I DON'T KNOW IF OFF THE WALL IS HIS BEST RECORD BUT IT'S SURE ENOUGH UP THERE...

IMO, in terms of muscianship OTW ranks the highest. Any record with the likes of Louis Johnson, Greg Philliganes, Wah Wah Watson, Jerry Hey, Quincy, etc. at their best is bound to be delicious.

Everything from 'Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough' - arguably the greatest disco track of all time - to 'Burn This Disco Out' is a bonafide gem. Even 'Girlfriend' sits alright with me in a certain frame of mind.

And of course, Thriller is Thriller.

It's a close call. OTW, Thriller, and even Dangerous are of the highest standard.

mistermaxxx said:

Mmmhmm

Actualy I 4got 2 mention that she already made an Ella Fitzgerald's tribute LP (new shit 2002) called "For Ella" which is a very tight LP. I have it Manki its a very well produced and it includes un4getable songs from the jazz legend. Check this audio samples:

http://www.cduniverse.com...=137010477

The tracklist list:
1. Too Close For Comfort
2. Honeysuckle Rose
3. You'll Have To Swing It (Mr. Paganini)
4. Our Love Is Here To Stay
5. Tisket, A Tasket, A
6. Miss Otis Regrets
7. Hard Hearted Hannah (The Vamp Of Savannah)
8. But Not For Me
9. Satin Doll
10. Man I Love, The
11. Hearing Ella Sing
12. How High The Moon

She did a very GREAT jop covering Ella. Betta than Chaka I think!

Harlepolis said:

Patti Austin is One of the Most Underrated Vocalists in the Game Ever IMHO.She can Sing Yellow Pages backwards&Forward.

Yes, definitly his best album. I remember causing a "firestorm" once with a group of people because I said "Off the Wall" was better than Thriller. I'm glad I'm not alone.

i wonder - why is it that most of you dislike the 'bad' album. y'all seem to pick either 'off the wall', 'thriller' or 'dangerous' as his best. but this album contains some great tunes and took mike even higher than 'thriller'. take these for example:

- the way you make me feel: a truly colorful tune. and one of the few party songs on mike's albums.
- speed demon: the bridge alone is enough for me. man, mike hitting those high notes like that. damn.
- another part of me: this is a funky tune. especially the way they performed it live on the bad tour; sped up with ricky lawson on drums and greg's solo at the end.
- man in the mirror: just a beautiful wake-up-and-smell-the-coffee song. much better than let's say 'heal the world'.
- dirty diana: i didn't know mike could write a rocksong like that and deliver it the way he did. truly bad. i think prince really loves this one. those screams near the end are killers.
- smooth criminal: this must be mike's most remembered groove aside from 'billie jean'. killer tune. good little storyline. very dramatic. especially accompanied with the video and it's old feel. and ofcourse, it was the moment he gave us his most impressive illusion after the 'moonwalk', the 'lean'..
- leave me alone: well, last but not least, a song that sounds fresh and loose, but deals with a subject mike would sing to death on his later albums: the press. very funky tune.

what is it that makes you like one of mike's other albums more than this one? the only thing i can think of is that it sounds a bit cold as a whole in comparison to 'off the wall'. or is it something else. tell me..

As some others have said here, for me it is a tie between Off The Wall and Dangerous.

Off the Wall - period

purpleone said:

Bad is not a bad album at all. It is his most dated sounding album though, in my opinion. It doesn't have as much of a feel-good vibe as his other albums (except for "The Way You Make Me Feel", one of my favourites).

Dangerous is my favorite. With History second, and Off the Wall third.

As for Bad, I love it of course, but there's just not as much variety in the music contained on that album as there is on his other albums, and that brings it down a bit for me. I feel History is truly underrated. But Dangerous will always be my favorite.

jtgillia said:

HIStory Disc two is five excellent singles to me and little else. I don't even listen to much of the rest.

purpleone said:

THEREIN LIES YOUR ANSWER.

Firstly, let me state that 'Bad' is a record I regard fondly. Regarding it's froid nature, I would suggest it sounds that way because it was the first MJ album recorded extensively with a drum machine and associated programmed effects.

There's a very smooth and surgically precise quality to the record that was lacking in earlier recordings such as OTW and Thriller.

purpleone said:

I think the Sound&His Vocals on Some Tracks felt not fully on Point to Me.there is some Great Stuff there&whatnot but it didn't Hit Me Hard&also I think the Pressure of trying to hard to SOund Current which He was trying to do&also the "Thriller" Pressure around His Musical Neck had to have tugged at Him.

I like Off The Wall - I can't really dislike anything MJ's done, as long as it has his voice, it's at least decent, yanno?

But, do I think it's his best album? No.

I love Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough, Workin' Day and Night, Get On The Floor and I Can't Help It. I like She's Out of My Life and Rock With You. I'm indifferent towards Off The Wall and I rather shoot myself than listen to Girlfriend, It's The Fallin' In Love and Burn This Disco Out.

My favorite album is Dangerous, maybe it's a generational thing, but it's the music that sculpted my young life (just as Off The Wall sculpted the young lives of many in their 30s right now..) Who Is It is perfection to me. The Teddy Riley tracks sound just as fresh now as they did 10+ years ago. The only song I would have liked to see omitted was Gone Too Soon, which was ...err, well intentioned, but really quite trite.

HIStory is underrated, IMO, too. Lyrically, it's got some of Jackson's most intense material. Bad was a fun album and I prefer it to Thriller (which actually comes in last on my MJ-fav list ).

As of late, I think it's been the cool thing to do recently - to discredit any work MJ did post Off The Wall - as if to say that he isn't anything without Quincy, when he's obviously a force to be reckoned with unto himself. Do I think MJ possesses the lyrical depth of Prince? No, but take a peek at songs like Morphine (off of the overlooked Blood On The Dance Floor remix album) and a lot of people would be pleasantly surprised ... MJ wrote that? Word?

I don't know where I'm going with this, so I'll end it now by saying this: MJ's entire collection of music is well worth buying (Invincible included, it's got some classic stuff on there) - there WAS life after Quincy.
[This message was edited Sat Feb 8 22:14:19 PST 2003 by Pepina]

Pepina said:

well, the song 'morphine' doesn't really do anything for me, except for the bridge; that's beauty right there. i think 'they don't care about us' is perfection, musically and lyrically. just like 'stranger in moscow'. and 'money' is a great song, especially because of its lyrics. come to think of it, there are some great songs on 'history'; lyrically probably one of his best.

Pepina said:

Thanks very much for your informed opinion on MJ, Pepina! Since I posted this thread, I've done just that - bought his whole back catalogue and I am beginning to think you are right, I LOVE "Off the Wall", but "Dangerous" was MY generations' album, too and I have been rediscovering it in the last two days. Hell, I even bought 3 MJ DVDs (History 1 & 2 and Dangerous videos) today at a reduced price (I got the albums all reduced, too). So I'm laughin'! (as we say here in OZ).

Thanks again for your opinion. I'm beginning to agree with you, now.

Why is MJ naming his kids Prince?

Wow,I can't believe that so many of you consider 'Dangerous' to be his best work.I like that album,but come on...do you REALLY think it's better than 'Off The Wall' or 'Thriller'??

DavidEye said:

Why would anyone on here claim Dangerous better than Thriller or OTW if they didn't "really" think that?

4nowneway said:

His Grandfather was called Prince.

Pepina said:

YOU'D RATHER SHOOT YOURSELF...

Than listen to 'It's The Falling Love' and 'Burn This Disco Out'? Pepina, are you well??!

OK, joking aside, your write-up was pretty much on the mark. HIStory is largely underrated and lyrically is his most adept and meaningful record. Invincible features better music but I find the lyrics extremely fluffy at times.

papaa said

LOL.

I wish I was smoking right now, but for whatever reason as soon as the "It's the fallin' in love, that's making me high.."

*skip*

It's so dreadfully bland to me. Michael sounds great, so does Patti, but I detest the song. As for "Burn This Disco Out"...maybe I just have an aversion the word disco. Forgive me, I'm very young..

I agree with your assesments of HIStory and Invincible, although I think the actual music on HIStory is underrated, as well. The rhythm arrangement in They Don't Care About Us alone is enough to get me off, heh.

Mrdespues - I'm glad your enjoying MJ's catalogue, believe me, you won't tire of it anytime soon!

DavidEye said:

while I don't think it can Match "Off The Wall" overall for Depth it easily has more Balance for me than "Thriller".I think "Thriller" has Some Killer Songs but I think "Dangerous" has a Fuller Album Feel IMHO."Thriller" is a Great Album but "Dangerous" IMHO Matches it overall for a Fuller vibe.