First off, the ALL FOR YOU cd included in this set is not the original album that was shipped to stores earlier this year, but is a cleaned up and "sex-free" version. Any curse words or talk of explicit sexuality is censored. Additionally, the track WOULD YOU MIND is painfully removed from the tracklist. In its place are two mediocre remixes of SON OF A GUN, featuring Missy Elliot and P. Diddy.

Personally speaking, SON OF A GUN is perhaps the worst song on this otherwise enjoyable album, so it baffled me as to why the producers wanted to include three mixes of this song. If they wanted to replace the explicit WOULD YOU MIND, they could've taken the upbeat WHO (found on the ALL FOR YOU Japanese import cd) and put it on this cd. If you're looking for good remixes of SON OF A GUN (and there are some good remixes), you won't find them on this cd. Wait for the Dec. 4th release of the European import. It will contain two much more edgier sounding mixes from ROCKWILDER and ROUTE 80, as well as a smooth, afterhours-club-feel from COTTONBELLY. The pre-existing FLYTE TYME mix and the P.DIDDY mix will also be on the import single.

Surprisingly, I don't have much to complain about with the dvd. Being that this was the reason I purchased the special edition in the first place, I must say that this is worth the price of the set alone.

The dvd is aptly (and somewhat ironically) titled THE VIRGIN YEARS. It contains most of the sex charged videos Janet has made under the Virgin Records label, spanning from JANET to ALL FOR YOU.

Also included are three behind-the-scenes clips of Janet's photo shoots and interviews, in which she takes some time out to reveal her thoughts and ideas behind each album. The dvd has a cool function that allows you to mix up the videos and play them in a continuous order of your choice.

Now here's where my little complaints come in, but they're minimal:
I found it odd that the makers of the dvd included the video to the remix TOGETHER AGAIN, but they neglected to include the alternate remix videos to some of Janet's other songs (i.e. I GET LONELY w/ BLACKSTREET, SOMEONE TO CALL MY LOVER w/ JD, ANY TIME, ANY PLACE R. KELLY REMIX).

Another note: Some of the videos here are alternate versions of the originals that aired on tv. The THAT'S THE WAY LOVE GOES video doesn't start and end with Janet and the gang goofing around in the apartment, but instead dives right into the song. The IF video keeps the original beginning and ending (outside an Asian style night club), but edits out the voyeuristic "webcam" style setting that made it so interesting in the first place. The AGAIN video included on this disc is interspersed with clips from Janet's 1993 film POETIC JUSTICE.

Still, these observations are little to rant about unless you're a die hard Janet fan. It is finally nice to have a collection of her videos on dvd, and by next month, the videos from CONTROL and RHYTHM NATION will also be released onto discs as well.

Bottom Line: BUY THIS TWO DISC SET FOR THE DVD, BUT KEEP THE ORIGINAL ALL FOR YOU ALBUM THAT YOU BOUGHT BACK IN APRIL NEARBY.


Limited Edition   December 25, 2001
J. M. Zuurbier (Canada)
19 out of 22 found this review helpful

This is a Special Limited Edition of Janet's ALL FOR YOU CD. It contains the original CD, with a few changes, and a DVD featuring all of her videos during the Virgin years so far. The CD has 21 tracks, which features two bonus tracks, Son of a Gun (Original Flyte Tyme Remix) and Son of a Gun (P. Diddy Remix), which both feature Missy Elliott. However in order to fit these bonus tracks in, they omitted Would You Mind from the CD, so if you own the original version of ALL FOR YOU it would be smart to keep it, as Would You Mind isn't on here, or you could buy the re-released CD that comes without the DVD.

The DVD features all of her major videos between 1993-2001. A few were omitted, because they were on other labels (for example Doesnt Really Matter was on Def Jam, so its not on here). That's The Way Love Goes, If, Again, Because of Love, Any Time, Any PKlace, You Want THis, Got Til Its Gone, Together Again (original and deeper remix), I Get Lonely, Go Deep, Every Time, All For You, Someone To Call My Lover, behind the scenes footage for each album, and All For You Love at MTV Icon. A pretty good deal and well worth the money, fans will want to have these videos!

Overall a good buy, and worth the investment if this is what you're looking for!


Top of her Game   August 5, 2002
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

This is a must have collection for any pop music fan... This disc has a little something for everyone. The upbeat tracks are some of the best that Janet has ever produced, and the slower sensual songs make her masterpiece 1993 album 'janet.' look tame. Janet's a full grown woman and lets us all know it. The only flaws in this collection are the edits over all the expletive words (found in the tracks, "Son of a Gun," "Trust a Try," and "Better Days") and the complete exclusion of "Would You Mind" (which is definitely worth picking up on the original release of this album).

So you are asking yourself, why buy this edition of the disc if its edited? Because with this one you get what I consider to be the greatest music video DVD compilation ever released. This has all of Janet's best videos... "That's the Way Love Goes" (featuring the Jennifer Lopez cameo), "Again," "Anytime, Anyplace," "You Want This," "All For You," "I Get Lonely," and many more great Janet videos. The only noticeable exclusions from the DVD are "Runaway" and "Twenty Foreplay" which are both A&M releases (not Virgin, like this collection), "Scream" (which was a Sony release, and available on Michael's HIStory DVD), and "Doesn't Really Matter" (which includes clips from the Nutty Professor II: The Klumps film, so for legal reasons could not be included, but can be found on the Nutty Professor DVD). Still, barring the missing videos, this collection is unparalleled. Madonna's 90's video collection, while impressive in its own right, can't even touch this collection.

And let us not forget... if you still aren't convinced of buying this collection, I have 3 words for you: "If" music video. Many would say that this music video singlehandedly changed the face of MTV, as the entire video is a dance sequence. Yes, before "If" came along many videos had some awesome dancing, but with the exception of Paula Abdul's "Cold Hearted," no video prior to this took it to this level. Directed by Dominic Sena (who directed the feature film "Gone in 60 Seconds with Angelina Jolie and Nicholas Cage, and numerous other Janet videos like "Rhythm Nation"), the "If" video is the definition of what a music video should be.

You will get your money's worth.


I am very pleased...   December 16, 2001
Pauline (Connecticut USA)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

First off I wanted Son Of a Gun remixes. But I didn't want to spend (the mondy) for a cd single. And I noticed on her newer version of just All For You had the bonus track BUT I didn't want to spend (the money) for an album that I already owned just for one song. So instead this DVD package came out (...). Well hey, I get the SoaG remixes along with a collection of videos on DVD...you can't go wrong if you're a Janet fan.

I am very pleased that I spent the money on what I did. Granted it is the clean version but that's cool. She cannot please everyone. Her and Virgin are blasted first because she used profanity and now by fans because she and Virgin took them out for this collection!!

For anyone who is a music lover, a DVD buyer and a definite Janet Jackson fan (or even Jacksons)...I recommend it.

::please note that the videos doesn't include the A&M videos...for that try Design of a Decade on DVD-which was released not to long ago)