Not many artists can make a comeback like Justin Timberlake has in 2013. Coming out of his cage with as much soul and devotion as The 20/20 Experience Part 1 portrayed seven years removed from his last studio album is nothing short of remarkable in its own right. And that’s just half of the story: Timberlake returns with The 20/20 Experience Part 2 just six months after Part 1 impacted stores—continuing his legacy for creating ambitious and enthralling if occasionally overblown pop anthems.
While Part 1 is certainly the superior entry into the 20/20 Experience project, Part 2 provides enough new and exciting sounds to make a second disc not only necessary but wholeheartedly encouraged and accepted. As a whole, Part 2 presents itself as the darker, heavier-handed of the two entries, with “Murder” and “TKO” showing off the more interesting sides of this sound as they meander onto mellow and sinister-sounding tangents in their second halves.
The album immediately sets out on this path with “Gimme What I Don’t Know (I Want),” a more immediate, forceful opener than its Part 1 counterpart, the light-footed and sincere “Pusher Lover Girl.” “Gimme What I Don’t Know (I Want)” shows off the nostalgic ‘90s sound that Timberlake himself helped to establish and is one of the most concise, catchy and memorable songs of the whole project.
This night-tinged sound can sometimes get the best of Timberlake, however, as the inclusion of the nearly ten minute “True Blood” really derails the first half of the record. “True Blood” has a solid hook and all of the massive, inflated aspects that have made Timberlake’s songs so endearing in the past, but it gets lost in its lengthy tirade into vampire-themed sounds and lyrics, ultimately alternating between boring and annoying with not much enjoyment to be found in between. Thankfully, “True Blood” is one of few complete missteps on the entirety of the 20/20 project—the worst is over with before the record has barely begun.
Timberlake starts to hit his stride once again as the album reaches its second half, starting off with the malevolent “Murder,” which only veers off-track with the addition of another boring verse from Jay Z, who also struck out in Part 1’s “Suit and Tie.” Thankfully, Jay Z’s detriment to enjoyment is much less this time around. Meanwhile, Timberlake shows off his versatility as a pop artist with the bluesy “Drink You Away,” driven by infectious acoustic strumming and one of the strongest hooks of the entire project.
While Part 2 is certainly lacking in the more touching moments that took Part 1 to another level (see “Blue Ocean Floor”), it’s still not devoid of heart-on-sleeve rawness entirely. “Amnesia” fills this role nicely with some of the more down-to-earth lyricism of the record, focusing on love lost and the mental aftermath of failed romance: “Amnesia/Every memory fades away till it’s gone/Where did you go?” Closer, “Not a Bad Thing” almost sounds like a sequel to Part 1 highlight “Mirrors,” with a similarly powerful melody and familiar romantic subject matter: “Every morning I just wanna see you staring back at me/’Cause I know that’s a good place to start.”
Part 2 is surely a more than worthy follow-up to Timberlake’s initial 20/20 Experience, but it ultimately falls short of his other 2013 album because of its lack of cohesiveness. These songs simply don’t fit together as well as the songs on Part 1 did. Whereas Part 1 functioned as a whole, complete statement, Part 2 feels particularly less focused and sometimes gives the impression of being a collection of singles or B-sides instead of a whole album. This has its pros and cons as some of the best moments of the entire project (“Drink You Away,” “Gimme What I Don’t Know”) are those that break out of the norm and never would have fit on Part 1’s air-tight track listing. Unfortunately, this lack of focus makes Part 2 particularly difficult to get through in a single sitting, with a 75-minute run time and no real constant train of thought to follow.
Even if Timberlake’s need to push the boundaries of modern pop music can sometimes get in the way of creating a singular and complete album, it still makes for a much more engaging listen than a good amount of the chorus-verse-chorus pop on the market today. And just for that, a misstep here or there is certainly permissible. With The 20/20 Experience Part 2, Justin Timberlake further cements the statement he made with Part 1 in March—that he’s one of the most creative, ambitious and interesting pop artists out there right now, even if he’s not entirely flaw-proof.
3.5 out of 5 stars
Jordan Walsh can be reached at jordan.walsh@theminaretonline.com