Janet Jackson Channels The Spirit Of Ed Wood

So not to rain on anyone’s babymaking parade, but I can’t help but wonder if the clip for Janet Jackson’s “Feedback” might double as a sign that folks at Def Jam aren’t exactly confident about pouring a lot of money into her upcoming album. Why?

Well, it looks like a sort of “grown-up” take on Britney Spears’ video for “Oops!… I Did It Again,” only with a sort of stripped-down low-cost aesthetic that brings to mind Plan 9 From Outer Space. (Are those planets she’s draping herself over at the beginning made out of styrofoam or bubble wrap or what?) Perhaps the graphics department blew the entire budget on the CGI effects used in the “dancing inside a lava lamp^*” segment at song’s end, and so they ran out of money to have interesting sets for the song’s first two verses? Or maybe I’m just making excuses, since I still want Janet to someday return to form instead of singing increasingly absurd songs that push her voice further and further down in the mix while using the word “sexy” 36 times, just in case you didn’t get it the first 35?

Janet Jackson Music Videos [Yahoo! Music]

^* Don’t worry, folks: The bubbling liquid isn’t red.