whatsgoingon said:

With Thriller, I think that he & Quincy just expanded the approach they created on Off The Wall and made it bigger and badder. Thriller is like Michael's Titanic...

Why do people say that Thriller ruined Michael?

Without question,'Off The Wall' is Michael Jackson's best album.It's funny,this album was released during the disco era but it doesn't sound the least bit dated to me.The music still sounds fresh and vital.Every song on this album is excellent.Yes,I said every song.It's rare these days to find an album that sounds good all the way through but back then,it was the norm.

My favorite songs:

"Rock With You"
"Working Day and Night"
"Get On The Floor"
"Off The Wall"
"I Can't Help It"
"It's The Falling In Love"

those six songs rival anything on 'Thriller' (with the exception of "Billie Jean").Get this album right now!

LuxuryBrown said:

AGREED! I freakin' love that song!! a sultry duet with Patti Austin.This song and "I Can't Help It" should have been singles.

silverchild said:

"I Can't Help It" is mindblowing....a truly wonderful song

Get it! The "rap" breakdown in "Get on the floor" might be my all-time favorite moment in music. The tension the percussions and his voice build and then the pure joy when they go back into the chorus is breathtaking.

dancerella said:

Get this album by all means but the best MJ record is actually The Triumph album with his brothers in 1980. Not technically a solo album of course, but I rate it as the peak of MJ's career anyway. No other album of his holds me all the way through.

whoknows said:

I think also if one gets Destiny and Truimph as well as OTW and play one after another in date order, you will find they are almost like a triolgy of someone going from late teens to adulthood, each album is a classic in it's own way. With Thriller you have the end of that era, and the beginnings of the MJ we see and hear today.

whatsgoingon said:

Interesting point. I use to always play these 3 albums together. To me OTW is the must-have MJ album. I miss this type of sound from MJ alot. After Thriller things started to get strained a bit and never really recovered.

Krytonite said:

Because that's the "in" thing to say as of 2006. Personaly, I'll take Bad over Off The Wall any day of the week.

WildStyle said:

People say that because he has always tried to top the success of that album. In his mind, everything after that album, had to be bigger and better. Let's face it, there will never be another "Thriller". In my opinion, just because an album is a big commerical success, does not mean that it is a great album. Michael needs to learn this and get back to basics. Stop trying to repeat history. "Off the wall", sold 8 million copies and was a much better album. He needs to get out more and put his finger on the pulse of what is going in terms of music. Hell, he needs to listen to "Off the Wall", maybe this will wake something up inside of him, something that has been asleep for a very long time.
[Edited 8/17/06 8:06am]

JackieBlue said:

I miss that sound too and I hope he will go back to the OTW vibe, with a more organic sound and good songwriting.

shorttrini said:

[Edited 8/17/06 8:14am]

Interesting thread. I dont like MJ, but I used to like The Jacksons a lot. So, for me, Thriller was a kind of wrong way, overcomercial and focused only in mj persona. If Of the Wall sounds close to The Jacksons sound, it must be better that the following albums by Michael.

At times I sorta liken OTW to The Dude. There’s a very similar groove there for obvious reasons and Patti’s presence adds to that. It’s really a strong wonderful album that captures some of the best adult MJ vocals.

Listening to the rhythms and percussion particularly on Get On the Floor (damn, he sounds so happy), the end of the Don’t Stop (of course) and Working Day and Night is an experience to be had.

JackieBlue said:

You are right on!!! The Dude is one of my favorite albums. This is due to the musicianship on it. This is something that I think is lacking in today's music. But getting back to Michael, "Get on the Floor", is a perfect example of what that album is. It is an album that is all about fun and it does not take itself too seriously...."Thriller", with the exception of "Wanna be Startin' Something", sounds too much like work....like he was saying to himself, as he was making it...."This has to be good", It must be a success", "I have to prove to my father as well as my brother's that I can do this".... Problem is....the more you say things like this, the more it sounds like you are trying to convince yourself.

WildStyle said:

People have been saying that since the Bad era...It's not an "in" thing. Many fans of Michael pre-Thriller knew something was going amiss from the Bad era, people were just not prepare on how bad things would get, both musically and personally.

WildStyle said:

whatsgoingon said:

I agree 100%.

I've been playing this CD a lot lately. I've been going around singing "I Can't Help It" and folks are like Man, how many times has this song been remade by jazz artists and sampled by R&B and hip-hop?

The title tracks background voals and arrangement (courtesy of it's author, Rod Temperton) are like chills, man. Destiny is a very close second on my all-time J5/Jacksons/MJ list, but OTW will always be #1.

WildStyle said:

Hey, soul ain't for everyone, just certain folks That's why MJ sold his.

...and that´s the best song in Thriller.


[Edited 8/17/06 10:38am]

Adisa said:

Adisa said:

OTW - best album in my collection bar none. Err, but FFS, Girlfriend is worse than The Girl Is Mine.

Off The Wall is one of the best albums EVER recorded. It's pure funky heat for that ass from start to finish, including the slow songs like Girlfriend and She's Out of My Life. I miss that dude, I really do but he left us a masterpiece. NO ONE can deny this.

purplecam said:

He's out of my life
He's out of my life
And I don't know whether to laugh or cry
And I don't know whether to live or die...

Adisa said:

Get over it

Ellie said:

He's too high to get over (Yeah, Yeah)
He's too low to get under (Yeah, Yeah)
We're stuck in the middle (Yeah, Yeah)
And the pain is thunder (Yeah, Yeah)

Adisa said:

you friggin rock Adisa!!!