<*dv_3*>Michael Jackson - child molesting wierdo or King of Pop?
The jury has been out on Jackson(and should reconvene middle of January in California...but that's another story) since about 1987 when he last released something worthy of the self-agrandising title.
<*dv_0*> Since his Bad heyday Jacko has been dogged by a never ending avalanche of media tittle-tattle: chimps, hyperbaric chambers, bankruptcy, Liz Taylor, dodgy marriages, facial surgery, child abuse, messianic complexes and disgruntled employees all of which have detracted from his undoubted musical legacy.
<*dv_5*> Off the Wall was his first solo venture away from the constraints of the Jackson 5 and with veteran producer Quincy Jones at the helm what you get is the classiest record of the era packed with a vibrancy and freshness that has not diminished in subsequent years. The sonic template created here was quite a departure from the motownesque material he had been performing with the Jackson 5 and subsequently he won a Grammy for Best R&B performance. The album spawned 4 top 10 hits and established Jacko as an innovator and muscial pioneer.
<*dv_1*> From the first track, the firecracking Don't Stop Till You Get Enough until the energetic Burn This Disco Out you are instantly transported to a multi-coloured dancefloor glitterball haze were the manifesto is to get up and get down. Horny horns and silky string arrangements provide the rhythm and Jacko's syncopated style suits some of the finest pop melodies ensuring listeners practice their falsetto as well as crotch-grabbing. Owwwww shamone!
It's not all glittery tank tops though. There are a few slower numbers and Michael Jackson ballads, let's be fair, are an acquired taste. Over the years Jacko has acquired a reputation for overbearing sentimentality as those who have heard Heal the World would no doubt testify.
For the ballads here, Jacko gets a little help from his friend Paul McCartney. The schmatlzy but touching She's Out of My Life (Jacko cracks up at the end) and Girlfriend (about as twee a Jackson-McCartney composition as you could find save the awful The Girl is Mine). Fortuneately in subsequent years Jacko would buy out the Beatles catalogue and they would never work together again. Be thankful for small mercies Macca.
<*dv_2*> If Jacko goes down tempo he would do no better then to follow Rock With You. Written by Rod Temperton, (the influential singer from Heatwave wrote Thriller and a number of later album tracks) it is a sultry slice of pop which shows that even synths have soul. This was a time when Jacko had sex appeal by the truck load. It could be argued that if Jacko released this song now it's impact would be drastically diminished.
He cranks it back up with Get On The Floor and Working Day and Night and you can just picture a young man with the world as his oyster. Fame, fortune and world domination beckoned but Jacko would never again sound as happy to be alive.
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