Off The Wall (MJ Part II)

9.2/10

Best Track:

Rock With You / It's The Falling In Love

Worst Track:

Girlfriend (Still a really great song, none the less)

(Continued from Part I)

MJ starts the album by quickly proving his worth. The two most famous songs off “Off The Wall” are packed up front, setting the stage for big expectations that are later, throughout the album, fulfilled. Jackson’s hushing and sexy vocals giving start to “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough”, separate the man (“man”) from the little boy that sang “Ben” and “I want you back”, shaping the new sound that starts taking form on “Off the Wall” and matures completely on “Thriller”. With a swinging guitar riff and pulsing bass groove being supported by Jackson’s signature vocal grunts and scream “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” seems almost short, even though it tracks out at a surprising 6:06 minutes.

The following song not only doesn’t let the beat drop, but intensifies it in one of Jackson’s finest tunes ever. “Rock with You” mixes all styles of pre-eminent black music of the time, mixing R&B, soul, and funk, perfectly together. Granted, “Rock with You” reeks of Quincy Jones’ musical arrangement – the key synthesizers, groovy and languid backing vocals, and jazzy brass section arrangements would be the definite highlights of the track – if it weren’t for Jackson’s vocal range and incessant swing constantly stealing the show.

The following tracks, despite not having the star power of both “Rock with You” and “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough”, simply can’t be deemed worse tracks. “Working Day and Night”, “Get on the Floor” and the title track “Off The Wall” all have inventive arrangements, with amazing bass lines and percussion sections. With Michael Jackson singing in front of the mic, and Quincy Jones coordinating the musicians behind him, they form a team that proved to be one of the most successful ever, not only in musical terms, but in financial and commercial terms as well.

Despite the slower songs of the CD, inevitably, taking the backseat to the faster up-tempo songs, they still have their charm. The Paul McCartney penned “Girlfriend” sounds like a foreshadowing of the fun and go-lucky songs Macca and MJ would wind up doing together later in the decade, and the Stevie Wonder penned “Can’t Help It” has a slow groove and harmonic chord progressions reminiscing to Wonder himself and his instrumental CD released in the same year “Journey Through The Secret Life of Plants”.

The CD’s finest moment, however, happens right after “Can’t Help It”, despite it also being one of the most under-rated MJ tracks ever. “It’s the falling in Love” shows a maturing Jackson delving further and further into his own brand of pop-funk. Not only “Falling in Love” have the arrangement staples of all the former tracks in “Off The Wall”; synthesizers, trumpets, bass lines, etc; it is a prime example of a great, traditional pop song, with contagious verses and a chorus that hooks you in, not to mention the electric guitar wails that sparkle the gem that is “Falling in Love”. “Falling in Love” gives way to “Burn this Disco Down”, which ends the CD on a funky, yet considerably less impacting, tone.

Despite this plethora of great and varied tracks, people tend to forget “Off the Wall”, which is, in Michael Jackson’s case, almost understandable, as he collects smash hits and amazing CDs the way I collect breaths or socks. None the less, “Off The Wall” stands as a landmark of pop music, solidifying the end of the Jackson 5, the start of the myth that turned Michael Jackson into the king of pop, and, as I said before, simply fucking great music.

The Death of a King (MJ. Part I)

Where were you when Michael Jackson died?

I was in Los Angeles, inside a lighting warehouse when my instructor picked up a call from his cell phone and in a very solemn tone announced that Michael Jackson had passed away. Naturally, of course, I couldn’t believe it. Not because Michael Jackson was too young to die, or a celebrity, or a freak, but because Michael Jackson was, and forever will be, one of those people whose work they leave behind will forever be marked in the annals of history– an artist of his caliber dying seems like a surreal experience, almost as if, when he died the most significant part of his death wasn’t the man perishing away – but the immortalization of his art. Then and there, Michael Jackson erased a recent history of controversies, transcended pop culture and guaranteed his place in the halls of history as a genius that will forever be remembered not for what he was, and perhaps not even for what he did, but simply for the impact he caused; how he changed and revolutionized the whole way his craft is shaped. Simply put, the man flipped the music and showbiz industry upside down and back again.

And even in that sense, Michael Jackson went even further. Not only did he change music and dance, but he reinvented the concept of what a music video is supposed to be. Just writing this down makes me sit back in awe of how much Michael Jackson meant to the industry. It’s hard to believe that anything like him will ever come again.

Upon the notice of his death, I immediately thought about reviewing Thriller, which was, ironically enough, one of the CDs that I had been listening to a lot during my time in California. However, upon my return to Rio, I discovered the gem that is Michael Jackson’s “Off The Wall”, which is, if not as good as Thriller, definitely as important to the immortalization of Michael Jackson’s body of work. It’s his first CD without the Jackson 5 backing him up, his first CD produced by Quincy Jones, the first CD to ever generate four top 10-hits (starting Jackson’s career of staggering numbers when it comes to topping the charts), and frankly his first CD where you can listen to it and say “Holy fuck, this is just really GREAT music!”

Back in Business

Finally, after a 2 month hiatus, 6.8 is back! With a few tweaks as wells!

Because of our busy schedules, not only we'll be posting record reviews, we'll be posting insights and opinions on the general ongoings of the music buisiness when we can, so we won't be constantly feel like we need to review a whole album.

Furthermore, we are also going to try to make entries much quicker and more dynamic by establishing a track review system, where we'll review single tracks in the same point system we give CDs! : ) More review, more music, more information...and possibly more visitors hahaha

Anyways, have fun!

6.8 is back in business!