On a more positive note.
How would you rank MJ's albums?
Out of a scale from 1 to 5.
Off the Wall - *****
Easly Jackson's most consistant album, I don't really like She's Out of My Life but other than that it's perfect. Louis Johnson's basslines are so great and funky. This album has more great hooks than most artists could hope to achieve with 20. It's that damn good.
Thriller - *****
Aside from Girl is Mine I don't think there's any filler. Wanna Be Startin' Something, PYT, Human Nature and Baby Be Mine are just as great as the hits. Shucks, I even like the closing ballad Lady in My Life.
Bad - ****1/2
It's flawed but I don't think the gap between it and Thriller is THAT great. I think the title track, Smooth Criminal and Another Part of Me are just as strong as anything off of Thriller. Dirty Diana and Speed Demon are quite the guilty pleasures, I like Just Good Friends and Way You Make Me Feel as well, Man in the Mirror is just ok. There is some lame filler of course. Liberian Girl, I Just Can't Stop Loving You and Leave Me Alone.
Dangerous - ****
I'd rate it higher if it weren't for the bloated sap like Heal the World and Gone Too Soon. Still very underrated. The best tracks are the ones that have quite a hip hop vibe to them. Jam, Remember the Time, Can't Let Her Get Away, Who Is It? and Why You Wanna Trip on Me.
Those are great funky pop tunes.
HIStory - **
This is where Jackson's ego REALLY started to affect his music. Sure he's written some sappy ballads and crappy "socially aware" songs before, but never a whole freaking album of them.
It's hard to pick the worst moment, the super pretentious ego trip that is Earth Song, the awful adult contempory ballad You Are Not Alone, a dubious cover of Come Together or the incredibly creepy Childhood.
It's all a clear sign of a man who was not in good metal health. Could it get any worse? Oh yeah, Shaquile O'Neal raps on one of the songs. So yes it can.
On the redeeming side, Stranger in Moscow is a nice ballad, and Scream is alright even though it sounds like leftover material from Dangerous and is hardly memorable.
Don't care to listen to Invincible.
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