Michael Jackson

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Essential Albums

  • Bad
    Bad

    Bad may not have all the timeless prestige of its predecessor, Thriller, but it’s just as full of heart and purpose. Over rockier rhythms, Jackson sounds gleeful and impassioned, whether he’s making a profound humanitarian plea (“Man in the Mirror”), raging with lust (“Dirty Diana”) or narrating a suave play-by-play (“Smooth Criminal”). And when he’s slaying the dance floor, his voice is spine-tingling—his nuanced falsetto goes from subtle to ferocious in the space of a single line—once again proving that Jackson is pop's one true master of ceremony.

  • Thriller
    Thriller

    Although his 1979 multi-platinum breakthrough, Off the Wall, was already Michael Jackson’s fifth solo album—after his bro-band run with the Jackson 5 and then The Jacksons—it didn’t achieve the pop-crossover goals that the singer desperately wanted. So, in true all-conquering fashion, the future King of Pop set out to beat himself when Thriller was released on 30 November 1982. And with his trusted producer Quincy Jones back behind the boards, Jackson—just 24 years old—delivered his crowning achievement, one that even he would fail to top. Thriller held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Album charts for 37 nonconsecutive weeks, and spawned seven singles—all of them smashes, including the chart-toppers “Billie Jean” and “Beat It”. Thriller would then sweep the Grammys, and eventually become one of the best-selling albums of all time. Most crucially, it defined the modern pop blockbuster, creating a blueprint for everyone from Usher and Justin Timberlake to Beyoncé, and, yes, his own baby sis, Janet Jackson. From the Paul McCartney-blessed pop of the hit first single “The Girl is Mine” to the Eddie Van Halen-revved head-banging of “Beat It”, Jackson’s crossover moves opened up the eyes and ears of the industry—and audiences around the world—to what music could sound, look and feel like if we blurred those old colour lines. “Billie Jean” is a gripping psycho-study of the paranoia and persecution that the superstar was already feeling—yet it still maintains the mysterious allure of an artist who we never really got to know. Meanwhile, the album’s opening throwdown, “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” is Jackson at his fiercest and funkiest, picking up right where Off the Wall left off—and shoring up his R&B bona fides. Then there’s the title track, a spooky spectacular that’s impossible to separate from its iconic video—and that still thrills us every single Halloween.

  • Off the Wall
    Off the Wall

    No longer a precocious child star but not yet the King of Pop, Michael Jackson hooked up with producer Quincy Jones for this 1979 solo breakthrough—a disco-era masterpiece propelled by gleaming melodies, compulsive grooves and some of Jackson’s most spectacular performances. While it contains a handful of his signature, heart-tugging ballads, Off the Wall is also incredibly funky: From the sinuous sway of “Rock with You” to the glittering rush of “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough”, these tracks will never cease to fill dance floors.

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About Michael Jackson

BORN
1958年8月29日
GENRE
International Pop

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