So, I'm starting with the LPs with which I am less familiar.

Here's my thoughts so far:


Off the Wall: Ok, this record gets so much damn love from mainstream music press, fans, casual fans, yadda yadda...I know Side 1 like my back hand. "Workin Day and Night" used to be my fave. Now it's "Get on the Floor." That bass is too funky! Side 2...I always turn it off. So I thought let me listen all the way through...and I see why I never do. Why the fuck does this album go in THAT direction? After "Off the Wall," which could still be my Friday night anthem, it transitions into back to back, mediocre, slow-ass BALLADS. You feel me vainandy?
But I can now add "Burn this Disco Out" into rotation. It's the only other good song on the record!


Bad: I forget every time what a monster "Dirty Diana" is...until I hear it again each time. He took power pop/hair metal and appropriated it for himself. It worked. MJ is so genius when he's like this. "Speed Demon"...I heard 60 tracks were penned for this album, and this was one of the ones to make the cut? Michael and Janet's A&R has always been questionable - this song is decent, but next to the juggernauts on here it seems like it should have been left off. "Just Good Friends" - why do I have no memory of this tune from childhood, as I do just about every other track from this album? Funky intro! Fun. But then...the actual SONG is just OK. "Leave Me Alone" is dope. "Another Part of Me" is an underrated, underappreciated gem. And "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" is still in my MJ top 10 songs...that chorus is a fucking killer! The spoken intro has to go though.

Think I'll spin "History (Disc 2)" in the car tonight! I love and know so many tunes on here ("This Time Around," "You Are Not Alone," "They Don't Really Care About Us," "Earth Song," "2 Bad," and, of course, "Scream") but there are some I have forgotten...

badujunkie said:

It's funny you should say that. Alot of fans feel that Off The Wall isn't that great. When it was announced that Legacy Recordings was going to release a CD/DVD 30th anniversary edition, alot of them felt the album didn't DESERVE a deluxe edition because:
-They felt it was "minimal success"
-It wasn't a huge seller
-It's a "disco" album
-It didn't have much impact
[Edited 2/28/09 19:58pm]

bboy87 said:

That's because they're used to one or two genres that they feel MJ did well in only. "Off the Wall" was a POP record first and foremost.

badujunkie said:

How can ya not like Off The Wall's "Rock With You"? lol That's a Rod Temperton production featuring Louis Johnson on the bass....Ya know I always liked Speed Demon 4 Jerry Hey's Horn Arrangement, while I figured Liberian Girl and Leave Me Alone should've been left in the vaults....."BAD" "Smooth Criminal" and "The Way You Make Me Feel" just had that touch about them that makes them classics 2 this day.....
[Edited 2/28/09 20:47pm]

Timmy84 said:

fixed it for ya

bboy87 said:

AH... thanks, now I updated it.

bboy87 said:

these are probably the same "hardcore" MJ fans who forget or ignore the fact that he had a stellar career before "Off The Wall".

Don't forget his 4 Motown solo LP's (most people do.)

LittleBLUECorvette said:

Or the songs from the LP's.

Most are probably shocked that he released solo material before '79.
[Edited 2/28/09 21:09pm]

I am one of those fans that dug thriller a lot more than off the wall.
In fact thriller is where he really grabbed my attention for his work
outside of the jackson 5/ jacksons. Off the wall was good but thriller was
helluva good.

phunkdaddy said:

I guess for me OTW was very organic whereas Thriller was more OUT THERE, you know. Thriller was very in-your-face compared to Off the Wall.

I am demanding that you go back and listen to "I Can't Help It" and "It's The Falling In Love" over and over and over and over These songs are magical!!

dilwithers said:

times infinity

SoulAlive said:

those 2 (plus Girlfriend) are the ones that keep me from completely loving this album. too "AM gold" for me.

errant said:

take Girlfriend out of the sequence and replace it with Sunset Driver and let me know if it's any better

bboy87 said:

I don't think "Sunset Driver" fits in Off The Wall. Even as a replacement, it doesn't flow with the rest of the album. It's an excellent song, but the music and his style of vocals in that track are more suiting for Triumph or even Thriller to me.

WaterInYourBath said:

I'm thinking it's either an Triumph outtake or a Thriller outtake myself from hearing the music. It differs from the sound heard on OTW.

bboy87 said:

that may or may not make things more pleasant, but since that's not the album is released, then how does that help make "Off The Wall" better a better album?

errant said:

Create a mix tape I'm guessing is what bboy is trying to say. I know I would.

Timmy84 said:

yeah, I do that all the time, but it's kind of a moot point when we're talking about the enjoyment of what actually exists

errant said:

True.

errant said:

Do it like this:

1.Don't Stop Til You Get Enough
2.Rock With You
3.Workin' Day And Night
4.Get On The Floor
5.Off The Wall (7' Single Mix)
6.Sunset Driver
7.She's Out Of My Life
8.I Can't Help It
9.It's The Falling In Love
10.Burn This Disco Out

bboy87 said:

that doesn't really solve the problem of I Can't Help It and It's The Falling In Love sucking

errant said:

slaps errant across the face for being wrong


[Edited 3/1/09 0:56am]

bboy87 said:

bboy87 said:

yeah. I can´t help it is one of MJ greatest tunes!

dag said:

AM Gold

badujunkie said:

i agree. when i heard "street walker" i was like

that track is a million times better but i guess it also
shows the heart of the "problem" as to why a lot of cuts
were left off the album in the end because street walker
sounds too much like the way you make me feel.

still, there must have been SOMETHING amongst those 60
tunes that would have topped speed demon



and they made that cheesy video for it too with the big
rabbit.

oh great, now i'm thinking about the donny darko rabbit again

Timmy84 said:

No, I guess people who think so are the once who only love Dangerous and HIStory stuff.
I was in let's say three different MJ-forums, but most of the fans seemed to be young men or even teenies who think the ultimate MJ would be the 2 Bad/Tabloid Junkie kinda MJ. They have little respect for Off The Wall.
It's only in the org where a lot of people can appreciate OTW.