I'm sure there are many people out there who still believe<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Control/dp/B000002GFE/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Control</a>&nbsp;is Janet Jackson's first album. That was not in fact the case-she had two false starts beforehand and this was her first. At the time of this release Janet was the one member of her family not really considering a career in music. Acting seemed to be her call to "fame" (no pun intended) and she was doing very well in that field lending her charming,coy personality to TV shows such as&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Good-Times/dp/B001DSNELU/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Good Times</a>,<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Diff-rent-Strokes/dp/B0002JZT5U/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Diff'rent Strokes</a>&nbsp;and later&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Fame/dp/B002BYYAKO/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Fame</a>. In the latter two series her appearances often including her singing in some capacity. So at this point being only 16 years old and very much "doing what her father said" she recorded this debut album. Even at this point her voice possesses the same coy charm as her attitude. It's definately not soul shouting of course but she has a pretty good range and,in a lot of ways has the sound of a female version of her brother Michael. The music was another matter however. With Leon Sylvers handling the production on this album (with his sister Pat contributing some keyboard parts) there is something of the flavor of both early 80's Solar R&B and some of the period Jackson family sound which,as most will remember share certain similarities anyhow. "Say You Do" is a great open,an extended dance-funk jam that builds from a beat to a BAAAD bassline with some great echo on it and,of course it isn't all that unlike something Michael and/or his brothers might've come up with at that time. ("You'll Never Find) A Love Like Mine" has the same effect through the guys of a bubbling disco-pop tune and both tunes showcase her maturing voice very well. On these songs it would seem there was an effort to turn Janet into something of a lower key version of Stacy Lattisaw but when the funk gets percolating on "Don't Mess Up This Good Thing" the electronic textures of the song demand Janet belt out the song more and she does to great affect. The ballads "Love And My Best Friend" and her version of "Forever Yours" are not only just a tad over arranged but somehow don't quite seem like suitable material of the teenage singer. However the than very forceful disco freeze out the out and out four-on-the-floor disco-soul production of "Young Love" best explemlifies where Janet was coming from at this point and fits well with her persona at this point in time. It was on 'Diff'rent Strokes' that Janet first premired her song "The Magic Is Working" and this is a great and very Shalamar-like "The Magic Is Working" and again it fits well with who she was at the time. The album closer "Come Give Your Love To Me" puts her into a new-wave rock style and although the track slams again with a mean bassline leading the way Janet's voice is just not quite into rockier material at this point. Nevertheless the song itself will grow on one with the passage of time. This is not by any means her definative early album. I'd say that would be her very,very underrated second outing&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Dream-Street/dp/B00000DNA8/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Dream Street</a>. However this did serve the common function of what a debut album does for most artists: give them a loose musical concept and allows them to develop appropriatly in a variety of settings.