THE flesh-toned CD cover, with two close-up shots of Janet Jackson's navel and denim-clad crotch and a stunning facial portrait, tells the story. The girl-next-door has finally come of age and she's out to sell sex.
However, as an antidote to Madonna's Erotica , janet. is pitched dead centre. Ms Jackson passes over the kinky stuff for steamy innuendo and some risque sentiments.
But any Janet Jackson album would sell right now - the timing is perfect. Her last album, Rhythm Nation (which sold eight million copies) came out two years ago; her brother Michael has just finished his Dangerous assault; and her main pop rival Madonna has gone to seed somewhat.
Rhythm Nation spawned seven singles that went into the top five, and four of those were number one's. janet. may not equal that tally but it will come close - and there's always the chance for some Grammys.
The first single, That's The Way Love Goes, went to the top of the Billboard charts in less than three weeks - a minor record shared only by The Beatles, Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston.
The sexing-up of Janet Jackson's image is relentless. There are 27 tracks in all on janet., with just under half being packaged snippets of poetry, moody sound effects or saucy one-liners.