The Velvet Rope
by Janet
- Type: Album
- Released: October 7, 1997
- Label: Virgin, JDJ Entertainment
- Country: United States
- Length: 1:15:03
- Community rating: 4.44/5 from 15 ratings
Album Notes & Community Reviews
Conceived from a period of personal depression, 'The Velvet Rope' serves as a concept album exploring emotional boundaries through lyrical themes of introspection, sexuality, domestic abuse, and self-worth. The production, led by Jackson with longtime collaborators Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, fuses R&B and pop with darker textures from trip-hop, rock, and jazz, creating a mature and eclectic sound widely regarded as a precursor to the alternative R&B subgenre.
Genres
Descriptors: confessional, downtempo, velvety, nightlife, orchestral, dance, rhythmic, sampling, polished, synthesizers
Tracklist
- Interlude - Twisted Elegance (00:42)
- Velvet Rope (04:55)
- You (04:42)
- Got 'Til It's Gone (04:01)
- Interlude - Speaker Phone (00:54)
- My Need (03:44)
- Interlude - Fasten Your Seatbelts (00:19)
- Go Deep (04:42)
- Free Xone (04:57)
- Interlude - Memory (00:04)
- Together Again (05:01)
- Interlude - Online (00:19)
- Empty (04:32)
- Interlude - Full (00:12)
- What About (04:24)
- Every Time (04:17)
- Tonight's The Night (05:07)
- I Get Lonely (05:17)
- Rope Burn (04:15)
- Anything (04:54)
- Interlude - Sad (00:10)
- Special (03:22)
- Can't Be Stopped (04:13)
Credits
- Janet Jackson - vocals, producer, rhythm arranger, vocal arranger, composer, lyricist
- Vanessa-Mae - violin
- Q-Tip - vocals
- David Barry - guitar
- Jan Chong - violin
- Carolyn Daws - violin
- Hanley Daws - violin
- Glen Donnellen - viola
- Lynne Erickson - trumpet
- Charles Gray - viola
- Alyssa Hanson - vocals
- Camilla Heller - cello
- Joshua Koestenbaum - cello
- Jimmy Jam - producer, rhythm arranger, vocal arranger, musician, composer
- Terry Lewis - producer, rhythm arranger, vocal arranger, musician, composer, lyricist
- Alex Richbourg - rhythm arranger, drum programmer
- James "Big Jim" Wright - rhythm arranger
- United Children's Choir - choir
- René Elizondo Jr. - producer, composer, lyricist
- Joni Mitchell - composer, lyricist
- Lee Blaske - string arrangements
- Rayvaline Harrell - choir director, vocal arranger
- Shawnette Heard - vocals
- Willie R. Norwood, Sr. - choir director, vocal arranger
- Steve Hodge - engineer, recording engineer, mixing engineer
- Tim Lauber - recording second engineer
- Xavier Smith - recording second engineer
- Mike Ozdozzi - mastering engineer
- Brian "Big Bass" Gardner - mastering engineer
- Len Peltier - art direction
- Flavia Cureteu - design
- Steve Gerdes - design
- Malcolm McLaren - composer, lyricist
- Trevor Horn - composer, lyricist
- Mike Oldfield - composer, lyricist