[Gil Schwartzman]

I find it with great interest that I am to be posting this at all. I have a long history with Mr. Jackon. When I was young, very young (like, 10), I was into Michael Jackson, and was ridiculed quite a bit for it. But, one day it sort of hit me, that I did not like Michael Jackson at all, I was more or less just listening to it because my grandmother practically worshiped the man, and she thought it was cool, so I thought it was cool (I had the coolest grandma ever). Well, as time went on, I came to really sort of hate Michael Jackson. I thought his music was terrible, and well, the man himself... I don't really need to say much there.

Well, just recently, I had sort of an apifiny. I happened to hear Billie Jean, and it really got my toe tapping. So, I dug up all my old albums, several years untouched. First, I popped in Thriller, I wanted to see how Billie Jean sounded on the almighty Grado's. Well, it was absolutely beautiful. It is an amazingly recorded track, and I enjoyed the heck out of it. Since then, I have been listening to it non-stop. I am practically addicted. I have gone back and listened to them all. And I have developed the opinion that when Michael Jackson went white, was simply the end. Off the Wall and Thriller are both great albums. Bad and Dangerous are, for the lack of a better word, crap.

I have been listening to the heck out of the other two though, and I love them. The interesting thing is though, I am almost embarrassed to say this. One reason being that I was simply raised for the last 10 years that Michael Jackson is terrible, not to mention remembering how many people told me how bad he was back when I listened to it. That, and I look at who he is now, and am pretty well disgusted. He looks weird, acts weird, and well... he's just a crazy wacko dude. When I say I enjoy Michael Jackson, people are going to associate him with who is now, not what he was.

Does anyone else share in this sentiment? Any other fans of Michael who don't want to admit it? Any that scream it loud and proud?

Oh, and just to throw it out there, anyone who has not been, check out Billie Jean. It is my new reference track, simply because it is recorded so incredibly well, and sounds great on anything I can throw at it.

 

[tjohnusa]

In a parallel I grew up in the 70's and was a staunch progressive rock fan. I worked in a disco bar as a bouncer and hated the music. Flash forward to now and I find alot of that disco era music awesome. The recording quality of Earth Wind & Fire is amazing. It's not the same as the OP's experience but I guess what I'm trying to say is you can always go back to music from your past and re-discover it...but I refuse to listen to Afternoon Delight be the Starland Vocal Band!

 

[uraflit]

i was like you.

i was, and still am, a michael jackson fan. (that rhymed!)

i basically like his songs from the first CD of HIStory and maybe a select others... but yea, it's a shame he had to turn out as a pedophilic freak of nature.

NOTE: i use Billie Jean and Beat It as reference tracks o.O

 

[sant430]

hehehe, this thread prompted me to put some MJ into the iMod to hear him for the first time again. Everything I'm hearing is really REALLY clean! I'm hearing instruments within 'Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'' that I wasn't even AWARE were there!

Although I also believe Thriller was the last of the best, I found some gems in Bad, but from then on it just seemed all downhill.

 

[recstar24]

Off the Wall is a fantastic record with great sound quality. Did you know Jacko is a huge obsessive audiophile, and has tons of tube gear and some of the highest most estoric studio gear as well. Off the Wall was recorded and mastered with tube gear, it has a nice analog sound to it.

"...gotta keep your 9-5 up on the shelf...and just enjoy yourself...all night

"

 

[Gil Schwartzman]

I've given Bad a few shots now, and I just can't get into it like the others. I think it might be the fact that the first line in the album is "Your butt is mine."

. It sounds good, but I just don't like some of the songs. Definitely not as good as the others, but I may be able to get into it. I gave Dangerous another shot also, and well... I just plain don't like any of that.

 

[Gil Schwartzman]

Also, I suppose, I would be quite curious to hear the LP's of these albums. After all, that is their original format. I bet they would sound pretty damn good.

 

[sant430]

that's funny, you mentioning Bad, cuz I"m listening to Speed Demon as I type this. I always wondered who played the bass and how could they pluck so damn fast until I was told that it's not a bass being used at all......

You are very right about Bad and Dangerous tho'. Their sound is just so different from Thriller and Off the Wall.

I guess he has a new one coming out supposedly this year. If it does come out, I'm sure I'll buy it, but my expectations won't be very high.

 

[Gil Schwartzman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sant430 /img/forum/go_quote.gif that's funny, you mentioning Bad, cuz I"m listening to Speed Demon as I type this. I always wondered who played the bass and how could they pluck so damn fast until I was told that it's not a bass being used at all...... You are very right about Bad and Dangerous tho'. Their sound is just so different from Thriller and Off the Wall. I guess he has a new one coming out supposedly this year. If it does come out, I'm sure I'll buy it, but my expectations won't be very high.

I to am listening to Speed Demon at this very moment, but so far, it is my least favorite track on this album.

 

[electrathecat]

The production value and recording quality of MJ's albums are simply astonishing, and the music itself is timeless. And it's not just the hits. Even guilty pleasures like Dirty Diana and Smooth Criminal can be used as reference tracks. Truly a shame that Jacko is so wacko.

 

[Uncle Erik]

"Off The Wall" and "Thriller" are great albums. Too bad his legacy is ruined... I always expected Michael to end up with his own theater in a Vegas casino, doing a few shows a week. A shame it didn't turn out that way.

I've been thinking about picking up the "Thriller" SACD. Should go well with the autographed Gary Glitter album I have.

Yep. He did a signing at Music Millennium in Portland, Oregon, and I happened to be there. This was before anyone knew of his overseas "adventures."

 

[markl]

I also like his music (not the man) quite a bit. Strangely, I wasn't into him at all at the time, only came around much much later. I actually like Bad, I think quality started to dip a bit on Dangerous and everything after that. True audiophile grade recordings, too. The SACD for Thriller is one of my references when auditioning new equipment.

 

[jcn3]

yes, "off the wall" and "thriller" are classics -- i still enjoy them.

i also enjoy the jacksons "live" -- released originally back in '81 on vinyl. maybe it's because i went and saw the show live in '80 before the record was released.

 

[drew8mc]

The genius of early Michael is only partly do to Michael. The other part is Quincy Jones. Off the Wall, Thriller, and Bad are all his work. He's gifted with the ability to craft amazing melodies with head bobbing bass lines. You can see what happened as time went on and Quincy had less influence.

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

I loved MJ when I was a kid, I had all his albums on tape, I used to perform to his songs at high school. I lost interest after high school though. But there were a few glory years, Thriller being my absolute favourite album. This was way back when I didnt even know what rock music was. Then after I started obsessing with the guitar solo in "Give in to me" I was told that its not actually that great and there are other artists with songs which are cooler. Enter Rock and metal, have never looked back after that.

But I have always loved the sound quality of billie jean and it has been a long standing wish to buy all of his albums in either a high res format or the original analog format.

Oh well, maybe I'll just buy all the cd's for now