When was Michael at his best as a live vocalist and studio vocalist?

[dam2040]

I think this question is answered by which Michael you prefer. The buttery smooth ballad singer of the 70's and early 80's, or the gritty-in-your-face MJ we got from 1987 onward.

 

[ChrisC]

I think this question is answered by which Michael you prefer. The buttery smooth ballad singer of the 70's and early 80's, or the gritty-in-your-face MJ we got from 1987 onward.

I feel this is unfairly limiting.

 

[dam2040]

I feel this is unfairly limiting.

My wording is quite limiting, yes, but MJs style definitely changed from smooth to gritty somewhere in the late 80's. I don't think that's unfair to say at all.

 

[ChrisC]

My wording is quite limiting, yes, but MJs style definitely changed from smooth to gritty somewhere in the late 80's. I don't think that's unfair to say at all.

I prefer to say he developed his capabilities at that point. I think saying he changed his style plays into the hands of a lot of Michael's critics.

 

[dam2040]

I prefer to say he developed his capabilities at that point. I think saying he changed his style plays into the hands of a lot of Michael's critics.

How so? MJ definitely changed his style. There's nothing negative about that, it's a wonderful thing as it shows his progression as an artist.

 

[MJTruth]

Yes he changed his style. He thought that he needed to act and sound tough but he didn't. In the end it sounded forced and it was never really very convincing. He should have returned to his more fun vocal style from OTW.

 

[moonchinking]

Yeah, You Are Not Alone was real gritty

 

[MJTruth]

Yeah, You Are Not Alone was real gritty

:laughing:

 

[flamyyy]

I think this question is answered by which Michael you prefer. The buttery smooth ballad singer of the 70's and early 80's, or the gritty-in-your-face MJ we got from 1987 onward.

Except that Michael sang a lot smoother in the 2000s than in the 70s

 

[Nite Line]

I think this question is answered by which Michael you prefer. The buttery smooth ballad singer of the 70's and early 80's, or the gritty-in-your-face MJ we got from 1987 onward.

MJ did do a lot of grittier songs from 1987 onward, but he never lost his smooth buttery ballad singing either. Songs such as Liberian Girl, I Just Can't Stop Loving You, Gone Too Soon, Heal The World, Childhood, Stranger In Moscow, You Are Not Alone, Speechless, Butterflies, You Are My Life etc show that MJ still had his smooth buttery ballad style.

 

[KOPV]

Mike has done gritty his entire career.. the stylizing changed and he created a 'Michael Jackson' sound but he did it as a kid with the influence of James brown and it never went away.. of course themes and topics will change that too. It would be expected to be gritty with songs like TDCAU,Scream etc.. they are angry songs..

 

[ShipOfFools]

Michael Jackson did gritty on all his Sony albums.

I do think he improved as a vocalist with Bad, Dangerous, and HIStory. Invincible sounded forced, but there's some lovely vocals on that one, too.

 

[dam2040]

MJ did do a lot of grittier songs from 1987 onward, but he never lost his smooth buttery ballad singing either. Songs such as Liberian Girl, I Just Can't Stop Loving You, Gone Too Soon, Heal The World, Childhood, Stranger In Moscow, You Are Not Alone, Speechless, Butterflies, You Are My Life etc show that MJ still had his smooth buttery ballad style.

Yeah, this is what I meant. There were more gritty songs from 1987 onward. I personally love the Invincible ballads, and think Michael's voice was wonderful on them. He didn't ever lose his smoothness.

 

[Nite Line]

Yeah, this is what I meant. There were more gritty songs from 1987 onward. I personally love the Invincible ballads, and think Michael's voice was wonderful on them. He didn't ever lose his smoothness.

Same here. I too love the Invincible ballads. MIchael went back to his roots with those ballads. The Invincible ballads get an unfair amount of criticism from some fans imo.

 

[Themidwestcowboy]

Same here. I too love the Invincible ballads. MIchael went back to his roots with those ballads. The Invincible ballads get an unfair amount of criticism from some fans imo.

Imo the ballads are the highlights on the invincible album

 

[dam2040]

Imo the ballads are the highlights on the invincible album

I mean, they do make up like 80% of the album! My only criticism for Invincible has always been that it was far too ballad heavy.

 

[Themidwestcowboy]

I mean, they do make up like 80% of the album! My only criticism for Invincible has always been that it was far too ballad heavy.

That's a bit hyperbole man

Unbreakable
Heartbreaker
Invincible
You Rock My World
2000 Watts
Privacy
Threatened
(Shout)

I would say about fifty percent mid to uptempo songs and fifty percent ballads

 

[OnirMJ]

Live vocalist: Triumph Tour (he had the most energy because of his youth and strength)

Studio vocalist: Invincible era (he had maturity in his voice and huge studio experience)

 

[KOPV]

Invincible was great, there are definite changes I'd make that I believe would make a world difference.. it's over produced, the lineup order of the tracks, and it needs maybe just one more really good gem that was kept off the album.

I still would rather listen to that than other artists best albums so that says something