alphastreet said:

I really like Rod Temperton's work. I would love for Michael to work with him again. Michael, Quincy and Temperton were the ultimate dream team.

Cloudbuster said:

then explain why quincy is nowhere to be found on the credits for the song billie jean. Same with another part of me and smooth crimial

Cloudbuster said:

I am waiting for the MJ plays zero instruments and Prince plays 5,000,000 debate.

alphastreet said:

He was kidding.

Rodya24 said:

Rodya24 said:

lol I hope so. Ladies and gentlemen, quincy and michael are nothing like timbaland and nelly or justin, where timmay does 97% of the work and justin does diddly squat
[Edited 12/1/07 11:04am]

Cloudbuster said:

Rodya24 said:

I've never denied that. Mike knows how to lay down a groove, and unlike many, he can write great songs by himself. But in terms of his musical influence, I don't hear it. Most of the people who are influenced by him don't sound like him. For instance does Usher really sound like MJ? Does "Yeah" sound like anything Mike did? I don't think so. His influence is visual, not musical.

alphastreet said:

Uhh, Quincy is listed as the co-producer. What are you smoking?

midnightmover said:

I see his influence performance-wise more so as well.

midnightmover said:

on the LP single maybe, but read the credits in the CD booklet, I could have sworn quincy was nowhere to be found on the credits for that track. Crack is whack
[Edited 12/1/07 11:11am]

alphastreet said:

I believe he is listed as one of the producers. But MJ is listed as the sole songwriter.

alphastreet said:

It says "Produced by Quincy Jones", meaning the whole album, except for the songs with a star by them, which were "co-produced by Michael Jackson". Those songs were WBSS, BI, and BJ.

midnightmover said:

Interestingly enough the best three tracks on the album.
Of course, Quincy was the talent, tho'.

Cloudbuster said:

Indeed. I even prefer the demo for PYT rather than the one on the album co-written and produced by Quincy Jones.

Rodya24 said:

Me too.

Thriller is a great record when you DON'T compare it to Off the Wall.

Of course "Thriller" had great moments: "Human Nature", "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" and "Billie Jean" being the best songs on there.

What made "Thriller" stick however was its videos and Michael's commercial appeal that resulted in what happened at "Motown 25" and what happened when "Thriller" the video debuted. The Thriller album overall was the one where he became an iconic figure and was his biggest era of impact separating that of his work with his brothers. That and Off the Wall are his legacy records really.

But the sound was essentially and classic Quincy with Michael overtones thrown in there. Quincy took what Mike co-created with "Shake Your Body" and helped to cement Michael's place in music history so for that, I think Quincy needs to get as appreciated for making Thriller as Michael did. Rod Temperton, also, for giving the album its iconic title, its iconic song and giving Michael the idea to create the greatest video of all time and thank John Bettis, Paul McCartney (yes I dig "The Girl is Mine" now) and Toto for the musical background. Oh and shouts out to James Ingram and Bruce Swedien.

Where is bboy87?

Someone should bump his Thriller thread.

Cloudbuster said:

Yeah, Michael wrote three great songs there. No-one's denying that. But Billie Jean's another good example. Michael laid down strong elements, but the sound Quincy came up with, particularly the drum sound. Whoo! The moment that first beat kicks in it sounds great. Plus all the synth embelishments and the strings. Damn!
[Edited 12/1/07 11:49am]

midnightmover said:

Michael added in the bass riff but I could tell by the way the drums hit that it was Quincy who arranged that. The beat is so funky, you have to dance as soon as you hear it. Jerry Hey actually conducted the strings. It's a masterful record from start to finish.

Timmy84 said:

For someone who was probably too young or not even born when Thriller came out, your summary is pretty on point.

The biggest hits were indeed written by Michael, but I love Human Nature just as much as love Billie jean. In fact I prefer songs like The Lady in my Life to Beat It and I know for a fact I am not alone when it comes to that. I doubt the album would have been such a classic if it was just about Beat It and Billie Jean. The songs that were not singles or not big hits are just as important as those songs that became monsters. I mean how many times have we pick up an album because of a couple of good, commercial songs, only to found out the rest of the album is dire. In the case of Thriller songs like Lady in My Life went on to be classics, even though they were not released as singles. The non-singles and lesser hits along with the Billie Jeans gave the album its classic status.

whatsgoingon said:

Exactly. "The Lady in My Life" is still a classic jam. Rod Temperton is a genius!

YOU CAN HEAR MJ'S INFLUENCE...

All over Justin Timberlake's vocals.

PS: An artist/performer "ripping off" a beat or a chord progression from an earlier Prince record is doing little more than imitation and regurgitation. When I hear Timberlake and Alicia Keys I don't yet think of a strong Prince influence in their work.

And as for MJ not ever having his own sound... HIStory?

midnightmover said:

I remember when the album was first released.Our local R&B radio station (KSOL) was spotlighting the album and they placed several songs in heavy rotation.The songs were "Baby Be Mine","The Girl Is Mine","Thriller","Beat It" and "The Lady In My Life".These five songs were being played constantly around the clock.

As crazy as this may sound,the album didn't "click" with me immediately.I didn't really go crazy over this album until early 1983 when "Billie Jean" became the second single.That song took me by surprise.It was the coolest thing on the radio back then....haunting,hypnotic and hard to resist.I still think it's the best single of the 80s.

What's amazing about this album is....all but two songs became singles.And one of those two songs,"The Lady In My Life",still became a favorite on Quiet Storm radio.That means that there is only one song ("Baby Be Mine") that wasn't widely heard.Something like this could never happen today.

papaaisaway said:

Right so your big example of MJ's musical influence is JT's wack vocals. Well, that's a legacy to be proud of. And yeah, History was the album that had MJ's sound on it, and the sound was pretty non-distinct. It's an album that had zero impact on music. His legacy rests on his earlier albums, not History. Also, I've never heard as much of the MJ influence on Justin's vocals as everyone else does. To me he just has the standard white boy wannabe sound. He sounds more like the lead singer from Maroon 5 than MJ.

SoulAlive said:

It was the same with me, Thriller didn't click with me in the same way as Off The Wall did. Off The Wall click straight away. But as each song was release and the months went by I could actually see the momentum building and this was way before the Thriller video was released. By the time I heard Human Nature I knew this album would be a classic.

Timmy84 said:

For someone so young you've got serious knowledge dude, and a sense of perspective too. Respect. Although Temperton actually wrote "Thriller" in response to Mike's own "Heartbreak Hotel" and his love of horror, so it's not like the horror theme was handed to him by Temperton. Temperton just focused on something that was already there.

from songs like billie jean, and even later songs like unbreakable, I thought of shake your body at times. They don't sound alike, but you can tell it's the same person, same passion or whatever you want to call it

alphastreet said:

That may have something to do with the fact that it's the same guy singing.

midnightmover said:

Thanks for that correction. Almost forgot that "Heartbreak Hotel" also had a horror feel to it. He definitely was inspired by "Heartbreak Hotel".
[Edited 12/1/07 15:21pm]