Oddly, Off The Wall gets celebrated as being the "real musicians" MJ album (mostly because it pre-dates the synths and drum machines used heavily on MJ's 80s and 90s albums) and yet its predecessor "Destiny" released by The Jacksons only one year prior to OTW gets largely ignored.

I would argue that Destiny is as strong and in places even stronger than OTW. It may not quite reach the dizzying heights of DSTYGE, but every song on Destiny is a winner and displays some incredible musicanship throughout.

[img:$uid]http://991.com/NewGallery/The-Jacksons-Destiny-506487.jpg[/img:$uid]

Here is my track-by-track review of my favourite album by The Jacksons:

Blame It On The Boogie
BIOTB is probably my least favourite of all The Jacksons big disco hits and my least favourite song on the album. Not a bad song but lacks the funk and cool-factor of songs like Shake Your Body, Things I Do For You, Walk Right Now or DSTYGE.

Push Me Away
I feel Push Me Away is criminally overlooked and underrated. It is truly a stunning piece of music, the strings are so dreamy and etheral. The subtle guitar solo in the middle is my favourite moment on the entire record. And MJ's vocal delivery on this one is so understated and beautiful. I really cannot praise this song enough. Best on the album for me.

Things I Do For You
On the surface an irresistible funk-disco hybrid with some incredible slap bass guitar from the legendary Louis Johnson. If you delve a little deeper and listen to the lyrical content it is quite clear that this song like many others on the record has autobiographical undertones.

Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)
One of the coolest songs ever written. Covered and sampled by everyone from Prince to Shaggy, this song is one of the ultimate disco-funk anthems imo, perhaps second only to DSTYGE. And those horns are epic!

Destiny
Lovely acoustic opening, leading into a fine mid-tempo number with a vibrant vocal delivery from Michael and a surprisingly funky chorus. Good track.

Bless His Soul

One of the hidden gems of the album. Beautiful track and again another autobiographical one. Lines like "I try to please them so, but how far can this pleasing go?" and "there is no life for me at all, cause I give myself at beck and call" sound as if he could be singing about his own family, which would be ironic considering they sing also on the track. It builds spectacularly up to the climatic refrain "the life you're leading is dangerous, it's so dangerous, dangerous, dangerous." Second best track on the album.

All Night Dancin'
Randy and Michael sure knew how to write a funky tune and this song is no exception. I never see this one getting any love on the boards, but it's as good as most of OTW or Triumph imo. A little like a precursor to tracks like Working Day & Night and WBSS. Absolutely epic funk-disco sensibilities on this one, top drawer musicianship, brilliant hammond organ solo, handclaps and a truly exception electric guitar solo towards the end. Very underrated song.

That's What You Get (For Being Polite)
Another hidden gem in The Jacksons catalogue. Michael writes from the perspective of a supposed fictional character Jack, singing lines which are quite obviously about his own personal torment, such as "Jack still cries, day and night, Jack's not happy with his life." A fantastic and poignant ending to the album.

[Edited 2/28/15 6:20am]

Blame It On The Boogie is a remake not an Jacksons original

This is my favorite Jacksons album.

getxxxx said:

Blame It On The Boogie is a remake not an Jacksons original

Either way, it's the worst song on the album. Songs like Push Me Away, Shake Your Body, Things I Do For You and Bless His Soul are ten times better, even though they're not so well known.

[Edited 2/28/15 9:00am]

MotownSubdivision said:

Music fans typically consider Destiny their best album. I will say that the album is underrated (and even more overlooked) by the general public than music fans. The Jacksons are an underrated group in general though. While the J5 were great and made top of the line bubblegum pop and dance music that still resonates strongly today, their work as The Jacksons was a lot better and showcased the strengths of each individual brother and how together, they made awesome music that set the standard for a good R&B/ dance/ pop song as well as helped to propel MHM into a level of unprecedented superstardom never seen before or since.

Nicely said and I agree.

Its a toss up between Destiny and Triumph for me...

I was expecting a Victory or Goin' Places thread. As said above, it's widely seen as their best album, so not that underrated in that context. Very tidy album, although I prefer Triumph.

ChickenMcNuggets said:

'Destiny' is hardly underrated. If you said 'The Jacksons' from 1976 well, I might've agreed.

MotownSubdivision said:

ChickenMcNuggets said:

I was expecting a Victory or Goin' Places thread. As said above, it's widely seen as their best album, so not that underrated in that context. Very tidy album, although I prefer Triumph.

I also thought this was going to be either a Victory, Goin' Places, or The Jacksons thread, walking in. I haven't given Destiny a full listen but while what I've heard is good, it pales in comparison to Triumph. That album is FLAMES from start to finish; even the weaker tracks like "Walk Right Now" and "Wondering Who" are great, unskippable songs. This may not be saying much but those 2 songs put today's Top 40 singles to shame. [Edited 2/28/15 12:49pm]

On what planet is Walk Right Now one of the weaker cuts on Triumph? That's my favourite Jacksons song EVER.

^^ yeah,there's nothing weak about "Walk Right Now".I think it's the best song on that album.

Walk right now is the JAM! that Bassline!

SoulAlive said:

^^ yeah,there's nothing weak about "Walk Right Now".I think it's the best song on that album.

MattyJam said:

MotownSubdivision said:

I also thought this was going to be either a Victory, Goin' Places, or The Jacksons thread, walking in. I haven't given Destiny a full listen but while what I've heard is good, it pales in comparison to Triumph. That album is FLAMES from start to finish; even the weaker tracks like "Walk Right Now" and "Wondering Who" are great, unskippable songs. This may not be saying much but those 2 songs put today's Top 40 singles to shame. [Edited 2/28/15 12:49pm]

Yup, Truimph is the Jacksons album that's underrated. The only songs that get played off that album on our "old school" radio stations here in Philly are "This Place Hotel" and "Can You Feel It".

Every now and then when the dj's come in to mix they might spin 'Walk Right Now" and "Lovely One" but that's very rare.

'Destiny' is definitely one of their best and I have it on cassette tape & CD ! and although I like their first two albums on PIR/CBS (The Jacksons & Goin' Places), I think they only got a few tracks they wrote themselves on those LPs. So 'Destiny' was the first real Jacksons album (although BIOTB is a cover of a song written by Mick Jackson)

It was also like a huge leap forward for the Jacksons to be able to have creative control over the song writing and production process too. Personally I prefer 'Triumph' but 'Destiny' is certainly their second best or even joint first best album.

MattyJam said:

getxxxx said:

Blame It On The Boogie is a remake not an Jacksons original

Either way, it's the worst song on the album. Songs like Push Me Away, Shake Your Body, Things I Do For You and Bless His Soul are ten times better, even though they're not so well known.

[Edited 2/28/15 9:00am]

Not only do I strongly disagree with you, but I know that you're out of your damn mind! The Jacksons' version of the Mick Jackson's UK hit, Blame It On The Boogie, is excellent. As for the Destiny album, there are no weak tracks on that album whatsoever.

^^I agree....there is nothing 'weak' on Destiny.That album is terrific.

thetimefan said:

Until about ten years ago I had no idea that the Jacksons version was a remake, I couldn't believe it, lol!!

^^ same here.I was shocked to learn that this song was done by someone else before the Jacksons did it.Isn't it strange how the original artist is also a Jackson,too?

and btw...how can 'Destiny' be considered "underrated" when the general consensus among fans is that it's their best album?

SoulAlive said:

^^ same here.I was shocked to learn that this song was done by someone else before the Jacksons did it.Isn't it strange how the original artist is also a Jackson,too?

Yup, from what I read his actual name is 'Michael Jackson" he just goes by Mick, talk about irony, lol!!

Abdul said:

SoulAlive said:

^^ same here.I was shocked to learn that this song was done by someone else before the Jacksons did it.Isn't it strange how the original artist is also a Jackson,too?

Yup, from what I read his actual name is 'Michael Jackson" he just goes by Mick, talk about irony, lol!!

lol...wow!

SoulAlive said: