[9.5/10] This would forever be one of my favorite albums of all time the first time I listened to it, which at that time in '09, was a warm surprise, just when I thought that I already got what I came for at that year with the other albums that I looked forward to. It is a 180 degrees departure from the Retro RnB/Soul sound she usually goes for and instead focused on to '80s and '90s RnB (think: Janet Jackson and Prince). If you enjoyed Kanye West's "808's & Hearbreak" record, another experimental album, you'd easily enjoy this one as well as I consider these two as yin and yang. Both records got the involvement of Jeff Bhasker, who I started admiring with his work on Kanye's record where his constant use of African tribal drums, complimented the tone of that record as droning, depressing, and monotonous, while here, he smartly reinterpreted it as the Freedom aspect of this record, more so on the Prince inspired "Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart" and "Love Is Blind".
