Artistic Decisions in Michael Jackson's Career That Are Questionable

Hahaha I couldn't stop laughing at the sand comment mate

A lot of the points are subjective, for instance I love the RTT videos it's one of my favourite short films, the fact that it's ancient Egypt and it has an all black cast is beautifully subtle as well

I do agree Liberian Girl should have had a better music video, I get a kick out of it but the fact they spend most of the song talking over it annoys me.
Mike should have done a video on a beach somewhere, with him and a beautiful black actress and have him performing it to her as his love interest (although I imagine MJ would have been too shy for that) I believe a stronger video may have made this incredible song even more recognised by the ge t


I totally agree with this!
 
The nearly one minute long and pointless ‘Black Or White’ spoken intro that has no connection at all with the song, and thus it sounds totally out of place.

Yeah I agree with this, I get that it was Mac having fun but I think this is my least favorite part of the music video.

His HIStory Statue floating down the Thames River (London), a move that was understandably viewed by people/media as haughty and egotistical.

I think this is on par with the "hyperbaric chamber" story where Michael basically shot himself in the foot when it came to giving the tabloids more gossip to talk about.

His old hits from the ‘HIStory’ album (disc one) that are not placed in chronological order.

I'm gonna be honest, this gets me too. Especially for an album called HIStory, it's weird that they're not in chronological order.

Michael Jackson uttering ‘Slash’ right before the guitar solo in the ‘Privacy’ song (Slash himself confirmed that he did not play guitar on that song).

I always thought he says "Slide!" like you'd put something up against the strings to make the long drawn-out 'screaming' noises during the guitar solo.

So, for symbolic reasons, he decided to include his cover version of the ‘Come Together’ song in the album’s second disc and specifically in the middle of that track list in order to denote that joint venture.

Besides, the mellifluous ‘On The Line’ song could not have fitted the aggressive and angry overall tone of the ‘HIStory’ album (hence its exclusion from the second disc).

This is another one I agree with. I don't think "On The Line" should've been put on in place of "Come Together", if anything, it should've been put on in place of "Childhood". But that's an argument for another thread.
 
The song "D.S.". I don't think such a personal revenge song ever was a great idea.

Also, all the 2008 versions on Thriller 25.
 
The song "D.S.". I don't think such a personal revenge song ever was a great idea.

Also, all the 2008 versions on Thriller 25.

I'd agree. I mean Sneddon may have had a vendetta against him but there was no need for the song to be so directed at him. I mean the dude was a DA, he had a job to do regardless of who he was supposed to investigate. Michael could've easily rewritten the song to not be so personal
 
In fairness, Sneddon was unnecessarily aggressive and ruthless, both in 1993 and in 2005. He has a history of being unnecessarily crude and crossing lines in cases he had to oversee. That’s why Michael never wrote a song about District Attorney Gil Garcetti — HE was just doing his job. Sneddon made it a mission to make Michael’s life hell.
 
In fairness, Sneddon was unnecessarily aggressive and ruthless, both in 1993 and in 2005. He has a history of being unnecessarily crude and crossing lines in cases he had to oversee. That’s why Michael never wrote a song about District Attorney Gil Garcetti — HE was just doing his job. Sneddon made it a mission to make Michael’s life hell.

Sneddon was an absolute scum bag. Letting his own team get away with child molestation because he didnÂ’t feel like charging them & meeting with POI in the MJ cases on his own in car parks. Disgusting.
 
MJ should have taken more chances - mixed up his concerts more. Performed different songs once in a while.

It's weird how he was a true innovator - and still so conservative. His concerts would have been so much more interesting if it wasn't all the same.
 
Some more:

Michael Jackson’s decision to star in one of the worst films of all time (‘The Wiz’), a role which was also generally his biggest failure by that time.

The removal of these additional few lines from the second verse of the ‘Smooth Criminal’ song (without these lines the song feels incomplete).

The casual, yellow-red jacket (with the ‘M’ letter on it) that he wore during the ‘Thriller’ performance in certain BAD Tour concerts.

His violent behaviour (smashing windows, destroying a car, etc) during the ‘black panther’ segment of his ‘Black Or White’ music video.

The gun shot at the end of the ‘D.S.’ song (which clearly implied a death wish).

Bringing an entire tank on stage for his ‘Earth Song’ performance (HIStory Tour).

All these sound effects, which were taken from arcade video games, in his ‘Heartbreaker’ song (from 03:48 onwards).

The replacement of ‘Shout’ with the yawn-inducing ‘You Are My Life’ song (on the ‘Invincible’ album), which was not only a bad decision but also an inexplicable decision as well.

In general I think an amazing choice for Michael would've been to include "We've Had Enough" instead of "Cry" on the Invincible album. "We've Had Enough" has a much stronger message and in my mind has way more punch to its instrumentals. Especially in the wake of the September 11th attacks in the U.S., "We've Had Enough" would've been a much more timely and well-heard message than "Cry". "Cry" has the feel of "You Are Not Alone" when the moment really called for another "Earth Song". I think that had MJ released "We've Had Enough" on Invincible it would've become a #1 hit in many countries. Obviously if he had included "We've Had Enough" he would have to either change the ending of or swap out "Privacy" (since that song takes its outro directly from "We've Had Enough").

The record company insisted on including ‘Cry’, and actually that song was one of the very first songs which was finished for the album.

‘Cry’ appeared to have big chart and commercial potential because R. Kelly was a guaranteed hit-maker at the time given some of his big hits that he wrote, such as ‘You Are Not Alone’ (1995), ‘I Believe I Can Fly’ (1996), ‘I'm Your Angel’ (1998).

It goes without saying that leaving out ‘We've Had Enough’ from the album was another bad decision.
 
Sticking to a 3 year old setlist for the first leg of Bad World Tour. It didn't even make sense to perform that amount of Jacksons songs since he was going on a solo tour and had already released a few albums alone.

Standing still for 3 minutes at the Superbowl performance. In a concert when you have approx. 2 hours to perform it's okay but when you've only got 12 minutes you better make better use of that time.

Lipsyncing to more than 10 year old vocals at HWT. He could have recorded some new vocals on studio if he wanted to lipsync.

Not including Someone Put Your Hand Out in Dangerous. That's one of his finest works and I'd say it's obvious single material.

Not performing Thriller at Victory Tour. Honestly there's no excuse for this, it was a major global hit at the time.

Always doing the exact same choreography for some songs. For instance, WBSS had been performed the exact same way in 84, 87, 88, 92 and 96. He could've changed up a bit. Being repetitive on tour has already been noted by others on this thread anyway.
 
Standing still for 3 minutes at the Superbowl performance. In a concert when you have approx. 2 hours to perform it's okay but when you've only got 12 minutes you better make better use of that time.

I think that's one of the coolest things he ever did. Because you need some balls to do that. Standing in front of one of the biggest audiences you can get (in the stadium and on tv), knowing that those people didn't come to that stadium or tune in on the tv to see you (these people mostly aren't fans), it takes an enormous amount of courage to jump on the stage and do nothing for 90 seconds. He dared to be that vulnerable – he dared to take that risk. And it worked. People in the satdium go crazy, and to this day critics describe Michael's performance as 're-defining' the Superbowl half time show. Now that's showmanship! I admire him a lot for it.
 
All these sound effects, which were taken from arcade video games, in his ‘Heartbreaker’ song (from 03:48 onwards).

O! I never knew those sounds were taken from arcade video games. That makes me appreciate the song a bit more, to be honest!
 
A few more:

The decision to speed up the ‘Dirty Diana’ song (rock songs should not be sped up).

Ending the first 2 songs on the ‘Dangerous’ album in the same way (with the sound of an explosion).

The first 15 seconds of the ‘Can't Let Her Get Away’ song (that serve no artistic purpose at all).

The minimal, candid interaction between Michael Jackson and his band during the HIStory Tour.

The decision to sing live these few lines of ‘In The Closet’, while lip-syncing the rest of the song (this made even more obvious and embarrassing his lip-syncing on the song).

Lipsyncing to more than 10 year old vocals at HWT. He could have recorded some new vocals on studio if he wanted to lipsync.

Especially, lip-syncing ‘Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough’ with this falsetto, studio singing voice that had been recorded nearly 15 years before the HIStory Tour.

Apparently, he realized that and he removed that song from the most part of the 1997 HIStory Tour leg.

Not performing Thriller at Victory Tour. Honestly there's no excuse for this, it was a major global hit at the time.

Michael Jackson was still a devoted Jehovah's Witness at the time of the Victory Tour (1984), so this did not allow him to perform his ‘Thriller’ song in that tour.

As soon as he disassociated himself from that religion, he was free to perform ‘Thriller’ (which he did from the BAD Tour onwards).
 
Ending the first 2 songs on the ‘Dangerous’ album in the same way (with the sound of an explosion).
4 of the 8 songs on James Brown's Payback album end the same way, with a "woooooo" sound.
 
Sticking to a 3 year old setlist for the first leg of Bad World Tour. It didn't even make sense to perform that amount of Jacksons songs since he was going on a solo tour and had already released a few albums alone

I see why it annoys people but (controversial opinion) I love it!! Yokohama and Tokyo are two of my favourite concerts. I truly believe Mike improved on the Victory Tour with the 87 leg of the tour. His vocals, dancing, staging and Band were all better than with his brothers. I'd take any 87 show over any Victory show
 
His HIStory Statue floating down the Thames River (London), a move that was understandably viewed by people/media as haughty and egotistical.
Yeah, that and the messiah sequence during Earth Song at the Brit Awards. Yeesh.
 
Yeah, that and the messiah sequence during Earth Song at the Brit Awards. Yeesh.

Well it’s easy to see and understand why he did the history statue thing when you put it all into context.
 
Yeah, that and the messiah sequence during Earth Song at the Brit Awards. Yeesh.

ItÂ’s theatre. Performance. A character.

Do you hold the same regard watching other stories, films, performances & plays? Or is your opinion formed because of the narrative the media added to the performance?
 
Well it’s easy to see and understand why he did the history statue thing when you put it all into context.
Oh, I understand why he did it... that doesn't mean it was a good idea.

It’s theatre. Performance. A character.

Do you hold the same regard watching other stories, films, performances & plays? Or is your opinion formed because of the narrative the media added to the performance?
I could not give less of a **** what the media thinks about anything Michael did.
It was not an actor playing a character in theatre or a film, you can't compare the two things. Fans can try to justify it as "just a performance" or "acting", but it was Michael Jackson choosing to show Michael Jackson in the role of a messiah. It felt incredibly cringey and arrogant to me and I think it was a poor choice.
 
Oh, I understand why he did it... that doesn't mean it was a good idea.


I could not give less of a **** what the media thinks about anything Michael did.
It was not an actor playing a character in theatre or a film, you can't compare the two things. Fans can try to justify it as "just a performance" or "acting", but it was Michael Jackson choosing to show Michael Jackson in the role of a messiah. It felt incredibly cringey and arrogant to me and I think it was a poor choice.

I think it's like those lines in his songs where he speaks from the point of view of God kind of, like in "You Are Not Alone" and "Cry". Even though he doesn't mean, "I, Michael Joe Jackson, am God incarnate and will personally answer all your prayers", those lines should've been rewritten to not sound as arrogant. I know that at least during the HIStory era he was playing into the media's narrative a bit, but I honestly think that there are times when he shot himself in the foot.

EDIT: Just remembered that, funnily enough, both "You Are Not Alone" and "Cry" were written by R. Kelly (who himself had a bit of a cult of personality going on with underage fans) which means at the end of the day that maybe it would've been for the best had MJ distanced himself from Kelly
 
Fans can try to justify it as "just a performance" or "acting", but it was Michael Jackson choosing to show Michael Jackson in the role of a messiah. It felt incredibly cringey and arrogant to me and I think it was a poor choice.

Especially, the moment from that performance where people and children around him want to touch him because this would supposedly cure them.

Another clear example of his arrogance (again from the HIStory era) is his ‘HIStory’ song.

In this song, Michael Jackson essentially puts himself in the same league as all these great historic pioneers of the past that the song refers to.

I think it's like those lines in his songs where he speaks from the point of view of God kind of, like in "You Are Not Alone" and "Cry". Even though he doesn't mean, "I, Michael Joe Jackson, am God incarnate and will personally answer all your prayers", those lines should've been rewritten to not sound as arrogant. I know that at least during the HIStory era he was playing into the media's narrative a bit, but I honestly think that there are times when he shot himself in the foot.

EDIT: Just remembered that, funnily enough, both "You Are Not Alone" and "Cry" were written by R. Kelly (who himself had a bit of a cult of personality going on with underage fans) which means at the end of the day that maybe it would've been for the best had MJ distanced himself from Kelly

There is also the example of the ‘One More Chance’ song.

‘One More Chance’ was co-written and was co-produced by R. Kelly.

But given R. Kelly’s highly publicized case in 2002 (of child sex charges), it was unwise of Michael Jackson to include this song on his ‘Number Ones’ greatest hits collection album (2003), and especially as the lead single of that album.
 
Given that Michael was the victim of false allegations I wouldn't be surprised if he wanted to give R.Kelly the benefit of the doubt. If he even knew about the allegations against R.Kelly at all.
 
4 of the 8 songs on James Brown's Payback album end the same way, with a "woooooo" sound.

Just because other artists did similar things, this does not necessarily make it an artistically good decision for Michael Jackson.

For instance, James Brown falls down on his knees and a member from his band helps him to stand up again (in his ‘Please, Please, Please’ performance), which is a very contrived, insincere and staged act.

Michael Jackson also falls down on his knees and a member from his band helps him to stand up again (in his ‘Man In The Mirror’ performance at the 1988 Grammy Awards), which is also a very contrived, insincere and staged act.
 
The live performances of the song "Dangerous" are boring and overrated to me.
I don't understand why he decided to put the "Smooth Criminal" part.
But the 1993 live performances are not that bad (especially the "I can not sleep alone tonight..." part)
 
Just because other artists did similar things, this does not necessarily make it an artistically good decision for Michael Jackson.

For instance, James Brown falls down on his knees and a member from his band helps him to stand up again (in his ‘Please, Please, Please’ performance), which is a very contrived, insincere and staged act.

Michael Jackson also falls down on his knees and a member from his band helps him to stand up again (in his ‘Man In The Mirror’ performance at the 1988 Grammy Awards), which is also a very contrived, insincere and staged act.

What does this even mean? James was one of Mike's idols, he did a JB imitation for the Jackson 5 Motown audition. Mike appeared on stage at a 1983 James Brown/B.B. King concert. Prince happened to be there too. Mike got things from other singers like Shamone (Mavis Staples) & hee hee hee (Stevie Wonder). The way I see it, Michael Jackson had a successful entertainment career doing what he did. You didn't and just talking nonsense like an armchair quarterback. You said The Girl Is Mine was a mistake as a first single, yet it went to #2 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the R&B chart in the USA.

I'm sure a lot of singers would like to have a "mistake" like that. Also if you knew anything about radio in the US during that time, there were a lot of songs with a similar sound to The Girl Is Mine that were popular before & after it. It was called light rock or adult contemporary. Unofficially it was also known as Westcoast, because a lot of the same session musicians played on some of the light rock records such as Jay Graydon & members of Toto. Even if it wasn't a 1st single, many radio stations would have played it anyway since Paul McCartney was on it. Paul was still popular at the time and got radio airplay in the USA. Just like a lot of radio stations in the US (especially R&B stations) played Jermaine's Tell Me I'm Not Dreamin' which was never released as a single here. So why not put The Girl Is Mine out 1st and make money on it. If he waited to release it as a 4th or 5th single, it would have already been played out on the radio and wouldn't have been as successful.
 
I could not give less of a **** what the media thinks about anything Michael did.
It was not an actor playing a character in theatre or a film, you can't compare the two things. Fans can try to justify it as "just a performance" or "acting", but it was Michael Jackson choosing to show Michael Jackson in the role of a messiah. It felt incredibly cringey and arrogant to me and I think it was a poor choice.

Michael wasn't a narcissist. He was an empath. I think his actions were always misinterpreted by some as trying to show himself as a messiah; but I believe instead he thought of himself as a universal father, who genuinely felt that with his voice and his platform, he could do something for the world and its children. His "arms outstretched" pose signifies a spiritual person who wanted to give love (and assistance) and receive love. It's as simple as that for me. I never saw it as cringey or arrogant at all. I was always in tune with what he was trying to demonstrate. He used that same pose very often his performances - rather than being contrived, or forced, it always seemed to be a natural expression of what he was feeling, in his soul. I think when his passions rose to the surface in performances, they came out of his body in that "messiah" pose, which showed his openness and the duality of both his strength and his vulnerability.
 
The live performances of the song "Dangerous" are boring and overrated to me.
I don't understand why he decided to put the "Smooth Criminal" part.
But the 1993 live performances are not that bad (especially the "I can not sleep alone tonight..." part)

It would be interesting to see the naked version of his ‘Dangerous’ live performance from his 1995 ‘One Night Only’ HBO Special rehearsals.

According to descriptions from his entourage, that version of his ‘Dangerous’ live performance is very different and captivating.

What does this even mean? James was one of Mike's idols, he did a JB imitation for the Jackson 5 Motown audition. Mike appeared on stage at a 1983 James Brown/B.B. King concert. Prince happened to be there too. Mike got things from other singers like Shamone (Mavis Staples) & hee hee hee (Stevie Wonder). The way I see it, Michael Jackson had a successful entertainment career doing what he did. You didn't and just talking nonsense like an armchair quarterback. You said The Girl Is Mine was a mistake as a first single, yet it went to #2 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the R&B chart in the USA.

I'm sure a lot of singers would like to have a "mistake" like that. Also if you knew anything about radio in the US during that time, there were a lot of songs with a similar sound to The Girl Is Mine that were popular before & after it. It was called light rock or adult contemporary. Unofficially it was also known as Westcoast, because a lot of the same session musicians played on some of the light rock records such as Jay Graydon & members of Toto. Even if it wasn't a 1st single, many radio stations would have played it anyway since Paul McCartney was on it. Paul was still popular at the time and got radio airplay in the USA. Just like a lot of radio stations in the US (especially R&B stations) played Jermaine's Tell Me I'm Not Dreamin' which was never released as a single here. So why not put The Girl Is Mine out 1st and make money on it. If he waited to release it as a 4th or 5th single, it would have already been played out on the radio and wouldn't have been as successful.

It has been said that the reason was because ‘The Girl Is Mine’ was the first song that they finished (for the album), so they released it as the lead single because that gave them some more time so as to put the finishing touches to the rest songs of the album.

Despite the lead single’s ephemeral chart success at the time, in retrospect it is viewed as a bad decision.

Generally, the criterion for a song to be released as the lead single (from a given album) is that it should be one of the strongest songs from the album, and it should also set the tone for the entire album that is due for release soon (‘The Girl Is Mine’ did not fit that criterion).

Michael wasn't a narcissist. He was an empath. I think his actions were always misinterpreted by some as trying to show himself as a messiah; but I believe instead he thought of himself as a universal father, who genuinely felt that with his voice and his platform, he could do something for the world and its children. His "arms outstretched" pose signifies a spiritual person who wanted to give love (and assistance) and receive love. It's as simple as that for me. I never saw it as cringey or arrogant at all. I was always in tune with what he was trying to demonstrate. He used that same pose very often his performances - rather than being contrived, or forced, it always seemed to be a natural expression of what he was feeling, in his soul. I think when his passions rose to the surface in performances, they came out of his body in that "messiah" pose, which showed his openness and the duality of both his strength and his vulnerability.

If he was not a narcissist, then how do you explain the fact that he paid artists (painters, sculptors, etc) to make for him countless portraits, oil paintings and murals of himself?

Such as, the one by American painter David Nordahl that depicts the singer as Michelangelo surrounded by cherubs.

Or, these portraits made by American portrait artist Ralph Wolfe Cowan that depict the singer as a king wearing a suit of armour.

These were not just a sign of the singer’s narcissism but also of his vanity, as well.
 
Michael wasn't a narcissist. He was an empath. I think his actions were always misinterpreted by some as trying to show himself as a messiah; but I believe instead he thought of himself as a universal father, who genuinely felt that with his voice and his platform, he could do something for the world and its children. His "arms outstretched" pose signifies a spiritual person who wanted to give love (and assistance) and receive love. It's as simple as that for me. I never saw it as cringey or arrogant at all. I was always in tune with what he was trying to demonstrate. He used that same pose very often his performances - rather than being contrived, or forced, it always seemed to be a natural expression of what he was feeling, in his soul. I think when his passions rose to the surface in performances, they came out of his body in that "messiah" pose, which showed his openness and the duality of both his strength and his vulnerability.
If it was just the pose there would be no issue here. But he had all the distressed people come up to touch him for relief as he stands there in white, lit up, with his arms outstretched. I mean, come on...


If he was not a narcissist, then how do you explain the fact that he paid artists (painters, sculptors, etc) to make for him countless portraits, oil paintings and murals of himself?

Such as, the one by American painter David Nordahl that depicts the singer as Michelangelo surrounded by cherubs.

Or, these portraits made by American portrait artist Ralph Wolfe Cowan that depict the singer as a king wearing a suit of armour.

These were not just a sign of the singerÂ’s narcissism but also of his vanity, as well.
Yeah, that shit was weird. It made me really uncomfortable when I was younger.
I wouldn't say he was a narcissist, he had a lot of empathy. But I think he had delusions of grandeur and he saw himself as some kind of saviour of children and the downtrodden.
 
It has been said that the reason was because ‘The Girl Is Mine’ was the first song that they finished (for the album), so they released it as the lead single because that gave them some more time so as to put the finishing touches to the rest songs of the album.

Despite the lead single’s ephemeral chart success at the time, in retrospect it is viewed as a bad decision.

Generally, the criterion for a song to be released as the lead single (from a given album) is that it should be one of the strongest songs from the album, and it should also set the tone for the entire album that is due for release soon (‘The Girl Is Mine’ did not fit that criterion).
By who? I never heard this before. I have rarely seen The Girl Is Mine mentioned anywhere. I've seen magazines saying Ebony And Ivory by Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder was a bad song and comedians making fun of it. Anyway like I said it would have been played on the radio anyway since Paul McCartney was on it, single or not. At least in the USA. Back then R&B, AOR, and Top 40 radio would play album tracks. Years later, after conglomerates like Clear Channel bought up a lot of commercial radio stations, this was largely stopped. Also does I Just Can't Stop Loving You represent what was on Bad? It was the first single. Black Or White does not really represent Dangerous either which is half New Jack Swing including the title song. So again you're talking nonsense.
 
“The Girl is Mine” was the first song recorded and finished for Thriller, that much is true. When it was released as a single in mid-October 1982, though, the album was about 60% done, specifically all of Side A and a couple songs on Side B. Its position as the lead single had nothing to do with when it was finished. According to Michael’s autobiography, it went out first because of its star power. (Plus, as some critics at the time observed, it was borderline groundbreaking to hear a song in which a Black man and a White man battled for the same woman.)

This guy lol
 
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