I've just haeard the song Off The Wall(another classic) at work and I wanted to jam. I don't feel like truely jamming to any of his songs post-Thriller.

Definately "Off The Wall". After that, each one of his albums got a little bit worse than the previous one.

vainandy said:

But what about his MOTOWN ALBUMS

AlexdeParis said:

Once again, I'm fighting a losing battle! I will maintain until my dying day that Liberian Girl is absolutely ghastly, and Baby Be Mine is naff in the extreme.

*sobs alone in his cynical corner*

whatsgoingon said:

Stop right there. There is no song as sappy as "Chilhood" in Michael's catalog.

AlexdeParis said:

Most of his material post-thriller just doesn't do it for me, I don't hear anything that make me swoon nor makes me wanna jam. With the exception of Stranger in Moscow and maybe Man in the Mirror, his songs just sound so hollow and just lack the soul he once had on his previous material. I know alot of fans think Dirty Diana, Scream, Black and White, They Don't Care about us etc are great, but I don't feel anything when I listen to them. I understand what he is trying to say and the message he is trying to convey but I just don't feel the soul and funk in his music anymore. I hear pop, rock and sap and I am not fan of those genres.

And although little MJ didn't have much say in his motown days, I do believe his natural leaning was Soul, Motown couldn't teach him to sing like that. They couldn't teach him to sing that version of "Whose Loving You" or "Can You Remember" with so much soul. He had so much soul it hurt, he just lost it along the way somewhere.
[Edited 2/25/07 14:42pm]
[Edited 2/25/07 14:47pm]

whatsgoingon said:

I'm very curious, what's your opinion on Butterflies, Heaven Can Wait, Break Of Dawn and Whatever Happens? No soul either?

I am no Michael fan but I do love good music.
All of his ballads can be considered great not just good and Liberian Girl is one of the great ones.

For all the big '78-'82 fans, what do you think of "The Way You Love Me"? IMO it's the closest thing he's done in recent years to his original soul sound. It sounds like Motown song.

http://www.youtube.com/wa...Wu5lOiLZxQ

For all the big '78-'82 fans, what do you think of "The Way You Love Me"? IMO it's the closest thing he's done in recent years to his original soul sound. It sounds like Motown song.

http://www.youtube.com/wa...Wu5lOiLZxQ

dseann said:

No it's not.

*stamps foot*
*sucks thumb*

SULK

CinisterCee said:

He only had one Motown album as a teenie bopper I think the most popular song was Ben. Everything else was with his brothers the Jackson 5.

I'll be honest, I know very little of Michael's Motown material - I'll have to investigate but in answer to the thread...


Best: Off The Wall

Favourite: Dangerous


But if I had to choose one album for the desert island, it would definitely be OTW.


And even though it's not my favourite MJ album, I *love* novabrkr's assessment of History. Wow.

start with the the CD's Diana Ross Presents J5/ABC and Dancing Machine/Moving Violation. They were rereleased years ago on CD with 2 albums in one disc. Also check out mj's solo material from Motown, especially Music & Me and Got To Be There

alphastreet said:

Cheers!

Reading the comments here, it's really got me interested in that era.

And I love Diana so two for the price of one!

I always remember, years ago, in this shop I used to work in, they'd play this compilation tape and one of the songs was from this period. I have no idea what it was called but I know I'll recognise it as soon as I hear it. His vocals were just... incredible. Mind-blowing. To hear/see that level of talent on someone that age... it makes you sick, really. But thank you for the recommendation - I may get the Anthology and start from there.

Thanks!

Get "The Best of Michael Jackson:Anthology". It's a 2 disc set that features songs from the 4 Motown albums along with unreleased versions of "Call on Me", "Don't Let It Get You Down", and "Melodie". It also has songs from the "Looking Back At Yesterday" like "Love Gone Bad" and "When I Come of Age".

dseann said:

He released 4 solo albums on Motown:
Got To Be There(1972)
Ben(1972)
Music and Me(1973)
Forever, Michael(1975)

Motown would go on to release 2 more after the brothers went to Epic:
Farewell My Summer Love(1984)
Looking back at yesterday(1986)

There's also a unreleased album of MJ and Stevie Wonder

dseann you have NO AUTHORITY on what a good MJ ballad is, after reading this boolshit

bboy87 said:

talking bout MJ "only had one Motown album", even JACKIE JACKSON HAD HIS OWN SOLO MOTOWN ALBUM

I am no Michael fan but I do love good music.

Do you really class those albums as Michael Jackson solo albums? They were all still part of the J5 franchise, and most of the songs still had J5 backing vocals. The only difference between Michael "solo" Motown album and the J5 albums is that one every song Michael sung lead vocals, instead on on the J5 album were Jermaine would sing the bridge or the second verse.

Destiny

manthevan said:

lol

Do you really class those albums as Michael Jackson solo albums? They were all still part of the J5 franchise, and most of the songs still had J5 backing vocals. The only difference between Michael "solo" Motown album and the J5 albums is that one every song Michael sung lead vocals, instead on on the J5 album were Jermaine would sing the bridge or the second verse.

Why do so many fansites see his discography as the Epic releases when it really should be seen like this:

Got To Be There
Ben
Music and Me
Forever Michael
Off The Wall
ET Storybook(I classify it as an MJ album)
Thriller
Farewell My Summer Love
Looking Back At Yesterday
Bad
Dangerous
HIStory
Blood On The Dancefloor
Invincible
The Ultimate Collection