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How would MJ's solo albums do if they came out in reverse order?

Yazman

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There's a few versions here. He records them in the years listed for each scenario.

Version 1: The least drastic
I'm not counting posthumous stuff here and I'm thinking starting with Off the Wall.

1979: Invincible
1982: Blood on the Dance Floor: History in the Mix
1987: History (just the second disc)
1991: Dangerous
1995: Bad
1997: Thriller
2001: Off The Wall

How would Michael's career have ended up? How would the albums be received?

Version 2: Little Michael
What if Michael recorded Invincible as a kid, and Got To Be There came out in 2001?

1972 (Jan): Invincible
1972 (August): Blood on the Dance Floor: History in the Mix
1973: History (just the second disc)
1975: Dangerous
1979: Bad
1982: Thriller
1987: Off The Wall
1991: Forever, Michael
1995: Music & Me
1997: Ben
2001: Got To Be There

Version 3: Full Reversal
What if Music & Me was Michael's last album released in his lifetime? What if he launched his solo career after splitting from the Jacksons with History? How does Xscape do in the disco era? How do fans receive the posthumous Ben?

1972 (Jan): Xscape
1972 (August): Michael
1973: Invincible
1975: Blood on the Dance Floor: History in the Mix
1979: History (just the second disc)
1982: Dangerous
1987: Bad
1991: Thriller
1995: Off The Wall
1997: Forever, Michael
2001: Music & Me
2010: Ben (posthumous)
2014: Got To Be There (posthumous)
 
It wouldn't make sense if Invincible and History albums came out in the 70s or early 80s because they were hugely personal albums that were inspired by Michael's child abuse allegations and his strained relationship with the media. All of his albums show his natural progression as an artist and as a person. From the carefree nature of Off The Wall to dark and personal themes of History.

But anyway, if we are to assume that his albums came out in reverse order, his solo career would have never been nearly as successful as it was.
 
That's impossible because many of the instruments, the recording technology, and musical sounds (like New Jack Swing) didn't exist when the J5 first recorded. Then people like Teddy Riley, Eddie Van Halen, Chris Tucker, etc. weren't in the business yet. Quincy Jones was mainly doing film scores in the late 1960s & early 1970s. Rappers Delight hadn't came out yet so there was no hip hop and so no Heavy D or Notorious B.I.G. Although there were some music videos made at the time, they were rarely shown and no video outlet like MTV, Friday Night Videos, or Video Jukebox. It wasn't that common to have profanity on songs during that time either like there is after the 1990s, so something like Scream & This Time Around would be different if they existed at all.

Let's say the same exact lyrics were used, the music would be different. There was no programming in the late 1960s and they were recording onto tape not digital.
 
Interesting idea haha.

But it would not work at all.
Off The Wall and Thriller also went through the roof because the sound fit perfectly to those eras of disco, rock etc.
In 1979 noone would be ready for those hiphop'ish productions of Invincible or HIStory.

The only good thing, as much as those recent albums would fail back then, in hindsight, Michael would probably be seen as a "pioneer" and credited with inventing all those styles. :D
 
hip hop

Electro said:
In 1979 noone would be ready for those hiphop'ish productions of Invincible or HIStory.
Click to expand...
There were hip hop records in 1979, but there wasn't really a hip hop sound yet other than turntable scratching. Early rap records just sounded like the funk, R&B, or disco songs of the time because a lot of it was using session musicians to replay the music from other songs or the hip hop DJ was scratching the breakbeat or extending an instrumental part from a record. That's why early rap songs were often long (7 minutes or more) since funk & disco records were longer songs for clubs, not for radio airplay per se. Most early rap was on maxi singles and not regular 45 singles.
 
Electro said:
Interesting idea haha.

But it would not work at all.
Off The Wall and Thriller also went through the roof because the sound fit perfectly to those eras of disco, rock etc.
In 1979 noone would be ready for those hiphop'ish productions of Invincible or HIStory.

The only good thing, as much as those recent albums would fail back then, in hindsight, Michael would probably be seen as a "pioneer" and credited with inventing all those styles. :D
Click to expand...

That's actually a really good point. He'd probably even be credited with inventing hip hop.
 
Honestly if Invincible was been his first album I'm not sure he would have a second one.
Invincible has a couple of nice songs, but overall it's quite boring and lacks of originality.
He would have been a "one hit wonder" probably for the song You Rock My World.
 
This entire thread made my head hurt??*?? that doesn't even make since...invincible....his 1st solo album? In 1979? Yeah like mj would write "privacy" in 79... lol im so frustrated by this topic!
 
Re: hip hop

DuranDuran said:
There were hip hop records in 1979, but there wasn't really a hip hop sound yet other than turntable scratching. Early rap records just sounded like the funk, R&B, or disco songs of the time because a lot of it was using session musicians to replay the music from other songs or the hip hop DJ was scratching the breakbeat or extending an instrumental part from a record. That's why early rap songs were often long (7 minutes or more) since funk & disco records were longer songs for clubs, not for radio airplay per se. Most early rap was on maxi singles and not regular 45 singles.
Click to expand...

Yes I know the history of early Hiphop very well. The sound changed a lot during the decades.
 
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