Venus vs Mars-The 20/20 Experience

 

                          

 

Justin Timberlake is back with his new cd The 20/20 Experience!! Venus and Mars did a bicoastal listening party and below are our thoughts and first impressions in real time as we listen to each track for the first time. We hope you enjoy!!

Pusher Love Girl

Venus: I like it so far it's old school

Mars:  Nice Strings but the track is 8 mins

Venus:  I know right??

Mars: I like this one

Venus:  I do like this one, too - I think he sang this at the Grammy's.  I really really liked it.  He kind of sounds like Prince...reminds me of Prince's old music.

Mars:  I won’t comment on that LOL

Venus:  hahahah!  Can't compare the two

Mars:  But yes it does have a Prince vibe to it. I like the chorus and his falsetto is on point

Venus:  This reminds me of a song that I would have playing in the background while sitting on the couch, drinking wine w/Charles. I like the chorus the best.

Mars:  Sounds like we are in agreement on this one. No complaints here but it still has 5mins left to go.

Venus:  Yeah - long song for sure, so good thing it's pretty good.

Mars:  NOOOOOO

Venus:  You don't like that part do you? LOL

Mars:  How did u guess?

Venus:  Because it's like Jay Z rapping on Suit and Tie during the middle.  I don't like it either.  He shoulda left this part out.

Mars:  I may make my own edit of this track and remove this section.

Venus:  This part messed the song up - it'd be good w/o it.  Yeah - it'd sound better w/it removed.

 

Suit and Tie

Mars:  Well I still hate this intro and it does not flow from the previous track.

Venus:  You know I absolutely love this song - my favorite right now. I don't like the beginning, but I love when it starts w/the beat.  It reminds me of going out, getting ready for that ball I went to -- very romantic because women could picture a man singing this to his woman.

Mars:  Typically the first single is supposed to be the strongest. I hope there are better songs on here than this. I don’t have a lot to say on this one.

Venus:  Here's the part you hate. What I like about it is it's talking about getting dressed up and going out -- what all women want.

Mars:  Unnecessary rap. Does NOTHING for the song.

Venus:  Yeah - it could go w/o it.

Mars:  and I just noticed the N word in the song...inappropriate.

Venus: What?? I didn't notice that.

Mars:  U have been listening to the radio version so it’s not in there.

Venus:  But I didn't notice on his video?  Wonder if it's not on there?

Mars:  It wouldn’t be in the video either

 

Don’t Hold the Wall

Venus:  Not sure I like the beginning. Don’t like the jungle sound.

Mars:  This one is 7mins ugggggg.

Venus:  I feel like I’m at that restaurant, Rainforest Café, yeah - I don't like this one at all.

Mars:  I was thinking the same thing!!!! There is nothing going on in this song.

Venus:  Ughhh -- This one is painful.

Mars:  This one is not even going on the iPod!! Sometime Timberland is on point with his beats but not this time. This is boring.

Venus:  Yeah - this one is really boring.

Mars:  This one is garbage. I HOPE this is the worst song on here.

Venus:  It got better right now with the different beat and got rid of the cricket sound.

Mars:  It honestly sounds like a leftover from FutureSex/Love Sounds.

Venus:  It woulda been better with this beat all along.

Mars:  This part it ok but I will NEVER listen to this song again. This is probably the worst song of his solo career. No I take that back. That title belongs to Chop Me Up. This part sounds like a different song

Venus:  The middle/end was better, but it’s still an awful song.

 

Strawberry Bubblegum

Venus:  Has the flair of the old singer. Can’t think of his name.

Mars:  Barry White.

Venus:  Is that him mixed in?  Or someone like him? This one isn't too bad. I don't see them playing this on the radio, though, but it's not bad.

Mars:  It's probably Timberland with his voice altered.

Venus:  I don't see myself listening to this one over and over.

Mars:  The “Barry White” is annoying. There is nothing to this one either. The best thing is the title.

Venus:  I like this ending part sound. Sounds like the show Taxi.

Mars:  This one is 8mins as well. Cue the bassa nova!!

Venus: This part isn't too bad - It's better than the beginning!

Mars:  It's better than he beginning but I'm not gonna make it there again.

Venus:  Out of a 10, I would give it a 4.5.

Mars:  3 out of 10 so far. The best song has been the first.

Venus:  My fav is Suit and Tie then the 1st song.

 

Tunnel Vision

Mars:  Yuck

Venus:  Yeah agreed

Mars:  This is Timberland at his WORST.

Venus:  Sounds too juvenile for this album. Nothing really goes w/Suit and Tie doesn't sound like a grown-up song and too immature for where he should be now in his career.

Mars:  The other Justin should be doing this.

Venus:  yeah it does have a Bieber flair! This one is worse than the strawberry one to me.

Mars:  I agree but still not as bad as the rainforest song.

 

Spaceship Coupe

Mars: Slow jam time! Finally something I like.

Venus:  "Play me a slow jam"...You like it?

Mars:  Yeah but is 7mins.

Venus:  I'm not crazy about it but it's not as bad as rainforest or the one right before this.

Mars:  This is "classic" R&B slow jam material.

Venus:  Yeah it is.

Mars: Wait did hear him just drop the f bomb!

Venus:  I didn't hear that!  I must have protected ears still not my favorite. I don't like the farting noise in the background.

Mars:  That’s a bass keyboard!! LMAO.

Venus: Sounds like pure flatulence and why would he tell a woman she's from outer space?

Mars:  Because she's out of this world!!

Venus:  “You're from outer space". I would think he was saying I was crazy

Mars:  Very nice guitar work here.

Venus:  Yeah - guitar is good.

Mars:  Sounds like something a little purple man would do.

Venus:  Yeah it does -- This album does have Prince flair

Mars:  Not the bad songs though!!! I think the "whipping" maybe a little much!

Venus:  Yeah - that's kinda freaky but then again, she's out of this world.

Mars:  This part is laughable just messes up the vibe!!

Venus:  This part sound sounds like "You Make Me Feel Brand New" That old song. Can’t remember who sings it. Some guys might like the whipping. I'm not into that.

Mars:  I’m gonna leave that one alone!!

Venus:  HAHAHA

Mars:  This is one of the stronger tracks.

 

That Girl

Mars:  Lounge act!

Venus:  Lounge is right. But I do like this one so far I like the trumpets.

Mars:  I don’t think they are real trumpets.

Venus:  His "fake trumpets" sound better than the whipping.

Mars:  LOL

Venus:  I like this one.

Mars:  I would like it better if it had real horns.

Venus:  May have gone up to #2. Yeah - real horns would sound really good. I'd listen to it again.

Mars:  And its 4 mins! Thank you JT. His vocals are really good on this one and he was obviously going for the live sound why not just do it. But I bet this will kill live.

Venus:  Probably so - he did really good on the Grammys live.

 

Let the Groove In

Venus:  7 minutes. I don't like it so far.

Mars:  Me neither.

Venus:  It's nothing you can dance to and it's "let the groove in"

Mars:  Maybe the groove is coming.

Venus:  This is more like a 80s cardio a lot of lead up for grooving. This song sucks.

Mars:  Can we skip this one!?

Venus:  Fine- you sound like a woman hahahah!!

 

Mirrors

Venus:  I think they are playing this on the radio right now? 

Mars:  I wouldn’t know I don’t listen to the radio but this sounds like a single. This one is also 8mins.

Venus: You don't listen to the radio - what kind of man are you????

Mars:  I have 19000 songs on my iPod. No need LOL

Venus: This one is good. It's more relatable than farting sounds and the rain forest. This more so flows with suit and tie - I don’t' think the others do.

Mars:  This sounds like What Goes Around Comes Around.

Venus:  Yeah it does that's probably why I like it.

Mars:  This is another "live" song. This is a sing along song.

Venus:  Yeah I can see that.

 

Mars:  Here comes the breakdown. Could do without the chanting.

 

Blue Ocean Floor

Mars:  Another 8min track

Venus:  Starting slow

 

Mars:  This is for the ladies

Venus:  Yeah - this is for the ladies but it's soooo slow. I hate this song.

Mars:  I like the minimalist approach after some of the production.

Venus: I agree with that.

Mars:  I’m adding this to my slow jam playlist. This is a GREAT track.

 

Final Thoughts

Venus: I’m extremely disappointed.  I'm really sad. I was hoping for more romantic flair that Buble, Connick Jr. and Robin Thicke give.  This is a BIG let down. I’m really really really disappointed in this album. I thought that it was going to be more like Suit and Tie I was so looking forward to it being released... and it's not what I expected.  I feel like I wasted 10 bucks.

Mars: I am disappointed in the CD as well. There really isn’t any musical growth from the last cd. Most of these tracks sound like there are leftovers from the FutureSex/LoveSounds sessions. The songs are just ok and not great and 8 of the 10 songs (the Target version have 2 extra songs which we did not review) run 6 plus mins. That’s too long for a pop songs. Out of the 10 tracks I liked Pusher Love Girl, Spaceship Coupe, That Girl, Mirrors and Blue Ocean Floor. Should you buy it? That’s clearly a personal preference but I guarantee that you will not find this material as compelling and fresh as his previous cd. According to Timberlake the “second half of material" will be released in November. Let’s hope that one is better.