I am finally thinking of purchasing this cd. I know it's a classic but just never got around to it. After listening to the new Pharrell cd and hearing some old skool Jacko influences I thought I should probably just get the original. Is it essentially a disco album? Is this Jacko's best work?

I believe it is his best album! This is the one that set the standard for all of his albums after it. It's really not what I'll consider a "straightforward" disco record. It's actually an urban-pop record, to me. If you ever heard any of his work with the Jacksons from probably 1975 to 1980, you're truly believe much of Off The Wall is a Jacksons record. Buy the special edition to Off The Wall immediately...
[Edited 8/16/06 11:14am]

silverchild said:

Ok cool so it's not totally disco. I plan to pick this up today sometime. How does it compare to thriller in your opinion?

The only truly great Michael Jackson album.

Thriller was a very good album but I can't stand the Title track and the The girl is mine is horrible.

Every song on Off the Wall is great one of the best albums ever made.

dancerella said:

Well, Off The Wall has a poppy, glossy, and crisp production just like Thriller has and both productions are brilliantly handled by mastermind Quincy Jones. Off The Wall is just as consistent like Thriller, so there should not be any skipping, although some of the tracks like Get On The Floor and Burn This Disco Out takes awhile to warm to, but the album is a masterpiece and it will be one of your favorite MJ albums.

silverchild said:

Very cool. I'm sold! How does Off the wall compare to Pharrell's "In my mind" Cd?

dancerella said:

Really nothing because In My Mind is just an average record that didn't live up to its hype and Off The Wall is one of the greatest albums ever made!
[Edited 8/16/06 11:33am]

silverchild said:

You're probably right. In my mind wasn't half as great as I was hoping for. That's why I gotta get my Jacko on!

"Off the wall" is great, it`s more soulful than his other solo albums, it showcased his voice, which was/is very soulful...

"She`s out of my life" is beautiful

dancerella said:

Off The Wall is Michael's most influential album and one of the most influential albums ever made.

I don't know much about Pharrell's "In my Mind", however his song "frontin" definetly had the "Off The Wall" vibe there.

whatsgoingon said:

Yeah, I gotta give Frontin some points too...

silverchild said:

It's interesting because at fisrt I thought Pharrell sounded more like Prince but on his new cd he sounds very Jacko-ish to me. That's what made me think of buying Off the wall. If you guys like Frontin buy Pharrell you MUST here "young girl" off his new album. That shit is smokin!

Funnily enough I was just listening to this the other day for the first time in ages. It's a must have!

dancerella said:

The R&B portion of that album has an 80's influence that's kinda impressive, but just ordinary...

silverchild said:

I like the r&b tracks better than the hip hop tracks. They definitely have an 80's vibe to them, which I like.

One of the best albums and I´m not a Michael Jackson fan.
Listening to this album makes me happy and sad at the same time.

Happy cuz the music is fantastic, sad cuz I can´t believe how much this brother fucked up.

BUY THAT CD !
it's better than Thriller

For me, "Off the Wall", by a landslide.

Unlike, "Thriller", it is a timeless work of art. You can still play most if not all of the track from "Off the wall" and people will get themselves on the dancefloor. I play the album at least once a week. "Thriller", I play, once every couple of months.
[Edited 8/16/06 18:58pm]

shorttrini said:

I've just finished watching a documentary called "High School prom" about the activities of the American school prom, and one of the songs they played at the prom in 2005 is "Don't Stop Till you Get Enough" and the kids were all getting down on the floor.

dancerella said:

"Off The Wall" is Michael Jackson's best album. It's dance and keeps you on the floor. "Thriller" is a pop album that was pushed to record sells because of an amazing video concept. It's not dance material. I like "Bad" better than "Thriller."

shorttrini said:

You are absolutely right and it's still a fresh piece of work too. Nothing outdated or wack.

No question...Michael's best album.

Also, "Thriller", spelled the begining of the end of the Michael Jackson as we know it. It was the first time that he had tried something that was very different for a black artist, this album was different in sound and set the standard for how videos would be made and how albums would be made as well. The title of "trailblazer" would be much more taunting than that of "The King Of Pop", for Michael knew that he had to step up his game and the fun that he had making, "Off the Wall", would be over. I have always thought that "Thriller sounded", like work and not like he was having fun. You can hear the fun he was having making, "Off the Wall", in tracks like, "Get On the Floor" and also, "Working day and night". To mee, you don't hear it on "Thriller" or any other album after that, with the exception of "Dangerous". However, when he realized how much fun he was having during the making of that CD, he made tracks like, "Will you Be there" and "Gone too Soon".....

I Can't Help It doesn't sound dated at all which is the beauty of the album...

I was like you, dancerella... sure I knew some of the Off The Wall singles, but when I finally decided to buy the album for the first time (remastered) it was like a punch in the head - blindingly awesome!

ABeautifulOne said:

I Can't Help It is hands down, his best vocal performance. Everything about this song gives me chills...

silverchild said:

My favorite too. I knew it since it was the b-side to "Bad".

silverchild said:

It almost sounds like something he would've did with Floetry for Invincible...

It's his best album. Period. It was before he lost himself in the "man" you see today - the man that is now forever chasing the success and impact of "Thriller" and THAT was his downfall as an artist.

If for anything, get it for "It's The Falling In Love"...a very underrated jam on the album.

CinisterCee said:

For people that have not heard much of his work pre-Thriller, the J5 days to OTW comes as a shock for many people. They don't realise that Michael use to sound soulful. More and more people are discovering a lot of Jackson 5 stuff and are realising he sounded better as a 14 year old than a 40 year old.

Having said I do believe Thriller was a great album too. It didn't sound as spontaneous as Off The Wall, but it does sound a lot more spontaneous than subsequent albums, including Dangerous.



I too think this song is underrated. But that's the beauty of Off The Wall, the precious gems are the songs that were not realised as singles, like "It's the falling in Love", "I can't Help it" and "Get On the floor"
[Edited 8/16/06 22:46pm]