This the first entry of a series highlighting my all-time favorite albums. My main motivation for this series is to explore what is essentially the soundtrack to my life, which is inclusive of a variety of musical genres and traditions.
It's only appropriate that I inaugurate this series with the greatest performer of all-time: Mr. Michael Jackson! Believe it or not, I prefer Off The Wall over Thriller; in fact, I would say that the former is a superior album to the latter! Imagine this context: you are the front-man of the biggest boy-band of the 70s and your music essentially bridged the gap between black and white audiences in the context of school integration during that decade. The group's first 4 singles made it to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 List - and despite all of this, you know that you can do better!
When Michael Jackson was constructing Off The Wall, I imagine that he had all of this raw, creative energy waiting to be released and really had a desire to show the world what he was truly capable of. What makes Off The Wall so great to me is its smoothness. In contrast to Michael's previous works with the Jackson 5 and later albums (including Thriller) which have more of a pop style, Off The Wall is a pure Disco/R&B/Soul record - it is black music personified. One of the main reasons Off The Wall is more soulful than other Michael Jackson works is due to the contributions of the Brothers Johnson and Stevie Wonder in addition to Quincy Jones.
It's interesting to note that although most expert reviews place Off The Wall on par with Thriller, it was Michael's second album that broke the color-barrier on MTV in the early 80s. I don't believe that mainstream America was exposed to Off The Wall (the entire album) in the same manner in which Thriller dominated the airwaves; however, black people were acutely attuned to Off The Wall, particularly the songs "Don't Stop til' You Get Enough" and "Rock with You." For black Americans, the album (especially the aforementioned songs) became part of the black music lexicon that consists of timeless songs - which is how I was learned about this album. I feel as though, the true test of how much one enjoys an album is whether or not that individual can listen it all the way through; I can listen to Off the Wall all the way through multiple times and that's why I love it!
0 comments:
Post a Comment