RJOrion said:

TrivialPursuit said:

I loved that, but I so dug "The Knowledge". The lower near-spoken verses, then the quick harmony on the chorus. The orgy of sounds, that bass. The video!!! It was too short in the mini-movie they did. I'll still always remember her doing the take over and over and over and over driving the production crew crazy. hahaha

There's an interesting move in the choreography where she takes her thumb and rubs it on the back of her other hand while saying "prejudice....NO". She looks at her thumb when she says "no". It was noted that the move is to say "No, this color doesn't rub off. This is who I am." It's such a quick move, but powerful. Unfortunately it's sorta hidden in the shadow. It's at the :53 mark.

[Edited 3/2/17 9:57am]

word...GREAT song... sick bass-line

When the ladies start coming out you know they were coming to SNATCH WIGS. They werent playing around with that chorography. TINA LANDON

paisleypark4 said:

RJOrion said:

word...GREAT song... sick bass-line

When the ladies start coming out you know they were coming to SNATCH WIGS. They werent playing around with that chorography. TINA LANDON

-

Totally agree about the wigs. I think this was pre-Tina Landon though. What was that new dude on the scene at the time name.....Anthony something?

Musicslave said:

paisleypark4 said:

When the ladies start coming out you know they were coming to SNATCH WIGS. They werent playing around with that chorography. TINA LANDON

-

Totally agree about the wigs. I think this was pre-Tina Landon though. What was that new dude on the scene at the time name.....Anthony something?

It wasn't Tina Landon. She didn't take over choreography until janet. though Tina had been dancing with Janet since "What Have You Done For Me Lately?" video.

It was an unknown, Anthony Thomas, who laid out all those sick moves for RN1814. He did a few award shows and movies after. He was the tall dude with the curlies hanging in his eyes.

Hudson said:

[tragic video snip]

I used to loooooooove "Alright" - damn fun video, and one of the best grooves ever!

Rhythm Nation is probably better than Thriller.

domainator2010 said:

I used to loooooooove "Alright" - damn fun video, and one of the best grooves ever!

The video is a trip. Very well done, too. But I hate the way she does it live. There's something high pitched synth cord or guitar lick that is used throughout and it's just ear-piercing. It's also a hard song to sing live, so her voice gets lost in the noise of the band sometimes (it's really evident on the Live In Hawaii video, but manageable on The Velvet Rope Tour video).

There's a rare mix of "Alright" that goes into a trippy almost-ambient mix in the latter half with birds chirping and shit. It's not what you'd expect to hear on a groove-heavy song like that. It might have been a UK only release.

Edit: it's the House Mix of "Alright" that I was thinking of, as I checked with a UK pal of mine who searched & searched for this. He says it's only available digitally in the 7" mix, and vinyl-only for the 12".

[Edited 3/3/17 14:25pm]

Dasein said:

Rhythm Nation is probably better than Thriller.

better than Thriller, or Bad...

janet. and Control, are also better than Thriller or Bad... no disrespect to Mike, but Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis were in their prime...track after track of excellence... all kinds of people were scoring smash hits off their grooves...

Wow Prince.org is celebrating real artistry for a change.

RJOrion said:

janet. and Control, are also better than Thriller or Bad... no disrespect to Mike, but Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis were in their prime...track after track of excellence... all kinds of people were scoring smash hits off their grooves...

Agreed.

The only album MJ has ever released that is musically more interesting to me than Control, 1814,
and janet is Off the Wall.

Dasein said:

RJOrion said:

janet. and Control, are also better than Thriller or Bad... no disrespect to Mike, but Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis were in their prime...track after track of excellence... all kinds of people were scoring smash hits off their grooves...

Agreed.

The only album MJ has ever released that is musically more interesting to me than Control, 1814,
and janet is Off the Wall.

yep... and on personal preference i would to make an argument for Dangerous being better than Thriller or Bad too, on the strength of all the Teddy Riley produced songs...although the songs he didnt produce (almost half the album), had some filler..

1. Off The Wall

2. Dangerous

3. Thriller

4. History

5. Bad

RJOrion said:

Dasein said:

Agreed.

The only album MJ has ever released that is musically more interesting to me than Control, 1814,
and janet is Off the Wall.

1. Off The Wall

2. Dangerous

3. Thriller

4. History

5. Bad

I think I agree with you.

Dasein said:

Janet Jackson's 'Rhythm Nation 1814' Revisited By Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis: Track-by-Track Review http://www.billboard.com/...-jam-terry

SoulAlive said:

Dasein said:

Rhythm Nation is probably better than Thriller.

let's not go overboard

They love trolling on this site.

Dasein said:

Rhythm Nation is probably better than Thriller.

On some level you're correct. However, these albums are more apples and oranges. They bookend the decade that will forever be one of the most progressive and scene-altering decades in music. There were three distinctive waves of music that happened in that decade.

Thriller, being released in December 1982, ruled in 1983/4. The songs being based in R&B had a pointed pop and radio appeal to them. They still had an old school edge to them though. I think the addition of stuff like "Baby Be Mine", "PYT", and "Billie Jean" (despite those being fantastic songs, don't get me wrong) kept one food in the old ways.

RN1814 threw everything out the window, and put a hairpin in a wall socket to see what it'd sound like on tape. Thriller was sipping Cognac in a Bentley, while RN1814 was pounding Tequila shots in a loft below 14th street.

All that neither diminishes or highlights the accomplishments of the other. They're just - different. MJ still glazed over social topics in his music, briefly stopping by to examine his own ever-changing reflection, while Janet got out in the streets and said "but look at THIS!" while pointing to homelessness, single mothers, education, gun violence, and more. MJ never did broach these topics as well as Janet did. So I suppose it's how you look at each album. What makes them great? Lyrics? Production? A groove? Apples and oranges, for me.

TrivialPursuit said:

Dasein said:

Rhythm Nation is probably better than Thriller.

On some level you're correct. However, these albums are more apples and oranges. They bookend the decade that will forever be one of the most progressive and scene-altering decades in music. There were three distinctive waves of music that happened in that decade.

Thriller, being released in December 1982, ruled in 1983/4. The songs being based in R&B had a pointed pop and radio appeal to them. They still had an old school edge to them though. I think the addition of stuff like "Baby Be Mine", "PYT", and "Billie Jean" (despite those being fantastic songs, don't get me wrong) kept one food in the old ways.

RN1814 threw everything out the window, and put a hairpin in a wall socket to see what it'd sound like on tape. Thriller was sipping Cognac in a Bentley, while RN1814 was pounding Tequila shots in a loft below 14th street.

All that neither diminishes or highlights the accomplishments of the other. They're just - different. MJ still glazed over social topics in his music, briefly stopping by to examine his own ever-changing reflection, while Janet got out in the streets and said "but look at THIS!" while pointing to homelessness, single mothers, education, gun violence, and more. MJ never did broach these topics as well as Janet did. So I suppose it's how you look at each album. What makes them great? Lyrics? Production? A groove? Apples and oranges, for me.

I enjoyed reading this thoughtful post; most people in the Org couldn't write thoughtfully if the
salvation of the world depended upon it.

But I don't think you did a convincing enough job in explaining why Thriller and 1814 aren't really
comparable. You do a good job of placing each album in its proper historical context, but that doesn't
mean I can't compare them with some facility as both are essentially pop albums from a brother and
sister working mostly within an R&B context.

Yet, you struck upon why I think 1814 is "better" album. Forget Jam & Lewis' productions being
more exciting than Jones' old school approach to studiocraft and arrangement. And I won't make
any appeal to music composition either. 1814 is a concept album with JJ making an attempt to
speak to her audience about pressing social issues at the time, and for me, this is what really makes
1814 a more interesting album than Thriller which is a grand artistic statement engendered by MJ's
desire to have the best selling album of all time. Not that this motivation is inherently inferior to
JJ's motivation to address social issues, but it's not as interesting to me.

SoulAlive said:

Dasein said:

Rhythm Nation is probably better than Thriller.

let's not go overboard

I don't mind going overboard; you see things from a different perspective.

SoulAlive said:

Dasein said:

Rhythm Nation is probably better than Thriller.

let's not go overboard

Undoubtedly,RN has some great songs but Thriller is one of those amazing,once-in-a-lifetime albums that (seemingly) everybody bought That album is damn near perfect.it's hard to explain,but there was nothing like Michaelmania/Thrillermania in 1983.There is a reason why it is the biggest selling album of all time.

SoulAlive said:

Undoubtedly,RN has some great songs but Thriller is one of those amazing,once-in-a-lifetime albums that (seemingly) everybody bought That album is damn near perfect.it's hard to explain,but there was nothing like Michaelmania/Thrillermania in 1983.There is a reason why it is the biggest selling album of all time.

There is no necessary relation between popularity and what is considered great. In other words:
Thriller is the greatest selling album of all time but that doesn't mean it's the greatest artistic
statement made via a pop record of all time as a result.

SoulAlive said:

SoulAlive said:

Undoubtedly,RN has some great songs but Thriller is one of those amazing,once-in-a-lifetime albums that (seemingly) everybody bought That album is damn near perfect.it's hard to explain,but there was nothing like Michaelmania/Thrillermania in 1983.There is a reason why it is the biggest selling album of all time.

I agree, and there was no reason to mention Thriller in a thread about Janet's RN.

mjscarousal said:

SoulAlive said:

Undoubtedly,RN has some great songs but Thriller is one of those amazing,once-in-a-lifetime albums that (seemingly) everybody bought That album is damn near perfect.it's hard to explain,but there was nothing like Michaelmania/Thrillermania in 1983.There is a reason why it is the biggest selling album of all time.

... there was no reason to mention Thriller in a thread about Janet's RN.

That's ridiculous.

Essentially you're arguing that we should only stick to one topic during a conversation without
there being any topical contours; but that's not how conversations take place, for the most part. If
you don't see the link between Thriller and 1814, ask us to explain it; but don't just necessarily de-
pict the insertion of Thriller into this conversation as trolling.

Provocative? Yes. Trolling? No.

Scorp said:

The greatest album by any female artist of any music genre since the time of its release 28 years ago....

and one of the greatest albums ever in the history of the arts

When Janet made this song "Living In a World They Didn't Make"....that let me know she meant business

The industry of today would not allow a song like this to be on the airwaves....they don't want that....they want chaos....

[Edited 3/1/17 20:34pm]

Such a great time to be alive.

How did I miss this video, I've never seen this one.
Thank you for posting this one...