Janet Jackson在1989年推出的一张探讨“社会病”的概念专辑，成为整个90年代最畅销的专辑，而此后接连发售的单曲更是连续3年占据了 Billboard歌曲排行榜的榜首，同一张专辑中的歌曲能有这样的成绩，这是连她的兄长Michael Jackson都没有实现的壮举，在Billboard历史上也是绝无仅有的。滚石杂志的编辑幽默地评论说，Janet凭借一身借来的军服和这张专辑统治了各大电台达两年之久。
这张专辑的曲风比较多元化，融合了hip-hop funk("Rhythm Nation"), slow jams ("Love Will Never Do [Without You]"), 和hair metal ("Black Cat")等多种风格，这也是专辑在商业上经久不衰的原因之一。当然，熟悉Janet的朋友应该都知道，尽管她慢歌唱的不错，但她的歌曲大部分都是劲歌热曲，这张专辑也是以冲击力见长的，柔情主义只是偶尔穿插其中。
这张专辑在滚石杂志选出的500张历代最强专辑中排名第275位。
by Alex Henderson
After shocking the R&B world with 1986's Control -- a gutsy, risk-taking triumph that was a radical departure from her first two albums -- Michael and Jermaine Jackson's younger sister reached an even higher artistic plateau with the conceptual Rhythm Nation 1814. Once again, she enlists the help of Time graduates Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (one of the more soulful production/songwriting teams of 1980s and '90s R&B) with wildly successful results. In 1989, protest songs were common in rap but rare in R&B -- Janet Jackson, following rap's lead, dares to address social and political topics on "The Knowledge," the disturbing "State of the World," and the poignant ballad "Living in a World" (which decries the reality of children being exposed to violence). Jackson's voice is wafer-thin, and she doesn't have much of a range -- but she definitely has lots of soul and spirit and uses it to maximum advantage on those gems as well as nonpolitical pieces ranging from the Prince-influenced funk/pop of "Miss You Much" and "Alright" to the caressing, silky ballads "Someday Is Tonight," "Alone," and "Come Back to Me" to the pop/rock smoker "Black Cat." For those purchasing their first Janet Jackson release, Rhythm Nation would be an even wiser investment than Control -- and that's saying a lot.
