The 'Michael Jackson' Discussion Thread

Excluding his solo recordings for Motown. IMO from worst to best his album are: Blood on the Dancefloor...History...Bad...Invincible (not as bad as people say)...Dangerous...Thriller...Off the Wall.

Eff the worst to best thing. I'll do the other way around; best to worst.

1) Off The Wall
2) Thriller
3) Bad
4) Dangerous
5) History
6) Invincible

Ironically, it's the order that they were all released in too. Hmmm. He was never quite the same after Thriller.

Hi I'm gonna disagree with that. For some reason everyone loves to put OTW on a pedestal above Thriller and I think that has more to do with wanting to play down what is hugely celebrated. If that makes any sense at all. I think OTW is a terrific album overall but people I think like OTW as much for it being vintage 70s darkskin MJ as they do its music. Like you point out, there are a good handful of skippable songs on it. With Thriller again like you pointed out, you can listen to it all the way thru and there's much more diversity on it. To me that makes it the better album. Far as Bad goes I agree with the common complaint that much of it is overproduced in a way that makes it somewhat dated & pretentious but the phenomenal songs on that album like MITM are worth their weight in gold and probably stand as some of the BEST songs he ever recorded. IMO.

My MJ rank from best to worse would be

Thriller
Dangerous/Off The Wall - tie
Bad
Invincible
History
Blood on the Dancefloor

My MJ rank would be:

1) Off the Wall (classic)
2) Dangerous (Over the years, I have developed an increasing respect for this album. At the time of it's release, I remember thinking that it was BS)
3) Thriller (It's probably better than Dangerous, but Thriller is so played out and gets so celebrated that I wanted to avoid falling into that trap.)
4) Bad (The singles have held up extremely well, but the rest of it is gluttonous, dated...and just not that great.)
5) Invincible (This album was actually better than people give it credit for, but still...)
6) History (Meh. Save "You Are Not Alone" and perhaps "Stranger in Moscow," and you have a totally crap album.)

My rank MJ's albums, from worst to best.

• INVINCIBLE
  Aside from sparse pleasant tracks here and there, it's pretty forgettable. I listened to this album three times when it was new, and haven't had the urge to much bother with it again.
  
  
• HISTORY
  The only thing that saves this album from being as forgettable as Invinciple was the disc of old music. Save a few songs here and there, the new music was a hodgepodge of overproduced complaining.
  
  
• BAD
  "Dirty Diana," "Man In the Mirror" and "Another Part of Me" greatly save it. Other than that it's probably the most dated, and him trying to top Thriller was so flagrant that it makes the album age disgracefully.
  
  
• DANGEROUS
  Was initially not thrilled with MJ mixing it up with New Jack Swing. Thought it was too convoluted sounding, but ironically Dangerous gets better with age. There are a handful of serious gems here. I used to rank this lower than Bad, but it's since climbed up a few notches above it.
  
  
• THRILLER
  Every song on the album is worth listening to. There isn't one that I would skip. The only thing that possibly hinders it is MJ's pride/ego was beginning to show itself here.
  
  
• OFF THE WALL
  What I love about OTW is how *honest* it is. He wasn't trying to be the 'King of Pop,' he was just a singer with an album of good songs. He also never sounded better as a vocalist, there was a certain sincerity and joy in his voice here that was not been heard since. Unlike Thriller, there are some filler here...however, the best Off the Wall songs own the best Thriller songs -- IMO.
  

Favorite to least favorite:

1) Invincible (tragically underrated)
2) Off the Wall (absolute perfection)
3) HIStory (his most personal and emotional album)
4) Bad (lovelovelove)
5) Dangerous / Thriller (tie)

^_^

Best dance song off each album?

My picks:

1. Off the Wall - "Workin' Day and Night" (hard choice, because of Off the Wall is full of amazing dance songs, but WDN is a huge favorite of mine)
2. Thriller - "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
3. Bad - "Another Part of Me"
4. Dangerous - "She Drives Me Wild"
5. HIStory - "They Don't Care About Us"
6. Invincible - "Unbreakable"

Whoa! Thriller is your LEAST favorite?

My favorite to least I guess is

Off the Wall
Dangerous
Thriller
Bad
Invincible (it has Butterflies)
HIStory

burned this disco out wrote:Best dance song off each album?

My picks:

1. Off the Wall - "Workin' Day and Night" (hard choice, because of Off the Wall is full of amazing dance songs, but WDN is a huge favorite of mine)
2. Thriller - "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
3. Bad - "Another Part of Me"
4. Dangerous - "She Drives Me Wild"
5. HIStory - "They Don't Care About Us"
6. Invincible - "Unbreakable"

Off The Wall - Get On the Floor/Don't Stop Til You Get Enough
Thriller - PYT
Bad - The Way You Make Me Feel
Dangerous - In the Closet/Remember the Time
HIStory - This Time Around
Invincible - You Rock My World

burned this disco out wrote:Best dance song off each album?

Off the Wall: Off the Wall
Thriller: Wanna Be Startin' Something
Bad: The Way You Make Me Feel
Dangerous: In the Closet
HIStory: 2 Bad
Invincible: Unbreakable

burned this disco out wrote:Favorite to least favorite:

1) Invincible (tragically underrated)
2) Off the Wall (absolute perfection)
3) HIStory (his most personal and emotional album)
4) Bad (lovelovelove)
5) Dangerous / Thriller (tie)

^_^

IA. I think what scares people about Invincible is the # of ballads on it. But they're GOOD ballads.

Tom Sneddon SLAMMED on LIVE TV



I hope this walrus is brought down.

burned this disco out wrote:Best dance song off each album?

Off the Wall: Don't Stop Til You Get Enough
Thriller: PYT
Bad: Bad
Dangerous: Remember the Time
HIStory: dunno. Scream maybe?
Invincible: You Rock My World

What will you do on the year anniversary of MJ's death? I think I'm gonna pull out everything of MJ I own and have an all day MJ smorgasbord.

Flash80 wrote:I think what scares people about Invincible is the # of ballads on it. But they're GOOD ballads.

I agree, Flash! MJ has always been beautiful on ballads, ever since he was a little kid. And even though he's mainly known for pop, he was also a very good R&B singer, which is well-evidenced on Invincible. I absolutely love his pop dance songs, but I also love seeing the other side of him as well. I think people should definitely give Invincible more of a chance.

Flash80 wrote:What will you do on the year anniversary of MJ's death? I think I'm gonna pull out everything of MJ I own and have an all day MJ smorgasbord.

Info here:
allforloveblog.com/?p=2609

So I'll probably be doing some volunteer work in his honor =)
Along with definitely listening to his music, watching his videos, and wearing my MJ shirt and earrings. I might rewatch the memorial. It's sad, but it's also beautifully and flawlessly done.

Which song has the best Choreography: Remember the Time or Bad?

I say RTT!

Does "Wacko Jacko" offend you? For years I admit that even though I'm a HUGE MJ fan, it didn't really bother me when they called him "Wacko Jacko". I just rolled my eyes at it or it flew over my head. Later though when I found out that it apparently bothered Michael, it started to make me angry!

What was MJ's best #1 single?

The list goes as follows:
Ben
Don't Stop Til You Get Enough
Rock With You
Bille Jean
Beat It
We Are the World
I Just Can't Stop Loving You
Bad
The Way You Make Me Feel
Man In the Mirror
Dirty Diana
Black or White
You Are Not Alone

Man in the Mirror for me! :biggrin:

The Magic And the Madness by by J. Randy Taraborrelli is I think this is quite possibly the BEST MJ/Jackson family biography ever written. Has anyone else read it? I have the original 1991 publishing. But I haven't gotten a chance to pick up the 2009 revision. Anyone else read it? I'm dying to pick up the new version.

burned this disco out wrote:

Info here:
allforloveblog.com/?p=2609

So I'll probably be doing some volunteer work in his honor =)
Along with definitely listening to his music, watching his videos, and wearing my MJ shirt and earrings. I might rewatch the memorial. It's sad, but it's also beautifully and flawlessly done.

Cool idea burned this disco out! Volunteer work is cool. A great way to pay tribute to him. He'd like that!

This Is It will be on STARZ on June 19.

Flash80 wrote:What was MJ's best #1 single?

The list goes as follows:
Ben
Don't Stop Til You Get Enough
Rock With You
Bille Jean
Beat It
We Are the World
I Just Can't Stop Loving You
Bad
The Way You Make Me Feel
Man In the Mirror
Dirty Diana
Black or White
You Are Not Alone

Man in the Mirror for me! :biggrin:

"You Are Not Alone."

Flash80 wrote:Which song has the best Choreography: Remember the Time or Bad?

I say RTT!

Ditto. Bad's choreography was eye popping for the time, but it's now very dated. His moves in the RTT video, meanwhile, still look fresh.