My vote goes to Triumph. I think I prefer it over Off The Wall as well

Can You Feel It to me is more epic than even Don't Stop Till You Get Enough. And This Place Hotel (aka Heartbreak Hotel) is probably one of the most intense pieces Michael ever wrote.

Destiny has the better artwork, and is a more consistent album too but in my opinion never matches Triumph's highest points

[Edited 11/20/17 0:58am]

There isn't a bad song on Triumph. I think it's a really underrated album, although I do remember seeing the "Can You Feel It" video all over the place. "Time Waits For No One" is a perfect ballad. Then you have great stuff like "Heartbreak Hotel", "Lovely One", "Walk Right Now", "Everybody".

Randy did a lot of writing on that record with MJ, too. I'm surprised his career as a solo artist never took off.

TrivialPursuit said:

Randy did a lot of writing on that record with MJ, too. I'm surprised his career as a solo artist never took off.

Probably because his record was New Jack Swing and came out in the NJS era. New Jack was all over the radio especially on R&B radio, so it was just another record. Randy's album also came out around the same time as The Jacksons 2300 Jackson Street album and it got some airplay and Randy did co-lead on the hit Nothin'. Might have cancelled out radio stations playing Randy although they did play Jermaine's Don't Take It Personal. But that song wasn't NJS, more a Surface style Quiet Storm ballad.

Triumph.

To be honest,I really only like a few songs on Triumph: "Walk Right Now" and "Lovely One".The other songs are just 'OK' to me.

On the other hand,I love everything on Destiny...."Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)" is the Jacksons signature jam....their funkiest jam!

Destiny is a WAY better album...its not even close...after "Can You Feel It", "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Lovely One", Triumph is forgettable...

[Edited 11/20/17 14:11pm]

SoulAlive said:

On the other hand,I love everything on Destiny...."Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)" is the Jacksons signature jam....their funkiest jam!

That piano hook and bass line... infectious!

Destiny is a perfect album start to finish. Triumph was great but couldn't top it though the strongest tracks were phenomenal; and also the perfect blend of destiny and off the wall's sound. I really think the 80's trends with new wave/synths and later on NJS overpowered the rawness of the jacksons and the music got lost in there though there were a lot of hit and miss moments since with the rest of the family musically.

FACT!

MJ's Best Tour/Vocals/"New" Moves, ect = 1981!

Triumph because every song is a masterpiece and belongs, it has no filler. I also love the early 80s more synthesised sound, whereas Destiny is mored in mid 70s boogie down disco type stuff.

.

The biggest highlights on Triumph are Walk Right Now and Heartbreak Hotel (This place hotel), they are just off the hook, but Lovely One, Time waits for no one and Can you feel it. The last is overplayed but you know it is a great song. It is also good they finally got rid of those afros which were a decade old by 1979.

Destiny is the better album, the lyrics are just awesome and mature. Here is where we can see for the very fist time the genius Michael was. The best for me are the ballads specially Destiny, Bless His Soul and That's What You Get the prophetic trio.

Triumph is great if not a little overproduced.

MD431Madcat said:

MickyDolenz said:

I saw (2) dates on the tour.

**no words**

purple05 said:

MD431Madcat said:

FACT!

MJ's Best Tour/Vocals/"New" Moves, ect = 1981!

They need to release some concert footage. He was in rare form

MD431Madcat said:

I want to hear the outtakes. There must be some. That Girl, Slipped Away, Why Can't I Be, etc.

August 18, 1981 - New York City Madison Square Garden

August 19, 1981 - New York City Madison Square Garden

purple05 said:

MD431Madcat said:

I saw (2) dates on the tour.

**no words**

I'm soooo jealous. Which 2 dates did you see?

AlexdeParis said:

If I have to pick, I guess I’ll go with Destiny over Triumph by just a hair. Both are great albums. But please, people, stop calling that song anything other than “Heartbreak Hotel.” No ridiculous nonsensical name with or without parentheses, just “Heartbreak Hotel.”

And yet I only put it in parenthisis so no one would say "It's called This place hotel". I agree with you the song is Heartbreak Hotel though.

.

Like Michael said, You can't win and Thats what you get for being polite

Love this live album from Triumph Tour.The last Jacksons / solo MJ tour with real brass instruments.

I want it on vinyl but the iTunes digital remaster is quite good and will do for now.

They need to release this tour on DVD. They have quality footage of it somewhere. I remember seeing some footage on Number Ones documentary from 2003

LightOfArt said:

Love this live album from Triumph Tour.The last Jacksons / solo MJ tour with real brass instruments.

I want it on vinyl but the iTunes digital remaster is quite good and will do for now.

They need to release this tour on DVD. They have quality footage of it somewhere. I remember seeing some footage on Number Ones documentary from 2003

Being a poor kid, I remember thinking $9.99 was so expensive for a record, but I wanted it so bad. I eventually purchased it. I only hated that they sped up some of the songs in concert ("Don't Stop" etc). MJ does that a lot. It's an old trick that seems dated now. But I love the album.

TrivialPursuit said:

Being a poor kid, I remember thinking $9.99 was so expensive for a record, but I wanted it so bad. I eventually purchased it. I only hated that they sped up some of the songs in concert ("Don't Stop" etc). MJ does that a lot. It's an old trick that seems dated now. But I love the album.

Oh that's true he did that for everything pre-Thriller. I do like fast Rock With You on Bad Tour though. He kept the album tempo for most of his post Thriller material. At least they werent noticable to my ears

As for the name change for Heartbreak Hotel; I think he didnt want it to be compared to the Elvis song. I have this interview disc from early 90s and the woman asked her if Elvis was the inspiration for the song. He dismissed it by pretending he didnt hear it and went on chatting about something else

LightOfArt said:

He dismissed it by pretending he didnt hear it and went on chatting about something else

That's weird since Jermaine said in an interview that they listened to Elvis and country music back in Gary Indiana, because their mother is a country fan. Jermaine said they met Elvis one time in Las Vegas. There's also this video.

MickyDolenz said:

That's weird since Jermaine said in an interview that they listened to Elvis and country music back in Gary Indiana, because their mother is a country fan. Jermaine said they met Elvis one time in Las Vegas. There's also this video.

First time I'm seeing this. What's the occasion?

Then again this song is first released by Ray Price.

He probably likes Elvis. He married his daughter. Though I remember him referring to Chuck Berry as "The Real" King Of Rock N Roll