Well that was my point earlier. This was not like his "underground disco/R&B album" as BATMON seemed to be implying. It was a huge pop hit.
Despite its commercial success, Jackson felt Off the Wall should have made a much bigger impact, and was determined to exceed expectations with his next release.[29][28] In particular, Jackson was angry that he had won only a single Grammy Award at the 1980 Grammys, a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough".[30] Jackson stated that "It was totally unfair that it didn't get Record of the Year and it can never happen again".[31]
This reminds me of the ongoing discussion my man David and I used to have regarding Curtis v. Superfly: Off The Wall/Superfly is the more consistent--arguably the better--album of the two, but the best songs on Thriller/Curtis are better than anything on the other one. I am in 2012 for the most part not really playing an MJ album front to back, so I'd have to say Thriller.
Also, Thriller, for all its spottiness, has more of the weird, masterful, hard-edged shit that was clearly at the core of adult Michael. I mean, he's still Michael, so you can still hear him first and foremost trying to please people, trying to entertain, but there's kind of a creeping "fuck you" underneath it, too, an eccentric disregard that I hear as the beginning of a certain resentment of his audience. I think that "fuck you" is a big part of what makes MJ compelling, and Thriller was the only record where he got the balance just right: the records before it get a little too eager to please, and the records after it get a little too bitter. So, yeah--Thriller for me.
This reminds me of the ongoing discussion my man David and I used to have regarding Curtis v. Superfly: Off The Wall/Superfly is the more consistent--arguably the better--album of the two, but the best songs on Thriller/Curtis are better than anything on the other one. I am in 2012 for the most part not really playing an MJ album front to back, so I'd have to say Thriller.
Also, Thriller, for all its spottiness, has more of the weird, masterful, hard-edged shit that was clearly at the core of adult Michael. I mean, he's still Michael, so you can still hear him first and foremost trying to please people, trying to entertain, but there's kind of a creeping "fuck you" underneath it, too, an eccentric disregard that I hear as the beginning of a certain resentment of his audience. I think that "fuck you" is a big part of what makes MJ compelling, and Thriller was the only record where he got the balance just right: the records before it get a little too eager to please, and the records after it get a little too bitter. So, yeah--Thriller for me.
OTW had a more fuck it party feel. There was no enemy. Dude was at the party with folks next to him.
Thriller was MJ on some paranoia fuck the word shit. Private partyin' w/ "Goop Hair It Is".
The "creepy" i got from the OTW title track. Scary laffs in the beginning.
A ladyfriend and I would discuss the "Goth-Funk" of the Jacksons family. From Boogie Man to Torture.
Joe Jackson beat them enough to instill a "its gonna get me" behavior.......drunk theories.
Do you think him being a Jenova's Witless (sic) or whatever contributed to his, and his dad's, mental states? [Demons, heebil spirits, whiteys being made from dust* etc.]
Do you think him being a Jenova's Witless (sic) or whatever contributed to his, and his dad's, mental states? [Demons, heebil spirits, whiteys being made from dust* etc.]
Do you think him being a Jenova's Witless (sic) or whatever contributed to his, and his dad's, mental states? [Demons, heebil spirits, whiteys being made from dust* etc.]
It can't help, can it?
*Actually the whiteys might be another thing.
You know, I never really get that gospel feeling from MJ, that "they're gonna get me"-type dread that batmon alludes to, I just get anger. And not a righteous, Pentacostal anger, either--just a bratty, paranoid lashing-out. It's irreligious in a way that's pretty rare for black performers of his stature.
I think that's one of the things that his massive 80s-and-later pop audience has always responded to, however unconsciously: The way he propelled a decidedly black and grown sound with a deciedly white and juvenile aggression and paranoia. When he wrestled with the dark shit, it wasn't in any kind of churchy, blues-based way; dude wasn't running from "demons," he was running from, like, zombies and werewolves and other Saturday-matinee shit. When he worked out his aggression, it wasn't through...shit, i don't know...graffiti or a switchblade or whatever would have signified Urban Expression Of Rage in 1980s America, it was through busting up junked cars with a pipe--nihilistic teenage punk droog shit, you know?
I'm inclined to think that whatever warped mental states come through in his records have less to do with any religious background (his or his family's) than with the specific inner brew of ego, heedlessness, and frustration that resulted from his being greatly talented, phenomenally successful, and yet still remaining until the end of his life essentially a "kept man," artistically speaking.
"THE ALBUM – The importance of Michael Jackson’s Off The Wall cannot be overstated." But Spike Lee will attempt to overstate it in this new documentary!
"Partial list of interviews: Lee Daniels; The Weeknd; Pharrell Williams;
Misty Copeland, Kobe Bryant; Mark Ronson; John Legend; Questlove;
Katherine Jackson; Joe Jackson, Marlon Jackson, Jackie Jackie L.A. Reid
and more."
"THE ALBUM – The importance of Michael Jackson’s Off The Wall cannot be overstated." But Spike Lee will attempt to overstate it in this new documentary!
"Partial list of interviews: Lee Daniels; The Weeknd; Pharrell Williams;
Misty Copeland, Kobe Bryant; Mark Ronson; John Legend; Questlove;
Katherine Jackson; Joe Jackson, Marlon Jackson, Jackie Jackie L.A. Reid
and more."
No Sting?
Im sick of these dudes...Mos Def woulda been signed on ten years ago.
Lee Daniels????????
Private Garden interviews.......
Leon Sylvers The Seawind Horns Ndugu Chandler Tatum O'Neal Gamble & Huff Patti Austin Randy Jackson Debbie Allen Carol Bayer Sager
Rod Temperton & Quincy Jones had thorough audio interviews on the last re-master. So I don't know if they would be adding anything new if they were included.
The line up of 11 "and more" interviewees is terrible. Most of them were not involved in the music industry at the time. One of them is a basketball player. What is he going to say about Thriller that a random 35yo off the street wouldn't say?
There are 3 family members, who might have something to say. 3, assuming that Joe Jackson refers to Michael's father.
Comments
Juneau it.
This reminds me of the ongoing discussion my man David and I used to have regarding Curtis v. Superfly: Off The Wall/Superfly is the more consistent--arguably the better--album of the two, but the best songs on Thriller/Curtis are better than anything on the other one. I am in 2012 for the most part not really playing an MJ album front to back, so I'd have to say Thriller.
Also, Thriller, for all its spottiness, has more of the weird, masterful, hard-edged shit that was clearly at the core of adult Michael. I mean, he's still Michael, so you can still hear him first and foremost trying to please people, trying to entertain, but there's kind of a creeping "fuck you" underneath it, too, an eccentric disregard that I hear as the beginning of a certain resentment of his audience. I think that "fuck you" is a big part of what makes MJ compelling, and Thriller was the only record where he got the balance just right: the records before it get a little too eager to please, and the records after it get a little too bitter. So, yeah--Thriller for me.
OTW had a more fuck it party feel. There was no enemy. Dude was at the party with folks next to him.
Thriller was MJ on some paranoia fuck the word shit. Private partyin' w/ "Goop Hair It Is".
The "creepy" i got from the OTW title track. Scary laffs in the beginning.
A ladyfriend and I would discuss the "Goth-Funk" of the Jacksons family. From Boogie Man to Torture.
Joe Jackson beat them enough to instill a "its gonna get me" behavior.......drunk theories.
It can't help, can it?
*Actually the whiteys might be another thing.
I dont know but were they Witnesses in Indiana.
I think that's one of the things that his massive 80s-and-later pop audience has always responded to, however unconsciously: The way he propelled a decidedly black and grown sound with a deciedly white and juvenile aggression and paranoia. When he wrestled with the dark shit, it wasn't in any kind of churchy, blues-based way; dude wasn't running from "demons," he was running from, like, zombies and werewolves and other Saturday-matinee shit. When he worked out his aggression, it wasn't through...shit, i don't know...graffiti or a switchblade or whatever would have signified Urban Expression Of Rage in 1980s America, it was through busting up junked cars with a pipe--nihilistic teenage punk droog shit, you know?
I'm inclined to think that whatever warped mental states come through in his records have less to do with any religious background (his or his family's) than with the specific inner brew of ego, heedlessness, and frustration that resulted from his being greatly talented, phenomenally successful, and yet still remaining until the end of his life essentially a "kept man," artistically speaking.
But Spike Lee will attempt to overstate it in this new documentary!
"Partial list of interviews: Lee Daniels; The Weeknd; Pharrell Williams; Misty Copeland, Kobe Bryant; Mark Ronson; John Legend; Questlove; Katherine Jackson; Joe Jackson, Marlon Jackson, Jackie Jackie L.A. Reid and more."
No Sting?
I understand the relentless drive to sell the catalogue to the yoots, though.
Lee Daniels????????
Private Garden interviews.......
Leon Sylvers
The Seawind Horns
Ndugu Chandler
Tatum O'Neal
Gamble & Huff
Patti Austin
Randy Jackson
Debbie Allen
Carol Bayer Sager
Rod Temperton & Quincy Jones had thorough audio interviews on the last re-master. So I don't know if they would be adding anything new if they were included.
I'm hoping for cultural/musical impact vs "we used to play this all the time" talk.
Most of them were not involved in the music industry at the time.
One of them is a basketball player. What is he going to say about Thriller that a random 35yo off the street wouldn't say?
There are 3 family members, who might have something to say. 3, assuming that Joe Jackson refers to Michael's father.
Catch it if u can......it comes as a dvd or bluray w/ the CD.
The spike Lee one? Yes... it's crazy good. You can also find it on demand on Showtime.