MJ's most creative songs?

JichaelMackson

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This is mostly a thread for musicologists, I don't know if any are here. People that know a thing or two about music and how it is created.
I'm looking for insight on recordings that are mind-blowing, creative, rule breaking stuff. (The Beatles and The Kinks are known for breaking the rules regarding to popular music)

I'm not sure if the following songs are groundbreaking but I at the time of it's release never heard anything like HIStory (the song), Little Susie and Morphine.

Let's see where this thread goes...
 
I think Wanna Be Starting Something, Heartbreaker and Speed Demon are three highly innovative tracks. I wouldn't say rule breaking, honestly not many songs that are made are truly rule breaking, but these three songs sticks out to me. When you think about it, WBSS doesn't even have a clear structure. It's "all over the place" in the best way ever. I might come back with other songs.
 
This is slightly off topic but I always loved several tracks of Roy Orbison who took the verse - chorus - verse structure of songs apart in the 60s , he made music that builded up to a climax. One of my faves is "running scared". That's definitely breaking the conventional rules of popular music.
 
I think Wanna Be Starting Something, Heartbreaker and Speed Demon are three highly innovative tracks. I wouldn't say rule breaking, honestly not many songs that are made are truly rule breaking, but these three songs sticks out to me. When you think about it, WBSS doesn't even have a clear structure. It's "all over the place" in the best way ever. I might come back with other songs.

Heartbreaker has a mind blowing beat imo, it sounds so complex , I often hear things I never heard before in this beat. It's his last masterpiece imo
 
I need to listen to heartbreaker again when I get a chance. that song been talked about a lot lately
 
I remember the first time listening to Morphine when it got to the piano part "relax...this won't hurt you.." just being thrown off guard by the complete 180 degree turn of the song
 
Even though I'm not a fan of She Drives Me Wild, it has to be one of Michael's most creative songs. Instead of using instruments, sounds of car engine, car horns, car door closing was used and I think that is absolute genius.
 
Even though I'm not a fan of She Drives Me Wild, it has to be one of Michael's most creative songs. Instead of using instruments, sounds of car engine, car horns, car door closing was used and I think that is absolute genius.

This song really had to grow on me. I really did not like it anymore. I truly love the Dangerous album from the beginning to the end.
 
This song really had to grow on me. I really did not like it anymore. I truly love the Dangerous album from the beginning to the end.

It's the only song from Dangerous that I don't like.
 
Great topic

1. Tabloid Junkie, criminally underrated track. I think if Mike's voice had been more audible in parts perhaps this was single material. The hook is everything. It's a weird kind of song really, because structurally it's textbook Mike (lush harmonies, vocal percussion, strong hook) but it sounds so new fresh and unlike Mike. I love it

2. Is It Scary, The idea behind this is nothing short of genius lyrically. Mike painting himself as this caricature observing himself through the mirror and then taking that mirror and then facing it toward the listener (mainly the media) and saying look at yourself, do you like what you see or Is It Scary for you baby? Incredible. As a structure it's great as well because the tension is always building and Mike is coming back stronger at every verse

3. In The Closet, I love this, every time I hear it I find myself smiling because the breaking of the structure is so new and unlike Michael but it feels like a throwback to a harder Don't Stop Til' You Get Enough at the time. It really conveys the message that Michael was trying to stay true to himself but show the audience a more mature side of his artistry.

4. Morphine, I get why people don't like this but I think it's a haunting masterpiece. Sonically it doesn't sound like Mike but you can feel the soul in it. He bleeds his heart out to the listener but he doesn't do it in a ballad which would come across as pleading instead he doesn't in a thumping heavy sounding rock track and comes across as a cry for help.

5. In The Back, I hope there is a finished version of this somewhere, because the foundation is so solid and the soundscape created is mesmerizing.

Honourable mentions, Smooth Criminal, Leave Me Alone, Butterflies, Beautiful Girl, Wanna Be Startin' Something, Stranger In Moscow
 
Great topic

1. Tabloid Junkie, criminally underrated track. I think if Mike's voice had been more audible in parts perhaps this was single material. The hook is everything. It's a weird kind of song really, because structurally it's textbook Mike (lush harmonies, vocal percussion, strong hook) but it sounds so new fresh and unlike Mike. I love it

2. Is It Scary, The idea behind this is nothing short of genius lyrically. Mike painting himself as this caricature observing himself through the mirror and then taking that mirror and then facing it toward the listener (mainly the media) and saying look at yourself, do you like what you see or Is It Scary for you baby? Incredible. As a structure it's great as well because the tension is always building and Mike is coming back stronger at every verse

3. In The Closet, I love this, every time I hear it I find myself smiling because the breaking of the structure is so new and unlike Michael but it feels like a throwback to a harder Don't Stop Til' You Get Enough at the time. It really conveys the message that Michael was trying to stay true to himself but show the audience a more mature side of his artistry.

4. Morphine, I get why people don't like this but I think it's a haunting masterpiece. Sonically it doesn't sound like Mike but you can feel the soul in it. He bleeds his heart out to the listener but he doesn't do it in a ballad which would come across as pleading instead he doesn't in a thumping heavy sounding rock track and comes across as a cry for help.

5. In The Back, I hope there is a finished version of this somewhere, because the foundation is so solid and the soundscape created is mesmerizing.

Wow. I was thinking about the exact same songs. Great mini-descriptions too. Thank you! Just one minor difference for me though: Morphine sounds very MJ-ish for me even sonically - not the usual sound of course, but it fits him and the topic perfectly IMO.

My honourable mentions would be Who Is It, Leave Me Alone, Speed Demon, Money, Scream.
 
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It's gonna take while for me to do this one so this will be in my favorites list until i can name all my favorite creative MJ songs.
 
I think the song Dangerous is so uniquely MJ and is as perfect as a song can get. Spoken lyrics, amazing pre-chorus, the chorus, the bridge, the repetition near the end that flows so great and stays fresh.
 
Very nice little reviews there SmoothCriminal1995! It's always fun to read well written opinions, I wish I had that talent :)
Sheds some new light on old songs, makes me want to listen to them again!

"I'm gonna be exactly what you wanna see" in Is it scary is a very profound lyric
 
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Don’t Be Messin Round released on Bad 25 sounds very creative. We know that a more finished version of the song exists, so I hope we get to hear it someday.
 
For me the problem with Tabloid Junkie and Is It Scary is they feel like ideas that weren't fleshed out. Is It Scary feels like it recycles verses from Ghosts (given it is sequenced after it on the LP) and those verses don't feel wholly connected to the chorus or b-sections.

And Tabloid Junkie feels to me like it doesn't have verses. It's a bit like a mumbling demo in that sense. But then explodes into these blistering b-section and choruses.
 
For me the problem with Tabloid Junkie and Is It Scary is they feel like ideas that weren't fleshed out. Is It Scary feels like it recycles verses from Ghosts (given it is sequenced after it on the LP) and those verses don't feel wholly connected to the chorus or b-sections.

And Tabloid Junkie feels to me like it doesn't have verses. It's a bit like a mumbling demo in that sense. But then explodes into these blistering b-section and choruses.

With you on all of the above! There are some recycled lyrics for sure!

PS: ChrisC you are forgetting that we were penpals for many years! lol
 
For me the problem with Tabloid Junkie and Is It Scary is they feel like ideas that weren't fleshed out. Is It Scary feels like it recycles verses from Ghosts (given it is sequenced after it on the LP) and those verses don't feel wholly connected to the chorus or b-sections.

And Tabloid Junkie feels to me like it doesn't have verses. It's a bit like a mumbling demo in that sense. But then explodes into these blistering b-section and choruses.

This is somethign that has been on my mind for a long time. Whenever MJ rapped he always did in this inaudible, mumbling way like in Tabloid Junkie or Shout!. It was his style of rapping but I just wish that they were more audible because MJ really had bars.
 
For me the problem with Tabloid Junkie and Is It Scary is they feel like ideas that weren't fleshed out. Is It Scary feels like it recycles verses from Ghosts (given it is sequenced after it on the LP) and those verses don't feel wholly connected to the chorus or b-sections.

And Tabloid Junkie feels to me like it doesn't have verses. It's a bit like a mumbling demo in that sense. But then explodes into these blistering b-section and choruses.

I think the rap part in Tabloid Junkie that isn't very audible serves a purpose. That part of the song represents the media and serves the point that they talk rubbish, hence why the vocals are very hard to understand and sound gibberish. The part where MJ's vocals becomes audible represents him and his point of view. MJ is obviously very clear in his message that "just because you read in a magazine or see it on a TV screen, don't make it factual."
 
I think the rap part in Tabloid Junkie that isn't very audible serves a purpose. That part of the song represents the media and serves the point that they talk rubbish, hence why the vocals are very hard to understand and sound gibberish. The part where MJ's vocals becomes audible represents him and his point of view. MJ is obviously very clear in his message that "just because you read in a magazine or see it on a TV screen, don't make it factual."
Ironically I know the lyrics top to bottom. But shout..... totally different story!
 
Hess;4289975 said:
Who Is It

Oh yes, how could I forget it! *runs to update list*

I'm tented to put Give In To Me on the list as well, as apart from being a rockish song (which isn't too new or special, not even for MJ) it has a strange "old" feeling to it that I can't really explain which makes it sort of "mystic".

Nite Line;4289976 said:
Don’t Be Messin Round released on Bad 25 sounds very creative. We know that a more finished version of the song exists, so I hope we get to hear it someday.

This song came into my mind as well actually (I love it, it's very catchy and charming with a sort of jazzy and Latin vibe) but then I thought that maybe we only feel it's "creative" because it's fresh and new coming from MJ? (I hope I'm making sense here, haha, and I don't mean it as a bad thing at all). BTW I didn't know there was a more finished version, why wasn't it released?
 
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