styles—pop, dance, R&B, rock, jazz, rap—each delivered with consummate skill and passion. Janet is described as "a career-defining record earning Janet the right to operate on a first-name basis." Michael Snyder of the San Francisco Chronicle lauded the album's content, stating "[t]his 75-minute opus, her first effort under a megabuck contract with the Virgin label, could be the make-out album of the '90s ... a silken soul odyssey, charting one woman's journey to emotional and sexual fulfillment through 10 songs and a series of spoken-word and ambient snippets." Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian declared the album's "luxuriant collection of house, soul and pop is her best yet. Cod-Madonna throwaways like "Throb" aside, there are surprises all over the place. Public Enemy's Chuck D counterweights Jackson's sugared vocal to stunning effect on a black-pride anthem, "New Agenda"; soprano Kathleen Battle turns the heavyweight funk of "This Time" into something eerie and beautiful." Robert Johnson of San Antonio Express-News praised Jackson and her producers for taking a chance on a new sound. He wrote: "Under the enormous pressure of her $40 million deal with Virgin Records, Jackson had to deliver something big enough to put her on a first-name basis with the world ... 'janet.' isn't perfect, but it should be enough to make her the Queen of Pop." "Dammit, Janet!," marveled Melody Maker. "The last Jackson hero(ine) has carried peacock feathers to the dance. Holier than Mahalia." "Janet will please most people," remarked The Daily Telegraph, "because it is crammed with the sort of tender, joyous pop music that lingers long after smarter records have been forgotten." Steve Pick of St. Louis Post-Dispatch stated that although Jackson may not be the greatest singer or songwriter, but she has nonetheless "created and projected a persona that is irresistible. Part of it is a sexual allure, but more of it is the way she demands and receives attention." John Mackie with The Vancouver Sun reported the album gives Jackson an "incredible style", proclaiming Janet as "the best commercial album so far this year, an album that could well vault her past the stumbling Madonna as Queen of the charts. Heck, she might even outsell Michael with this one." "While her brother loops the loop on Planet Pepsi, it's hard to imagine the spotlight ever shifting to his sassy sis," remarked NME, "but this modern hunk of an album should redress some of the