There are few entertainment moments in my life that really jump out at me. A few off the top of my head are when I saw Star Wars for the first time, saw Raiders of the Lost Ark on opening night, hearing Born to Run for the first time when I was in high school, and hearing "Rock With You" off of Michale Jackson's Off the Wall album.. Because this album changed pop music forever it is hard to remember what life was like before it, but in 1979 this was the most eye opening sound I had ever heard. If punk was killing disco, this album provided the final blow as it took parts of disco but constructed them around the song in a way which no one had don previously.
I really think this album should be lower on the Best of the 70's list than 64 but I have to remember that this album is being scored on a scale against all others not just albums from the 70's and that means it has to compete against Thriller and that is a fight Off the Wall is going to usually lose.
Personally I believe Off the Wall to be Michael Jackson's best work as well as his most influential work. There isn't a bad song on this album and you get everything from a song like "Rock With You" to a ballad like "She's Out of My Life." It established Michael Jackson as a fully formed singer and established Quincy Jones as one of the most brilliant producers in music history.
If you can only own one Michael Jackson album this is the one to buy, and like any great pop album it can be played anytime for any purpose.
Following the Rhapsody rating method I give it 4 out of 5 stars for Really Good.
On the terrific, much-maligned first U.S. season of CBS's Big Brother, the prize in one of the weekly contests was a CD player with headphones and any one CD the winner wanted. (This was a big deal because there was no outside media coming into the house.) Anyway, the woman who won the contest picked this Michael Jackson album, and she was so incredibly happy.
ReplyDeleteSo close to another 5-star review. Matthew, what separates this album from 5-star territory?
ReplyDeleteI love how healthy and happy he looks in this clip.
ReplyDeleteI think 5-star is very special territory, and though this album is really good, it doesn't have the emotional pull that I think a 5-star album has. Also as good as the songs are on this album they are not all as strong as the best stuff on the album. I think on a 5-star album you could pick any song off on any given day and think that's the best song on the album.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the 5-star explanation. I like your definition.
ReplyDeleteMe, too.
ReplyDeleteThis really was a great explanation of the 5-star criteria.
ReplyDelete