"Dislodging Jack Johnson from the top after a three-week reign, Janet Jackson's "Discipline" bows at No. 1 on The Billboard 200. The Island Def Jam set moved 181,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen Soundscan, becoming the artist's sixth chart-topper.

Her last two Virgin albums, 2004's "Damita Jo" and 2006's "20 Y.O.," both debuted and peaked at No. 2, though "Damita" started with 381,000 while "20 Y.O." began with 296,000. Johnson's "Sleep Through the Static" (Brushfire) falls 1-3 with 92,000, a 12% sales decline." [Source]

While 181,000 copies sold is by far not stellar sales for an album by someone as worldly popular as Janet Jackson it still was enough to top the charts. Why is that? Simply because no one else releasing albums on that day has the commercial recognition that she has.

Don't get me wrong, I actually bought the album and overall it is a pretty decent effort. My favorite song on the album titled "Rock wit U" was produced by Jermaine Dupri and written by Ne-Yo. There's something about this song that showed me a completely different side to the parties involved in making this track. It just doesn't sound like anything I've heard before from them before and to me it is one of the strongest songs on the album. It is said it will be released simultaneously along with another track titled "Luv" as the second single off the album. Smart move.

One thing about this album that could have been done without is all the interludes. Upon first look you might think the album has 22 tracks, however almost half of those are interludes. I would gladly sacrificed the interludes for a few more tracks. This cd is definitely not going to give Janet the comeback everyone was hoping for, but I think it will show that Janet still has what it takes to make good music. 



Aaron Fields is the Sales Marketing Coordinator for KSTW-TV in Seattle. All opinions expressed in this column are strictly his.