Which music style suit MJ most?

mj_frenzy

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Apart from being a strict pop singer (like many people still tend to believe), MJ adopted many different music styles during his entire career. This, of course, could have been attributed to a number of different reasons (music trends of each period, ways of musical expression triggered by personal issues, artistic intents, & so on).

There is no question that the more diversified the sound of the music each time he released, the more diversified (& probably bigger) each time his audience became. To put it another way, this sound diversification probably led also to bigger commercial success, which for an artist makes a lot of sense.

But generally speaking, not all the music styles that a singer adopts during his career suit him equally (or do him justice equally), & I think that MJ was not an exception to this rule.

So, which music style suit MJ most?

For example:

- The abrupt, angular music style that is mostly apparent in the ‘new jack swing’ tracks (for example, ‘Jam’, ‘Blood On The Dance Floor’) but also on other type of songs (such as ‘In The Back’, ‘Heartbreaker’)?

- The mid-tempo, R’n’B music style which is apparent in ballads that MJ never stopped to record throughout his career (such as, ‘Break Of Dawn’, ‘I Can’t Help It’, ‘Human Nature’)?

- The disco music style that is mostly apparent in the majority of the songs of his first, adult solo album (‘Off The Wall’) but also in subsequent songs (like ‘Baby Be Mine’)?

- The hard-rock oriented music style that showed a more aggressive aspect of his musical personality (like ‘Give In To Me’, ‘Dirty Diana’)?

- The funk music style that his hard-core fans seem to be particularly fond of (such as ‘Superfly Sister’, ‘Bad’)?

- The hip-hop/rap music style that MJ tried to familiarize himself with it (‘Money’, for example)?

I am aware, of course, that this question probably cannot get a unanimous answer since it has to do also with different personal tastes concerning the different music styles. As a result, the main question may sound more as a rhetorical one.
 
Personally, I love hard rock and angry/depressing MJ. I very rarely listen to his 'fluffy' (if you could call them that) songs from the OTW and Thriller period.
 
I love when MJ went funk! Superfly sister, BOTDF, Cheater, APOM, She Got It, Jam, I could just go on and on
 
I love his hard-rock oriented songs. But, his new jack swing songs on the Dangerous album are freakinnnnnn' awesome.
 
Nice thread :D

I would say where you hear the 'rawness' of Michael's voice. His anger sneer. :blush: I love that! Makes my brain 'recognize' MJ's voice. lol
Like Dirty Diana, Beat it, BAD, Morphine,...

I do love the 'fluffy' songs :eek: but only when I'm in a fluffly mood lol.

So, I think that the 'rock' edge in Michael suits him the BEST!
 
Gatesy2006;4126786 said:
Personally, I love hard rock and angry/depressing MJ. I very rarely listen to his 'fluffy' (if you could call them that) songs from the OTW and Thriller period.

Daryll748;4126847 said:
Nice thread :D

I would say where you hear the 'rawness' of Michael's voice. His anger sneer. :blush: I love that! Makes my brain 'recognize' MJ's voice. lol
Like Dirty Diana, Beat it, BAD, Morphine,...

I do love the 'fluffy' songs :eek: but only when I'm in a fluffly mood lol.

So, I think that the 'rock' edge in Michael suits him the BEST!

Doggone;4126799 said:
I love his hard-rock oriented songs.

I am pleasantly surprised to see that fans love a lot his rock musical aspect!

Generally speaking, I am not a fan of rock music at all (let alone hard rock) but I think that his rock tracks (‘Give In To Me’, ‘Dirty Diana’, ‘Beat It’, for example) put many famous rock singers’ songs to shame.

I am really curious what other (hard-rock) rock tracks could have brought out if he was more interested into that music genre.

This is true. I mean that MJ used to channel a lot of ‘anger’ into his songs generally (& not necessarily only into the rock ones). He achieved that musically (harsh guitar riffs, various sound effects, for example), lyrically (ironic use of words, for example) & also vocally (harsh rasps/heavy breathes, for example) & for a number of different reasons (personal matters, global concerns, & so on).

For example, the first two songs from the ‘Dangerous album end with an explosion (reflecting anger triggered by both global & personal issues), not to mention the second ‘HIStory’ disc which presents MJ at his angriest.

Doggone;4126799 said:
But, his new jack swing songs on the Dangerous album are freakinnnnnn' awesome.

I can understand the fans’ enthusiasm about the ‘new jack swing’ style. But, in my opinion, MJ overdid it with it. I mean that he should have released only the most powerful 'new jack swing' tracks (like ‘In The Closet’, ‘Jam’) leaving the rest of them out of the ‘Dangerous’ album.

Themidwestcowboy;4126789 said:
I love when MJ went funk! Superfly sister, BOTDF, Cheater, APOM, She Got It, Jam, I could just go on and on

I think that the funk music style did him justice & also fit a lot with his characteristic, staccato vocal style.
 
I love most of his songs, but I think the best and the ones that suit him the most are the NJS, Rock and Funk songs. When I think about what songs identify Michael I think about those genres
 
Dance pop for me, the best Michael Jackson songs had a danceable hook and a catchy melody. Anything he could showcase his amazing dance moves too is great. Billie Jean, Bad, The Way you make me feel, Jam.

I also love his funk cuts like Who is it, why you wanna trip on me and Keep it in the closet as being a huge Prince fan, I love the Prince like sound of these cuts, Dangerous is definitely the album MJ came the closest to sounding like Prince.

Of course his ballads are beautiful too.
 
Dance pop for me, the best Michael Jackson songs had a danceable hook and a catchy melody. Anything he could showcase his amazing dance moves too is great. Billie Jean, Bad, The Way you make me feel, Jam.

I also love his funk cuts like Who is it, why you wanna trip on me and Keep it in the closet as being a huge Prince fan, I love the Prince like sound of these cuts, Dangerous is definitely the album MJ came the closest to sounding like Prince.

Of course his ballads are beautiful too.

No it's not.
 
I feel like Michael Jackson's musical repertoire is so expansive that he could really pull off anything...Well, maybe not dubstep or country....

That being said, I've always loved Michael's rock n' roll tunes being a fan of rock and metal myself. Beat It, Give In To Me, Dirty Diana...all great songs.
 
He was at his best when he stayed closer to his roots, channeling the influences of James Brown, Jackie Wilson and other Soul/R&B/Funk masters. He definitely had the chops to tackle any genre.
 
^That Destiny, Off The Wall, Triumph & Thriller series of albums for me was his best in showcasing his 'roots'.
 
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