureSex/LoveSounds feels like an entirely different and far less interesting album than the one you started listening to.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
Graceless he may be, but Timberlake is nevertheless kind of fascinating on FutureSex/LoveSounds since his fuses a clear musical vision -- misguided, yes, but clear all the same -- with a hammyness that only a child entertainer turned omnipresent 21st century celebrity can be.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
A set of forward-thinking pop reminiscent of Sign O' The Times-era Prince. [Oct 2006, p.115]
Uncut
Laudable, but overreaching. [Nov 2006, p.130]
Mojo
Only problem is, he also wants us to love him for his mind, so he has declared this a concept album. [Nov 2006, p.116]
New York Magazine
If he hasn’t yet invented a persona intriguing enough to live up to his music, give him credit for being one of the few white men still brave enough to make black music.
Read Full Review >NOW Magazine
The Sexyback single makes wise use of filtered vocals to artificially deepen his tone and support his macho pose, but only so much can be done with studio gimmicry. He's soon back to tweeting his game in a prepubescent chirp; the more suggestive his come-ons, the funnier it gets.
Read Full Review >Vibe
Timberlake and Timbaland... write frustratingly awkward songs. [Oct 2006, p.142]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 6.7 (out of 10) based on 196 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Kelly C gave it a10:
I LOVE JT! he's got it all. he's and amazing singer and soooo FIT! and his new album is just bare sex! summer love, what goes around and my love are the best tracks!!! xxxx
malik s gave it a9:
I think justin and timbaland's way of thinking out of the box has paid of in a pretty large way, JT is jetset to lead the popworld as we know it today, this guy's got it all; the talent, the looks and the style to go with it. I can't call out any artist right now who can match the style and versitality justin has put in this album, this album is music worth paying for.
Michelle K gave it a9:
Wow. I can't believe i hated J.T...well i can but this album is pretty cool. Something different and refreshing. Best Tracks: My Love, What Goes Around, Chop Me Up
Kyle S gave it a0:
Absolutely wretched!!!! All I have in my head is that annoying "Yeah" every 5 seconds in Sexy Back.
Paul W. gave it an8:
Very good album. Great production, lots of potential hits and good Timberlake's vocal. One disadvantage is the fact that without Timberland’s help it wouldn't be like this. So, we appreciate Mr Timberlake's efforts to fulfill listeners expectations, but we also encourage him to give more of his artistic potency next time - it's high time.
jessica m gave it a10:
i love juistin timberlake sooooo much i bought this cd the very frist day it came out. i have both the justified and future sex/love sounds. i think that justin issss so sexy .... i love you so much with alkll my heart <3333 xoxoxoxox hugs and kisses from me to you................ if you have msn then pleas add me i would love to talk to you some day. i wish i was at the gramys then i could have seen you and might have been able to sing with you!!! I was at the your concert in toronto and i thought that you we're soooo hot up there singing ... and i also loved you in "alhpa dog"you we're sooo hot with your top off in your housei got very mad tho when you had to tap up that boy... but i still love you <333 xoxox
David D gave it a2:
We were told this was going to be the Thriller of 2006. What a dissappointment! Rather than come up with his own identity, JT moves on from ripping MJ off to ripping Prince off. This is an example of another cocky ex-boyband poser trying to convince the audience he is a sexy badass. A couple of decent tracks but JT comes off as fake and not sexy.
