On March 15, Justin Timberlake released the “The 20/20 Experience.” The album received high accolades and spawned two successful singles, “Suit & Tie” and “Mirrors.” Timberlake promised to release a sequel later this year. He fulfilled that promise when he released “The 20/20 Experience 2/2” on Sept. 30. Overall, “The 20/20 Experience 2/2” is a decent album, but it does not live up to its predecessor.

Many fans might automatically compare “The 20/20 Experience 2/2” to “The 20/20 Experience.” However, this album’s musical style is more of a combination between “The 20/20 Experience” and “FutureSex/LoveSounds,” an earlier Timberlake album. There are some songs on this album such as “TKO,” “True Blood” and “Murder” that are up-tempo and pop-oriented. However, the majority of the songs such as “Cabaret,” “Drink You Away” and “Amnesia” contain slow rhythms, similar to his prequel. Timberlake and his longtime producer Timbaland show they can make a good album with showing contrasts between slow and fast songs. The album is lengthy in general, as all of its songs, except for “Cabaret,” exceed the five-minute mark. Additionally, “Cabaret” and “Murder” are the only two songs on the album that contain a featured artist with Drake and Jay-Z respectively.
The lead single, “Take Back the Night,” is a disappointment compared to Timberlake’s earlier singles on his previous album such as “Suit & Tie” and “Mirrors.” Despite the fact that Billboard’s Jason Lipshutz compared the single to Michael Jackson’s album “Off the Wall,” it ultimately fails to entice listeners the same way the singles from “The 20/20 Experience” did. However, the second single “TKO” lures listeners and is very entertaining. Additionally, the song received praise for Timberlake’s lyricism and Timbaland’s production. Also, “Cabaret,” “You Got It On” and “Amnesia” received accolades for similar reasons. Even though the tracks aren’t consistent, Timberlake shows that he is one of the few artists in the music industry that can create both fast- and slow-tempo songs.

However, fans of “The 20/20 Experience” probably will be disappointed that the new album is more pop-oriented in comparison with its predecessor. Some longtime Timberlake fans might complain about the album’s lack of consistency. Likewise, fans might skip over some songs as some of them are too long to listen through all the way. Although the songs on the “The 20/20 Experience” were lengthy, they are many transitions within the songs. The sequel doesn’t have as many transitions within the songs. Even though “The 20/20 Experience 2/2” is still a very good album, it fails to capture fans the same way “The 20/20 Experience” did.

Like every album, “The 20/20 Experience 2/2” has its good and bad points. It’s still a good album to listen to. However, if fans had to decide between the two “20/20 Experiences,” they would choose the prequel over this album.