Michael Jackson - Twiddly Diddly Dee

GOT TO BE THERE

Released: 24th January 1972

Got to Be There is the debut solo studio album by the American singer Michael Jackson, released by Motown on January 24, 1972,^[4] four weeks after the Jackson 5's Greatest Hits (1971). It includes the song of the same name, which was released on October 7, 1971, as Jackson's debut solo single.

On August 2, 2013, the album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over 500,000 copies. The album was later remastered and reissued in 2009 as part of the 3-disc compilation Hello World: The Motown Solo Collection.

From Wikipedia

Ain't No Sunshine

I Wanna Be Where You Are

Girl Don't Take Your Love From Me

In Our Small Way

Got to Be There

Rockin' Robin

Wings of My Love

Maria (You Were The Only One)

Love is Here and Now You’re Gone

You’ve Got A Friend

Jackson released this at the age of 13 and like all albums of it's kind - adolescent solo - it has to tread a fine line between cutesiness and age-inappropriate content. For example, his contemporary Little Jimmy Osmond got it completely wrong (in my opinion) with 'Long Haired Lover From Liverpool' at age 9 which contains at least 3 lies in the title alone. There's a prime example of straying over into the too-adult area in the opening cover of Bill Withers' 'Ain't No Sunshine' when he does a spoken intro which would be more the kind of thing Barry White might chuck in. The actual content isn't offensive at all, but the tone of it doesn't seem quite right. Of course much of the album is all about boy-girl relationships, which is fine, he's 13 years old, becoming curious about the opposite sex, and the lyrics are generally quite sweet. His delivery is also immaculate, you cannot deny that he could sing and here it's unspoilt by all that silly hiccupping that came later. The title track is a typical slice of early seventies MOR. The Carpenters wouldn't be ashamed of it. 'Rockin' Robin' is good fun -  "Twiddly-diddly-dee" and outbopping a Buzzard and an Oriole is a proud boast. 'Wings Of My Love' has a full string intro which almost put me in mind of 'Wichita Lineman'. 'Maria' has some outre instrumentation, including harpsichord (I think) and a range of the percussionist's less well known tools of the trade. For me the most ill-judged inclusion is a cover of Carole King's 'You've Got A Friend' There's too much depth in the song for a young artist. He executes it well but reduces it to a soft pop song. Look at the little fella on the cover. Who'd a thought he'd grow up into what he did. Looks like he's just been allowed to ride in the cab of a steam train as a birthday treat.

BEN

Released: 4th August 1972

Ben is the second studio album by the American singer Michael Jackson, released by Motown Records on August 4, 1972, while Jackson was still a member of the Jackson 5. It received mixed reviews from contemporary music critics. Ben, however, was more successful on the music charts than Jackson's previous studio album, peaking within the top 10 on the Billboard 200 in the United States. Internationally, the album was less successful, peaking at number 12 in Canada, while charting within the top 200 positions in Australia and France.

The album released one single, the title track "Ben", which was a commercial success on the music charts, topping both the US Billboard Hot 100 and the Australian ARIA charts, giving Jackson his first number-one single domestically and internationally. "Ben" also charted within the top 10 in other territories worldwide. "Everybody's Somebody's Fool" was planned to be released as the second single from the album, but was cancelled for unspecified reasons.^[3] Two of the album's songs were "stripped" in 2009 as part of the three-disc compilation Hello World: The Motown Solo Collection.

From Wikipedia

Ben

Greatest Show on Earth

People Make the World Go Round

We've Got a Good Thing Going

Everybody's Somebody's Fool

My Girl

What Goes Around Comes Around

In Our Small Way

I'm So Happy

Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day

You Can Cry On My Shoulder

The saccharine sweet title track is rather badly served by memories of a charity version by Marti Webb (I think), that arose from Esther Rantzen fronted consumer show/nudge, nudge, wink, wink double entendre-fest 'That's Life'. The song is famously, of course, To A Rat, which suggests that Jackson has some kind of Rabbie Burns ambition, and comes from a film. The next track is 'Greatest Show On Earth' which has just a hint of 'MacArthur Park' about it (a song so bonkers as to be deserving of the description "completely hatstand"). Then he starts getting all political and tackles some issues on 'People Make The World Go Round'. He's not very specific about his concerns, schooling, the environment etc. Of course the point is that he is still in his early to mid-teens and so probably couldn't care less about the material he's being given to perform. There are a couple of soul standards on here ('We've Got a Good Thing Going' and 'My Girl'). He also recycles 'In Our Small Way' from the previous album. I didn't mention it before, but this also has a spoken part at the beginning, and he does it in that badly phrased way, with all the pauses in the wrong place: Maybe you and I <pause> Can't do great things <pause>We may not change the world<pause>In one day<pause>But we still can change<pause>Something<pause>To<pause>day. The intro is also somewhat like that of Springsteen's 'Backstreets' (OK. my points of reference are sometimes a bit limited). Nice bit of nonsense with 'Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day' which seems to have someone furiously sanding a doorframe in the background. This stuff is all fine. He's a good artist at this stage and his youthfulness plays fully in his favour as his singing voice is immaculate. Mean and moody on the sleeve.

MUSIC AND ME

Released: 13th April 1973

Music & Me is the third studio album by the American singer Michael Jackson. It was released on April 13, 1973 on the Motown label.^[2][3][4] It was arranged by Dave Blumberg, Freddie Perren, Gene Page and James Anthony Carmichael and remains Jackson's lowest selling album. In 2009, the album was reissued as part of the three-disc compilation Hello World: The Motown Solo Collection.^[5]

The album was released during a difficult period for Jackson, who was 14 years old at the time, as he had been experiencing vocal changes and facing a changing music landscape. Having been influenced by fellow Motown label mates Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder, Jackson wanted to include his own compositions and play instruments on the album, but Motown refused to allow this. Jackson would later express his frustrations about this to his father, Joe Jackson, who would later work to terminate Michael's and his brothers' contract with Motown, and negotiate lucrative contracts for them with Epic Records.^[6][7]

From Wikipedia

With a Child's Heart

Up Again

All the Things You Are

Happy

Too Young

Doggin’ Around

Johnny Raven

Euphoria

Morning Glow

Music and Me

I haven't been tearing through these early Jackson albums. They're not grabbing me for all their competence. It's not so much his fault, easy-listening soft soul is fine in its place, but it's clear that the musical decisions are being taken by others at the moment. Dare I say it? His voice is showing signs of breaking. There is the merest hint of huskiness. He also does a bit of light funk on 'All The Things You Are' which combines Bacharach-style swelling strings with Shaft-like brass stabs. 'Happy', which is apparently the love theme from Billie Holliday biopic Lady Sings The Blues, comes across as a bit Streisand.  I was surprised to hear 'Too Young' which was one of my Dad's favourite car songs, along with 'Granny's Heilan' Hame' (which became a cliche in the end) and the Three Marys ("There was Mary  Beaton, Mary Seaton and Mary Carmichael and me" - you probably had to be there). Anyway, this was one of his standard repertoire of ditties as he drove along, so I know the song quite well. Jackson does it justice. A bit of slow soul for the not-well-ageing-ly titled 'Doggin Around'. For 'Euphoria' I'm not entirely convinced whether he thinks its a girls name or an emotional state. That guitar is as big as him and the checked slacks/stripey tanktop look just never really caught on.

FOREVER, MICHAEL

Released: 16th January 1975

Forever, Michael is the fourth studio album by the American singer Michael Jackson, released by Motown Records on January 16, 1975. The album is credited as having songs with funk and soul material. Eddie Holland, Brian Holland, Hal Davis, Freddie Perren, and Sam Brown III served as producers on Forever, Michael. It is the final album before Jackson's solo breakthrough with his next album, Off the Wall (1979) and has sold 1 million copies worldwide.^[3]

The album charted only in the United States, hitting number 101 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart and number 10 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart. Forever, Michael failed to chart in other countries. Unlike Jackson's previous studio albums, the album was not commercially successful worldwide. However, Forever, Michael was generally well received by contemporary music critics. As part of promotion for the album, three singles were released from Forever, Michael, all of which were moderate commercial successes on the US Billboard Hot 100 and other music charts worldwide.

From Wikipedia

We're Almost There

Take Me Back

One Day in Your Life

Cinderella Stay Awhile

We’ve Got Forever

Just a Little Bit of You

You Are There

Dapper Dan

Dear Michael

I’ll Come Home to You

The voice is more recognisably his now, one more level of husk, but otherwise this is still fairly middle-of-the-road romantic soul. The best known track here is 'One Day In Your Life' where the tones are very honeyed indeed. It's hard to get worked up about any of it and all four of the albums so far have been very, well, controlled. Its a bit of a dichotomy, because later in his career his vocal style became so mannered that it spoilt the underlying talent. Here the talent is so nurtured it feels restrictive. 'You Are There' is nice and funky and contains some "sha-la-la-la-booms" and the odd "dance!". Heartfelt declarations of love preface the closing 'I'll Come Home To You'. Serious seventies Afro on the cover. It's been a long haul getting to this point,  but next up it's Off The Wall, which I expect to be a whole different kettle o' fish.

OFF THE WALL

Released: 10th August 1979

Off the Wall is the fifth studio album by the American singer Michael Jackson, released on August 10, 1979, by Epic Records. It was Jackson's first album released through Epic Records, and the first produced by Quincy Jones, whom he met while working on the 1978 film The Wiz. Several critics observed that Off the Wall was crafted from disco, pop, funk, R&B, soft rock and Broadway ballads. Its lyrical themes include escapism, liberation, loneliness, hedonism and romance. The album features songwriting contributions from Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, Rod Temperton, Tom Bahler, and David Foster, alongside three tracks penned by Jackson himself.

Between 1972 and 1975, Jackson released a total of four solo studio albums with Motown as part of The Jackson 5 franchise: Got to Be There (1972), Ben (1972), Music & Me (1973) and Forever, Michael (1975). Before recording his next album, which came to be Off the Wall, Jackson desired to create a record not sounding like a Jacksons record, but rather showcasing creative freedom and individualism. Off the Wall was a reintroduction for Jackson.^[3]

From Wikipedia

Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough

Rock With You

Workin’ Day and Night

Get on the Floor

Off the Wall

Girlfriend

She’s Out Of My Life

I Can’t Help It

It’s The Falling In Love

Burn This Disco Out

Quite a different proposition from what has come before. 'Don't Stop Til You Get Enough' is the first track and he starts that with a half spoken/half moaned bit of chat followed by the first of many career aaaoooooow!s. It's also when he starts to enunciate very badly indeed. Is he singing something about the post office? Misheard lyrics are de rigeur from now on I fear. However, it certainly has a 'good groove'. No complaints on that count. Next 'Rock With You'. More groany vocals and Burt Bacharach brass notes. 'The Boogie' gets a mention, so this ticks all the Jacko boxes nicely. It has that funny sort of sound in it too. Halfway between a whistle and blowing across the top of a milk bottle. 'Workin' Day And Night' introduces the Jackson gasp but is otherwise a decent bit of up-tempo soul. Quite funky too, almost like Prince circa Purple Rain. Really getting the high pitched howls in too. Nice bass twangs in 'Get On The Floor'. Sounds like he's enjoying himself too. 'Off The Wall' is odd in so many ways. There are definitely chimp noises in the intro and the groove (as I believe the cognoscenti call it) is ripped straight off Heatwave's 'Boogie Nights' - that looping bass guitar sound. Does he sing "gotta leave another fiver on the shelf". There is no way I'm  looking up these lyrics, my guesses are much more fun. Taking it down a notch for 'Girlfriend', which is consequently a bit dull. 'She's Out Of My Life' is a bit of a torch song. It's fine, but nothing special. In fact much of the latter half of this album sees him lapsing back into his old style, fairly bland love songs and standard soul like 'Burn This Disco Out'. Look at him on the cover! About to do his party piece at his Aunt Vera and Uncle Terry's 25th Wedding Anniversary by the look of it. A touch of Jazz Hands too.

THRILLER

Released: 29th November 1982

Thriller is the sixth studio album by the American singer and songwriter Michael Jackson, released on November 29, 1982, by Epic Records.^[4][5] It was produced by Quincy Jones, who previously worked with Jackson on his album Off the Wall (1979). Jackson wanted to create an album where "every song was a killer". With the ongoing backlash against disco music at the time, he moved in a new musical direction, resulting in a mix of pop, post-disco, rock, funk, synth-pop, and R&B sounds, and darker themes. Paul McCartney is the first credited appearance of a featured artist on a Jackson album. Recording took place from April to November 1982 at Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California, with a budget of $750,000.

Upon its release, Thriller was lauded by critics. It was Jackson's first number-one album on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart, where it spent a record 37 non-consecutive weeks at number one, from February 26, 1983, to April 14, 1984. Seven singles were released: "The Girl Is Mine", "Billie Jean", "Beat It", "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", "Human Nature", "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)", and "Thriller". They all reached the top 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, setting a record for the most top 10 singles from an album, with "Beat It" and "Billie Jean" reaching number one. Following Jackson's performance of "Billie Jean" in the Motown 25 television special, where he debuted his signature moonwalk dance, the album began selling one million copies per week. Sales doubled after the release of the "Thriller" music video on MTV in December 1983.

From Wikipedia

Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'

Baby Be Mine

The Girl Is Mine (feat. Paul McCartney)

Thriller

Beat It

Billie Jean

Human Nature

P.YT. (Pretty Young Thing)

The Lady in My Life

Every artist I've done has had one of these. The mega-selling, career defining album. So this is his Born To Run, Dark Side Of The Moon and Hounds Of Love. No doubt that it is jam-packed with hits, starting with 'Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'' (note the derision he holds for ultimate 'g's), which is actually a spin on "come and have a go if you think you're hard enough". As Jackson is the king of misheard lyrics I had to do a double take and call up Google when I thought I heard him sing "You're a vegetable", but that is indeed what he sings. There's a bit of Miami Sound Machine but at this stage in pop history, the music was becoming so homogeneous that it would be hard to say who was copying who without looking at dates, which I'm too lazy to do. A few years later the whole issue was resolved when you could simply pass it off as 'sampling'. He also chucks in some line dancing Yee-ha!'s for no apparent reason.

'Baby Be Mine' is a bit bland, but you soon forget about that as the syrupy duet with Paul McCartney 'The Girl Is Mine' kicks in. So many things wrong with this I'm afraid. Let's start with the fact that Jacko is 24 and Macca is 40 at this stage, and we must believe that they are fighting over the same dog-gone girl. There is also an excruciating spoken conversation just before the end. Mike is a lover, not a fighter, he claims, while Macca just seems to think speaking in a patronising tone will win the day.

The title track comes next, wholly overshadowed by the extravagant John Landis video ("I'm not like other guys" - Fer Sure!), but its greatness is obvious, if only for Vincent Price's vocal cameo. Slow moving zombies (no problem for Officer Grimes and Daryl's crossbow these days) and iconic dance moves featured in the aforementioned vid, which admittedly did change it as an artform. 'Beat It' is the standout on a good album for me and not only because Weird Al hit his parodying height with 'Eat It'. That guitar riff is very juicy indeed. For me 'Billie Jean' is most notable for being the first half of that quite rare pop phenomenon, the reply song. Michael does not take his parental responsibilities seriously and basically follows the advice given to Walter Matthau in the movie 'A Guide For The Married Man' - deny, deny, deny. She's lying see, trying to screw him for his millions. You can say what you like about Alexander O'Neal and his song 'Fake', but even that isn't as misogynistic as B-J. Anyway, I digress. The reply song was by Lydia Murdock and was called 'Superstar' where she basically calls him out for telling porkies. It joins Neil Young's Southern Man/Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'Sweet Home Alabama' in the reply song canon. There must be more but I cannot think of any just now.

'Human Nature' is probably as well known for the songs that have sampled that lovely cascading keyboard sound as it is in its original form. I guess the Sisters With Voices 'Right Here' is probably the most well known. 'PYT (Pretty Young Thing)' always raised the question in my mind as to why abbreviate it in the first place? It's a good song though, despite the unnecessary grunting and panting in the middle. And who invited Alvin and The Chipmunks to participate? And finally, with a title that would make Barry White proud - 'The Lady In My Life' which is pretty dreadful. On the cover he looks like a Daz advert and appears to be untucking his shirt. That little kiss curl got out of hand in later life too.

BAD

Released: 31st August 1987

Bad is the seventh studio album by the American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson. It was released on August 31, 1987, by Epic Records. Written and recorded between 1985 and 1987, Bad was Jackson's third and final collaboration with the producer Quincy Jones. Primarily featuring pop, dance, and R&B, as well as elements of funk, soul, jazz, rock, and hard rock, Bad incorporated new recording technology, including digital synthesizers. Jackson co-produced and composed all but two tracks, and the lyrical themes include self-improvement, romance, world peace, media bias, paranoia, and racial profiling. The album features appearances from Siedah Garrett and Stevie Wonder.

Prior to the release of Bad, Jackson reinvented his image to a more streetwise, mature persona and adopted a more aggressive sound, departing from his signature groove-based style and falsetto. Nine singles were released to promote the album, including the record-breaking five US number ones, "I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror" and "Dirty Diana", and the top-10 hit "Smooth Criminal". The film Moonwalker (1988), which included the music videos for several Bad songs, was used to promote the album. Jackson also embarked on his first solo world tour, performing 123 concerts across 15 countries for his Bad tour, attracting 4.4 million people as the tour grossed $125 million (equivalent to $322 million in 2023), making it the highest-grossing concert tour ever at the time.

From Wikipedia

Bad

The Way You Make Me Feel

Speed Demon

Liberian Girl

Just Good Friends

Another Part of Me

Man in the Mirror

I Just Can't Stop Loving You

Dirty Diana

Smooth Criminal

Leave Me Alone (Bonus Track)

After the mahoosive success of Thriller, everyone was gunning for Jacko's next offering. 'Why is the new Michael Jackson album called 'Bad'? Because they couldn't fit 'Atrocious' on the cover', quipped the wags. Trouble is, it's probably just as good as it's predecessor. The vocal fits and starts are at annoying levels now - Sha-mo! Aoooow! Tchah! Also he seems to have a penchant for subject matter that doesn't quite fit the image, the title track being a case in point, since he is clearly the least 'Bad' individual you are ever likely to meet. But the catchiness, memorability and, yes, danceability, cannot be denied. The potential for misheard lyrics is manifold. In 'The Way You Make Me Feel' you can't be sure if he is really turned 'on' or 'up'. He starts 'Speed Demon' with a fit of hiccups. I guess that we are expected to picture him roaring around Neverland on his hog with Motorhead blaring from his headphones. It's neither speedy nor demonic. Goodness knows where he thinks Liberia is, but I suspect he thinks it's some kind of Caribbean paradise. Let's assume the opening line of 'Liberian Girl' is in the language of Liberia, but to me it sound like 'Onomatopaeia, Onomatopaeia'.

'Just Good Friends' is a bit dull by Jackson's standards, but he comes storming back with 'Another Part Of Me', or as he sings it "jusht another pwoart of me (ooh!)". He starts inserting some chicken clucks at the end of each line of 'Man In The Mirror', which in the UK was suggestive that he wasn't too pleased with the coverage he got in the country's leading left-leaning tabloid. He has a damascene moment during the song as he sees all the suffering around him, realises how lucky he is and determines to change his ways. It's not entirely clear how his behaviour will change in the future, but hey! its a nice thought. 'I Just Can't Stop Loving You' is a duet with Siedah Garrett and is a rather good love song. I'm pretty certain that this was the leading single from the album, which seemed an odd choice even then.

'Dirty Diana' is a rather disturbing affair and continues the nasty misogynistic streak shown in Billie Jean. The title character pursues stars in order to achieve her own stardom, so poor Michael is the victim once again. He does pull it back again with 'Smooth Criminal', as good a piece of pop-funk as you'll ever hear, although I always reach for the much more full-on Alien Ant Farm version. "Annie are you OK?" sounds like "Annie are you walking?". The video was another example of Jackson trying to act hard but ending up looking like a right ponce.The guitar break is good (although AAA really show him how to scream on their interpretation) and it is a satisfying song. Finally, Michael has another moan about women expecting things from him after he's finished with them on 'Leave Me Alone'. Please girls, JUST STOP DOGGIN' HIM AROUND! He looks dead hard on the cover. One might almost say 'Bad'.

DANGEROUS

Released: 26th November 1991

Dangerous is the eighth studio album by American singer Michael Jackson. It was released by Epic Records on November 26, 1991, more than four years after Jackson's previous album, Bad (1987). Co-produced by Jackson, Bill Bottrell, Teddy Riley, and Bruce Swedien, the album was Jackson's first since Off The Wall (1979) without longtime collaborator Quincy Jones. Guest appearances include Heavy D, Princess Stéphanie of Monaco, Slash and Wreckx-n-Effect. The album incorporates new jack swing, a popular genre at the time, R&B and pop. Elements of industrial, funk, hip hop, electronic, gospel, classical and rock are also present. Jackson wrote or co-wrote 12 of the album's 14 songs, discussing topics like racism, poverty, romance, self-improvement, multiculturalism and the welfare of children and the world.

Dangerous is considered an artistic change for Jackson, with his music focusing on more socially conscious material, and including a broader range of sounds and styles. It features catchy pop hooks and choruses while also introducing underground sounds to a mainstream audience. The album's tone is noted by critics as gritty and urban, with sounds including synthetic basslines, scratching, and drum machine percussion, as well as unconventional sounds like honking vehicle horns, sliding chains, swinging gates, breaking glass, and clanking metal. Jackson also incorporates beatboxing, scat singing, and finger snapping throughout the album.

From Wikipedia

Jam

Why You Wanna Trip on Me

In the Closet

She Drives Me Wild

Remember the Time

Can’t Let Her Get Away

Heal the World

Black or White

Who Is It

Give In To Me

Will You Be There

Keep the Faith

Gone Too Soon

Dangerous

And so the law of diminishing returns kicks in. Jackson resorts mostly to much heavier thumpy beats on this next effort, and is beginning to not only believe his own publicity, but to enact it too. The opening 'Jam' is a jarring mess, which Jacko essentially scats through in his own very-imitable style. There is a deal of guitar-riffery throughout and I have a feeling that Slash had been drafted in by now. 'Why You Wanna Trip On Me' sounds like a cross between Ed Sheerhan's acoustic guitar/hip hop hybrids and R Kelly's 'She's Got That Vibe'', both of which admittedly post date the song in question. Oh-ho! The next track is called 'In The Closet'. Time to look up the lyrics methinks. The song itself is yet more hefty beat loops. The lyrics don't live up to the promise of the title. He loves a girl but is so damn famous he can't talk about it publicly. The female vocal is apparently Princess Stephanie Of Monaco. Who says it doesn't matter who your parents are when it comes to getting on in the modern world? Anyway, it's boring, repetitive and goes on too long. Then 'She Drives Me Wild' seems like a complete continuation of the same song, thus compounding the misery.

Not much diversion in 'Remember The Time' which I seem to recall had a particularly lavish video featuring Eddie Murphy as some kind of Pharaoh. Obviously there was a need for visual stimulation to distract from the going-nowhere nature of the song, and still the lumpen beat persists. 'I Can't Let Her Get Away' is more filler from the same caulking gun and then we come to the sweetly saccharine 'Heal The World'. Despite his association with Pepsi one can only assume he was keeping his options open in case Coke needed a new campaign song. There is a godawful spoken piece by a child, which outlines the sentiment of the song. Do I need to remind you of the lyrics or shall I spare you? I'm not feeling nice..."Heal the world, make it a better place for you and for me and the en-tire human race". I'm a live and let live guy, but this is just pukey. The reprises at the end, with a key change every time and ultimately a child singing solo just take the biscuit.

Next up is 'Black and White', which starts with Macauley Culkin (probably) playing loud music and being told to turn it down by his dad. So he then REALLY rebels and puts Mike on his boombox. Jackson solves the race problem by pointing out "it don't matter if you're black or white". Martin Luther King's work is finally done. It's not THAT bad, but it must be more famous for the 'groundbreaking video' (all MJs videos got described thus). You could probably morph your face into a spectacularly attractive young Gap ad denizen of any race on an app  on your Samsung Galaxy these days.

The hiccups come to the fore again on 'Who Is It'. Have you tried drinking from the wrong side of a glass of water Michael? He's gone for quite a lot of length on some of these tracks with no really appreciable reason for it. This one is well over 6 minutes and could be halved and improved in one stroke.'Give In To Me' is probably the best track on the album for my money. He almost convinces that he might even be a little bit dangerous. This may well be the Slash track. It has a purposeful feel and there are some decent guitar noodlings. He goes gospel on 'Will You Be There' and rips off Bill Withers' 'Lean On Me' into the bargain. It's a bit dull and he over-emotes at the end leaving you wishing he'd just grow up. 'Keep The Faith' is utterly bland and 'Gone Too Soon' can't leave early enough for me. It's almost like he's trying to emulate The Carpenters - which is instantly putting him onto a hiding to nothing.The final title track is notable for not even pretending to reflect the title. Just a bit half-powered. He tries hard but the lumbering beat that characterises so much of the album just holds him back. Don't expect me to try and decipher the artwork. I fear it is some kind of attempt to produce a Peter Blake style Sgt. Pepper cover, but it just looks tacky.

HISTORY

Released: 20th June 1990

HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I is a double album by the American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson, released on June 20, 1995. It consists of the greatest hits album, HIStory Begins, in addition to his ninth studio album, HIStory Continues. HIStory Begins contains fifteen of his hit singles originally released through Epic Records, spanning from 1979 through 1991. HIStory Continues comprises new material written and produced by Jackson and collaborators. It was Jackson's fifth album released through Epic Records, and the first on his label MJJ Productions. The album includes appearances by Janet Jackson, Shaquille O'Neal, Slash, and the Notorious B.I.G. Its genres span R&B, pop, and hip hop with elements of hard rock and funk rock. The themes include environmental awareness, isolation, greed, suicide, injustice, and Jackson's conflicts with the media.

Several of the album's new songs pertain to the child sexual abuse allegations made against Jackson in 1993 and Jackson's perceived mistreatment by the media, mainly the tabloids. HIStory Continues has been described as Jackson's most "personal" album. Seven singles were released, including the protest songs "Earth Song" and "They Don't Care About Us", the latter of which drew accusations of antisemitism; Jackson said the song's lyrics had been misinterpreted and included an edited version on later pressings of the album.

From Wikipedia

Scream

They Don’t Care About Us

Stranger In Moscow

This Time Around

Earth Song

D.S.

Money

Come Together

You Are Not Alone

Childhood

Tabloid Junkie

2 Bad

HIStory

Little Susie/Pie Jesu

Smile

Let's start with the artwork this time. He's been captured by Boba Fett, put into carbon freeze and delivered to arch-villain Mohammed Al-Fayed to be displayed outside Craven Cottage. The actual musical content is a vast improvement on Dangerous. It was issued as two CDs with the fiirst being a sort of Greatest Hits. I won't bother with that, he's taking me long enough to get through as it is.

He opens with 'Scream', which is a duet with Janet. I remember they looked like a couple of emaciated anime characters in the video. It's pretty gutsy, and has a good catch in the "stop pressuring me" line, and did I hear the F-word there? He does get a bit more potty-mouthed on this album. He then goes onto the terrace chant of 'They Don't Really Care About Us'. He delivers it as a staccato rap, and once again, sounds like he means it. I don't think he's been a victim of "police broo-tal-i-tee". There's a nice chuggy guitar break too.He brings it down for the excellent 'Stranger In Moscow'. He shows a weird sort of lisp where it sounds like he's singing "How doth it feel", or maybe he really does have Shakespearean thespian ambitions. It is very sweetly sung. Again the content may be a little suspect. The KGB would probably have better things to do than stalk a global megastar. Oh, by the way, US friends, its Moscow as in 'flow', not as in 'cow'.

More mild bad language on 'This Time Around' (and a more convincing hip-hop break than we've heard before) before we come to the possible centrepiece of the whole thing 'Earth Song'. This comes with too much baggage because of the clear Christ imagery he employed when performing it. Famously Pulp's Jarvis Cocker took exception at the Brit Awards and invaded the stage miming farts as Jacko ascended clad in purest white. However, forget that, the song is actually good. I mean, obviously the lyrical content is a load of hippy-dippy crap, but it's a fantastically well constructed and sung piece. 'D.S.' is allegedly a coded rant about being investigated for child-abuse in 1993 (c.f. Wiki-ever-reliable). Alas, 'Money' is not a Floyd cover. but an efficient soul-shuffle. There's his cover of 'Come Together', which is fine, although he doesn't deviate much from the original.

'You Are Not Alone' is something of a classic, although I could do without the odd chicken cluck. 'Childhood' was the theme to Free Willy 2 and it IS very filmic. Could easily have been done by Streisand. 'Tabloid Junkie' is a bit jarring. It goes back to the style of 'Jam' on Dangerous and the subject matter of being hounded by the press is a bit obvious. In fact from now on, there is a bit of a reversion to the style of Dangerous. It's a long album anyway, so he could easily have cut some tracks. '2 Bad' is clunky and repetitive, 'History' is a tangled mess (maybe that's a clever comment on the subject matter, but I don't think so) and 'Little Susie/Pie Jesu' is just a bit confusing. He finishes with Charlie Chaplin's 'Smile', which is another good choice for him. The whistling at the end is abysmal.

INVINCIBLE

Released: 30th October 2001

Invincible is the tenth and final studio album by the American singer Michael Jackson, released on October 30, 2001, by Epic Records. It was Jackson's last album before his death in 2009. It features appearances from Carlos Santana, the Notorious B.I.G., Fats, and Slash. It incorporates R&B, pop and soul, and similarly to Jackson's previous material, the album explores themes such as love, romance, isolation, media criticism, and social issues.

The album's creation was expensive and laborious, featuring the work of ten record producers and over 100 musicians. Jackson started the multi-genre production in 1997 and did not finish until eight weeks before the album's release. It was reported that it cost $30 million to record; as of July 2024, it remains the most expensive album ever made. Jackson refused to tour to support it, adding to the growing rift between him and Sony Music Entertainment.^[1] In July 2002, following Sony's decision to abruptly end promotion for the album, Jackson alleged that the CEO of Sony Music, Tommy Mottola, was a "devil" and a racist who used his African American artists only for personal gain.

From Wikipedia

Unbreakable

Heartbreaker

Invincible

Break of Dawn

Heaven Can Wait

You Rock My World

Butterflies

Speechless

2000 Watts

You Are My Life

Privacy

Don’t Walk Away

Cry

The Lost Children

Whatever Happens

Threatened

At this stage of the game I was prepared to throw my hand in and give it a review in the style of Spinal Tap's Shark Sandwich. Invincible: Unlistenable. But just like our dear old record breaking queen, my sense of duty is strong and I will soldier my way through this last studio album (according to Wikipedia - which is good enough for me, despite the later issued Michael and XScape). The first two tracks are no fun. The opening 'Unbreakable' repeats itself tediously and I'm not sure whether some of the noises are intentional or streaming issues. Same with 'Heartbreaker'. Really quite rubbish. He's keen on inserting a bit of 'street' rap in the songs too. The title track follows a similar path. He just seems bereft of ideas. Finally we get a change of pace for 'Break Of Dawn', but it comes on like a bit of New Age Chillax music, as does it's successor 'Heaven Can Wait'. He finds so many ways to be dull from now on, I won't detain you with the details. 'Privacy' has more than a whiff of Mary J Blige's 'Family Affair' about it. Even the cover is boring. He is clearly now a white man with a rather odd nose. And that's it. There is more original material issued later on, but I can't see him improving from here. Of course he's gone now, and that's a shame. I'm not in the business of passing judgement on rock stars personal foibles. Bowie doesn't stand up well to scrutiny for a start. He was clearly a victim of too much fame and the mad world that surrounded him and he had some astonishingly good moments.