Timberlake spared no expense recruiting some of the best producers on the scene. Beatmaker extraordinaire Timbaland is a primary collaborator, and his experimental stutter-funk landscapes make for the album's best moments (the title track, for example, or the spare, driving lead-off single "Sexyback"). Early Prince is a major touchstone for much of the disc, but Timberlake also draws on rolling, Dirty South jams ("Chop Me Up") and smooth, urban-contemporary loverman R&B ("My Love"). Its obsession with the bedroom notwithstanding, Futuresex/Lovesounds shows Timberlake moving toward an exciting musical maturity.
Artist InfluencesAl GreenColdplayDonny HathawayElton JohnGeorge MichaelJanet JacksonJohn LennonLionel RichieLudacrisMarvin GayeMichael JacksonMint ConditionNew EditionPrinceSteve Miller (Rock)Stevie WonderTimbaland
Artist ContemporariesB2KBlack Eyed PeasBritney SpearsCee-LoChristina AguileraCraig DavidDaniel BedingfieldJC ChasezJimmy CozierN.E.R.D.Nick CarterOutkastPinkUsher
Artist FollowersChris Brown (R&B)Danity KaneGnarls BarkleyJ. HolidayJoJo (Pop)MarioNe-YoNicole ScherzingerSean Kingston
Rolling Stone (p.106) - Ranked #26 in Rolling Stone's "The Top 50 Albums Of 2006" -- "[O]ne of the year's most enduringly pleasurable hits."
Entertainment Weekly (p.70) - "Superior tracks like 'LoveStoned' and 'What Comes Around,' suggest a happy middle path, where Timberlake can equally embrace Timbaland's canny beats and his own vocal helium."
Entertainment Weekly (p.128) - Ranked #4 in Entertainment Weekly's "Top 10 Records Of 2006" -- "[T]he two Tims create a boldly forward-thinking soundtrack for nocturnal amusements like club cruising and rump shaking."
Q (p.122) - Ranked #36 in Q Magazine's "100 Greatest Albums of 2006" -- "[A] hyper-confident mix of stripped-down R&B and '80s electro soul."
Vibe (p.142) - "He's still got a lithe, lovely vocal instrument and a falsetto that evokes El DeBarge."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.116) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[The titles] leave no doubt as to the chief Timberlake brand value, and the louche synth funk and electro-flavoured R&B therein make a pretty seductive back-up argument."
Rolling Stone 7 of 10On his 2002 solo debut, Justin Timberlake was so delighted with his own audacity he could make jaws drop just by saying "good morning" to the ladies. On his skilled but sometimes labored follow-up, however, the liberated 'NSync frontman bears the weight of experience that drags down so many maturing lovermen. No longer an innocent on the cusp, he knows more about sex than you do, and when he talks about whips he doesn't mean cars. Why this or anything else qualifies Justin in particular -- rather than Usher, say, or new confederate Will.i.am -- to "bring sexy back," as the follow-up's Timbaland-produced lead single boasts, isn't altogether clear. Although his best new tracks are thrilling -- even the smashing "SexyBack" is trumped by the classic-Timbaland "My Love," where bells introduce what will become an abstractly twisty beat and a T.I. cameo is only a fillip -- some of the up-tempo stuff flirts with mechanical muscle-flexing. Except for the Rick Rubin-produced finale, "(Another Song) All Over Again," the ballads could make you wish the "love sounds" of the title were gasps and squeals. And the well-meaning anti-crack song is a clueless embarrassment. - Robert Christgau
