Justin Timberlake: The best critic slams of 'Man of the Woods'

Editors

Pour one out for Justin Timberlake's new album, Man of the Woods? Early reviews were less than kind to the pop star's latest Flannel-clad venture. Here's a look at what the critics had to say.

USA TODAY's Maeve McDermott said Timberlake's new album signals his sound has gone stale.

"As Timberlake gears up for his Super Bowl halftime show performance on Sunday, it’s telling that his best new songs are purposefully retro. And as he cycles through his greatest hits during Sunday’s set, it’ll be a reminder of a time when Timberlake was among the most exciting names in pop, an era that, from the sounds of Man of the Woods, has since passed."

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'Esquire' called it "a mess" and "kind of embarrassing."

"Well, I’m here to tell you a little bit of good news: Man of the Woods is not a country album. It’s more like deep-fried Justin Timberlake. It's like stumbling across some awkward campfire party in a clearing in the middle of a forest. It's like eating a handful of poison berries from a bush and finding yourself scared, confused, nauseous, and lost among the foliage ... It’s his infamous denim suit resurrected as music."

Pitchfork was so annoyed they put his entire career on blast.

"It’s remarkable how few ideas are contained within this hour-plus Blue Ridge Mountains mood board of an album. Man of the Woods is a misstep large enough to merit relitigating Justin Timberlake’s status as a pop superstar. How much of his career should we chalk up to fortune, privilege, and an essential malleability?"

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The Daily Beast says " 'Lemonade' and '4:44,' this is not."

"In this climate, Timberlake has become inessential. Hence, Man of the Woods, his purported attempt to strip down to the basics and reveal what’s behind the pop veneer in the way that his contemporaries have. Unfortunately, the album reveals that there’s ... nothing there."

Stereogum calls it a literal "shrug of an album."

"Man Of The Woods plays as an hour-long contented sigh, a born-entertainer cheeseball doing his very best to make his transition into rural-dad middle age."

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But, hey, not everyone doused these Woods in haterade! Rolling Stone gave the album a healthy 3 1/2 stars and Variety said if you can get past the marketing, "it’s hard to imagine anyone who ever liked Timberlake not having a blast for most of the duration of Man of the Woods."

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