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Should MJs follow up have been a throwback to Off The Wall

In order to do that, he'd need to be less constrained. And he was getting there. So it'd invariably be fun and loose, much the same way as OTW. But more diverse in musicality. I think the next record would've been quite fun, less a form of detoxifying as the 90s works were.
 
I think attempting to recreate/recapture any previous era would’ve added fuel to the “he’s washed-up” argument. MJ was always an act that pressed forward and strove to differentiate each album from its predecessor. Even Invincible, for all of its misgivings, sounds like nothing else in his catalog. Opting to rest on his laurels thirty years into his career would be a terrible decision.

The only somewhat nostalgia-capturing move I feel was necessary is one he was actively making: emphasizing catchy, feel-good pop and moving away from anti-media tirades.
 
AlwaysThere said:
I think attempting to recreate/recapture any previous era would’ve added fuel to the “he’s washed-up” argument. MJ was always an act that pressed forward and strove to differentiate each album from its predecessor. Even Invincible, for all of its misgivings, sounds like nothing else in his catalog. Opting to rest on his laurels thirty years into his career would be a terrible decision.

The only somewhat nostalgia-capturing move I feel was necessary is one he was actively making: emphasizing catchy, feel-good pop and moving away from anti-media tirades.
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That's basically what I'm saying, yes. That's pretty much exactly it.
 
Honestly, more throwback songs like "You Rock My World" would have been better than 'N Sync s*** like "Heartbreaker", "Invincible", "Threatened", "Privacy", "2000 Watts", etc. Wanting to change your sound is one thing; making trash is another.
 
Spaceship said:
Honestly, more throwback songs like "You Rock My World" would have been better than 'N Sync s*** like "Heartbreaker", "Invincible", "Threatened", "Privacy", "2000 Watts", etc. Wanting to change your sound is one thing; making trash is another.
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2000 Watts is a Tyrese Gibson song.
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
2000 Watts is a Tyrese Gibson song.
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That sounds like an 'N Sync song.

It doesn't sound much like anything in Tyrese's discography, honestly. None of his released songs were produced by Teddy Riley, either.
 
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Spaceship said:
It really doesn't sound like anything Tyrese's own music.
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'Get Up On It' (by Tyrese Gibson) sounds somewhat similar to the '2000 Watts' song.
AlwaysThere said:
I think attempting to recreate/recapture any previous era would’ve added fuel to the “he’s washed-up” argument. MJ was always an act that pressed forward and strove to differentiate each album from its predecessor. Even Invincible, for all of its misgivings, sounds like nothing else in his catalog. Opting to rest on his laurels thirty years into his career would be a terrible decision.

The only somewhat nostalgia-capturing move I feel was necessary is one he was actively making: emphasizing catchy, feel-good pop and moving away from anti-media tirades.
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The current musical styles/trends used to dictate the sound of each one of his albums, which means that he used to swim with the tide and that he was also a perfect example of a trend-settler.
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
In order to do that, he'd need to be less constrained. And he was getting there. So it'd invariably be fun and loose, much the same way as OTW. But more diverse in musicality. I think the next record would've been quite fun, less a form of detoxifying as the 90s works were.
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It had to do also with what the record company wanted from him.

Keep in mind that, after all, Michael Jackson was an employee of Sony Music.
 
Interesting question. There are several aspects to it. One could ask whether or not Michael should have returned to the disco style of music (in my opinion: no), but Off The Wall has other characteristics that could have been interesting to revisit. For example, contrary to later albums, Off The Wall was made with a lot of musicians. Sometimes there was a complete band in the recording studio. On later albums, most of the music was programmed first (on Synclavier, for example), and then some parts were dubbed by real musicians. I think it would have been interesting to have Michael later in his career go back to recording with a band. Less programmed, more played live in the studio. Also, Off The Wall was recorded in about 6 months, if I remember correctly. Later albums were recorded over a period of several years. I think the shorter time frame of Off The Wall made the music more spontaneous. In my opinion, that would also have been an interesting approach for Michael later in his career.
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
This doesn't sound like Max Martin music?
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It may as well be "Oops I Did It Again" by Britney lol. And 'N Sync worked with other producers, like Teddy Riley (who produced "2000 Watts" originally for Tyrese and later for MJ).

"Bringing the Noise", "Space Cowboy", "No Strings Attached", "Digital Get Down", "The Game Is Over", "Celebrity", "Pop", etc pretty much have the same overproduced futuristic sound that you hear on "2000 Watts". "Just Got Paid" was produced by Riley, too.

mj_frenzy said:
'Get Up On It' (by Tyrese Gibson) sounds somewhat similar to the '2000 Watts' song.
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Not really. I always felt that one sounded like Sisqo's "Thong Song".

Tyrese didn't have many uptempo digital songs like "2000 Watts". "I Ain't the One" and "I Like Them Girls" are the only ones that come to mind. Even then, they're not quite as heavy as "2000 Watts"; that song was unlike anything else he had recorded, as implied by how his label wouldn't let him include it on his album.
 
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Spaceship said:
"Bringing the Noise", "Space Cowboy", "No Strings Attached", "Digital Get Down", "The Game Is Over", "Celebrity", "Pop", etc pretty much have the same overproduced futuristic sound that you hear on "2000 Watts". "Just Got Paid" was produced by Riley, too.
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That confused me, not gonna lie.
 
Spaceship said:
Not really. I always felt that one sounded like Sisqo's "Thong Song".
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I am referring to that characteristic beat that is heard throughout the entire 'Get Up On It' song (which was apparently later used also for the '2000 Watts' song).
Spaceship said:
Tyrese didn't have many uptempo digital songs like "2000 Watts". "I Ain't the One" and "I Like Them Girls" are the only ones that come to mind. Even then, they're not quite as heavy as "2000 Watts"; that song was unlike anything else he had recorded, as implied by how his label wouldn't let him include it on his album.
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It has been said that Tyrese Gibson initially presented a bare demo tape (of the '2000 Watts' song) to Michael Jackson, which sounded very simple compared to the final version of that song.

Michael Jackson and Teddy Riley later heavily reworked the '2000 Watts' demo in order to make it sound so heavy, digital, and futuristic.
 
mj_frenzy said:
I am referring to that characteristic beat that is heard throughout the entire 'Get Up On It' song (which was apparently later used also for the '2000 Watts' song).
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Nah. Sounds more like "You Rock My World" than "2000 Watts".

mj_frenzy said:
It has been said that Tyrese Gibson initially presented a bare demo tape (of the '2000 Watts' song) to Michael Jackson, which sounded very simple compared to the final version of that song.
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Tyrese confirmed that his demo and MJ's version were basically the same.
 
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