loooool
― ornate orchestral arrangements (DJP), Tuesday, 28 February 2017 20:36 (seven years ago) link
#1 and #2 really the truly acceptable choices for those slots.
― insidious assymetrical weapons (Eric H.), Tuesday, 28 February 2017 20:38 (seven years ago) link
nice choices from Off the Wall, and Leave Me Alone is a sentimental fav cos the tune goes through my head whenever I'm aggravated.
sad at the lack of "Another Part of Me" tho. but maybe we didn't all love CAptain EO
― waht, I am true black metal worrior (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 28 February 2017 23:45 (seven years ago) link
I will argue until the day that I die that "The Way You Make Me Feel" is his most underrated single (followed very closely by "Who Is It")
― ornate orchestral arrangements (DJP), Wednesday, 1 March 2017 14:50 (seven years ago) link
I remember me and my brother making one of those silly joke recordings where you record interviews and use fragments of song recordings to answer questions, and using "Who Is It?" as one of the samples for someone answering the door.
it's also a killer song.
Dangerous as a whole I always remembered as this forgettable album and it's true it doesn't quite have the hooks of previous Jackson, but it's a serious classic. "Why You Wanna Trip On Me" goes hard. some of the hip-hoppy shit around the nu-jack swing makes it sound dated (well, as does the new-jack swing itself), but idk, New Jack Swing is always welcome nostalgia for me.
"Heal the World" can get fucked tho.
― waht, I am true black metal worrior (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 1 March 2017 14:57 (seven years ago) link
I blame "Heal the World" for making ppl's eyes roll so hard that they couldn't really get on board with Earth Song (which I almost typoed as "Earth Dong")
― ornate orchestral arrangements (DJP), Wednesday, 1 March 2017 14:59 (seven years ago) link
Dangerous >>> Bad
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 1 March 2017 15:00 (seven years ago) link
xxpostsah, when "Bad" was released, as a fanboy of MJ since "Thriller", I was kinda disappointed. the only song I found good enough was "TWYMMF".It's definitely one of the best songs post "Thriller".
― AlXTC from Paris, Wednesday, 1 March 2017 15:03 (seven years ago) link
"Earth Song" is sooooooooooooooooooooo much better than Heal the World.
his ballads were often hit and miss - "She's Out of My Life" is classic, as is "You Are Not Alone", "Human Nature", "Man in the Mirror" (does that count?), but the stuff like "Heal the World" or "Lady in My Life", "The Girl is Mine" is so *screeching halt*
― waht, I am true black metal worrior (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 1 March 2017 15:18 (seven years ago) link
"Lady in My Life " is great !!
― AlXTC from Paris, Wednesday, 1 March 2017 15:32 (seven years ago) link
I miss Alex in NYC.
MJ has always been a talented dud—no more, no less. The fact that critical institutions have canonized him in the wake of poptimism's Orwellian victory is a blight upon the musical landscape.
― pomenitul, Wednesday, 1 March 2017 16:47 (seven years ago) link
Hi
― waht, I am true black metal worrior (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 1 March 2017 16:48 (seven years ago) link
Oh hey.
― pomenitul, Wednesday, 1 March 2017 16:50 (seven years ago) link
pomenitul otm
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 1 March 2017 16:52 (seven years ago) link
wait Neanderthal is Alex in NYC?!? how was I unaware of this
Lol i am not
― waht, I am true black metal worrior (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 1 March 2017 16:53 (seven years ago) link
I couldnt fill those shoes if i wanted to
haha ok nm
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 1 March 2017 16:55 (seven years ago) link
gr8 b8 m8, as they say.
― pomenitul, Wednesday, 1 March 2017 16:58 (seven years ago) link
usually professionals will notify your relativs after you've been Baker Acted.
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 1 March 2017 17:00 (seven years ago) link
Omg
― waht, I am true black metal worrior (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 1 March 2017 17:02 (seven years ago) link
Seriously, though, I never got into the Killing Joke but I always enjoyed Alex in NYC's curmudgeonly contributions. At least he tried to uphold some basic standards, which is an infinitely more interesting approach than the "it's all subjective anyway except when it gets political in which case Anglo-American pop music rulez all lol" circlejerk that so much of musical discourse has devolved into in the past, say, 15 years.
― pomenitul, Wednesday, 1 March 2017 17:03 (seven years ago) link
From 2001:
For the music: Dud of course. Sorry gotta go with Alex here. Never liked him, but thanks to the zillion times you still hear the music everywhere it all becomes utterly meaningless.
For the social, aesthetic, philosophical, satirical implications of the Man, the Myth: classic.
― Omar, Tuesday, April 24, 2001 8:00 PM (fifteen years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Now here's a position I can actually respect, because it does what so few are still capable of nowadays: it dissociates the celebrity from his music.
― pomenitul, Wednesday, 1 March 2017 17:07 (seven years ago) link
The impression you are currently giving off is that you only respect opinions you agree with.
― ornate orchestral arrangements (DJP), Wednesday, 1 March 2017 17:08 (seven years ago) link
― pomenitul,
You are talking an awful lot of shit for someone who hasn't read what people have written about his music.
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 1 March 2017 17:09 (seven years ago) link
Liking MJ, much like liking Beyoncé, is no longer an 'opinion' in 2017. It's a requirement.
― pomenitul, Wednesday, 1 March 2017 17:10 (seven years ago) link
show us your draft card
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 1 March 2017 17:10 (seven years ago) link
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, March 1, 2017 12:09 PM (forty seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
There are better ways to waste one's time.
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, March 1, 2017 12:10 PM (twelve seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
First off, I'm not American. Second off, assuming you're at all serious, thank you for exemplifying the attitude I'm denouncing here.
― pomenitul, Wednesday, 1 March 2017 17:12 (seven years ago) link
well, you step into a thread annoucing with the clarity of the addled that MJ is a talented dud and imply that admirers are bedazzled by his celebrity – I'm sorry your feet are hurt from getting stepped on
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 1 March 2017 17:14 (seven years ago) link
I quite like it when others prove my point, so please, no need to apologize.
― pomenitul, Wednesday, 1 March 2017 17:16 (seven years ago) link
this is like watching a tetherball match where one dude wraps the ball around the pole every time and the other guy curiously insists he's the winner
― waht, I am true black metal worrior (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 1 March 2017 17:18 (seven years ago) link
paedophile
― F♯ A♯ (∞), Wednesday, 1 March 2017 17:21 (seven years ago) link
I would think my opinions about MJ are well known around here but if not... he's got some good tunes up through Off the Wall, p much everything after that I have no interest in. I'm not impressed/engaged by his singing style, tics or mannerisms, the lyrical subject matter, the melodies, the production or really anything at all, and so much of it is over-exposed to the point that I actively never want to hear it again. Like Star Wars, over the course of my lifetime my reaction has progressed from infatuation to active loathing, due in no small part to the religious fervor surrounding his celebrity and the constant drumbeat of "YOU MUST LIKE THIS" from all corners. But setting that circus aside and focusing on the material itself, imo his discography is middling - some early on highs (ABC, I Want You Back, Dancing Machine, I Want to Rock With You, etc.) followed by a preponderance of ridiculous, silly and depressing lows, and it's maybe telling that the majority of stuff I do like all predates his assuming full control of his music; the quality of the input from collaborators like the Motown machine and Quincy Jones is undeniable, I have no reservations about attributing a lot of the things I like in MJ's music to people other than MJ. Generally I don't find his singing engaging, esp not as he got older and it primarily alternated between scat-exclamatory-nonsense and his paper-thin tenor. Post-QJ I don't care for his taste in drum and synth sounds at all, everything way too thin and glossy. And most of the time I don't care at all what he's singing about, about his trials and tribulations as a tortured man-boy fantasist just dgaf.
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 1 March 2017 17:39 (seven years ago) link
Οὖτις otm
― pomenitul, Wednesday, 1 March 2017 17:59 (seven years ago) link
http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/tt349/esmeralda84_2009/Gif%20Bad%20Video/25iais6.gif
― salthigh, Wednesday, 1 March 2017 18:12 (seven years ago) link
probably mentioned upthread but John Jeremiah Sullivan's MJ essay is greathttp://www.gq.com/story/michael-jackson-john-jeremiah-sullivan-tribute
― niels, Saturday, 11 March 2017 20:07 (seven years ago) link
Ok, for one thing
The fact that critical institutions have canonized him in the wake of poptimism's Orwellian victory
Lol no. Off the Wall and Thriller, at least, have been in the canon since well before I started reading music criticism in the mid-90s.
― Futuristic Bow Wow (thewufs), Saturday, 11 March 2017 21:25 (seven years ago) link
Of course taste and all but I guess someone who doesn't find any joy and pleasure in anything he did, at least, from "I want you back" to "lady in my Life" simply doesn't enjoy the same things in music as I do.
― AlXTC from Paris, Saturday, 11 March 2017 21:32 (seven years ago) link
nobody has to like anything obv but the idea that anybody who likes...you know...music recorded in recording studios that isn't Estrus/In the Red style live-to-tape stuff...wouldn't find Thriller absolutely breathtaking strictly from an engineering standpoint...is pretty weird
it's a lot like Steely Dan or Fleetwood Mac. you ain't gotta like it, but if that doesn't sound amazing to you, I'm a little curious about your aesthetic priorities, because from a mixing standpoint alone, Thriller is a total masterpiece. the chord walkdown after the chorus of "Human Nature," sure that's fucking breathtaking and there's a reason jazz acts started covering it immediately as soon as the album hit the streets, but who knows, maybe Quincy Jones at the peak of his game isn't your thing. but the production on Thriller? gtfo w/any take other than "of course that's great"
― though the tempest rages, (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Sunday, 12 March 2017 02:25 (seven years ago) link
love the demo recording of "Human Nature" by Steve Porcaro. imagining Quincy Jones listening to it for the first time and getting the lightbulb over his head.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWdy5i_44sQ
― example (crüt), Sunday, 12 March 2017 02:29 (seven years ago) link
the walkdown with the alternating major and minor 7ths is missing from the porcaro demo, which is kind of shocking, because for me & for people I've talked to about it that's the hallelujah moment, just so lush
― though the tempest rages, (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Sunday, 12 March 2017 02:53 (seven years ago) link
Quincy Jones' whole crew were fusion guys, not just Toto but Louis Johnson, Ndugu Chancler, Greg Philliganes. That's one reason why Thriller plays like the pure-pop realization of Earth Wind & Fire's late 70s run. I doubt Maurice White ever got $800,000 and 10 months of studio time to make a record. He didn't have Bruce Swedien, either.
― Futuristic Bow Wow (thewufs), Sunday, 12 March 2017 04:00 (seven years ago) link
That's not to take away anything from those great EWF records or suggest they're anything less than fully realized, btw.
― Futuristic Bow Wow (thewufs), Sunday, 12 March 2017 04:01 (seven years ago) link
oh yeah but I totally hear you. EWF is one of my favorite bands of all time and their records are perfect, but Bruce Swedien breathes rare air. His work with Rufus, some of the best-sounding music anywhere ever. put that guy on an EWF record and something magic would happen, I don't doubt.
― though the tempest rages, (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Sunday, 12 March 2017 04:05 (seven years ago) link
Whatever Mr. I-Hate-The-Beach-Boys. I could say the same thing to you about Pet Sounds. We just prefer different emotionally crippled manchild schticks.
― Οὖτις, Sunday, 12 March 2017 05:09 (seven years ago) link
I am a massive fan of both the Beach Boys and Michael Jackson, for whatever it's worth.
― Futuristic Bow Wow (thewufs), Sunday, 12 March 2017 05:49 (seven years ago) link
And I don't begrudge anyone for their personal revulsion towards MJ given what we know or have reason to suspect about the man. But I also don't think it has fuck-all to do with the music itself. Lyrics are another matter, probably.
― Futuristic Bow Wow (thewufs), Sunday, 12 March 2017 05:55 (seven years ago) link
some people dont like slick music, big deal. beach boys / pet sounds is total Estrus style in-the-red production, come on now
― a but (brimstead), Sunday, 12 March 2017 19:56 (seven years ago) link
e just prefer different...schticks
I think I've explained several times that there's something timbrally going on in the BB harmonies that has always, since childhood, made me feel physically ill, so no, this isn't about giving a fuck about any "narratives." it's just about sound. (I also don't like the songs the Beach Boys write, lyrically or musically, so I struggle to listen to the production afforded to the songs I don't like, lyrics I don't like, and the weird dog's-ear thing that happens when they do the soaring-sliding thing and I always feel like I'm going to vomit)
― though the tempest rages, (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Tuesday, 14 March 2017 03:56 (seven years ago) link