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Welcome, denizens of Sputnik, to the seventeenth edition of A diagnosis from a (faux) Doctor, a series where I run through a band or artist’s albums and give a diagnosis on their work. By popular vote, the people of Sputnik wanted the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, on the analysis table, and who am I to refuse them? MJ’s contributions to music are the stuff of legend and see a lot of interesting moments throughout his career, good and.. iffy. So, shamone, let’s grab a white glove and get into this.
Band/Artist: Michael Jackson
Origins: Los Angeles, California, USA
Founded: 1971
Members: Michael Joseph Jackson
Studio albums: 12 (2 posthumous)
Active: No
Got to Be There (1972)
The Doctor’s rating: 3/5
Analysis: While this debut feels a bit Jackson 5 lite at times, Got to Be There is still a solid foundation for Michael Jackson, allowing him to get his foot in the door as a solo artist and build what would become his world-dominating success. It’s pretty staggering how good Michael sounds on this thing when you consider he was only 13/14 years old, but right out of the gate, his impressive talents ooze out of these smooth Motown numbers. Got to Be There is a mixture of Jackson originals and some covers to pad it out. Ironically, I actually think the covers are the highlights here. “Ain’t No Sunshine” in particular – hearing Michael belt out his soaring highs and showcasing his versatility as a vocalist – is a fantastic rendition of Bill Withers’ revered classic, while the honey-sweet rockabilly bopper “Rockin’ Robin”, “You’ve Got a Friend” and “Love Is Here and Now You’re Gone” bring Michael’s bubbly personality to the forefront. Outside of that, the original tracks (or ones written for him rather) are fine; “I Wanna Be Where You Are” and “Got to Be There” are the highlights, but they don’t pop out as spectacular moments on the album. Overall, a nice record that displays Michael Jackson’s benign voice over some smooth instrumentals.
Prescription: A nice debut, but hardly earth-shattering stuff. It’s more of the Jackson 5 sound with Michael being able to let his hair down vocally. Jam 1-2 times a week, then listen to it as necessary.
Ben (1972)
The Doctor’s rating: 2.7/5
Analysis: In terms of approach, Ben is more of the same. Released in the same year as his debut, Jackson’s sophomore album feels more like Got to Be There 2.0 than a genuine progression, artistically speaking. The MO remains unaltered, using these non-descript, cookie-cutter R&B instrumentals as a platform to explore his impressive vocal abilities over crafting tracks with any weight or meaning behind them, Ben serves as another innocuous entry that does the job. “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool” has a nice funky bassline, The Temptations’ “My Girl” is a soulful rendition, and “You Can Cry on My Shoulder” is a solid enough Jackson original, but overall, this is another paint-by-numbers album made to fill the label’s pockets over pushing Michael to his zenith.
Prescription: More of the same, losing some of its welcome, but still a decent offering. Jam once a day for a week, then listen to it as necessary.
Music & Me (1973)
The Doctor’s rating: 1.5/5
Analysis: Everyone’s had a party at their home where it comes to its logical conclusion, but that one guy doesn’t get the memo and lingers around while you’re sat there with a thousand-yard stare, yawning tears into your eyes. Music & Me is that guy, once again milking a formula long out of juice. It’s another unwaveringly frustrating album of soulless covers which not only continues to shackle Michael’s creative energy, but has him lifelessly phoning it in this time and boring me to tears in the process. The lack of enthusiasm from Jackson is so apparent on this, I did a little research on its making. It turns out Michael was becoming incredibly frustrated and bored with the writing process and voiced his frustrations to Motown, his label at the time, in wanting to write and sing his own material. The label, in their myopic wisdom, said “no”, making Michael run through the same script for the third time in two years. The result is a vapid string of R&B numbers, with none of Michael’s energy present to make it the least bit entertaining.
Prescription: A poor record that should be avoided. No prescription necessary. Avoid it.
Forever Michael (1975)
The Doctor’s rating: 2.5/5
Analysis: Forever Michael is Motown’s last album with Michael Jackson. Becoming that frustrated with the way the label was treating him, he would make one last batch of dull Motown tunes before signing to Epic Records, where he would go on to make music history. It’s easy to say in hindsight, but imagine having the King of Pop on your record label and neutering his creativity and energy, boxing it up with the same obstinate, parochial framework and thinking that’ll suffice. Granted, Forever Michael bears Michael Jackson going through a notable transition into adulthood, audibly showcasing the voice we’d all come to know and love, but this has no bearing on Motown’s egregious handling and tone-deafness to Michael’s creative cries. What Forever Michael provides is more of what we’ve been getting, only now Michael is starting to find his footing as the adult version of himself, presenting some of the charisma we’d see blossom on his next album. It’s worth spinning once for inquisitiveness, but from an instrumental perspective Forever Michael is as mind-numbingly bland as previous entries and not much fun to listen to.
Prescription: I wouldn’t recommend Forever Michael, but if you’re a completist it’s better than the last one. Jam once and listen to it as necessary.
Off the Wall (1979)
The Doctor’s rating: 5/5
Analysis: The shift in quality here is so extreme, you could get severe whiplash if you’re not careful. After a tumultuous and depressing relationship with Motown, Michael Jackson finally parted ways with Motown and signed with Epic Records to go on making some of the greatest pop records ever made. I honestly believe Michael had the “Michael Jackson sound” ready and waiting for many years, but wasn’t given the opportunity to let it flourish. This is literally evident in the opening seconds of Off the Wall where the Michael Jackson brand is instantly recognisable and at the forefront. While Jackson’s confidence looks meek next to Thriller, and the Bad persona hasn’t yet come into fruition, all of his vocal quirks and ques are at the onset of this new era. Off the Wall is lined with wall-to-wall classics that retain Jackson’s classic Motown sound; however, they play second fiddle to the album’s focus on pop, disco and funk, making the songwriting unfathomably iconic and effective. Off the Wall is galaxies away from anything preceding it and has tracks so influential and timeless it’s hard to justifiably articulate. “Off the Wall”, “Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough, “Rock with You” and “Working Night and Day” are such flawlessly revered pop anthems, their impact on pop culture is almost taken for granted these days. However, it’s the slightly less talked about tracks like “It’s the Falling in Love”, “Get on the Floor” and “Burn This Disco Out” where I get my fill of unfettered, sashaying grooves and indelible funk, made possible by the venerable Louis Johnson’s amazing bass style. The very definition of a classic.
Prescription: Michael Jackson’s most important album in my opinion. A flawless disco-funk pop album with banger after banger on it. Jam 2-3 times a day for a week, then listen to it as necessary.
Thriller (1982)
The Doctor’s rating: 4.3/5
Analysis: Controversially maybe, Off the Wall is my favourite Michael Jackson album: it’s a perfect storm of past glories ushering in a new and exciting era, with some of the greatest disco and funk tracks ever put to record. On Thriller, while it is legend, it takes a surprising amount of time finding its footing. The first and last three tracks work as a bookend, showing vestiges of a bygone sound – the remnants of his silky, soulful analogue Motown roots being subjugated by the dominance of 80’s synth, which was now beginning to proliferate across the industry. However, the entry tracks are far from the iconic standard we associate with this era of Jackson. “Wanna be Startin’ Something” is a funky little number and “Baby Be Mine” is catchy enough, but “The Girl is Mine” actually boarders on irritating by the halfway mark and lacks the consummate immediacy previously indulged on Off the Wall. Putting it bluntly, Thriller is frontloaded with blanks. Thankfully, the mid-section of the record is packed with some of Jackson’s greatest hits. “Thriller”, “Beat It” and “Billy Jean” need absolutely no introduction and are insurmountable classics that showcase the sharp, omnipotent sass and attitude Michael Jackson would later perfect in 1987. This is topped off with the last three tracks that hearken back to Jackson’s soulful comfort zone, albeit much stronger attempts when compared to the three that opened Thriller. “The Lady in My Life” is also a surprisingly refrained choice to close the album, but is nevertheless one of the most overlooked songs on the album – one I thoroughly enjoy.
Prescription: Thriller has much bigger highs, but it can’t sustain this level of quality for long and isn’t as cohesive or as snappy as Off the Wall. Jam 2 times a day for a week, then listen to it as necessary.
Bad (1987)
The Doctor’s rating: 4.5/5
Analysis: Bad is a strange album for me, in that my brain associates it with cover-to-cover gargantuan hits, but when it comes to listening to it the reality is much different. While there are some big hitters on here, it’s an album with a lot of nuance and experimentation to it – easily the most adventurous album to come from MJ thus far. After teasing the use of the 80’s state-of-the-art technology on Thriller, Bad finally capitulates and submerges his music in the ubiquitous drums and keyboard sounds synonymous with the time. “Bad”, “Man in the Mirror”, “The Way You Make Me Feel” and “Smooth Criminal” all have those tinny, metallic drum snaps and ethereal synth sounds and I’ll be honest, while I do love this sound, it’s very much a product of its time. Similar to George Michael’s Faith, both of these artists are really soulful singers and I feel like this type of sound diminishes the humanity they bring to the tracks because of the sterile tone. Still, the songwriting here is excellent and a shade more consistent than last time. The Aforementioned tracks continue to send MJ into the stratosphere, along with “Dirty Diana” and “Leave Me Alone” being of equal calibre, but the atmospheric “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” and “Liberian Girl”’s African and middle-Eastern flavour make it a genuinely mature and exciting moment for Michael. “Just Good Friends”, “Speed Demon” and “Another Part of Me” are a little throwaway, but even then, these tracks are good ol’ fun.
Prescription: It’s splitting hairs honestly, because the last three albums are all bona fide classics, but Bad’s pacing and overall songwriting is minutely stronger than Thriller’s. Jam 2 times a day for a week, then listen to it as necessary.
Dangerous (1991)
The Doctor’s rating: 3/5
Analysis: The start of a new decade and one that wastes no time in drastically shifting the paradigm in every corner of popular music. 1991 in particular is watermarked as the year metal died, killed by grunge with Nirvana’s Nevermind, and for pop music, that was also about to embark on a darker, edgier turn too, trading in the sugar and spice synth-sound for a much grimier one. For MJ, after dominating the 80s and the world, Dangerous marked a new era, one filled with fart smelling and self-indulgence. Getting straight to the point; I think Dangerous is a decent enough album, but it is a massive drop-off. The biggest issue I have with Dangerous is the run time, which clocks in at nearly seventy-seven minutes, with none of it feeling justified. This eighth outing moves away from succinct pop anthems and instead takes a drastic stab at conjoining his pop sensibilities with hip-hop. MJ’s vocal work takes on a flow-like quality on tracks like “Jam” and “Can’t Let Her Get Away”, and the instrumentals focus more on repetition and all that good shit from 90’s hip-hop: DJ scratching, guest-rap passages, hip-hop beats, and a plethora of samples to boot. The problem is that Dangerous lacks variety, and almost every track here falls victim to being repetitive and unnecessarily bloated. By the halfway mark there is a tonal shift and the album embodies some of his old MOs, with “Heal the World” and “Black or White” in particular ticking the boxes, but overall, the record lacks the conventional hooks he’s famous for. The energy on this thing is also notably flat, with the exception of “Black or White” stepping outside of the album’s ridged parameters.
Prescription: A big set down in quality, with Michael focusing far more on delivering a political message over writing strong, concise tunes. Jam 1-2 times a week, then listen to it as necessary.
HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I (1995)
The Doctor’s rating: 3.2/5
Analysis: HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I is a bizarre package, in that it has a best-of at the front of the album and then gives you a new album at the halfway mark. In terms of the new songs on here, the tone and texture of HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I is a continued progression on from Dangerous, in that MJ tackles social and political issues over talking about girls and being a bad mf, but the execution is more prudent and slightly better handled. The songwriting here is still ambitious, with loads of exotic instrumental flourishes, a full orchestra, and some of the same hip-hop influence used last time. The difference is that on HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I we get a handful of strong earworms, an uplifting energy and some good hooks – plus the tracks are mercifully shortened for greater effect. With the exception of “Black or White” I couldn’t give you another standout moment for Dangerous, but at least on here there are some great moments to be found in “They Don’t Care About us”, “Earth” and “You Are not Alone”. However, like its predecessor, this is still a brutal decline in quality when compared to his 80’s works. Bar the aforenoted highlights, the record is still carrying a pernicious fat reserve, and the songwriting, while improved, still lacks character. At the very least, MJ’s signature vocal mannerisms are kept to a minimum, which is something that was used as a crutch on Dangerous, to hide the fact the songwriting was unbelievably tepid.
Prescription: Marginally improved formula, but one still lacking in any lasting impact. Jam 1-2 times a week, then listen to it as necessary.
Invincible (2001)
The Doctor’s rating: 2.5/5
Analysis: Looking at MJ’s 90’s material, it’s clear he had a lot of creative fog clouding his creativity and quality of writing. The unparallelled success and fame he garnered from the 80s had clearly taken its toll on him, and by the time Dangerous came into the scene, it’s clear Michael was a lot less sure of himself. The music, while more politically motivated and meaningful, lacked the same uncompromising efficiency Bad had. The two albums from the 90s are meandering, inconsistent and antithetical to the very elements that made him the global phenomenon he became. For Invincible, it doesn’t appear as though Michael ever managed to suss what made his Off the Wall–Bad run such a formidable body of work – carrying over all of the problems from his 90’s works. That being said, I have a soft spot for this era of pop music and love the production and vibe of this turn-of-the-millennium record. There’s a warm nostalgia that permeates through the songs on this thing – the way Jackson sings, the drum sound, keyboards and general arrangements are beholden to the times. However, this isn’t something you can necessarily give credit to MJ. It’s abundantly clear his best days are behind him, and what Invincible provides is a sound very much in the status quo of noughties pop. He is no longer a pioneer of the scene, but another artist in a long line of artists aimlessly chasing the carrot. The songs on here are fine, but there’s not a single song on here that can stand on its own merits. Michael Jackson is known for having so many amazing singles – hell, even his 90’s work, for all their flaws, had a song or two you could pull from them. Invincible doesn’t have a track worth mentioning. This doesn’t mean the album is bad, but it does lack its own identity. It’s also another record in dire need of an editor, and considering the album has no peaks, it’s a pretty painful slog to get through.
Prescription: An average pop record with no distinguishing features. Jam once and see how you get on.
Posthumous Albums
Michael (2010)
The Doctor’s rating: 2/5
Analysis: The creation of this soulless cash grab is far more entertaining than the music itself. It turns out, three of the ten tracks for Michael are believed to be inauthentically sung by Jason Malachi posing as MJ. The controversy and conversation surrounding “Breaking News”, “Keep Your Head Up”, and “Monster” are so fervently discussed even today, the Jackson estate omitted them from the tracklisting in 2022, in an attempt to stop fans focusing on that element of the album and to discuss the music itself. So, with that in mind, I’ll be basing my thoughts on the seven remaining tracks for Michael. My thoughts? Well, it’s ironic some of the tracks on this posthumous release have been called out as inauthentic, because the whole album feels like a cheap imitation of a legend who was over the hill in the 90s. What chance did MJ’s unreleased material have? Michael is a half-baked collection of brittle tracks laced in generic melodies and the era’s ubiquitous proclivities, namely autotune. It’s not outright horrible, but it definitely walks along the edges of it most of the time.
Prescription: A poor record that should be avoided. No prescription necessary. Avoid it.
Xscape (2014)
The Doctor’s rating: 3/5
Analysis: Xscape has a small amount of mercy for me, simply because it isn’t outright awful. After the bleak Michael this is actually surprisingly solid, if only because the material being used comes from two eras of his career: the 80s and 90s. It’s debatable how these tunes were ever intended to sound, since “Loving You” comes from 1985 and sounds more like a modern interpretation produced by Timbaland than a song that would have come out in the 80s. Nevertheless, the eight songs on here are pretty solid, with MJ’s voice, melodies, and arrangements producing a surprisingly enjoyable experience that actually shows a new and interesting side of his sound. “Chicago”’s celestial overtones give off a cool vibe, while the Daft Punk-y “Love Never Felt So Good” and “A Place with No Name” feel familiar but modern enough to make them stand up to anything from his 90s’ output. Definitely something worth checking out if you’re curious.
Prescription: Overall, a surprisingly decent posthumous release that doesn’t feel like an outright label cash grab. Jam 1-2 times a day for a week, then listen to it as necessary.
Doctor’s Notes:
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Diagnosis: I’ve always listened to Michael Jackson’s music throughout my life, but I’ve never actually gone through every one of his albums. This was an interesting diagnosis that, while you could argue 1979-1987 is the only era worth checking, his other eras paint a picture of the man himself and where he was personally and creatively. The handful of albums from his adolescence, while creatively shallow, showcase a boy with a raw, untameably scintillating talent that comes into fruition once he’s given the reins as a young man. This ultimately goes out like a supernova once the 90s are ushered in and where Jackson fumbles with his own fame, and then infamy. This is exacerbated with the fact MJ has an inability to move forward creatively without leaning on bloated music and his famous expression like a crutch and it coming across caricatured. It’s all the more unfortunate Xscape genuinely displays new facets I’d liked to have seen, as that album shows a side of MJ that’s worthwhile. Still, what we have here is some of the most important music ever recorded, written by an artist so idiosyncratic and talented, his music will live on forever.
