Best Michael Jackson song

[Surf Digby]

On 7/19/2024 at 1:37 AM, IANdrewDiceClay said:

I'd go with Beat It. It has Michael Jackson and Eddie Van Halen, so its as good as music gets just front that stand point alone.

It also has the God of 80s studio guitarists Steve Lukather playing the iconic riff. He also plays on Human Nature.

Quote

His later output is sketchy

There seemed to be a shift after the Chandler allegations, where he was following trends, rather than doing his thing and having others follow him. With a few exceptions, he never seemed to recapture that electric energy he had on Bad.

[poetofthedeed]

It's clearly man in the mirror, an utterly undeniable entry in the pantheon of pop, just an incredible work of art.

 Dirty Diana is the song Beat it wishes it was.

[air_raid]

Smooth Criminal is up there but nothing quite grabs me like Beat It.

Definitely need to mention Black And White though, nothing quite a “time and place” song and it rockets me right back in time to the early 90s, 9-11 years of age. Playing early SNES games with my mate Simon, discovering the WWF and “WrestleMania” still meaning Hulk Hogan, Simpsons series 2, video shop borrows and Tarzan Boy playing at the end of (the otherwise awful) Turtles 3, and most of all, Coke adverts claiming “You can’t beat The Real Thing.”

As an aside, long term keffers are probably fed up of me recounting Simon and Mania VI being my gateway to wrestling. I haven’t seen him since his mums funeral which may be 10 years or so, but Mama raid tells me that through a friend of a friend she’s heard rumour that he’s blown £50K of the family pot on an online roulette addiction and his dads having to sell both the garage (family business my whole life) and the old farmhouse (scene of our whole friendship and my mums former workplace at their cattery) to bail him out. Massive kick in the gut there in terms of a whole chunk of my childhood dying for good.

[SuperBacon]

55 minutes ago, poetofthedeed said:

Dirty Diana is the song Beat it wishes it was

Live it was absolutely great as well. So overblown and huge sounding.

Chabuddy G has slightly ruined it for me with his Dirty Aldona version though as that's all I sing now when I hear it.

[Egg Shen]

12 hours ago, thevestofdeanambrose said:

give in to me!

 

Now you're talking. I had Dangerous on cassette and would always fast forward through it to Give In to Me, tune of the highest order.

 

Edited July 21, 2024 by Egg Shen

[Chili]

11 hours ago, Chest Rockwell said:

I listened to Thriller today for the first time in a very long time and I forgot how absolutely fucking awful this song was. 

The spoken word bit they do gives me what young people call the 'ick'. It's just so painfully cheesy.

I'm a lover not a fighter. Just his tone of voice makes me squirm. Awful.

Edited July 21, 2024 by Chili

[Carbomb]

Also, it's important to point out just how bloody good Off The Wall was - it was before he found a sound that was definitely his, but it's still a superbly-crafted bit of work.

Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough, Rock With You, Off The Wall, She's Out Of My Life - some classics there.

[wordsfromlee]

Michaels acapella demos are great too. He couldn't play any instruments so would just beatbox and sing his ideas over the top.

 

[cobra_gordo]

"Remember The Time" has always been one of my favourites. Instrumentally you can see where Bruno Mars nicked a lot of his ideas for his 24 Karat Magic and on material. Absolute belter of a chorus and a suitably mental video to go along with it.

 

[LaGoosh]

Not an answer to the thread topic but I love young MJ perhaps just as much as adult MJ. His voice as a kid was unbelievable. This video really highlights it:

 

 

[Chris B]

On 7/19/2024 at 1:05 AM, Carbomb said:

They Don't Really Care About Us is a banger though.

It really is.

For me, I'd probably go with Man in the Mirror, Smooth Criminal, and a shout out for Is It Scary, from the (god-awful) Ghosts music video. 

That said, I've really struggled to relisten to Michael Jackson in recent years, for the same reasons as some others. And I was a huge fan growing up - went to the '92 and '97 tours. Weirdly, I think if I was less of a fan, I'd find it easier to re-listen to. 

[davertfnewman]

Having heard I Just Can't Stop Loving You for the first time in a long time on Pick of the Pops this afternoon, can I bring this thread back up to remind everyone how great that song is if it hasn't been included in the conversation?

[FLips]

Not a typical suggestion, but one that's in line with the forum.

We all know the sound-a-like version from the episode but there's an actual Michael version. It's obviously not his best song in terms of quality but I think every person in the world over a certain age knows it more than some of his other output.

[Sphinx]

No mention of Stranger In Moscow yet.

[Jazzy G]

On 8/3/2024 at 4:16 PM, Sphinx said:

No mention of Stranger In Moscow yet.

You mean the closing credits theme from Sonic 3?