After six and a half long years, Justin Timberlake answered the prayers of millions last week, when he finally released a new album. So far, The 20/20 Experience has been well received for the most part, with a few hold outs who see the album as either being mediocre, or simply disappointing due to the high expectations surrounding the release. When looking at this, I can't help but wonder if when listening to Timberlake's latest, critic's opinions were affected by the preconceived notions they had about the album going into it.

There were essentially two schools of thought going into this release; one was that Timberlake could do no wrong, and we'd have yet another masterpiece on our hands, while the other was that he'd been away for too long, and the trends in modern music had passed him by, and the album would suffer as a result. it seemed that whatever people went into the album wanting to believe, that's what they got out of it. Take Steven Hyden's review of the album at Grantland. He posits that the album is "halfway between shit and the shit" while also commenting that the album seems like it belongs in the mid 2000s, when Timberlake dropped the immortal FutureSex/Love Sounds. Meanwhile, in Rich Juzwiak's review for Gawker, he posits that the album is "as mediocre as you thought it to be," an opinion that can only be expressed by someone who went into it thinking it would be mediocre.

Pitchfork had nothing but good things to say about Timberlake's latest, giving it at 8.4, along with the coveted Best New Music label. Rolling Stone were fans as well, giving it four stars, while both publications raved about just how ambitious the album was. So, where does this leave us? Well, it's hardly anything new for an album to be polarizing, or for critics to take different things from it, it only intrigues me in this case because of the circumstance. By releasing a 70-minute album with only 10 tracks, it was quite possible that Timberlake was going to bite off more than he could chew. I mean, the guy was basically making a prog-rock album. no word yet on whether he'll form a group called Emerson, Timberlake, and Palmer.

But as the album was announced, the prevailing fear was that JT might not have the magic touch anymore, that after being around for more than a decade, he'd move into the adult contemporary side of things. The release of "Suit & Tie" as the lead singer seemed to go along with this theory. It was a good song, but it was more about being tasteful than taking us into the futuristic landscapes of "SexyBack" and "My Love." Of course, if you've listened to the actual album, you know that "Suit & tie" is completely atypical of the sound that makes up this album. Basically, it's a lot like FutureSex/LoveSounds, but a little bit weirder. Songs go on well over seven minutes without any regard for how that might affect their commercial impact, while the mood gets increasingly atmospheric, especially on the sneakily catchy "Strawberry Bubblegum>" It's album that isn't afraid to take any risk.

So, is this the strong album that Pitchfork claims it is, or is it the inevitably disappointing follow-up to a far superior album? I tend to lean towards the first group, since I was pretty much blown away by the risks JT was willing to take here, but then again, that might because I expected the album to be good in the first place. this seems like an album that people will take what they want from. Some expected the come back of the year, while others expected a humiliating let down. Thanks to the magic of confirmation bias, both groups will get what they want.