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Which Jacksons tracks could have been selected for Off the Wall and Thriller?

filmandmusic

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Somewhere last week I read @zinniabooklover commenting how The Jacksons tracks while being sung by Michael feel different than the songs he did for his solo albums. I agree with that, I love these songs but they don’t feel like MJ songs in a way. Perhaps that is the difference between the Jacksons albums being produced by themselves (and Gamble & Huff) and the 2 solo albums being produced by Quincy.

Now naturally,I was thinking which Jacksons song do actually sound like trademark MJ songs, songs that would have fitted on one of his early adult solo albums?

Personally I think can you feel it feels completely like an MJ song probably because of its lyrics but it also features lots of the later vocal tics we all learned to love so much. Heartbreak Hotel is another song that feels 100% MJ due to its lyrical content about sinful and devious women, it also feels quite epic and creative with the orchestra outro. His very early blues away always felt like a pure MJ track to me to but maybe this is only because of the beatboxing it contains, somehow he also sounds different (more mature) on it than on the other mid 70s songs. Blues Away could have found its place on off the wall imo.

PS I love the 5 Jacksons albums but they don‘t offer the same quality as OTW and Thriller.
 
Blues Away and Heartbreak Hotel were completly written by MJ so it makes sense that they sound more like Michael Jackson songs. Lyrically Things I Do For You sounds like an MJ song especially with the words ''Always wanted something for nothing. Especially what they don't deserve. Reaching in my pocket, I just gotta stop it. Even though they got a lot of nerve''
 
As it happens, Can You Feel It and HH / TPH are the two songs I would say are the most like Michael's own work - and we know he wrote HH / TPH so no surprise there. It's interesting, f&m, that the figures that you've posted on Chart Watch for these two songs are pretty good (along with BIOTB) compared to other songs.

I haven't really thought about which album they could fit onto but I don't think either one would be out of place on Thriller, especially CYFI. As for HH / TPH, that could even be a contender for post-Bad, imo.

Blues Away I'm not sure about. Haven't spent enough time with it. I think it could almost be a contender for OTW but I don't think it would make the cut.

The only other one I can think of is Bless His Soul but I'm just being sentimental bc I love the song. I don't really think it *sounds* like a Michael song. It sounds very Jacksons. The verses sung by Michael could be worked up into something that could fit onto a Michael album but the rest of the song, not so much, imo. Lyrically it's a good fit but not the song itself.

filmandmusic said:
Heartbreak Hotel is another song that feels 100% MJ due to its lyrical content about sinful and devious women, it also feels quite epic and creative with the orchestra outro.
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It's one of those songs that feels almost operatic. Little Susie and Is It Scary are both grand mini-operas, as far as I'm concerned. I would describe them both as baroque but it might sound pretentious. So I won't. :ROFLMAO:
HH / TPH is not quite at that level but, like you say, there is something epic going on there.

filmandmusic said:
PS I love the 5 Jacksons albums but they don‘t offer the same quality as OTW and Thriller.
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This.
 
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Honestly I could only see it with Heartbreak Hotel and Be Not Always. Can You Feel It has Randy on co-lead and I'm not sure the song would still have the same flair if he hadn't been on it (though, I do think Michael is what "makes" the song). Not so coincidentally, aforementioned two songs were both written by Michael and only feature his vocals, which is indeed a big reason why I have my opinion.
 
Wondering Who. Could have gone on Thriller (taking the place of, say, P.Y.T.), but would have to be sung by Michael, of course. Its chorus is quite similar to Escape, after all.
 
I am listening to the Live at Wembley album right now. And Heartbreak Hotel is an amazing song. Live energy is over the top. Like WDAN.

So that song could fit on OTW maybe. Also Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground) and Things I do For You could fit OTW.

They would not really fit Thriller... Don't know why, but IMO they would fit better on OTW.

All the songs I can see fit is the songs MJ himself also choose to perform live during BAD tour. :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO:
 
It just doesn't make sense to ask this question. A better question to ask would be:

Is @filmandmusic bored? (Yes)

The beauty of Destiny is how it's a looping set of themes. The highs and lows of partying, love, and life.

Blame It On The Boogie: How the love of dance is literally like being possessed.

Push Me Away: A song deeply about falling in love with an unreciprocated lover.

Things I Do For You: A prelude to Workin Day and Night all about how things will be from now on. The way he ought to be treated.

And then it mostly repeats. Shake Your Body Down, Destiny, Bless his Soul, All Night Dancing, That's What You Get. Follows that similar formula. And slots together so well.

Too well in fact. Not well enough to slot in with Off The Wall, in my opinion. Which is a mostly, pure disco record straight through, on Side A anyway. Side B has more ebb and flow but it feels a lot more, traditional. You could take a Destiny uptempo and put it on OTW, but it would take away that perfect arc it has going on, not to mention it just doesn't feel, as advanced. Or as "disco". Shake Your Body is the only one really.
 
As for Triumph, it's a post disco funk/new wave jam session. It's like a sleeker Off The Wall A Side with barely a B Side. And the addition of the crazy Heartbreak Hotel, which really defines the new era of powerful MJ and darkening story telling.

Funny enough, the one song I think would fit, one of my favorites. Is give it up. It's very McCartney Esque actually, lol. Could easily slot in in place of Girlfriend. Any other ballad, or even some uptempos, would just cannibalize the rest of the albums tracks.

As for what songs could make Thriller... Don't even joke like that. Thriller is barely an album, it's an assassination attempt on the music sales business. They carefully curated every choice, to the greatest extent possible. Call it calculated, but it's the peak of calculation.
 
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
It just doesn't make sense to ask this question. A better question to ask would be:
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It makes as much sense as you asking people for their favorite part in songs they hate!
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
Is @filmandmusic bored? (Yes)
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Possibly 😀
Mister_Jay_Tee said:
The beauty of Destiny is how it's a looping set of themes. The highs and lows of partying, love, and life.

Blame It On The Boogie: How the love of dance is literally like being possessed.

Push Me Away: A song deeply about falling in love with an unreciprocated lover.

Things I Do For You: A prelude to Workin Day and Night all about how things will be from now on. The way he ought to be treated.

And then it mostly repeats. Shake Your Body Down, Destiny, Bless his Soul, All Night Dancing, That's What You Get. Follows that similar formula. And slots together so well.

Too well in fact. Not well enough to slot in with Off The Wall, in my opinion. Which is a mostly, pure disco record straight through, on Side A anyway. Side B has more ebb and flow but it feels a lot more, traditional. You could take a Destiny uptempo and put it on OTW, but it would take away that perfect arc it has going on, not to mention it just doesn't feel, as advanced. Or as "disco". Shake Your Body is the only one really.
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You think they were going with a theme for Destiny? I don’t know, it feels like a random
set of songs to me, I like what you said though.

Anyway I meant mainly based on sound and vocal arrangements which Jacksons songs feel like they could have been selected for OTW or Thriller. I still think most of them don’t feel like classic Jackson yet. I love those albums but it is still not MJ with his own musical identity imo. I think it wasn’t until thriller that MJ turned into a consistent world class song creator.
 
Honest answer? Probably none. Other than maybe Heartbreak Hotel, but it was done in 1981, so it would be on Thriller and as much as I love it, Billie Jean is similar and stronger

Don't get me wrong, I love Destiny and Triumph, both are fantastic albums but for every truly great song on those albums, there is a similar one on Off The Wall or Thriller, that either fits better or is stronger
 
I think the way things turned out is perfect.

Triumph is such a great bridge album between OTW and Thriller. If you had to move a couple songs off it and put them on either OTW or Thriller, I'm putting Time Waits For No One on OTW instead of Girlfriend (and releasing it as a single), and replacing PYT or Baby Be Mine with Lovely One.
 
filmandmusic said:
It makes as much sense as you asking people for their favorite part in songs they hate!
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It's all about positivity!


filmandmusic said:
You think they were going with a theme for Destiny?
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I don't think they were not going for a theme. Every uptempo is about the love of dancing, while every ballad has an isolated and lonely energy. It's certainly arranged that way.

Triumph I think was less conceptual.
filmandmusic said:
I still think most of them don’t feel like classic Jackson yet.
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I'd argue they're peak "classic" Jackson. It's not "MJ", Yet, this was like that continuing farewell to the Motown days. Off The Wall is a lot like a final ending and a new beginning. Triumph is certainly the most unique offering. But they were meant to prelude and bridge, absolutely. I might be rambling a bit but you understand.
 
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