MJ music you have a love/hate relationship with?

[JichaelMackson]

I personally kind of have this with HIStory. I find it incredibly bland and generic despite having some absolute killer tracks on it. I think back in the day I expected something as good as Dangerous which sis probably impossible to reach (it's my all time fave album).

I just never warmed to YANA, D.S., 2bad, This Time Around and even fan favorite Smile. These songs are too simple, they have nothing unexpected to them. The inclusion of come together was incomprehensible to me as well. On the other hand I thought TDCAU, little susie, childhood, earth song and SIM, HIStory were very creative and more in line of what I thought MJ was always capable of at the time.

Then there is also Invincible of course which I straight up dislike bar a handful of songs, it's incredibly rare to see that I almost like every outtake better than the stuff that ended up on the album. To me it feels like MJ was really scraping the barrel in terms of creativity for the album. I don't think he had better music in him after Invincible, like the well of talent had truly dried up.
It's very surprising though that MJ was apparently working on "killer" music after Invincible ( judged by Travis3000 comments). I simply don't believe it, I have to judge it myself.

I don't mean this in a bad way, it's natural, every artist goes through this. I also love Bob Dylan but he hasn't made a decent record in over 20 years for example.

 

[dam2040]

I read your posts sometimes and have to check what site I’m on. I know you can’t be positive about everything the man did but Jesus what are you positive about!?

 

[JichaelMackson]

I read your posts sometimes and have to check what site I’m on. I know you can’t be positive about everything the man did but Jesus what are you positive about!?

Here we go again lol, I make a thread which slightly criticizes a tiny portion of a looooooong career and the distrustful posters crawl out of the woodwork again. Perhaps you can't read very well? Do I really have to bombard you with all positive posts I made about MJ's music so far? I'm not even going to bother, if you wanna know search for it yourself.

But I'd rather have you just answer the post or do you love every single thing he ever recorded?

 

[Fuzball]

I read your posts sometimes and have to check what site I’m on. I know you can’t be positive about everything the man did but Jesus what are you positive about!?

these types of threads remind me of Psychoniff for whatever reason

 

[JichaelMackson]

these types of threads remind me of Psychoniff for whatever reason

what's that?

It's funny when in the thread " you heard what the doctor said" Mikky Dee (sorry to involve you) says he/she hated "morphine" yet nobody attacked him/her for that. When I do that however....

Is it really that hard to share us the music you don't like? Is it sacrilege?

 

[Anna]

what's that?

It's funny when in the thread " you heard what the doctor said" Mikky Dee (sorry to involve you) says he/she hated "morphine" yet nobody attacked him/her for that. When I do that however....

Is it really that hard to share us the music you don't like? Is it sacrilege?

Mikky is a she. I know it's very tiresome, but try not to let it bother you. Some people just can't deal with anything that is outside of their own fixed perspective. Don't take it personally.

There's probably about 7 songs on HIStory which I never listen to; that's definitely the most on a single MJ album for me. I don't think they're bad songs, they just don't do anything for me. It's quite rare I find an album where I love every single song. As for post-Invincible, I think Best Of Joy, Hold My Hand, and All In Your Name are all very beautiful songs. I think Michael definitely could have given us something great.

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

I honestly don't see nothing wrong with this thread. there's a lot of MJ songs I don't like. Michael was okay with his fans not liking every song he made. I don't like you are not alone, D.S, and 2 bad either. what the problem? i'm not really a fan of the history era to be honest. but I do like some songs from that era.

 

[Snek]

I honestly don’t think there’s a single piece of MJ music that I don’t like ahaha. I warmed up to all of his album songs in the end. Maybe One More Chance is the only song that I find mediocre and never warmed up to.

I actually find HIStory and Invincible to be his most introspective and important albums. They truly have a lot of emotion in them.

 

[Michaels Lover]

I honestly don’t think there’s a single piece of MJ music that I don’t like ahaha. I warmed up to all of his album songs in the end.

I'm the same

 

[wonderouzmj]

I have had my times where i hated certain songs & out the blue...i just had to hear them. Thats with every single song EXCEPT beautiful girl. Thats 1 mj song I'll never accept. I hate it to the core. & i try so hard to like if you don't love me but i can't. I love the acapella parts "pretty baby i been missin you..." but it sounds like a 60s surfer song or something. Everything....i mean everything else is damn near perfect imo but those 2 songs.. no! I hated childhood growing up but the older i grew & appreciated the soul & instrumentation...i fell in love with it. So... but anything else commercially released...Umm speechless, can't let her get away, & 2000watts. Oh & everything after track 5 on botdf!

 

[MOR316]

OTW, Thriller and Bad are seen as the holy trinity in terms of Michael's output, among the general public.

As good as Dangerous is, I always think that if he had included BOTDF in the final tracklisting, it would be spoken about the way the other three are

 

[Mechaspiderman]

I have this thing with Invincible where I love almost every song on it, but listening to the album as a whole hinders the experience for me. I thought it's because of ballads overload since I take some time to warm up to those, but looking at the track listing there's not that much of them. I experimented a bit and simply rearranging the order does make a difference for me. For example, 2000 Watts has no business being right after Speechless

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

I think some of Michael music will grow on to you over time. I think the reason why we don't like songs because it probably doesn't fit with you or anything with your life.

that doesn't mean you will like it later on or if you still don't like it that's okay too. maybe that song wasn't for you or wasn't your taste. you don't have to like every songs from Michael.

and that doesn't make you less of a fan either Michael was okay with his fans not liking every one of his songs.

 

[JichaelMackson]

I don't like every track but there is SOMETHING I like in every track. For example "if you don't love me" is a tacky, repetitive dull song but that bridge is FANTASTIC. Another example "is it scary", I don't like the climax but I love the atmosphere and overall arrangement of the song, Tabloid Junkie has killer lyrics but I hate his delivery on the verses etc

He almost always had some really cool ideas

 

[ozemouze]

I have this thing with Invincible where I love almost every song on it, but listening to the album as a whole hinders the experience for me. I thought it's because of ballads overload since I take some time to warm up to those, but looking at the track listing there's not that much of them. I experimented a bit and simply rearranging the order does make a difference for me. For example, 2000 Watts has no business being right after Speechless

Thank you, I feel the same way about Invincible, just couldn't even explain or word it why. My other problem with it is hearing other voices in the background than just MJ. MJ doing his own background vocals is just so fundamental "MJ" I can't get used to anything else. I'm waiting for the multitracks to become public and our great remixers to "reimagine" the whole album, I think it could turn out to be something fantastic.

I don't like every track but there is SOMETHING I like in every track. For example "if you don't love me" is a tacky, repetitive dull song but that bridge is FANTASTIC. Another example "is it scary", I don't like the climax but I love the atmosphere and overall arrangement of the song, Tabloid Junkie has killer lyrics but I hate his delivery on the verses etc.

Interesting, I have almost the opposite opinion about these songs. IYDLM is an energetic, cocky-in-a-cute-way, Motown-vibe song, but I agree it's repetitive and too long. I don't mind songs in demo phase, but this one is actually something I would like to see finished: with some rich intrumentation and cut into a standard Motown-hit length around 3 min. By the climax of Is It Scary do you mean the "see the evil one is you" part? I love that, I think it's built up effectively and it's quite... well, climactic. And I love everything about Tabloid Junkie. I wish it had a music video... sorry, short film!

Songs I can't stand: YANA, Girlfriend, some slow songs from Invincible I can't even remember - they aro so banal, average and uninspired IMO. I'm not too fond of The Girl Is Mine either, especially it being on Thriller (it should have been rather a B-side song), I like the demo though. Bad and Dangeorus are perfect . On History besides YANA there's Come Together which I like otherwise but it breaks the flow of the album. I know Childhood is a fan/MJ favourite, but I feel it's also misplaced on the album. Maybe it should have been a single-only edition? BOTDF is great, I wish it was a complete album. OTW and Invincible are a mess like albums, the songs otherwise are fine, some even among the greatests. I love Destiny and Triumph a lot too, I tend to consider them as MJ (or let's say MJ & The Brothers) albums. OTW should have consist of the best material of these 3 albums.

 

[JichaelMackson]

Thank you, I feel the same way about Invincible, just couldn't even explain or word it why. My other problem with it is hearing other voices in the background than just MJ. MJ doing his own background vocals is just so fundamental "MJ" I can't get used to anything else. I'm waiting for the multitracks to become public and our great remixers to "reimagine" the whole album, I think it could turn out to be something fantastic.



Interesting, I have almost the opposite opinion about these songs. IYDLM is an energetic, cocky-in-a-cute-way, Motown-vibe song, but I agree it's repetitive and too long. I don't mind songs in demo phase, but this one is actually something I would like to see finished: with some rich intrumentation and cut into a standard Motown-hit length around 3 min. By the climax of Is It Scary do you mean the "see the evil one is you" part? I love that, I think it's built up effectively and it's quite... well, climactic. And I love everything about Tabloid Junkie. I wish it had a music video... sorry, short film!

Songs I can't stand: YANA, Girlfriend, some slow songs from Invincible I can't even remember - they aro so banal, average and uninspired IMO. I'm not too fond of The Girl Is Mine either, especially it being on Thriller (it should have been rather a B-side song), I like the demo though. Bad and Dangeorus are perfect . On History besides YANA there's Come Together which I like otherwise but it breaks the flow of the album. I know Childhood is a fan/MJ favourite, but I feel it's also misplaced on the album. Maybe it should have been a single-only edition? BOTDF is great, I wish it was a complete album. OTW and Invincible are a mess like albums, the songs otherwise are fine, some even among the greatests. I love Destiny and Triumph a lot too, I tend to consider them as MJ (or let's say MJ & The Brothers) albums. OTW should have consist of the best material of these 3 albums.

No it's more that I don't enjoy his very intense singing during the "is it scary" climax, it's almost straining to me.

I often try to make the perfect OTW album but I simply can't do it because I don't think the destiny or triumph songs fit the style of OTW either. Either way I wouldn't mind girlfriend, SOOML and the duet to be replaced. How would you do it?
If I add my fave Destiny/Triumph songs I have a double album, so it's impossible lol. In a way the Jacksons Live album is perhaps the best single album of that era. I put it as my 3rd fave MJ album (Jacksons live).

Girlfriend is too cute, I like the delivery but it's recorded 2 to 3 years too late, it should have been a Motown song.

 

[ozemouze]

I often try to make the perfect OTW album but I simply can't do it because I don't think the destiny or triumph songs fit the style of OTW either. Either way I wouldn't mind girlfriend, SOOML and the duet to be replaced. How would you do it?
If I add my fave Destiny/Triumph songs I have a double album, so it's impossible lol. In a way the Jacksons Live album is perhaps the best single album of that era. I put it as my 3rd fave MJ album (Jacksons live).

You're right about that, I just would like to see all the great songs on one album (and I wouldn't mind some kind of a fusion of both styles either), but couldn't solve this dilemma yet. If you find the perfect track list please let me know.

But yeah, the great Live album is a good starting point. I might create two albums, one for the brilliant stuff like Don't Stop, Working Day And Night, Heartbreak Hotel, Destiny, Can You Feel It, Time Waits For No One, SOOML (yep, I love it) etc, the other for the rest (e.g. I like I Can't Help It, but I wouldn't put it on the main album). I'm torn about Get On The Floor which is a personal favorite of mine but might not fit into the "perfect album"...

I'm often wondering about what if Don't Stop or Working Day And Night etc ended up on the Jacksons' albums (we know from the demos they rehearsed some songs together before OTW), while Can You Feel It or Hotel etc (songs written by MJ) on Off The Wall. From this perspective the song selection seems so random, I would like to know the circumstances.