When was Michael at his best as a live vocalist and studio vocalist?

Nite Line

Proud Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2016
Messages
2,891
Points
113
Inspired by the recent ‘Michael’s vocals changing between Thriller and Bad’ thread.

As far as live vocals go, I think Michael was at his best from 1969-1988. Recently, I have been watching and listening to a lot of Michael’s performances from the 70s and early 80s, and it’s astonishing how smooth and effortless he sounds. At times, I can’t tell if he is singing live or lip-syncing. His vocals were out of this world during that period.

Sadly, his live vocals declined after the 80s, and I blame that on the long and gruelling bad tour. We all know about the disaster that was the History tour, so I won’t even talk about it. But even the Dangerous tour had at times had less than diserable vocals. WBSS & Human Nature both sounded quite average. They both sounded great in the 80s. At times, Mike sounded out of breath. But there were some great vocals on the Dangerous Tour such as MITM as-libs.

Now, as far as studio vocals are concerned, I think Michael was at his best during the 90s, in particular, the History album. Michael always had nice, gentle and soft vocals, but starting from the Bad album, his vocals got more gritty, more angry. And it was during the History album, where Michael grittier vocals were at its peak. Listen to songs such as Scream, They Don’t Care About Us, Earth Song ad-libs, Morphine etc. His vocals are so raw, angry and gritty. I can’t imagine Thriller and Off The Wall Michael singing those kind of songs. And of course, Michael didn’t lose his natural soft & tender vocals during the 90s, if songs like Stranger In Moscow, Childhood, Little Susie, Gone Too Soon are anything to go by. I think the History sessions provided us with the perfect blend of Michael’s soft and tender vocals with his grittier and angry vocals.

So, what do you guys think? I think the decline of Michael’s live vocals coincided with the improvement of his studio vocals.
 
If I am not mistaken, Michael had a lung condition and that would have made it pretty hard for him to sing and dance for two hours. Well, it's already pretty hard to do, even if you're completely healthy and fit.
Dancing and singing live on Michael's level is practically impossible IMO. And then he goes and speeds up the songs even more sometimes. That was incredibly hard. So as far as the up tempo songs go, I was never a fan of the live vocals. Because you just can't sing perfectly while you dance like that. And in the studio MJ sounds perfect. When he sings the slow songs live he comes pretty close (Human Nature for example is outstanding live).

I find your question fascinating. I never thought about Michael's voice declining. He was still pretty young when he passed. But his voice did change over the years. I have to say, I prefer the grittier sounding Michael on Bad and onwards. I never understood why everyone is so in love with Off The Wall. It was always my least favorite adult-MJ album. I feel like he hadn't found his sound yet.

I guess in my opinion, if I look at it in terms of peak vocal performance, it would have to be the Bad album. And as far as live performance goes, it's definitely the Bad World Tour, hands down. I read somewhere that doctors told him that he would ruin his voice if he runs through the whole Bad World Tour singing live and he did it anyway. Then in the Dangerous World Tour he used a lot more playback (if I remember right). Maybe there's some truth to that.
 
If I had to pick one live vocal performance above all others it would be Shake Your Body from Yokohama 87. His voice in that performance was so clear and powerful, it blows my mind everytime.

Couple that with his dancing and intensity of his movements and its damn near the perfect MJ performance.
 
Great thread! I always find myself changing my mind on this.

Some days I hear The Jacksons, especially Destiny and Triumph era and think it's there and the same with the Dangerous era, the passion and the emotion he pores into songs like Who Is It and Will You Be There, but I always come back to the Bad era because I think it was the first time he really found his groove and his place as a singer. He challenged himself vocally on a number of tracks and he more than met those challenges and became a better singer for them. He sounded like a superstar throughout his career, but his vocals were impeccable in the Bad era
So Bad era for studio

As for live, again I had a hard time deciding so I'm saying two (sorry to cheat)
First I'm going for on the Triumph tour, he just had it in this era. Honestly I could have voted this solely for the live version of Rock With You on the Jacksons Live CD, that is just another level
But I'm also going to say his live vocals in early 1987 were so good it was remarkable, the live version of Human Nature Yokohama is immense. But throughout most of the first leg his vocals were so good, if only he would have sung some Bad album tracks on the first leg of the tour.
So for live 1981 and 1987

Shout out for little Mike though, he was such a great singer on the first solo album Got To Be There. Also the live vocal of Who's Lovin' You from the Ed Sullivan show is just amazing, I listen to often because honestly it's one of the best live vocals I've ever heard, to think he was 10/11 is just astounding
 
Been Told;4227303 said:
If I am not mistaken, Michael had a lung condition and that would have made it pretty hard for him to sing and dance for two hours. Well, it's already pretty hard to do, even if you're completely healthy and fit.
Dancing and singing live on Michael's level is practically impossible IMO. And then he goes and speeds up the songs even more sometimes. That was incredibly hard. So as far as the up tempo songs go, I was never a fan of the live vocals. Because you just can't sing perfectly while you dance like that. And in the studio MJ sounds perfect. When he sings the slow songs live he comes pretty close (Human Nature for example is outstanding live).

But even on one off performances, when he was singing ballads, he mimed and his live vocals near the end sounded rough and scratchy. Just listen to The history tour in Brunei where he sings scream live, it’s the first song of the concert and he hadn’t done any strenuous dancing prior to it and his voice was so harsh, rough and scratchy. I think it’s more to it than his lung condition.
 
For studio vocals definetely the 90s and 2000s! Invincible was IMO his album with his best vocals on it. His voice was improving as he got older, his vocal coach Seth Riggs confirmed that. I would LOVE to hear more songs from the late 2000s, his voice sounds so smooth and amazing on "Best Of Joy".

For live vocals I have to say the older he got it obviously got harder and harder for him to sing and dance on that level at the same time. But if you listen to his live performance of "Gone Too Soon" or the Dangerous Tour Rehearsals or the "Elizabeth I Love You" performance you see that his live vocals never actually declined. The Jackson 5 medley from 2001 is actually my favorite Jackson 5 medley performance, Michael's vocals just blow me every time. The This Is It "Human Nature" rehearsal is my favorite performance of that song. I think the vocals on that are at least 3 times better than on the studio version.

I wish Michael wouldn't have focussed so much on dancing but rather singing in his later years..
 
Far and away, his worst vocal performances on an album. Unfortunately.

Definitely agree. You can tell when he screams that his voice is straining a lot. It sounds very different to how his screams sounded on previous records. People always say it sounds cool but it sounded very unhealthy to me.
 
Far and away, his worst vocal performances on an album. Unfortunately.

Invincible is a mixed bag for me. Because on certain songs such as Speechless, his vocals are absolutely heavenly. Speechless is my all time favorite Michael Jackson vocal performance. But when you listen to a song like Heaven Can Wait, where MJ is clearly struggling to scream and do his high vocals. Invincible is a mixed bag for me. Some great vocal moments but also some not so great vocal moments. Definitely his worst vocal performance on an album, I agree with that.
 
His best vocal he ever did was on someone in the dark. Just listen to it, he peaked really at that period of time.
 
What are you talking about, how are his vocal performances on songs like Heaven Can Wait, Whatever Happens, Cry or Butterflies anything but good?!!?!

His voice became much deeper in the 2000s and he added different styles to his singing on Invincible.
He just added an extra grittyness to his vocals on certain songs.
You can hear that grittyness in combination with high vocals and ever so flawless screams on "We've Had Enough"!

And he was struggling to hit high notes??????? What about Butterflies????? What about Cry???? Listen to the ending of I'll Be There at the 30th Anniversary! What about All In Your Name???!!?! Or What More Can I Give?!
He was singing EXTREMLY high notes on "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" during This Is It!
He was still EASILY hitting high notes and it sounded better than ever!

It is as if in the 2000s his vocal range got wider, his vocals got gritty-er AND smoother.
 
Last edited:
What are you talking about, how are his vocal performances on songs like Heaven Can Wait, Whatever Happens, Cry or Butterflies anything but good?!!?!

His voice became much deeper in the 2000s and he added different styles to his singing on Invincible.
He just added an extra grittyness to his vocals on certain songs.
You can hear that grittyness in combination with high vocals and ever so flawless screams on "We've Had Enough"!

And he was struggling to hit high notes??????? What about Butterflies????? What about Cry???? Listen to the ending of I'll Be There at the 30th Anniversary! What about All In Your Name???!!?! Or What More Can I Give?!
He was singing EXTREMLY high notes on "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" during This Is It!
He was still EASILY hitting high notes and it sounded better than ever!

It is as if in the 2000s his vocal range got wider, his vocals got gritty-er AND smoother.

I think his vocals were incredible during This Is It and on songs like Best Of Joy, Hold My Hand and WBSS 2008 that were all recorded in 2007 and 2008. But I think his vocals were bit compromised on Invincible. A bit nasally at times. Still incredible but not his best imo.
 
But I think his vocals were bit compromised on Invincible. A bit nasally at times.
Absolutely agree. Not sure what happened to Michael around that time. But either his lips were incapacitated in some way or he sounded kind of nasal. That's the reason I never listen to the YRMW intro. It makes me cringe.
 
Strongly disagree regarding Invincible vocals. Some absolutely wonderful early 2000’s R&B. MJs vocals are amazing and Butterflies acapella stands up against any acapella in his career.
 
dam2040;4227493 said:
Strongly disagree regarding Invincible vocals. Some absolutely wonderful early 2000’s R&B. MJs vocals are amazing and Butterflies acapella stands up against any acapella in his career.

Thank you! I almost thought I was the only one.
Exactly, the Butterflies acapella is absolutely AMAZING!
I hope all the acapellas from Invincible songs would leak..

But either his lips were incapacitated in some way or he sounded kind of nasal.
Maybe you should get your ears checked.
 
regarding Invincible vocals, while I'll admit there are portions that just don't feel as seemless, like he had to try to control his voice where as it came naturally before. But there is some magic with the vocals, 'Break Of Dawn' for me.. those lower registers, sentual style.. it's awesome!

They filtered more than they used to on that album which took away from the voice a bit, and in all honesty there was some nasal sound issues in parts.. BUT! still the greatest.. And that's not kiss ass talk, that's just being blown away once again.
 
Bad tour First leg had some of his best live vocals. Destiny/Triumph/Victory are all up there IMO. I agree the bad tour took a major toll on his health. I think that's why at the time he stated it would be his last tour because he really did give his all.
As for studio, id go with his later work.
 
His best vocal he ever did was on someone in the dark. Just listen to it, he peaked really at that period of time.

I heard it for the first time in ages the other day and I'm ashamed to say I forgot how amazing it is. His vocal performance on that is just superb, it's the part where he goes falsetto slightly for the line, "Oh I believe you and I, could never really say goodbye". Just beautiful thank you for reminding of that magic gem
 
I heard it for the first time in ages the other day and I'm ashamed to say I forgot how amazing it is. His vocal performance on that is just superb, it's the part where he goes falsetto slightly for the line, "Oh I believe you and I, could never really say goodbye". Just beautiful thank you for reminding of that magic gem
Yes, the emotion in that line, as well in the "it tells you, never be afraid" lines, is just amazing. A breathtaking vocal performance that really tugs at the heartstrings.
 
I think in the Thriller era his vocals were at his lowest (still amazingly great)
 
Far and away, his worst vocal performances on an album. Unfortunately.

Although technically not released, Chicago was by far one of his best performance vocally. The voice in YRMW and Butterflies was exceptional and a welcome departure from the grittier voice we heard in other songs. The vocals in WMCIG? were outstanding too. He was over the age of 40 here too, which is pretty impressive. 40+ is old man in the music business, unless you're Sia or Michael Jackson.
 
I hope to hear more songs from 2006-09. His vocals on songs like Best of Joy, Hold My Hand and WBSS 2008 are absolutely gorgeous.
 
I hope to hear more songs from 2006-09. His vocals on songs like Best of Joy, Hold My Hand and WBSS 2008 are absolutely gorgeous.

Unfortunately most if not all songs from that period contain little to no vocals.
 
Although technically not released, Chicago was by far one of his best performance vocally. The voice in YRMW and Butterflies was exceptional and a welcome departure from the grittier voice we heard in other songs. The vocals in WMCIG? were outstanding too. He was over the age of 40 here too, which is pretty impressive. 40+ is old man in the music business, unless you're Sia or Michael Jackson.

I'll give you Butterflies but not YRMW. His voice sounds, at times, very strained.
 
Choosing when his best live vocals were is hard because I believe capability of best vocals may be different than my favorite vocal moments.. for example before the end of dangerous tour he sounded great and may have had the best capability vocally but he really gave himself moments to show off his vocals in bad.
Ad lib sections that he just went off for minutes!! Sooo how to a chose? Just go with bad for the way he showed it off?
 
Live vocals - Triumph, Victory and BAD

Album vocals - Dangerous/HIStory


Can't be more specific. :)
 
Back
Top