What was Michael Jackson's best album?

PurpleThriller said:
What was Michael's best album,in your opinion?Why?
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Hm, are you bored, PT? :ROFLMAO:

Anyway, tricky question which I, as usual, cannot answer. Torn between Invincible and BOTDF - just the five songs, obvs, not the remixes. Which makes it an EP, I guess.

It really comes down to Is It Scary vs. Whatever Happens and how they both make me feel and / or where they take my imagination. There's so much gothic, operatic melodrama in IIS but, then again, WH is also really melodramatic. Like a play by Lorca.
 
zinniabooklover said:
Hm, are you bored, PT? :ROFLMAO:
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Not exactly,rather curious.
zinniabooklover said:
It really comes down to Is It Scary vs. Whatever Happens and how they both make me feel and / or where they take my imagination. There's so much gothic, operatic melodrama in IIS but, then again, WH is also really melodramatic. Like a play by Lorca.
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Oh,interesting choices. It's great to see that I'm not the only one who may have IIS as his favorite from Michael.
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
His best album is the unreleased Behind The Mask album in 1983. Featuring Buffalo Bill and a million songs that don't have actual vocals, but according to Lord Jackson, actually do.
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Oh right,how could I have forgotten about that? I suggest that I should be punished with death by exile :0
 
In my opinion “dangerous” is by far his most versatile, experimental and pioneering album. He was at his creative peak and the songs really are timeless and a piece of art. Everything about it is simply stunning. The artwork, the sound, the storytelling, his voice, the short films. That era was mindblowing.

And let’s not forget, the tour was amazing. The entrance on stage is legendary. Nobody can stand still like that while people are losing their minds by just looking at their idol. He technically evolved and improved his dancing. To me Dangerous was Michael at his best. Period.
 
The entire post-Bad till allegations broke is the most amazing era.

Dangerous - the build up, the album, the artwork, the legendary videos, the one of performances in this period, Elizabeth I Love You, Bill Clinton performances fx, the tour. Everything was MichaelMania and this was before internet and everything. Super Bowl performance was after the allegations broke I think - but add that into the MichaelMania. Best Super Bowl Half-Time show ever. - And back then even more crazy how epic and HUGE the performance was.
 
But HIStory is simply an amazing album. Some of the best songs he ever wrote himself. Production wise HIStory is the best album made by any artist ever. The many layers, the complexity, the great mastering. The beats. The vocals.

I am very into HIStory at the moment. - It changes, but at the moment, as album isolated, HIStory would be my favorite these days.
 
There are two problems I always have with this kind of question. One, I just can't decide bc Michael produced SO much awesome work. Impossible to choose. But also, the question could mean two different things. Choose Michael's best album OR choose your favourite album. They are not necessarily the same.

It's good fun, though. :)

IMWhizzle said:
In my opinion “dangerous” is by far his most versatile, experimental and pioneering album. He was at his creative peak and the songs really are timeless and a piece of art. Everything about it is simply stunning. The artwork, the sound, the storytelling, his voice, the short films. That era was mindblowing.
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I'm having a blast just now reading Susan Fast's book on Dangerous. She's really putting up a great argument for this as Michael's best work. It's a divisive book. Some people cannot stand it but I'm loving it so far.
 
Hess said:
Dangerous - the build up, the album, the artwork, the legendary videos,
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Hess said:
But HIStory is simply an amazing album.
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This nicely illustrates the point I was just trying to make. Michael was on fire. It's so hard to choose.

Although I'm still sticking to my choices. I almost wanna choose BODTF over Invincible bc it works as a sort of snapshot of Michael. SS doesn't sound dated to me but it does hark back to classic 80's Michael. IIS is gothic opera (along with Little Susie) on a grand scale. Morphine is the rock song, it's so revealing and personal and anguished and harsh and beautiful. BOTDF is just classic Michael for any era.
 
I struggle with this because all of his albums have excellent songs but they also have some I don't like, so it just comes down to which album has the most tolerable songs I don't like. Which would probably be Bad - only IJCSLY is not one of my favourites.
 
ssj said:
That to me is why BAD is a great piece of work, but not necessarily a great album. It just doesn't flow like an album should...
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No, I hate when people say this about Bad. Bad is super cohesive as a great studio album. Compared to what kind of album does it not flow?

If you wanna talk greatest hits, keep it to Thriller. That literally is just 7 huge cuts and some B Sides, exactly two.
 
Thriller

Perfect length and 9 world class tracks. I feel it has a warm cozy sound that is very easily digestible over the coldness and metallic sounding beats of later works. Vocally Michael aso sounded very vibrant, fresh and lively compared to the later raspy And often mumbled vocals. The album cover actually perfectly sums up the sound of thriller. It is groovy, laid back and classy.
It has not only Michael’s own best written songs of his career but also Rod Temperton’s who remains easily MJ’s best songwriter.
 
Hess said:
The entire post-Bad till allegations broke is the most amazing era.

Dangerous - the build up, the album, the artwork, the legendary videos, the one of performances in this period, Elizabeth I Love You, Bill Clinton performances fx, the tour. Everything was MichaelMania and this was before internet and everything. Super Bowl performance was after the allegations broke I think - but add that into the MichaelMania. Best Super Bowl Half-Time show ever. - And back then even more crazy how epic and HUGE the performance was.
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Super bowl performance was prior to the first allegations.
 
It is Bad in my opinion. I would have never said that years ago but now I would. HIStory is, better produced but Bad is truly special. MJ prepared for 5 years, his back was to the wall and that made him prepare. And he gave his entire soul, the album is definitively him, like every facet of his personality on display.Thriller, as determined as he was, had Rod Temperton And Quincy there to make him stay, a bit commercial and not share as much of himself. The Girl is Mine is not really a song that gives depth to MJ as a person, let's say that much. Nor P.Y.T, Quincy's Mix. Doesn't make them bad, but there's a huge difference.

If you want further proof of how Important Bad is, some of the most important tracks of his later years, a good portion of all his creative endeavors later on, originated from the Bad Era. Super important album and a super creative time overall.
 
SmoothGangsta said:
The Michael album, it features some of his best vocals, like the part in Breaking News when he goes "Jaaxxxxssssoonnn"
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Majkel Jaccsuuuuunnn

But seriously this steadily fluctuates. To me it’s a tie between Dangerous and Thriller but I’m leaning more towards Dangerous at the moment.
 
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Dangerous. Covers everything and its .. it was my time with him. and the second invincible, I see that as his very last album...and third place is Blood on the dance floor ....(but, no remixes.) I dig the Gothic aspect/ fury appeal of it. The Ultimate Collection is my most adored box set mainly since it has fall Again , On The line , and One More Chance.
 
I’d say it’s a two-way tie between Bad and HIStory.

Bad represents MJ at his very best. The production is top-notch and brimming with creativity, the songwriting is full of melodies and brilliant cadences, and the vocals are like no other pop album before or since.

HIStory represents MJ at his most creative. No two songs sound the same, the juxtaposition of genres and styles are absolutely unparalleled, and the musicality is second to none.
 
We seem to do this more than Batman and Joker. I don't think there's been a more exhausted topic. Aside from how underrated Invincible is.

Off The Wall is super easy to listen to in one sitting, the whole way through. So that should be counted. The cohesion can't be understated. And no album really ever did that again, except maybe, Xscape.
 
IMWhizzle said:
In my opinion “dangerous” is by far his most versatile, experimental and pioneering album. He was at his creative peak and the songs really are timeless and a piece of art. Everything about it is simply stunning. The artwork, the sound, the storytelling, his voice, the short films. That era was mindblowing.

And let’s not forget, the tour was amazing. The entrance on stage is legendary. Nobody can stand still like that while people are losing their minds by just looking at their idol. He technically evolved and improved his dancing. To me Dangerous was Michael at his best. Period.
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This reply excites me - All of this. Going with all of this - The build up, The Artwork ,Imagery and the story telling is unfathomable. Dangerous.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/122300946101380646/
Who'd not want to enter that.?
 
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