[Gil Schwartzman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jilgiljongiljing /img/forum/go_quote.gif 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

If I ever own a turntable or SACD player, I will have Thriller and Off the Wall for sure! The others, probably not.

 

[Gil Schwartzman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by drew8mc /img/forum/go_quote.gif 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.

I have actually wanted to get my hands on a copy of the Frank Sinatra stuff he did... just to hear how its sounds.

 

[infinitesymphony]

I remember being really young (6? 7?) and seeing the CD version of Bad sitting in the rack of my library's bookmobile. I thought the guy on the front looked cool, really different-looking. My family had just bought our first CD player, since they had finally gone down in price (and I begged 'em for it).

I checked out the album, and then kept checking it out for weeks... I listened to that thing non-stop. Michael Jackson and Sting were the two artists who got me interested in music. Years later, I found out that part of the reason I loved these artists and others was due to the high production quality. The sound quality of Michael Jackson's recordings is super-clean, as mentioned. Sort of similar to Steely Dan in that way, especially Thriller, which was mixed relatively dry (with tasteful reverb, unlike most early '80s albums).

So yes, I wish MJ would have aged more gracefully, but I think a lot of the music sounds great. The lyrical content is a little emotionally underdeveloped, but that makes complete sense once you understand his background.

Plus, who honestly doesn't love his videos? C'mon, you can't say you didn't like "Smooth Criminal" the first time you saw the whole troupe of dancers lean allllll the way over. Or, the knife fight in "Beat It," or the genuinely creepy horror in "Thriller."

 

[saint.panda]

Dangerous was my first CD when I came to Europe as a kid. The music felt so strange and exciting at that time, I'll never forget it. Michael was the greatest.

 

[Gil Schwartzman]

I am bumping this thread... for two reasons. Reason one, in case anyone missed it before

. Seriously, even if you don't like Michael, you owe it to yourself to listen just for the beautiful recordings.

The other reason, for a story... because who doens't like a good story. It more or less proves the point I tried to make in the original thread. I recently came across a nice CDP, and have put a lot more focus into my CD collection. As such, I wanted new copies of these albums. Needless to say, as a youngster, I did not take that good of care of my CDs. Well, I picked up Thriller in an online order, and for some reason did not pick up Off the Wall. So, I happened to be at work, and what do you know, we have three copies. I never even noticed that we ever had them, and they were in a rather inconspicuous spot. I was not even looking for them, or for any music for that matter. But, when I saw it, I was like what the hell, I have to buy it. But, then came that thought, what are my co-workers going to thing of me buying this. I know I shouldn't care, but part of me does. It was that whole embarrassed to like it feeling, because I know people were going to judge. But, I of course was not going to let that stop me. So, I took it up to the checkouts... long lines... forget that. I went up to the service desk, where there was the front end team leader, Heather, talking to the assets protection lead, Craig. So, I asked Heather if she could ring me up. Craig looks at what I have and says "Not if your buying that." Now, I know he was kidding, but that is exactly what I meant. The whole judging what it is because it is Michael Jackson. I then wondered to myself, has he even heard it. Now, I have no idea what sort of music he listens to, to know if he would like it, but damnit don't bash it till you try it!

So... that's it. Would I buy another? Sure, and I plan to if I ever see Bad sitting on a shelf, just so I have it. However, will I still feel weird buying it? Yep.

On a side note, the special edition stuff on these is cool. I enjoyed the interviews with Quincy Jones. I love his voice

 

[mwallace573]

After reading this thread I "acquired" a copy of Thriller, and went away impressed. I plan to get a real copy (and maybe a few others) when I get paid again. I do feel a little weird just going to my local Best Buy and grabbing a copy though. Don't know why. May have something to do with the stigma that his name has developed over the last few years. I do remember at the same BB they had a new DVD with all his music videos playing at the center of the store, and it have a fairly substantial crowd watching it. I guess after all that happened, he still has a fairly solid fan base, or maybe the music has just stood up to the test of time.

 

[Gil Schwartzman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mwallace573 /img/forum/go_quote.gif After reading this thread I "acquired" a copy of Thriller, and went away impressed. I plan to get a real copy (and maybe a few others) when I get paid again. I do feel a little weird just going to my local Best Buy and grabbing a copy though. Don't know why. May have something to do with the stigma that his name has developed over the last few years. I do remember at the same BB they had a new DVD with all his music videos playing at the center of the store, and it have a fairly substantial crowd watching it. I guess after all that happened, he still has a fairly solid fan base, or maybe the music has just stood up the test of time.

His music I think has stood the test of time, but his image very much so has not. There lies the problem. People see you picking up an album made my Michael Jackson 30 years ago, and think you are a fan of the creepy pedophile, half dead looking Michael Jackson you see today. Unless they are a fan themself, they don't really think in the mentality that he was a whole different person back when he was in his prime.

 

[Cousin Patty]

I'm a huge metal head at heart and even I love MJ's music... Bad and Thriller kick ass.

 

[CareyB]

Thriller was the first record I ever bought and I still like it. Billie Jean could be my all time favourite song.

 

[Gil Schwartzman]

Heh, so I did it today. I was in Best Buy to buy Super Troopers, and decided I would see if they had Bad. They did, and as expected, I felt a little weird buying it. But, the lady at the checkout looked to be older, so I figured maybe she would understand. Just my luck though, the hot girl at the service desk pulled me out of line to check out with her. She didn't say anything about the album, but I know what she was thinking

Sounds great though

 

[raif]

Oh my god, every single post in this thread coincides with what I have been going through lately. Heard billie jean while I was in guatemala, totally forgot how much I used to love the guy. Couple of things:

First, which are better, the old masters or the new remastered ones? I have a copy of Bad I got used(more on that later) and also the Number Ones disc. comparing the tracks I felt the Number Ones tracks were mastered way too hot. I am not sure if they are from the remasters. If so, I would say get the originals, with a good system, they are breathtaking.

Ok about Quincy Jones, he would be the first to tell you that all the genius was Michael, he was "just" the producer. I saw an interview where Quincy said that Jackson would come in to the studio with a little tape recorder where he had sang all the parts(i.e. instruments and vocals) and quincy would transcribe it for a studio musician to play.

In regards to Bad, I never cared for it originally and honestly, how do you follow the greatest selling lp of all time. However, I have been listening to it lately, and its a great album. With my new singlepower->denon setup, it is a aural feast of 80s pop confection. I am a little embarrassed to admit that I have listened to Man in the Mirror(my previously least favorite MJ hit) nearly ten times in the past couple of days.

 

[Icarium]

I always disliked Michael Jackson even when I was really young, but it was mostly because of his image (Crotch-grabbing dancing... this had 0 to do with turning white or child molesting I was like 5-8), and the music really had no sway on me. But what can I say? I was young.

After I started appreciating more types of music I have Thriller, the uber album, another shot... and my verdict? Some tracks are okay, but I wasn't really blown away. Then again I am not really a big pop guy and if I like anything its voiced by female vocalists... so my opinion is worthless!

 

[uraflit]

tis a shame MJ had to go down in such bad light...

i still remember being obsessed with his moonwalking. i even imitated it!

i wasn't as good though

 

[Gil Schwartzman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by raif /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh my god, every single post in this thread coincides with what I have been going through lately. Heard billie jean while I was in guatemala, totally forgot how much I used to love the guy. Couple of things: First, which are better, the old masters or the new remastered ones? I have a copy of Bad I got used(more on that later) and also the Number Ones disc. comparing the tracks I felt the Number Ones tracks were mastered way too hot. I am not sure if they are from the remasters. If so, I would say get the originals, with a good system, they are breathtaking. Ok about Quincy Jones, he would be the first to tell you that all the genius was Michael, he was "just" the producer. I saw an interview where Quincy said that Jackson would come in to the studio with a little tape recorder where he had sang all the parts(i.e. instruments and vocals) and quincy would transcribe it for a studio musician to play. In regards to Bad, I never cared for it originally and honestly, how do you follow the greatest selling lp of all time. However, I have been listening to it lately, and its a great album. With my new singlepower->denon setup, it is a aural feast of 80s pop confection. I am a little embarrassed to admit that I have listened to Man in the Mirror(my previously least favorite MJ hit) nearly ten times in the past couple of days.

I don't have the Number Ones ablum, but I do have Thriller, Bad, and Off the Wall in both the new Special Edition CD's and the original CD's, and I don't notice a difference between them. Are the special editions the remasters, or is the remaster simply referring to the CD mastering from vinyl? And speaking of, I really need to get a vinyl rig for these

As far as listening to a song 10 times in a few days embarrassing you... I have probably listened to Thriller 10 times this week (7-day week, not since yesterday), as well as Bad twice already since I got it this afternoon, and I think I snuck a listen or two of Off the Wall in also. I am enjoying it more than I ever would have imagined. To bad it took this long to rediscover it, eh?

 

[raif]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gil Schwartzman /img/forum/go_quote.gif Are the special editions the remasters, or is the remaster simply referring to the CD mastering from vinyl?

The special editions are the remasters.

so you really can't hear a difference? When I play the number ones vs the original track. The number ones disc is a lot louder and is a lot more "digital" sounding.(i.e. harsh, sharp edged, etc)