Quote:
Originally Posted by Mankycaaant
My opinion is that both Frank Ocean and JT are stronger artists. They understand the music better; know when to let it breathe, have incredibly versatile vocal ranges and I know this may seem shallow given the technological advancements since the days of Inversions but the production is so much smoother, well rounded and layered.
There's no doubt MJ and Wonder were great 'singers' but as artists I find them to be rather one dimensional compared with JT and Frank who have better and more diverse ranges and aren't prone to the filler that Stevie and MJ put on some of their albums because they lacked the depth to keep up the standard throughout.
Besides just because an album is 20/30 years older than another, doesn't make it better. Hence the nostalgia comment I made.
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How old or new an album really has nothing to do with it:
Thriller and
Off The Wall are incredible albums from both a production and engineering standpoint: that the songs aren't half-bad either is merely icing on the cake. Lets be honest here too: your preference for Ocean and JT has nothing to do with the quality of the music itself (because that's a subjective observation to begin with), and whilst I can agree with you that the majority of MJ's post-Thriller output lacks punch, any musician out there would give an arm, a leg and even a kidney to cut even ONE album in their life half as good as MJ's classic output.
I'm arguing in favor of merit and context here. You need to take into consideration that MJ had the help of gods like drummer
Jeff Porcaro and
Quincy Jones to get the best out of his material, and neither Ocean or JT are working with anyone as good as pros like them. The whole "80's" sound aside,
Thriller would have been a monstrous record in any decade just from the lineup alone: its almost as if it were destined to be an album that superseded its own potential on the commercial front....and its a feat nobody will be able to replicate for centuries at this rate. It is the world's first and only example that an album could be interesting, progressive and intricately crafted and still smash the Beatles catalogue to smithereens on the sales front in mere
weeks.