He’s renowned as a perennial nice guy, but in the lead up to his big pop comeback, Justin Timberlake managed to make a few enemies. During a recent interview with a London radio station, the singer offended a few sacred cows of classic rock while fielding questions about his new album, “The 20/20 Experience,” out Tuesday.
“When we were making the record,” Timberlake told the DJ, “I said, ‘If Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin can do 10-minute songs, and Queen can do 10-minute songs, then why can’t we?’”
The sound of bearded jaws hitting the floor were immediately heard. Rock rags and snarky blogs around the world relayed Timberlake’s words with more than a hint of outrage at how a
polished-up pop star who once used to be Mickey Mouse’s backup dancer would dare compare himself to three of the most unimpeachable legends in rock history.
Spin.com accused him of misunderstanding his place in history, while the devoutly rockist site
Ultimate-Guitar.com posted the story under the telling category of “WTF?”
Now that “The 20/20 Experience” has finally been unleashed — a preview stream appeared on iTunes last week — Timberlake has been vindicated. Maybe he doesn’t have the same magnetic, rock-star poise as Freddie Mercury or make a guitar sing like Jimmy Page. But there’s no doubt that the former ’N Sync star has made an album that immerses listeners in a wall of sound that demands effort and investment — not unlike Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” or Led Zeppelin’s “Physical Graffiti.”
In a world of short attention spans and music served up to be easily digestible, it’s no wonder that Timberlake is taking his cue from heroes of the past.
“The 20/20 Experience” is Timberlake’s first album in seven years, a stretch that saw him get married to Jessica Biel, launch a film career that includes the amazing “The Social Network” and the awful “Yogi Bear,” reboot MySpace and play infinite rounds of his favorite sport, golf.
All along, he was writing and recording new material. We just didn’t get to hear it.
“I will not be the type of artist that puts out 10 to 15 albums,” he recently told students at Grammy Camp, a music industry program for high schoolers. “I enjoy making music so much that if it doesn’t come out, that’s OK. If I get to listen to it in my car by myself, I’m just as happy.”
But when the time did finally come for Timberlake to knuckle down and begin recording at Larrabee Studios in Los Angeles, only the people closest to him knew anything about it.
“I think it was about a year ago when Justin said, ‘I’m working on something, and when I release it I want to come on ‘Late Night’ and do a whole week,” Jimmy Fallon told The Post during rehearsals for those shows with Timberlake in residence. “The first time I heard anything from the album was at his wedding [in October]. Questlove was DJing and Justin had him play some songs, and people were freaking out. Everyone knew he was hitting it out of the park.”
The circle of friends who actually got to work on the album was even smaller. While 2002’s “Justified” and 2006’s “FutureSex/LoveSounds” featured a raft of different collaborators, “The 20/20 Experience” was recorded entirely with two of pop’s biggest producers: Timothy “Timbaland” Mosley and Jerome “J-Roc” Harmon. Behind the mixing console was Jimmy Douglass, a New York music veteran who has worked with the likes of Jay-Z, Missy Elliott and Aaliyah, as well as on Timberlake’s two previous albums.
But it’s Timberlake’s tight relationship with Timbaland that shaped the bulk of “The 20/20 Experience.”
“The best way I can describe the way Timbaland is that he shows up to the studio, opens up his little toolbox and pulls out lots of goodies,” Douglass says. “You think everything has been used up, but he always comes up with something new, something different.
“Then Justin will say, ‘That’s cool, but we need to do this with it.’ Timbaland takes that as a challenge and he won’t stop until he gets right,” Douglass adds. “That’s what drives the two of them to make these incredible records. It’s been like that since they did ‘Cry Me a River.’ There’s a definite family vibe to the way they work.”
Back in January, when the first fruits of “The 20/20 Experience” emerged through the Jay-Z collaboration “Suit & Tie,” it was clear that the pair was chasing something new. The song didn’t follow any radio-ready recipe for success yet still landed in the Top 5 of Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart.
“It’s not like anything else we’re playing,” says Sharon Dastur, program director at Z100. “I think Justin and Timbaland have figured out what the next style of music is. It’s something that’s palatable to the pop audience yet is so different from what else is around in the Top 40.”
While Auto-Tune and other vocal production tricks are de rigueur, Timberlake’s natural falsetto voice often takes a starring role in the album. There are shades of Al Green and Curtis Mayfield throughout “The 20/20 Experience,” and it’s something that even his longtime collaborators can barely fathom.
“I remember sitting in the studio with my mouth open, thinking ‘How are you doing this?’ ” Douglass says. “He just sang his ass off. He’s always had that, but this time he took it to the next level. He just has that ability to belt it out without all that technology you hear people using.”
It wasn’t just the music that Timberlake updated. “Suit & Tie” turned out to be the theme song for his new look, which debuted at the Grammys. Sharp-cut tuxedos designed by Tom Ford are standard-issue for him and his new backing band, the Tennessee Kids — straight out of a 1930s jazz club.
“Being an older gentlemen and a married man now, he wanted to convey a sense of maturity onstage,” his manager, Johnny Wright, tells The Post. “That’s how the suit and tie thing came about. He sat down and explained that it was grown-up music and it’s sophisticated. People still make the association, but he’s not that kid from ’N Sync anymore.”
That’s not to say his boy-band years don’t still echo on “20/20.” Those tightly choreographed days of teen stardom have drilled the importance of discipline into Timberlake’s routine.
“He’s a perfectionist,” Fallon says. “Right now it’s 11:15 a.m., and Justin is already here rehearsing for the show. He wants everything he does to be great — from the music, right down to the comedy sketches we do. He puts in the effort, but he also gets the satisfaction of pulling it off.”
The fruits of Timberlake’s labor are already apparent. His recent live performances at the Grammys and on “Saturday Night Live” were widely lauded, while the album has received strong reviews across the board and is on course to hit No. 1 on presales alone.
Additionally, this summer’s co-headlining stadium tour with Jay-Z — which features dates July 19 and 20 at Yankee Stadium — is one of the most anticipated live events of the year. Whichever way you look at it, “The 20/20 Experience” looks set to further his illustrious run at the top of the pop heap, and if he annoys some boring old rock dullards on the way, then all the better.
‘The 20/20 Experience’ track-by-track
“20/20” is a shape-shifting work that encapsulates Justin Timberlake’s pop past, his flair for all things funky and his desire to match the legends he likes to name-drop. But as with anything so dense, the whiff of indulgence is occasionally strong, and he lays on the love metaphors a little thick. Here’s a quick guide to what you’ll hear.
1. “Pusher Love Girl” 3 stars
The album opens with a big slice of sunshine soul that pays homage to Timberlake’s ’70s heroes, such as Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway, and features the first of many airings of that glossy falsetto. Amid the sweetness lies a barrage of drug analogies that become more and more hackneyed as the track progresses.
2. “Suit & Tie” 3 stars
It’s been a constant soundtrack on TV and radio since January, yet the album’s lead single still sounds like a breath of fresh air. Every beat feels like a kiss, and that brassy chorus is as slick as they come.
3. “Don’t Hold the Wall” 2 1/2 stars
Timberlake brings the funk for the first time with this seductive, come-hither call to dance that begins unspectacularly but segues into a killer breakdown in which Timbaland’s bleeps and beats take center stage.
4. “Strawberry Bubblegum” 2 1/2 stars
Another mini-epic that starts out as a sultry pop number recalling 2006’s “FutureSex/LoveSounds” but morphs into sumptuous R&B territory. The clunky, culinary double entendres, however, become grating: “If you’ll be my strawberry bubblegum, then I’ll be your blueberry lollipop,” he croons. Jeez, Justin, if it looks like a blueberry lollipop, you should probably see a doctor. Or wear looser underwear.
5. “Tunnel Vision” 2 stars
Fatter hip-hop beats prop up this track, which builds slowly into an orchestral epic almost without you noticing. A moment for Timbaland and Jerome “J-Roc” Harmon to shine again, but not the album’s most memorable melody.
6. “Spaceship Coupe” 2 1/2 stars
A sexy slow-jam that falls in the sweet spot between Prince and R. Kelly. The track also features a cheeky sample of a woman climaxing, looped in cleverly to provide an unusual hook. The retired porn actresses of the world should probably listen closely to see if they’re owed some royalties.
7. “That Girl” 3 stars
The beats take a backseat for this track, which features Timberlake’s new band, the Tennessee Kids, dishing out vintage soul that strongly references the Stax Records back catalog. Unexpectedly classy stuff.
8. “Let the Groove Get In” 3 stars
Imagine the “Mama-say, mama-sah, ma-ma coo-sah” chant of Michael Jackson’s “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ ” extrapolated into an elongated Latin freak-out, and you’ve got “Let the Groove Get in.” Fantastically vibrant and destined to burn-up dance floors in all corners of the world.
9. “Mirrors” 3 1/2 stars
In years to come, musicologists may well look back to “Mirrors” and cite it as a pioneering work in the yet-to-be established genre of prog-soul. This synth-symphony is sung beautifully, produced impeccably, and whereas much of the album is filled with tongue-in-cheek lyrics about love and sex, Timberlake’s lyrical sincerity here is obvious. Guess we have Jessica Biel to thank for that.
10. “Blue Ocean Floor” 3 stars
“20/20” ends on a dreamy note with this psychedelic ballad built around a backward guitar loop that seems to glance toward The Beatles. After almost an hour of solid grooves, “Blue Ocean Floor” takes the edge off almost perfectly and simultaneously points to what may be an even more experimental future.