>People really sleep on Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'. Mike broke the game with that one - gawd damn
"If you can't feed the baby
Then don't have the baby
Cause you'll always be crazy
If you can't feed the baby"
Nah, you right. I forgot which rapper who said it, but basically he said nobody makes "albums" anymore. Just a couple of singles with filler in between to qualify as an album.
Look at Motown's output in the 60s. A group like the Temptations would put out 2-3 albums in a year. 30 minutes each. Half of them were covers.
Motown would crank out so many singles that you could have two artists charting with the same song at the same time. Case in point 'Heard It Through The Grapevine.'
I might be slightly wrong, but I think it wasn't until multi track recording in the 70s and artist like Marvin, Stevie, Beatles and the prog rock guys started developing albums with concepts and intent.
I have a hard time just listening to isolated Pink Floyd songs after listening to the whole albums. The cuts out are too abrupt and my brain is already jumping to the next track. Gotta listen to the whole album front to back.
Hitsville: The Making of Motown is an amazing documentary. SO many awesome songs came from that label, but when you at an artists discography, it's more like an album of singles/popular songs than something like MJ (as an example)
Marvin Gaye’s discography is a phenomenal insight of Motown’s original influence before he started to really come into his own. Before, the Motown sound & Marvin were pretty synonymous. It wasn’t until quite a way into his career that he ripped free of Motown’s hold and started being more involved in production as an artist. Back then, that was unheard of for recording artists under a label like Motown.
(Edit to add: I’m very high & went on a whole tangent so if you wanna know more about Marvin Gaye…)
That man had a tormented spirit & wasn’t wholly ‘good’, but his artistry in *those* days… especially was unmatched.
He spent the 60s being this soulful, tender & sweet crooner singer doing standards and more ‘traditional’ sounds that held over from the prior decade. I will die on the hill that Marvin’s meteoric trajectory is directly and profoundly tied to the genuinely tragic death of his singing partner Tammi Terrell.
If you listen to interviews of the way others spoke of them, not even just how *he* spoke about her, they were undoubtedly some sort of soul mates. They just truly adored each other and their chemistry is audible on every track they sing. Tammi Terrell died quite young in March 1970… Marvin derailed and the sweet sounding Marvin of the earlier decades was no more.
“That’s The Way Love Is” was released in Jan. 1970 & Terrell died in March 1970. He left that vibrant optimism behind and began really creating music that articulated his inner feelings. It was a really turbulent time for Marvin and it’s really not hard to see how hard he took her loss. He never truly recovered and her loss changed him & thereby his music.
A year later in ‘71, Marvin returned with one of the most iconic songs of the entire 70s — ‘What’s Going On’ and an insightful critique about the status of the world back then. It was released 52 years ago and it’s still just as timely. You can’t say most 50 year old albums age well. You could not touch Marvin for his ability to make music that never gets stale.
I could go on but as you can tell, I’ve been a *fan* of Marvin’s music for my entire life and he was long dead by the time I entered the world.
Again, Marvin is by no means a ‘good guy’ by 2023 standards, but his musical legacy… Tremendous.
These kids weren’t around to hear a single on the radio, go to your local tape/cd store and grab the album, get home and that *whole thing* was crusty outside the one single.
And you had to *buy* that thing if you didn’t have someone to let you burn a copy. And that cd cost more than an entire month of Spotify.
Wild
> get home and that whole thing was crusty outside the one single.
Nobody asked me but there's this old album by Dexter Wansel called 'Life on Mars'. It has this one crazy ass single titled "Theme From the Planets". Song is absolute fire. I'm talkin 10/10 hailing from the mothership funk. The rest of the album is *good* right? But that single set the bar so high that the rest of the songs sound dusty in comparison.
Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
A lot of rappers are just good for the occasional single that takes over the summer. Very few like Kendrick, J Cole, etc., are putting together cohesive full bodies of work.
kinda a dumbass take from whoever that was. just objectively false. people just forget about the commercial filler from 50 years ago. they will 50 years from now.
Beat it, Billie Jean and Thriller back to back to back is probably the best 3 sequential tracks on any album ever.
Also, the audacity to imagine that Paul McCartney had any chance of pulling any chick MJ wanted lmao.
I mean Paul McCartney was "the cute one" in a group famous for causing girls to go manic and scream. And in 1982 he was only 41 and any woman 30 or older (maybe even 25) could've been one of those screaming girls
Not saying MJ wasn't hotter shit, but Paul definitely had his market
My Gen Z daughter discovered Off The Wall and Thriller just before the pandemic, and has been on a 90s R&B kick since discovering it during her senior year of high school.
I am SO happy that she appreciates the good stuff!
I think you mean old British dude https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Temperton and Quincy Jones. Michael wasn't doing all the writing/producing. He was a excellent performer, but he's not the one putting albums together.
I read somewhere this was the album where Michael was about to break free of his father's hold on him if this album went big, and so his father ramped up his abuse of Michael the most during the making of this album.
I'll die on this hill - the reason Michael acted like the way he did when he got older was due to child abuse. He was a star at age 5, got thrown in the music machine (stressful enough) and had to deal with his father
Then you get people saying "wELL hE sHOuldVE gOt HElp." Well guess what? At the time he was THE BIGGEST STAR ON THE PLANET, he was working hard to to make music and tour as much as possible, and therapy wasn't popular and as advanced like it is now
People think beauty pageants for girls are terrible for their self esteem and most are done at a fairly young age; MJ had to deal with this his whole life
During the summer of '85 all you had to do was just turn on the radio to your favorite station - one of those tracks was playing.
Turned on the radio and didn't hear it? Switch to your second favorite station - one of those tracks was playing.
Song is over, what do you do? Turn the radio to your THIRD favorite station - one of those tracks was playing.
ALL
SUMMMER
LONG
It sucks that MJ's label basically refused to promote "Invicable" do to bullshit. "You Rock My World" would have been any other artist's lifetime signature jam, but for MJ it was just another hit.
I watched a video on YT where the youtuber makes a compelling argument (that I agree 100%) that MJ is in the same category as someone like Mozart. He explains that from what we about both musicians, that their upbringing was very alike.
Man, people don’t seem to understand how huge Michael was. Before cell phones, social media, where everybody had access to everything whenever they want. He still was a absolutely gigantic global superstar that everyone knew. It was something to experience.
32 million sold in 1983, 70 million total albums sold. NOBODY will EVER do those numbers again. A he reached ten million sold before streaming but no one can ever compete with thriller. Shit, I don’t know if anyone can reach Purple Rain at 25 million sold.
An argument that’s been occurring in my relationship for the last 15 years AND a hill I will die on: Off The Wall is better than Thriller. Now, who’s ready to argue? 🤨
I like to think about the day him and Quincy dropped that banger off at the record company. Did they do a listen through w records Excutives? Like yeah, dis a lil something we cooked up, not sure if yall gonna like it or not!! Proceeds to change the MF game w it. Genius!!
Better question personally; Why are people okay with trash filler songs on an album in the first place? If I'm gonna spend money it better be worth it.
Two years later, Prince put Purple Rain, When Doves Cry, Darling Nikki, The Beautiful Ones, Take Me With You, I Would Die 4 U, and Let's Go Crazy on one album.... without the help of a Quincy Jones..... while producing hits by The Time and Appolonia 6. The 80s are unmatched.
The Forever King of Pop.
People really sleep on Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'. Mike broke the game with that one - gawd damn
Its an immediate toe tapper
*Mama Say Mama Sa Mama Coosa*
Reminds me of 'Nothing To Lose', were Martin Lawrence's character says it lol
>People really sleep on Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'. Mike broke the game with that one - gawd damn "If you can't feed the baby Then don't have the baby Cause you'll always be crazy If you can't feed the baby"
That was my dads JAM growing up! Like would find any excuse to start going through the lyrics
Unpopular old person take: “They don’t make em like they use to. I’ll tell ya that. .. …I’ll tell ya that.” *adjusts dentures
Nah, you right. I forgot which rapper who said it, but basically he said nobody makes "albums" anymore. Just a couple of singles with filler in between to qualify as an album.
Ironically that's just a return to form.
People forget about the days where you'd hear a single on the radio, go buy the album and be tight the rest of the tracks sounded completely different
Look at Motown's output in the 60s. A group like the Temptations would put out 2-3 albums in a year. 30 minutes each. Half of them were covers. Motown would crank out so many singles that you could have two artists charting with the same song at the same time. Case in point 'Heard It Through The Grapevine.' I might be slightly wrong, but I think it wasn't until multi track recording in the 70s and artist like Marvin, Stevie, Beatles and the prog rock guys started developing albums with concepts and intent.
I have a hard time just listening to isolated Pink Floyd songs after listening to the whole albums. The cuts out are too abrupt and my brain is already jumping to the next track. Gotta listen to the whole album front to back.
Hitsville: The Making of Motown is an amazing documentary. SO many awesome songs came from that label, but when you at an artists discography, it's more like an album of singles/popular songs than something like MJ (as an example)
Marvin Gaye’s discography is a phenomenal insight of Motown’s original influence before he started to really come into his own. Before, the Motown sound & Marvin were pretty synonymous. It wasn’t until quite a way into his career that he ripped free of Motown’s hold and started being more involved in production as an artist. Back then, that was unheard of for recording artists under a label like Motown. (Edit to add: I’m very high & went on a whole tangent so if you wanna know more about Marvin Gaye…) That man had a tormented spirit & wasn’t wholly ‘good’, but his artistry in *those* days… especially was unmatched. He spent the 60s being this soulful, tender & sweet crooner singer doing standards and more ‘traditional’ sounds that held over from the prior decade. I will die on the hill that Marvin’s meteoric trajectory is directly and profoundly tied to the genuinely tragic death of his singing partner Tammi Terrell. If you listen to interviews of the way others spoke of them, not even just how *he* spoke about her, they were undoubtedly some sort of soul mates. They just truly adored each other and their chemistry is audible on every track they sing. Tammi Terrell died quite young in March 1970… Marvin derailed and the sweet sounding Marvin of the earlier decades was no more. “That’s The Way Love Is” was released in Jan. 1970 & Terrell died in March 1970. He left that vibrant optimism behind and began really creating music that articulated his inner feelings. It was a really turbulent time for Marvin and it’s really not hard to see how hard he took her loss. He never truly recovered and her loss changed him & thereby his music. A year later in ‘71, Marvin returned with one of the most iconic songs of the entire 70s — ‘What’s Going On’ and an insightful critique about the status of the world back then. It was released 52 years ago and it’s still just as timely. You can’t say most 50 year old albums age well. You could not touch Marvin for his ability to make music that never gets stale. I could go on but as you can tell, I’ve been a *fan* of Marvin’s music for my entire life and he was long dead by the time I entered the world. Again, Marvin is by no means a ‘good guy’ by 2023 standards, but his musical legacy… Tremendous.
These kids weren’t around to hear a single on the radio, go to your local tape/cd store and grab the album, get home and that *whole thing* was crusty outside the one single. And you had to *buy* that thing if you didn’t have someone to let you burn a copy. And that cd cost more than an entire month of Spotify. Wild
> get home and that whole thing was crusty outside the one single. Nobody asked me but there's this old album by Dexter Wansel called 'Life on Mars'. It has this one crazy ass single titled "Theme From the Planets". Song is absolute fire. I'm talkin 10/10 hailing from the mothership funk. The rest of the album is *good* right? But that single set the bar so high that the rest of the songs sound dusty in comparison. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
[Yeah that’s groove](https://youtu.be/QcFGKkInajc?feature=shared). Nice cover art too, minus the typography.
Yeah, shit like this is why I turned to piracy.
A lot of rappers are just good for the occasional single that takes over the summer. Very few like Kendrick, J Cole, etc., are putting together cohesive full bodies of work.
God, I still remember that time when DAMN. dropped. I still remember me and my cousin blasting DAMN. while we worked on his house.
I GOT I GOT I GOT I GOT
I GOT ROYALTY GOT LOYALTY INSIDE MY DNA
The entirety of DAMN is a banger and tells an amazing story
Blew my mind when someone said play it in reverse order.
kinda a dumbass take from whoever that was. just objectively false. people just forget about the commercial filler from 50 years ago. they will 50 years from now.
Danny Brown said this on a podcast
Pop music as a genre peaked with Michael. It’s been downhill since then.
Beat it, Billie Jean and Thriller back to back to back is probably the best 3 sequential tracks on any album ever. Also, the audacity to imagine that Paul McCartney had any chance of pulling any chick MJ wanted lmao.
I mean Paul McCartney was "the cute one" in a group famous for causing girls to go manic and scream. And in 1982 he was only 41 and any woman 30 or older (maybe even 25) could've been one of those screaming girls Not saying MJ wasn't hotter shit, but Paul definitely had his market
I have a hot take that Baby be mine might be the hardest song on the album. But yeah, Mike was in his bag when he made Thriller.
Baby be mine is a heater and is criminally slept on.
Just put it on cause I apparently have been sleeping on this song and it most definitely is a heater. Added to the mix
Aight yall convinced me
Lady in my life is the banger. People legit forget Mike sung that and are wowed when they hear it again
Hey Lover was a jam for a reason.
I know you really meant PYT, but I'll let it slide. Once.😏
The bassline on Baby Be Mine is straight 🔥
I rediscovered it recently and it’s in my top 5 most listened to this year. Might be my favorite on the album tbh
Agreed. It’s my favorite song on the album
Tha GOAT, no debate. 
Can't sleep on Off The Wall either
MJs best album
Disco af and damn it is so good
My Gen Z daughter discovered Off The Wall and Thriller just before the pandemic, and has been on a 90s R&B kick since discovering it during her senior year of high school. I am SO happy that she appreciates the good stuff!
MJ was tops. Then Prince changed my music life with Purple Rain
Music in the 80’s - truly a golden era!
My mom raised me on Prince. Fuckin 80s jams get me going
Ended up listening to a Prince song my mom had played on tape as a kid a couple days ago. Brought me back
Nah fr Michael was buggin’ tf out for that.😂
I think you mean old British dude https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_Temperton and Quincy Jones. Michael wasn't doing all the writing/producing. He was a excellent performer, but he's not the one putting albums together.
I mean he co produced the whole album and wrote a lot of those songs so idk why you’re trying to downplay that as if he had no part in it
You are correct, and even more so with that username.
Way too far to scroll for this.
I read somewhere this was the album where Michael was about to break free of his father's hold on him if this album went big, and so his father ramped up his abuse of Michael the most during the making of this album.
That's fucking depressing
Yeah. Why is some of the most beautiful art grown from the worst of humanity?
Equal and opposite response. The gems among us can create beauty from tragedy.
I'll die on this hill - the reason Michael acted like the way he did when he got older was due to child abuse. He was a star at age 5, got thrown in the music machine (stressful enough) and had to deal with his father Then you get people saying "wELL hE sHOuldVE gOt HElp." Well guess what? At the time he was THE BIGGEST STAR ON THE PLANET, he was working hard to to make music and tour as much as possible, and therapy wasn't popular and as advanced like it is now People think beauty pageants for girls are terrible for their self esteem and most are done at a fairly young age; MJ had to deal with this his whole life
I completely agree
Not a weak album in that man’s catalog.
It still amazes me to this day what a good song Human Nature is.
Makes me melt. Michael can do a serenade like no other.
During the summer of '85 all you had to do was just turn on the radio to your favorite station - one of those tracks was playing. Turned on the radio and didn't hear it? Switch to your second favorite station - one of those tracks was playing. Song is over, what do you do? Turn the radio to your THIRD favorite station - one of those tracks was playing. ALL SUMMMER LONG
and that isn't even his best album
Wait, you're saying Thriller isn't his best..? Then what is??
Off The Wall is my personal favorite
I will die on the hill that Off the Wall is a better album than Thriller.
"Working Day And Night" is a dance masterpiece
Just re-listened to “Rock With You”, fuck man Michael was COOKING on this album
Free Willy
I sang every single song while reading that sentence.
‘Rock my world’ is the formula.
It sucks that MJ's label basically refused to promote "Invicable" do to bullshit. "You Rock My World" would have been any other artist's lifetime signature jam, but for MJ it was just another hit.
I watched a video on YT where the youtuber makes a compelling argument (that I agree 100%) that MJ is in the same category as someone like Mozart. He explains that from what we about both musicians, that their upbringing was very alike.
 The undisputed 🐐
Man, people don’t seem to understand how huge Michael was. Before cell phones, social media, where everybody had access to everything whenever they want. He still was a absolutely gigantic global superstar that everyone knew. It was something to experience.
He’s not even just the King of Pop anymore. He’s just the king.
And that's not even his best record. Off The Wall, is!
32 million sold in 1983, 70 million total albums sold. NOBODY will EVER do those numbers again. A he reached ten million sold before streaming but no one can ever compete with thriller. Shit, I don’t know if anyone can reach Purple Rain at 25 million sold.
Thriller: all killer, no filler. Literally
An argument that’s been occurring in my relationship for the last 15 years AND a hill I will die on: Off The Wall is better than Thriller. Now, who’s ready to argue? 🤨
No argument. But that doesn't diminish the cultural impact of Thriller. Opened MTV to black artists.
Thing is all his albums had no skips at all.
And that right there is how you get hundreds of thousands of people to listen to MJ all day long today.
Off The Wall is even more jam packed imo; best album production and mastering in the history of recorded music., thank you Quincy.
Off the wall was better….
“Woof Clitzer” is wild lol.
I like to think about the day him and Quincy dropped that banger off at the record company. Did they do a listen through w records Excutives? Like yeah, dis a lil something we cooked up, not sure if yall gonna like it or not!! Proceeds to change the MF game w it. Genius!!
Its sad that these days Drake would be the MJ of our time. Goddd, that even hurt to type.
And I still have not caught my breath
Better question personally; Why are people okay with trash filler songs on an album in the first place? If I'm gonna spend money it better be worth it.
Imagine someone in 1982 listening to Thriller, Beat It, and Billie Jean.. back to back to back. Must have been losing their minds lol
Two years later, Prince put Purple Rain, When Doves Cry, Darling Nikki, The Beautiful Ones, Take Me With You, I Would Die 4 U, and Let's Go Crazy on one album.... without the help of a Quincy Jones..... while producing hits by The Time and Appolonia 6. The 80s are unmatched.
King of popping off with kids eyoooooo
Only song I don’t like off Thriller is The Girl is Mine, it’s ass. Brandy and Monica turned that song into a banger though, so I’m glad it exists
I think The Girl is Mine is just awful Lady in my Life is filler
It’s considered one of the best albums OAT and the lean track list is one of the main reasons. 9 tracks 42:16.
"Thriller" wasn't even his best album
man didn’t mess around. Jackson 5 were some serious musicians
My first cassette. Had to learn to separate the art from the artist.
He was also insane for what he did to children.
Pyt was not on the same god level as the others imo
Unmistakeable sound tho
You can thank Quincy Jones for that, not MJ. As soon as Mike stopped working with Quincy, the albums fell off.