Man Of The Woods

Justin Timberlake

Man Of The Woods

Fifth studio album from the pop/rnb singer-songwriter with guest appearances by Alicia Keys and Chris Stapleton and mostly produced by The Neptunes

ADM rating[?]

4.7

Label
RCA
UK Release date
02/02/2018
US Release date
02/02/2018
  1. 8.0 |   Q

    Pop Lothario gets a partial rustic rebrand on intriguing fifth. Print edition only

  2. 7.0 |   Rolling Stone

    Includes some of his most exploratory, genre-defiant music in years
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  3. 6.7 |   A.V. Club

    Musically, he remains one of the mainstream’s boldest artists. Unfortunately, Man Of The Woods’ thematic depth hasn’t quite caught up to the rest of his ambition. It’s not a fatal flaw, but it does make for a record that’s not quite as transcendent as it was built up to be
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  4. 6.7 |   Consequence Of Sound

    A funky, country-laced experiment that’s not nearly as bad as its early reputation suggests
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  5. 6.0 |   musicOMH

    Ultimately the album is three or four songs too long, but Man Of The Woods is rarely less than entertaining
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  6. 6.0 |   The Independent

    Timberlake isn’t re-inventing the wheel, but he solidly continues to experiment with R&B, funk, pop and soul, with Americana creating an interesting layer
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  7. 6.0 |   NME

    The smell of aged leather, woodsmoke and school orienteering trips might ooze flagrantly out of the soul marvel’s new look, but he’s still the funky pop magician we know and love
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  8. 6.0 |   Evening Standard

    Credit to him for pushing himself but it’s not always in the best direction
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  9. 5.3 |   Gig Soup

    If the artist trying to get us to believe he truly is a “Man of the Woods,” he definitely missed the target. This album is the vocal equivalent of glamping, and it will be hard to convince anyone otherwise
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  10. 5.0 |   Slant Magazine

    The further in one gets, the more the songs start to congeal together, loaded up with pop, country, and R&B signifiers until they're just one indifferent mass
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  11. 5.0 |   Tiny Mix Tapes

    Needlessly, unintentionally, and only occasionally, but there’s sadness somewhere in this holopop
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  12. 5.0 |   Exclaim

    It's hard to imagine Man of the Woods not being a hit, its tracks a steady stream for playlist fodder. But sound and feel are no substitute for soul
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  13. 4.2 |   Pretty Much Amazing

    A surprisingly unhandsome contribution from a great pop star
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  14. 4.0 |   Sputnik Music (staff)

    Maybe 2 of 2 and Man of the Woods are just a temporary low point, the equivalent of those 80s nadirs that James Brown, Bowie and all those other artists Timberlake admires seemed to hit
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  15. 4.0 |   NOW

    The album doesn’t sound phoned in, necessarily, but it absolutely sounds vacuous, vapid and clichéd
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  16. 4.0 |   Clash

    Lacking the effortless polish of previous releases, it troughs more than peaks and ends up floundering in its own ambition
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  17. 4.0 |   The Observer

    Failed fusion of rural rhythms
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  18. 4.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    Not an outright disaster but it is a significant disappointment – a record too preoccupied with image, volte face and forced “REAL” to fully engage as a coherent piece of craftsmanship
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  19. 4.0 |   The Skinny

    Timberlake’s new 'realness' is sold to us at fever pitch, over-produced and surprisingly chaste
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  20. 3.8 |   Pitchfork

    A huge misstep for the pop star. It is warm, indulgent, inert, and vacuous
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  21. 3.5 |   The 405

    Genuine or not, it simply doesn't work
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  22. 3.0 |   PopMatters

    Timberlake's worst album to date
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  23. 2.5 |   Spectrum Culture

    Quite possibly the worst statement by a major pop star this decade
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  24. 2.0 |   Earbuddy

    Taylor Swift’s Reputation may have been the worst pop album of 2017, but at least that abomination had a good song or two on it
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  25. 2.0 |   State

    It’s becoming more and more difficult to see a route back to genuine relevancy for Timberlake
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