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Off The Wall is more or less perfect, so I can't argue with you there. Dangerous is a much more indulgent, scattershot record, but oddly I think that's why I like it more. I've always been drawn to albums like that, i.e. The Beatles, The River, Brighter Than Creation's Dark--the "warts and all" records. I feel like they give a much more explicit, all-encompassing image of an artist than a clean-cut program of music does or can. I think Dangerous is maybe the one moment in MJ's career where he was content to satisfy whatever creative urge struck him regardless of whether it lead to something commercially or even artistically viable. The beats are generally more abrasive and idiosyncratic, the production is less plastic, and some of the songs seem pretty far outside of Jacko's wheelhouse ("Give In To Me" being probably the most obvious example--on paper Michael Jackson singing what's essentially an '80's metal ballad sounds positively ludicrous, but honestly, it's one of my favorite songs of his). Not that it isn't an immensely catchy record with songs that seem pretty invariably conducive to pop radio airplay, but it's always felt a little more audacious than anything else in his catalog to me; a little more eccentric, where the squeegee cleanness of Thriller and Bad can bore me if I'm not in the right mood. For that and the fact that so many of those songs are attached to special moments in my life, it keeps drawing me back.
What are your thoughts on Invincible and HIStory Continues? Admittedly I've yet to hear the former, but I think the latter has some great moments.
I hear ya on Dangerous, and mostly agree. My only problem with some of the long running times is that there isn't always a lot going on in the songs. Much of it stays with one beat and rhythm for minutes at a time, which doesn't really justify a 7-minute running time to these ears. But count me in on MJ working with Teddy Riley and committing to that sound. Pretty cool for a major star to do that instead of what people expected.
I pretty much jumped off the train after that b/c he really seemed to lose the muse and everything went haywire in his life. Much of the music lost distinction, almost like it could have been made by anybody. But I agree HIStory has its moments. Especially "Stranger in Moscow", "Scream" and "They Don't Care About Us." That track is awesome.
And as derivative as it is, "You Rock My World" on Invincible is as much fun as his music got at the end.
Side note: b/c of the circus he created and all the deeply troubling things he did, it's easy to forget he's one of the best pure singers of all time.
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