Album: Off The Wall
Artist: Michael Jackson
Born: Gary, Indiana
Released: August 1979
Genre: Disco Pop
Influenced: Scritti Politti, Fugees, Madonna, Erykah Badu, Beyoncé
Off The Wall marked Michael Jackson's transition from star member of Motown's last successful group, the Jackson 5, to the biggest solo pop star of the 80s. All the insane behaviour and allegations that clouded his later life should not detract from appreciating how talented and revolutionary he was in the world of pop. I've always been a big believer in separating the work of art from the creator (one of my favourite novels, Journey to the End of the Night, was written by a raving anti-Semite) and Off The Wall deserves endless plaudits for drawing on disco and funk to create an exciting new form of dance music. There's one seriously schmaltzy wrong turn (that pretty awful cover of a pretty awful Wings song) but the rest of the album is sublime. Quincy Jones was largely responsible for Michael Jackson's big breakthrough, assembling various talented funk and soul musicians, as well as English songwriter Rod Temperton, who contributed two of the album's best tracks, Off The Wall and Rock With You.
Off The Wall has some of Jackson's most supreme vocal performances and Rock With You is one of the best of all, his falsetto lead combining with his sharp dance moves and courageous outfits to make him the best-selling black artist ever (at the time). Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough is one of three songs that Jackson contributes to the album and its joyous disco feel is enhanced with strings and horns, along with the distinctive yelps and hollers that made MJ famous. The title track is one of my personal favourites on the record which, like Working Day And Night, is all about forgetting your everyday troubles and getting on the dancefloor ("so tonight gotta leave that nine to five upon the shelf"). Side 2 has quieter moments, notably the emotionally raw She's Out Of My Life and the Stevie Wonder-penned I Can't Help It, on which Jackson shows his enormous debt to the master. The pace starts to build again on It's The Falling In Love and then the album ends with a bang on Burn This Disco Out. Jackson would explore new avenues with Thriller and Bad (my favourite album as an 8-year old kid) but he'd never surpass the sheer pop brilliance of Off The Wall.
Off The Wall marked Michael Jackson's transition from star member of Motown's last successful group, the Jackson 5, to the biggest solo pop star of the 80s. All the insane behaviour and allegations that clouded his later life should not detract from appreciating how talented and revolutionary he was in the world of pop. I've always been a big believer in separating the work of art from the creator (one of my favourite novels, Journey to the End of the Night, was written by a raving anti-Semite) and Off The Wall deserves endless plaudits for drawing on disco and funk to create an exciting new form of dance music. There's one seriously schmaltzy wrong turn (that pretty awful cover of a pretty awful Wings song) but the rest of the album is sublime. Quincy Jones was largely responsible for Michael Jackson's big breakthrough, assembling various talented funk and soul musicians, as well as English songwriter Rod Temperton, who contributed two of the album's best tracks, Off The Wall and Rock With You.
Off The Wall has some of Jackson's most supreme vocal performances and Rock With You is one of the best of all, his falsetto lead combining with his sharp dance moves and courageous outfits to make him the best-selling black artist ever (at the time). Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough is one of three songs that Jackson contributes to the album and its joyous disco feel is enhanced with strings and horns, along with the distinctive yelps and hollers that made MJ famous. The title track is one of my personal favourites on the record which, like Working Day And Night, is all about forgetting your everyday troubles and getting on the dancefloor ("so tonight gotta leave that nine to five upon the shelf"). Side 2 has quieter moments, notably the emotionally raw She's Out Of My Life and the Stevie Wonder-penned I Can't Help It, on which Jackson shows his enormous debt to the master. The pace starts to build again on It's The Falling In Love and then the album ends with a bang on Burn This Disco Out. Jackson would explore new avenues with Thriller and Bad (my favourite album as an 8-year old kid) but he'd never surpass the sheer pop brilliance of Off The Wall.
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