ernestsewell said:

I'll see your



and raise you a [snipped - Anx.]

I'm not going hav a convo about michael with SOME ppl who are very uneducated on him and constanely talking out of their ass about him. LOCK THE THREAD. Besides there is a MJ sticky where you can post this. It is a little early right now to talking about this...Michael just died 2 weeks ago...there are still ppl pretty really upset about it. Just give some more time when you wanna talk bout this.



[Edited 7/11/09 18:28pm]

Why would anyone post a critical thought on the two MJ memorial love threads without being called a troll.

There surely has to be a place to post thoughts on MJ, other than the memorial stickies
[Edited 7/11/09 19:01pm]

violetblues said:

I have always LOVED micheal since i can remember. I can say that i am 23 years old and still connect to Michael Jackson and his music. But i am young at heart and childlike just like Michael. So i understand where he comes from.

Michael's music is great, and the only reason why anyone would be afraid to listen to it, or ashamed is if they care about what others think.
[Edited 7/11/09 19:12pm]

Being a Michael fan hasn’t been an easy journey. Over the last 30 years there were moments of sheer frustration with him, for the position he put himself in, for having to constantly defend him to people who wanted to believe nothing but tabloid stories. Even now people still want to diminish his impact on the world of music. We’ve seen it time and time again, people want to build you up and celebrate you only to then want to tear you down.
But for all the frustrations and ridicule being a Michael fan sometimes brought, the rewards far outweighed them.

For many people their favourite Michael is the Jackson 5 Michael, for other's its the emerging writer, producer of Destiny & Triumph, for more it was the skyrocketing music pop culture changing artist of Off the Wall and Thriller, for many new generation fans it was the chart topping hits of BAD and Dangerous that got them, for some it was the honesty and autobiographical nature of HiStory, and dare I say it for some it might be in the hidden gems of Invincible. And for some it is the total journey.

This is part of the wonder of Michael. For all of us there is our time with him. A rare gift in deed for any artist.

I bought my first Michael Jackson album when I was 7 years old.
It was Off The Wall and from there a soundtrack of my life began.
Michael’s music introduced me to a passion for music.
His music introduced me to so many different styles, and different artists.
His videos taught me how to dance.
His music taught me how to compose.
His vision taught me how to dream.
As I grew up Michael’s music was always there, like signposts for my memories.
I can remember the excitement of Thriller, when every kid was a fan and it seemed everyone had this album.
I remember travelling on a family holiday to the USA and hunting down a black BEAT IT jacket (they were all out of red) and getting a white glove and glittery socks.
I remember staying up to watch the premier of Thriller, and every subsequent video release that were more like events.
I remember being in awe of his performance when he toured Australia with BAD, and again a decade later with HiStory.
I can remember rushing to the record store every time there was a new release and feeling like that 7 year old again eager to hear what he was presenting us with now, whether it was the infectious grooves from Dangerous, the honesty and anger in HiStory, or the joy of Invincible.

As a life long fan I always felt Michael’s art was unfairly judged. No matter what he did or achieved there was always going to be a pre-Thriller and post-Thriller period. And his own artistry set the bar so high that there were many all too willing to write him off when 30 million copies of BAD was considered a flop, or when Invincible sold just a measly 10 million.

I think the success of Thriller was also part of his downfall. There was no way anyone could ever top it, yet the pressure was always there to. And pressure came from everywhere, form inside himself to do better, be better. From fans who wanted the OTW Michael, or the Thriller Michael, from critics who wanted to see him crash, and those who wanted to see him soar.

And with music that was just as visually iconic as it was sonically, people wanted to see the songs with the dance routines boxing Michael in even more to a time and a place and maybe even an image that perhaps was not truly of his making.

Although he was a perfectionist Michael wasn’t perfect. His humanity often got lost in the tabloid tales (both self created and outright fabricated) and the spectacle of his performance. Quite often the personality overtook the person.

Unfortunately in the final years Michael was in a LOSE/LOSE situation. If he did something new people would say "it's not the Mike of Thriller", if he did music like Thriller and OTW people would say "he's just rehashing, offering nothing new". If he did Billie Jean the classic way it would have been "seen it before" if he did it new it would be "where was the classic way".

His passing has been a surreal time for me. Not because of not wanting to face the reality of it but rather because I had always listened to his music. It was just surreal to suddenly hear his music being played again in cafes, in passing cars, on work colleagues computers. But it is comforting to know that if people are re/discovering his music and getting to appreciate his work then as a fan who am I to want to deny others the enjoyment his music has brought me?

I will miss seeing what was next for Michael. I will miss not being able to see him perform live in the This Is It tour. To see how he was going to present himself. The tickets will be my keepsake. I always hoped that the tour would put the focus back where it belonged, on the incredible music he created and the brilliant talent he was.

But as I look at the album charts, listen to tributes flood in from around the world, and hear his songs in the most unlikely places. I can’t help but smile and think that maybe the focus is finally back where it belongs - on the music that made him such a star in the first place.

Swa

IMO, Thriller was the best and worst thing that happened to MJ. After Thriller, MJ focused hard on topping that album. I remember being disappointed when I heard the "Bad" album in 1987. It was lacking the soul of his prior work with his brothers and solo efforts. I like about half of the songs on this album. Then he started chasing trends.

Mike = Overrated....

He had the talent, but no drive to put out product...How many recycled Thriller products can we buy?

Great singer, great dancer, but so are Justin Timberlake & Bobby Brown.

To paraphrase a well known true musical genious..."Pack the house, try to play, won't be no one left..." In other words, pick up a damn instrument!

PrettyMan72 said:

Every artist has their own Thriller. Prince had it with Purple Rain. Madonna had it with Like A Prayer. Bruce had Born In The USA. That's the quintessential album that is so far off the charts, and puts the artist so far in the stratosphere that everyone constantly compares other material to THAT. Yet when you line up every other album before and after that and look at them ALL with the same glasses, it's quite different.

When people criticize the media and their over the top coverage of MJ these last few weeks, last few decades as “unfair“, they are right, but it is nothing new with MJ, some of us are old enough to remember that this is the same way they behaved when they helped create MJ mania, its about ratings and circulation, no hard feeling, nothing more.
In the 80’s,the more they talked about MJ, the more copies of "People" sold, likewise the more copies of Thriller sold, its always been a two way street.

PrettyMan72 said:

Which songs did you like and dislike on the "Bad" album?

BoOTyLiCioUs said:

Exactly.

unique said:

Revolution said:

This is why "critical discussions" about Michael Jackson are never successful here.

Krytonite said:

I'll answer that too. I love every single song on BAD. The album has a great flow and rhythm to it. I even love "Streetwalker" and "Fly Away" from the outtakes on the Special Edition. "Streetwalker" was supposed to take the place of "Another Part Of Me", but Frank Dileo was shakin' his fat ass (according to Q. Jones), and that was the deal breaker to put it on the album, and leave "Streetwalker" off. Part of "Streetwalker" was in the Moonwalker movie I think.

BoOTyLiCioUs said:

i honestly think that if anyone is still upset over a dead person they don't know and have never met after two weeks, they have some real issues that need resolved in therapy. this is like another diana or jade moment, people getting more emotional over someone they don't know than a member of their own family. that's so wrong

and if what people say in the press and the internet about someone you don't know and haven't met bother you, that's another issue that needs to be addressed. this is not normal or natural

apparently 12 fans comitted suicide, if that's not a sign that his fans take things too far, then what is. it's no wonder his fans are regularly called loonies. is it an attempt to try and emulate the weirdness and denial of the man himself? you get some real hardcore prince fans, but very few would act like this, in fact some of the most hardcore fans i know simply don't believe in what he believes in, they simply love the art that's made. those who would be considered crazy aren't those that i would call the biggest fans, usually you find they are relatively new to following prince and get a bit caught up in drama instead of collecting the music and listening to it

Please use the MJ stickies to post