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Is there such a thing as a bad MJ song, album or performance?

Nite Line said:
Whatever Happens is great, but Michael's vocal performance on that song is not very good, imo. Had Whatever Happens been released on his previous albums when his studio vocals were still great, I would consider it to be one of his finest songs.
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I’m not sure what you’re hearing, to be honest. What’s not great about those vocals?
 
Agonum said:
What decline?
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Decline in terms of sounding hoarse, raspy, strained, breathy, etc, during certain recording sessions/songs in his later career.

It is also interesting that many of the singer's collaborators avoid answering questions about that.

For example, sound engineer Brad Sundberg is said to ignore such questions from attendees (during his seminars).

Some people also have asserted that his staccato singing style from the 'BAD’ era onwards (which is a very demanding style) put a strain on his vocal cords and this also led to a vocal decline which is apparent in his later recording sessions/songs.
 
Agonum said:
I’m not sure what you’re hearing, to be honest. What’s not great about those vocals?
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Agree, the vocals on whatever happens are great.

His vocals on Invincible are a bit different due to age and his attempt to sound a bit more mature, that's all - maybe a touch nasally though.

The issue with Vince are that the songs are not catchy enough, the chorus on most tracks are too long winded.
 
Agonum said:
I’m not sure what you’re hearing, to be honest. What’s not great about those vocals?
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MJ is straining his voice and trying too hard to get a good vocal- it’s a very labored vocal. Also the tone of his voice sounds like he had a cold when he was recording it.
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
So you don't have a real answer. You just saying whatever I'm afraid.

MJ was an interpretive singer who sang music emotively. He didn't care about holding notes or sounding pretty or any of that, and he stopped doing that pretty much whenever he needed to. Earth Song is wonderfully imperfect vocally and that's what makes it sound good. Sure you'll say there's still a big difference but idk, they all have the same ambiance to me.
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I think the overall issue with his vocal on Whatever Happens is that it sounds very labored. Like he is trying too hard to record a good vocal, if that makes sense. But that aside, I agree with you that it is an excellently written song. I just wish it had a better vocal on it.
 
Well. Idk, I find it engaging. It sounds more to me like he's enunciating better so you can understand him more often. It's way easier to hear the words in Invincible than it was in the HIStory era, which as great as it was, was basically a CD full of


Especially Tabloid Junkie. My God, is it catchy, even though it's basically sung in cursive.
 
mj_frenzy said:
Decline in terms of sounding hoarse, raspy, strained, breathy, etc, during certain recording sessions/songs in his later career.

It is also interesting that many of the singer's collaborators avoid answering questions about that.

For example, sound engineer Brad Sundberg is said to ignore such questions from attendees (during his seminars).

Some people also have asserted that his staccato singing style from the 'BAD’ era onwards (which is a very demanding style) put a strain on his vocal cords and this also led to a vocal decline which is apparent in his later recording sessions/songs.
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I don’t hear a decline at all. On Invincible the vocals are generally mixed differently compared to in previous albums: drier, and thus more up-close, mainly. This is evident in Whatever Happens, and could explain what might be found as sounding more strained.

If Brad wouldn’t give an answer in regard to Michael’s vocal decline, I’d bet that’s because he’s not aware of any such thing.
 
The only MJ track I really don't care for has to be Shout. As far as I remember it was released on the Cry single, but it's not really a song that is known outside the fantom.
As for his main album tracks, Privacy is my least favourite. Lyrically it's trying too hard to be edgy and the chorus is rather bland.

As for his performances I can honestly say that I enjoy them all and there isn't any of them I would classify as being bad.

As per usual, the Michael album gets disqualified for cheating.
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
The Michael album is 7 songs now, no fake material at all. What is cheating about it now?
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That's a good point. I guess the Michael album is fine nowadays without the fakes.

The whole project is still tainted for me though even as I individually love the remaining seven tracks. Just seeing the album cover makes my blood boil. Too many bad memories.
 
For what it’s worth I’m not fond myself of Michael’s vocals when he goes “belting out” his lyrics on Invincible. He sounds great on the slower songs but the ad libs (usually where I get goosebumps) sound strained to me too. Like unpleasant almost. This is noticeable (for me) on songs like heaven can wait, invincible and whatever happens.
 
André89 said:
That's a good point. I guess the Michael album is fine nowadays without the fakes.

The whole project is still tainted for me though even as I individually love the remaining seven tracks. Just seeing the album cover makes my blood boil. Too many bad memories.
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For me it's kinda the opposite. That album, those tracks, solidified my MJ love. I knew MJ, and Off The Wall was a classic in my household, and my life. But I didn't personally know his body of work until I discovered it, and it started here.

Divorced of all the online drama, I just listened. I discovered music streaming (with Rhapsody, now Napster), and I really embraced hearing pop music. Hearing Behind The Mask for the first time, it opened a new phase in my music consumership. It was positively incandescent and like a snapshot of MJ in his peak hey day.

The Casio tracks, ehh I just kinda liked em. Keep your Head Up genuinely sounds okay, but I didn't like it that much. Monster is super catchy, actually. And breaking News is a train wreck, but the brashness and confidence of it is downright awesome in it's attention grabbing. Just fascinating all around. I am more than happy to cast them away forever, and I'll even grant amnesty, especially if there's more to the story. But idk, call it a guilty pleasure.
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
Well. Idk, I find it engaging. It sounds more to me like he's enunciating better so you can understand him more often. It's way easier to hear the words in Invincible than it was in the HIStory era, which as great as it was, was basically a CD full of


Especially Tabloid Junkie. My God, is it catchy, even though it's basically sung in cursive.
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Like, Please, my Life, can ANYONE understand Come Together at all???? Whatever Happens sounds as clear and enunciated as a British Queen's Closed Captions in comparison.
 
Every time someone says, Bad, Invincible, or Xscape are not good, they seem to immediately go viral in return. Can you say Get out of the Echo Chamber?
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
Every time someone says, Bad, Invincible, or Xscape are not good, they seem to immediately go viral in return. Can you say Get out of the Echo Chamber?
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The albums, or the songs? I think there are great songs to be found in all of them, and Bad is a great album Imo. I just see Invincible, Michael, Xscape, some of BOTDF as much weaker projects compared to other MJ albums.
 
André89 said:
That's a good point. I guess the Michael album is fine nowadays without the fakes.

The whole project is still tainted for me though even as I individually love the remaining seven tracks. Just seeing the album cover makes my blood boil. Too many bad memories.
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I prefer the seven remixed tracks on the Michael album over the Xscape remixes.
 
Hollywood_Tonight said:
The albums, or the songs? I think there are great songs to be found in all of them, and Bad is a great album Imo. I just see Invincible, Michael, Xscape, some of BOTDF as much weaker projects compared to other MJ albums.
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Again, see, that's just your opinion. I don't even disagree,but the new generation see things differently. These albums were made for them. And again they're still going viral, it's like the more you say it.
 
AlwaysThere said:
It’s all subjective at the end of the day, but every artist has “bad” songs, videos, performances, and ideas. Not everybody will agree on what they are, but we all have favorites and least favorites. Mine are:
  • The music video for “Man in the Mirror.” I understand the sentiment behind it, but it was a huge missed opportunity.
  • The HIStory Tour in its entirety is probably the worst project MJ ever took on. Mediocre/underwhelming set list, lip-synching all but 15 minutes of a 2-hour show, consistently horrible live vocals, and absolutely nothing new or original. It’s a complete and utter failure in my eyes.
  • The vocals on “Heaven Can Wait” are embarrassing. The song itself is whatever, but his performance is easily the worst in his discography.
  • Participating in the Bashir documentary. Self-explanatory.
MJ is my favorite artist of all time, and I enjoy 95% of his output. But that other 5% I can’t deny.
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No lies detected. I agree with every word mate

I'm with you on the Man In The Mirror video, the sentiment is nice, but at that point the tour is upcoming in America and Europe it could have been a bigger hit worldwide if the visual was stronger. Perhaps if it had been intercut with some footage of him performing at the Grammy's?

I'd suggest a lyric video like Sign O The Times or Praying For Time, but I've never thought the lyrics to MITM were that strong, rather it's the conviction and soul Mike sings them with elevates them.
 
André89 said:
As for his main album tracks, Privacy is my least favourite. Lyrically it's trying too hard to be edgy and the chorus is rather bland.
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'Privacy' is trying too hard to be edgy musically, not lyrically.

Lyrically is just a rehashed song (Michael Jackson had already sung about that theme in 'Leave Me Alone', 'Why You Wanna Trip On Me', etc).
Hollywood_Tonight said:
I think the overall issue with his vocal on Whatever Happens is that it sounds very labored. Like he is trying too hard to record a good vocal, if that makes sense. But that aside, I agree with you that it is an excellently written song. I just wish it had a better vocal on it.
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Apparently that was intentional on his part (on that particular song).

The theme of 'Whatever Happens' is very unsettling because it refers to a couple's struggles and intensity.

So, singing it with a relaxed and calm voice would not have fitted the song's unsettling theme.
 
I love Invincible - but I do see why people say it's too slow. Too many slow songs, the first 3 songs sounds very much alike - and the album feels too long. - I do not agree. Dangerous and HIStory has 14 and 15 songs - and they are not called too long.

Had some of the slow song been up-tempo songs, fx. Blue Gangsta, Xscape or APWNN maybe the flow had been better.

BOTDF is 5 perfect up-tempo songs. - Had they been released as en EP without the remixes it would have been the best EP ever released.
 
I really want to get bashed for the adrenaline, so here it goes: the triad of fillers of Dangerous.

The album would be much better without Why You Wanna Trip On Me, She Drives Me Wild and Can't Let Her Get Away as they are completely subpar to the rest of the tracks.

They are the reason why I can't agree with most people that Dangerous is the best MJ album. HIStory is better imo, even though it also has its own fillers.
 
Hollywood_Tonight said:
I think the overall issue with his vocal on Whatever Happens is that it sounds very labored. Like he is trying too hard to record a good vocal, if that makes sense. But that aside, I agree with you that it is an excellently written song. I just wish it had a better vocal on it.
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Yep, I love Whatever Happens but the only thing that stops it being a real top 10 favourite MJ song for me, is the vocal. I love it for what it is, but I wish he'd have recorded it in 1998.

I could say the same for a lot of the Invincible tracks though
 
You Rock My World September 7 2001 is generally one I CANT stand. Its sad, Its depressing, you cant pick anything from it and say "Hey this is awesome!"

Unlike with the other Sep 7th performances (where they have redeeming factors and cool moves he never did before) YRMW was one on the 7th, where its depressing. I am a person who loves or is alright with 99.5% of MJ's art (songs, performances, music videos) but this is the 0.5% where I cant stand.

(Now You Rock My World's September 10th performance its awesome, I love that one!!)
 
I really think that the performances of DS and Come Together were really bad and uninspiring. Completely pointless songs to do live, imo.

I am also not a fan of the robot used during Stranger In Moscow performances. It worked for songs like Billie Jean and Dancing Machine, but not for a song like Stranger In Moscow.
 
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