By comparison with Timberlake's debut album Justified (2002), FutureSex/LoveSounds was influenced by a wider range of genres including techno, electro-funk, trance, and rock.

In November 2002, Justin Timberlake released his debut album, Justified,[4] and produced the U.S. top-five singles "Rock Your Body" and "Cry Me a River".

After the show, Timberlake was reportedly "inundated" with acting offers, which he readily accepted partly because he needed inspiration and did not want to pass up the opportunities.

When production began, Jive Records Chairman and CEO, Barry Weiss, asked when the album would be completed, to which Timberlake replied that it could possibly take a year.

[17] Sessions for the album also saw Timberlake collaborating with Rick Rubin and will.i.am, the latter himself a member of the hip hop group The Black Eyed Peas, whose 2003 single "Where Is the Love?"

[17] AllMusic stated that Timbaland spends much of the album "refurbishing the electro-funk of Prince's early-'80s recordings," adding that "Justin marries his innuendos to grinding, squealing synths that conjure the funky spirit of the Minneapolis Sound.

[21] Other influences include late INXS-frontman Michael Hutchence,[18] Arcade Fire, David Byrne, The Killers, The Strokes, and Radiohead.

[20] Although Timberlake expressed interest in recording songs with rock influences, Timbaland was initially reluctant to pursue the idea because he was not accustomed to producing such music.

[25] MTV editor Jennifer Vineyard summarizes that the album illustrates "the very nature of how sex and love are interchangeable and immutable and contradictory and complementary all at once".

[25] The first half of the album, FutureSex, generally focuses on themes about sex that are evident on songs like the title track "FutureSex/LoveSound", "LoveStoned", "Damn Girl" and "Sexy Ladies".

[25] Although themes of sex and love are dominant on the album, the song "Losing My Way" diverges to a more serious topic, which was inspired by a documentary of crystal meth addiction that Timberlake watched.

[29] According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the project has sold as of 2008[update] more than 19 million units worldwide, 20 percent of which were sales on CD format.

The single version includes as its B-side the "Set the Mood (Prelude)", which is juxtaposed with "Summer Love" in the album's track listing.

They each peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, giving Timberlake credit as the only artist to achieve such feat since R&B singer Usher accomplished four chart-topping singles between February and December 2004.

Promoted primarily by AEG Live, the concert tour reached North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania, with 119 venues in total.

[37] On November 20, 2007, a two-disc edition of FutureSex/LoveShow: Live from Madison Square Garden was released on DVD and Blu-ray formats that were sold exclusively by the retailer Best Buy.

[47] AllMusic senior editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine commended Timberlake's "clear musical vision" and stated that the "serious undercurrent" of several songs on the album, "when combined with Timbaland's retro-future production makes FutureSex/LoveSounds fascinating.

"[55] He also took notice of the album's preludes and interludes, writing, "Timbaland has long been known for hiding little surprises near the end of songs, and here he takes his obsession with transformation to new heights.

"[56] Robert Christgau of Rolling Stone found Timberlake's "best new" songs "thrilling", although "some of the up-tempo stuff flirts with mechanical muscle-flexing" and "Losing My Way" is a "well-meaning" but "clueless embarrassment.

Rolling Stone ranked it 46th on their top 100 albums of the 2000s - calling it "an avant-garde sprawl of abstract electronica and hallucinatory space funk".

He also earned the Quadruple Threat Award, an accolade that recognizes those artists who have excelled in multiple media including music, fashion and acting.

[89] Weiss noted that in the past three to five years before the album's release, American artists found it increasingly hard to achieve commercial success in international music markets.

[89] FutureSex/LoveSounds became the biggest pre-order album in iTunes history, breaking the all-time record for one week digital sales previously held by the English alternative rock band Coldplay.

[91] In Australia, the album peaked at number one and has since been certified five-times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association, denoting shipments of over 350,000 units.

[100] Aside from earning critical acclaim for the album, according to Sia Michel of The New York Times, Timberlake was responsible for popularizing in 2006 the catchphrase "I'm bringing sexy back",[22][101] which is culled from the lead single "SexyBack".

"[105] In 2013, Maura Johnston from Vibe called it an "ambitious classic", writing FutureSex/LoveSounds "musically propelled the pop&B genre with audio novellas, interlude twists, Timbaland's weirdo sound effects and that irresistible falsetto" and "embraced the hard/soft duality implied by the title to thrilling effect—and because of their mastery of that balancing act, FutureSex/LoveSounds would go on to influence, if not define, much of the pop music that came after it."

"[67] For its 10th anniversary, Rolling Stone editor Brittany Spanos wrote "Ten years ago, Timberlake destroyed any doubt of his artistry or potential with the mature, innovative FutureSex/LoveSounds.

Today, the LP's influence can still be heard in everything from the worldly electro-soul of Zayn Malik to the moody sound of newcomers like Bryson Tiller.

A bold departure from the warm, synthesized soul that The Neptunes helmed on Justified, FutureSex was steely and sweaty, a universal dance opus that made room for intimacy.

And it was so blindingly successful, from blockbuster sales to hit singles to a huge tour to real critical acclaim, that the pop world grew deeply anxious while awaiting Timberlake's post-FutureSex return, which finally occurred seven years later with The 20/20 Experience.