Off The Wall (Epic ‘79) Rating: B+
Forever distancing himself from his big brothers and shedding his kiddie persona, Michael Jackson delivered this assured and enjoyable album, which set the stage for his unprecedented commercial success soon to follow. The album immediately peaks with “Don’t Stop To You Get Enough,” which shows off Jackson and producer Quincy Jones' strengths: silky smooth strings, horns put in just the right places, Nile Rodgers-styled rhythm guitar, a beat that all but begs you to get up and dance, and Michael's falsetto vocals add up to a smashing success despite the fact that the song sounds a wee bit dated today. The other classic singles here are “Rock With You” and the title track, both of which are almost as good, in part because of the undeniably adult sexiness that Jackson exudes (this was before the words "Michael Jackson" and "sexy" became mutually exclusive). None of the other songs can match the hits, but high energy tracks such as “Working Day And Night,” and "Burn This Disco Out" attempt to match “Don’t Stop To You Get Enough” (neither comes close, but both get points for trying), while "Get On The Floor" is smoothly sexy dance pop along the lines of "Rock With You." Where Jackson gets into trouble is on the ballads or when he gets too poppy, but on "She's Out Of My Life" Michael delivers an obviously heartfelt and affecting vocal (is that song a tearjerker or what?), "It's The Falling In Love" is catchy and singable, and his covers of Paul McCartney's "Girlfriend" and Stevie Wonder's "I Can't Help It" aren't bad; they just don't do all that much for me. Truth is, take away the three stellar singles and what you have here is simply a solid dance pop album that hasn't aged as well as I had hoped, though Jones' ultra-professional production and Jackson's charismatic performances are always at least mildly enjoyable. Thankfully, the annoying vocal ticks and production gimmicks that would mar later albums are kept in check here, and Off The Wall was an accomplshed effort overall from a emerging artist who would soon be crowned “The King Of Pop.”
Thriller (Epic ‘82) Rating: A-
Jumpstarted by the success of Off The Wall and a mind blowing, showstopping performance on national television during Motown’s 25th Anniversary Special, Thriller became a phenomenon, and to this day it's still the best selling non-greatest hits album of all time. What made Thriller such a runaway success was its massive hit singles. For starters, “Wanna Be Starting Something” was an upbeat dance track to rival “Don’t Stop To You Get Enough” (its mindless “mama say . . .” lyrics became a much repeated catchphrase), while “Thriller” is a lightweight but fun pop song that became legendary in large part due to its groundbreaking video, a mini-movie with eye popping special effects. In truth, without the visuals the song isn't nearly as impressive (for example, the Vincent Price cameo sounds hopelessly hokey), and even the video seems considerably less earth shattering today. Of course, this was back when Michael was young and good looking (not to mention before he became white and his creepy habit of getting too close to children came to the fore), so people were able to take him seriously in the role of a leading man. Anyway, “Beat It” was a heavy hitting rock song that still used dance beats. Of course, it had another classic video, but this one is impressive on the radio too, as Michael manages a tough, gritty vocal and the song is boosted by a knockout Eddie Van Halen guitar solo. Rounding out the singles that have inarguably achieved classic status, “Billie Jean” is probably Jackson's signature song: its notable features are its adult lyrics (“but the kid is not my son”), dramatic delivery, and Chic guitar solo. Needless to say this song formed the basis of another unforgettable video that showcased Jackson’s spectacular dance routines. In addition to the great singles, the album tracks here are better than on Off The Wall, as "Human Nature" is a gorgeous dance ballad, while "Baby Be Mine" and "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" are upbeat, melodic pop songs. Unfortunately, the Paul McCartney duet "The Girl Is Mine" and "The Lady In My Life" are basically bland adult contemporary ballads, and these songs are the primary reasons why Thriller doesn't quite live up to its legendary reputation. After all, take away the album's cultural significance, which came about primarily because of Jackson's imaginative videos (even the best of these songs are expertly crafted but hardly revolutionary), then what you have is simply a really good pop album that's fun to sing and dance along to. Of course, like Off The Wall the album sounds very much of it's time (i.e. it sometimes sounds dated), but for all its flaws there's a reason why with this album Jackson hit a peak of popularity (without sacrificing his art, it should be noted) that has yet to be duplicated, by him or anyone else. Note: Jackson became the first black artist to achieve such mass popularity, and he was also the first black artist to be showcased on MTV, though considering the crap that channel has delivered over the years I'm not quite sure if that's a good thing.
Bad (Epic ‘87) Rating: B
Facing the impossibly daunting task of following up the biggest selling pop album of all time, Michael Jackson took his sweet time before delivering Bad, on which he shouldered a larger burden of the songwriting duties by writing 9 of its eleven songs. Despite a plethora of hit singles (“Bad,” “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Man In The Mirror,” “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Dirty Diana,” and "Smooth Criminal"), Bad is somewhat disappointing. That said, part of the albums negative critical reception at the time of its release was because Jackson’s unparalleled popularity was held against him, as many people felt that with his immense popularity and pull he should’ve approached more socially relevant subjects. The closest he comes to showing a social conscience is when singing “Man In The Mirror,” a catchy pop song (which he didn't write!) that preaches self-improvement and is a built in answer to those critics. Elsewhere, Michael sticks to personal topics he feels more comfortable with, though the sappy sentiments of love songs such as “Liberian Girl” and “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” contrasts with the misogynist "Dirty Diana," a moody techno-metal excursion that could've used a little less fake crowd noise and a little more Eddie Van Halen. Truth is, none of the singles here really excite me like "Beat It" (insert joke here) or "Don't Stop 'Till You Get Enough" (as well as several others), and the album tracks here are even less impressive than the modest standards set on his past two albums. To quote the All Music Guide (egads!), "songs three through six, from "Speed Demon" to "Another Part of Me," (form) a sequence that's utterly faceless, lacking memorable hooks and melodies." Yet the biggest flaw of the album is that it's totally of its time (programmed synthesizers and cheesy backing chants are everywhere), meaning that it sounds even more dated than Off The Wall or Thriller. Sorry, but comparisons are inevitable, and Bad just doesn't stack up. Of course, considering his enormous talent, which few people have ever doubted, it's not surprising that Bad is far from a bad album. Sure, Michael’s over-reliance on vocal coos and hiccups starts to become intrusive on songs such as “The Way You Make Me Feel,” and paranoia is starting to sink in on "Leave Me Alone." Likewise, the hit title track was fun enough back then - but it sounds a little creepy now that we know just how “Bad” Michael really is (his imbecilic rantings against Tommy Mottola and the dangling of his infant son from a fourth floor balcony being but the most glaring recent examples). But I digress; after all, I'm a reviewer who takes pride in being able to distance my personal feelings about an artist from their music (which is why I can like bands like Oasis and Guns n' Roses), and whatever you think about Michael Jackson, this is still a highly professional dance pop album with quite a few catchy (albeit lightweight) tracks. It's certainly better than anything he's done since, as recent efforts merely mock Michael Jackson's “King Of Pop” moniker.
