His last truly great album was Dangerous. HIStory had a few good songs, but was too self-indulgent and pompous. Invincible had the occasional moment in the sun, but was largely a let down.

I find the trouble with MJ albums is that he seems to stick to the same well-worn template he's used since Bad. He needs to move on...

My question is, if he finally gets off his ass and releases the damn thing, do you think he still has it in him to make a decent album beginning to end?

All scandals and joking aside, do you think his body is up to it?

I'm not a pop vocalist by trade, but I have enough experience to know a nose is a big part of singing.

Mars23 said:

Well, his vocals were just fine on Invincible.

It was just the songs that sucked.

Hmm, decent by the current standards of the music industry, or his own as a young man? Invincible was actually not a bad album by the standards of the day, it just sucked compared to his earlier work.

(And for the record, I totally disagree with your assessment of HIStory - that's my favourite MJ record! )

I hope he can still pull it off.....

.
[Edited 9/5/08 12:34pm]

Yes. He either needs to produce the whole album and write the bulk of the songs himself or work with just one producer.
I'm curious what exactly is the 'same same well-worn template' he's been using?
About his recent albums, HIStory had three great songs in my opinion - 'They don't care about us', 'Stranger in Moscow' and Earth song, some of his best.
Invincible wasn't terrible as some try to make it out to be. 'Butterflies' and 'You Rock My World' were excellent songs.
[Edited 9/5/08 12:36pm]

no... genius only lasts for a certain window, than one becomes a shadow of oneself.

ehuffnsd said:

But the question was can he make a decent album, not a genius one.

Graycap23 said:

Me too. For some reason, I actually find myself rooting for him and I haven't done that in many years.

purplecam said:

A good music project from anyone is always welcomed in my book.

Graycap23 said:

I'm with you on that.

i think the question does he want to make a decent album again, does he car anymore?

i dont think he does, or might not i should say. I think the day his first son was born was the day michael jackson quit the music industry. Look at the time line his son was born and he pretty much quit cold turkey. I dont blame him, i admire it. He gave up being the pop star to be a pop to his kids. But look at the timeline since his first son was born who's now 11 year old he's not done one full length concert (ie: 2 hour type show) he's released one album and done one music video and that was 7 years ago. Look at the 11 years prior to his son being born and he did 3 world tours 3 studio albums and loads of music videos
[Edited 9/5/08 13:00pm]

Invincible had a few good songs in it so yes, I think he´s still
capable of making a decent album.

I think he is

I don't blame him for being slow with releasing records these past couple of years. From 1969-1987, he released over 24 albums, sometimes 2 or 3 a year during the Jackson 5 days. He seems to want to be a father to his kids. Honestly, I wouldn't be suprised if his kids turn out to be great and responsible people. I remember back in 2000, he did a speech at Oxford and said that he wants to have as much time with them and be a good father to them. They made him rethink his relationship with his father

You probably weren't surprised to hear that I did not have an idyllic childhood. The strain and tension that exists in my relationship with my own father is well documented. My father is a tough man and he pushed my brothers and me hard, from the earliest age, to be the best performers we could be.

He had great difficulty showing affection. He never really told me he loved me. And he never really complimented me either. If I did a great show, he would tell me it was a good show. And if I did an OK show, he told me it was a lousy show.

He seemed intent, above all else, on making us a commercial success. And at that he was more than adept. My father was a managerial genius and my brothers and I owe our professional success, in no small measure, to the forceful way that he pushed us. He trained me as a showman and under his guidance I couldn't miss a step.

But what I really wanted was a Dad. I wanted a father who showed me love. And my father never did that. He never said I love you while looking me straight in the eye, he never played a game with me. He never gave me a piggyback ride, he never threw a pillow at me, or a water balloon.

But I remember once when I was about four years old, there was a little carnival and he picked me up and put me on a pony. It was a tiny gesture, probably something he forgot five minutes later. But because of that moment I have this special place in my heart for him. Because that's how kids are, the little things mean so much to them and for me, that one moment meant everything. I only experienced it that one time, but it made me feel really good, about him and the world.

But now I am a father myself, and one day I was thinking about my own children, Prince and Paris and how I wanted them to think of me when they grow up. To be sure, I would like them to remember how I always wanted them with me wherever I went, how I always tried to put them before everything else. But there are also challenges in their lives. Because my kids are stalked by paparazzi, they can't always go to a park or a movie with me.

So what if they grow older and resent me, and how my choices impacted their youth? Why weren't we given an average childhood like all the other kids, they might ask? And at that moment I pray that my children will give me the benefit of the doubt. That they will say to themselves: "Our daddy did the best he could, given the unique circumstances that he faced. He may not have been perfect, but he was a warm and decent man, who tried to give us all the love in the world."

I hope that they will always focus on the positive things, on the sacrifices I willingly made for them, and not criticise the things they had to give up, or the errors I've made, and will certainly continue to make, in raising them. For we have all been someone's child, and we know that despite the very best of plans and efforts, mistakes will always occur. That's just being human.

And when I think about this, of how I hope that my children will not judge me unkindly, and will forgive my shortcomings, I am forced to think of my own father and despite my earlier denials, I am forced to admit that me must have loved me. He did love me, and I know that.

There were little things that showed it. When I was a kid I had a real sweet tooth - we all did. My favourite food was glazed doughnuts and my father knew that. So every few weeks I would come downstairs in the morning and there on the kitchen counter was a bag of glazed doughnuts - no note, no explanation - just the doughnuts. It was like Santa Claus.

Sometimes I would think about staying up late at night, so I could see him leave them there, but just like with Santa Claus, I didn't want to ruin the magic for fear that he would never do it again. My father had to leave them secretly at night, so as no one might catch him with his guard down. He was scared of human emotion, he didn't understand it or know how to deal with it. But he did know doughnuts.

And when I allow the floodgates to open up, there are other memories that come rushing back, memories of other tiny gestures, however imperfect, that showed that he did what he could. So tonight, rather than focusing on what my father didn't do, I want to focus on all the things he did do and on his own personal challenges. I want to stop judging him.

I have started reflecting on the fact that my father grew up in the South, in a very poor family. He came of age during the Depression and his own father, who struggled to feed his children, showed little affection towards his family and raised my father and his siblings with an iron fist. Who could have imagined what it was like to grow up a poor black man in the South, robbed of dignity, bereft of hope, struggling to become a man in a world that saw my father as subordinate. I was the first black artist to be played on MTV and I remember how big a deal it was even then. And that was in the 80s!

My father moved to Indiana and had a large family of his own, working long hours in the steel mills, work that kills the lungs and humbles the spirit, all to support his family. Is it any wonder that he found it difficult to expose his feelings? Is it any mystery that he hardened his heart, that he raised the emotional ramparts? And most of all, is it any wonder why he pushed his sons so hard to succeed as performers, so that they could be saved from what he knew to be a life of indignity and poverty?

I have begun to see that even my father's harshness was a kind of love, an imperfect love, to be sure, but love nonetheless. He pushed me because he loved me. Because he wanted no man ever to look down at his offspring.

And now with time, rather than bitterness, I feel blessing. In the place of anger, I have found absolution. And in the place of revenge I have found reconciliation. And my initial fury has slowly given way to forgiveness.

That is why I want to forgive my father and to stop judging him. I want to forgive my father, because I want a father, and this is the only one that I've got. I want the weight of my past lifted from my shoulders and I want to be free to step into a new relationship with my father, for the rest of my life, unhindered by the goblins of the past.

I hope he stays away from the nonsense like the Thriller 25 remixes. That was NOT good.

Oh, I feel positive that he's capable of making a great album but he's not going to. He's concerned with sales so he's going to purposely make a weak sounding sellout album with shit hop guest stars and weak shit hop drum machines at a midtempo shit hop pace. He can sit on his new album all he wants to because I'm not waiting on it.

P2daP said:

Well, he did the second leg of the HIStory tour after his son was born! But I agree... the music biz is not his priority anymore... his children are!

During the Oprah interview he said, that he is married to his music and with a family he couldn't keep the closeness to his music, which he feels he needs to create great music... or something to that effect!

Sadly, I agree with vainandy .

He still has it that guy, if he could just be a little spontaneous and less calculated with his approach... chances of that happening is REALLY low .

I'd die a happy man if I was proven otherwise .

bboy87 said:

Thanx 4 this post. I never heard or read this. It's a great read. A very different perspective of Joe.

I believe he's absolutely capable. Michael, in my opinion, is a production genius. Whether or not he'll be a life-long recluse is the question.

If he stayed away from these lame shit hop producers and worked on a retro-funk album instead,the results could be amazing.He should let Jamiroquai produce his next album.

SoulAlive said:

Great Idea! I never thought of that one.

SoulAlive said:

He needs to get ?uestlove on the joint


Hell, ?uest himself said that he would love to work with Michael. He and D'Angelo were wondering what they could've done with Invincible

He could make good songs no problem, but he's poor with selections about what makes it onto an album.

Since you said "decent" album I will say yes. I do wish he would get back to actual instruments and songs about something other than being "Bad" or "Unbreakable" or whatever.

long as he surrounds himself with the likes of akon and wil.i.am im gonna say no way. also these days is hard to determine whats decent musically, if an album dont sell then its branded a flop and nobody pays attention

if Ne-Yo wrote every song on the cd. Only chance

If he can use the formula of Off The Wall and Thriller, I think it's possible.

luv4u said:

I think he needs to stay away from his previous formulas and do something new and different. Clinging to a 30 year old formula will not only make the album sound dated, it will make it seem like he's living in the past, which would be horrible for his image.