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.

No Line On The Horizon

6.4/10

Best Track: Get On Your Boots

Worst Track: White As Snow (Could only find a sped up version, which is actually more fun then the original)

I’ve never been a big fan of U2. Not that I have anything against Bono and Co. but I’ve just never been able to count any of their albums among my favorites. It is true that they have a collection of songs that are incredible on any and all standards (ex. Pride (In The Name Of Love), Sunday Bloody Sunday), but I’ve always felt that they were a band that had seen their best days in the 80’s, and that were now of small importance as far as creativity and ingenuity in music goes. The type of band that see’s their albums reach #1 more for what they achieved in the past then for their efforts in the present. Their last album, 2004’s How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, only served to further confirm my dogma about the Irish band. However, after listening to U2’s twelfth studio album, No Line on the Horizon, I can’t help almost feeling that I might be wrong. Almost.

If you’re one of those people who have a pretty much formed opinion about U2 at this point, this is certainly not the record that is going to change your opinion about them, and I even recommend not giving it that much attention. Hell, lord knows there’s a lot of stuff to listen to out there. However, if you are one of those “on the fence” people, this album might be just the small push you need to find yourself firmly standing on either side.

No line on the Horizon, like every U2 album since 1984’s The Unforgettable Fire, pays its production credits to renowned producer Brian Eno. (Eno is often credited as one of the inventors of ambient music, as well as having worked with influential artists like The Talking Heads and David Bowie). When listening through No Line, I was surprised at how this feels like their first album in at least ten years in which Eno’s production shows clearly and significantly. The best examples of this can be heard on the tracks “Fez – Being Born Again” and “Breathe”. The former is easily the boldest track in the album, sporting a highly layered and textured minute long intro where Eno employs distant voices, samples from other songs in the album, and small changes in time signature to transport the listener to Fez, Morocco, where part of the album was recorded. The latter, in the other hand, is a far more conventional track, which sees Eno employing some of the same tricks he used on another album he recently produced; Coldplay’s Viva La Vida (more specifically on the song Yes).

While No Line On The Horizon’s first single “Get On Your Boots”, does not quite pack the punch of their last album’s “Vertigo”, the fierceness of The Edge’s snarling guitar riff played throughout makes it a worthy addition to the U2 canon. The muffled drums and vocals in this tracks bridge, followed by the ensuing revitalized aforementioned riff, make for one of the albums definite highlights. “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” is another song that is sure to become a U2 live staple in the next few years, despite its awful title. This is one of those songs that feel like it was made to be played in a packed arena, and it would probably work a lot better in that setting then it does in this album. Also, this is easily the most traditionally U2 song in the album, containing all the characteristics that come to mind when thinking of the band, from the spacey shimmering guitar notes to the catchy, sing-a-long chorus.

Unfortunately, there are times when neither U2’s song writing or Eno’s production are particularly outstanding, and in those rough patches we find the albums low points. One such pitfall, “Magnificent” is found after the album’s stomping, opening title track. Although Eno’s production in this track is worthy of note, it does not manage to make listening to this track an altogether pleasant experience. The follow up track, “Moment of Surrender” is dragged down by its own unnecessary length, making it a wearisome listen at well over 7 minutes long. The album only hits rock bottom, however, with the horrible “White As Snow”. With lyrics like “Who can forgive forgiveness where forgiveness is not” Bono aims for introspective, but hits plain boring instead.

Whether you love them or hate them, you’ve got to hand it to U2: few bands stick it out together for as long as these guys have, and even fewer of those manage to put out a record as good as this one after being around for 30 years (their first release, “Boy”, dates back to 1980). If you think about it, it's no wonder younger bands like The Killers have gone on record stating they want to be the “next U2”. Unfortunately for The Killers though, No Line On The Horizon makes it pretty clear that Bono and co. aren’t ready to let other bands fill in their boots just yet.

Manners

9.0/10

Best Track: Sleepyhead

Worst Track: Seaweed Song

Holy FUCK what a great CD.

With that said, I am very happy to be able to have an outlet to the world so I can show how much I appreciated this sparkling jewel of an LP amongst the hazy and often tedious sea of electro pop trash.

From start to finish, “Manners” is one vibrant and energetic thrill. From its overflowing and overlapping synthesizers to its recurrent children’s choir providing the backing vocals, the album is a joy ride that ends as abruptly as it begins. Starting with the grand, carnivalesque “Make Light," Passion Pit’s synth-induced high only ends with the final falsetto-ed chorus of “Seaweed Song."

However, beyond being a great album with almost impeccable flow, the album is almost entirely comprised of great individual tracks that can hold their own in any mix-tape or, as it is in the case of most of the album, any dance floor.

“Sleepyhead” and “The Reeling” are two particular gems off of this album, hard as it was to pick them out. “Sleepyhead” sounds as vibrant and shiny as in its original appearance amidst the also great, yet definitely inferior, “Chunk of Change," Passion Pit’s first EP. In particular, it’s also a great introductory song as it has all the elements and staples that comprise most of Pit’s works: handclaps, overlapping synths, a thumping beat, and incessant, nonsensical lyrics sung in falsetto by Passion Pit’s charismatic leadsinger, Michael Angelakos.

The band’s single, “The Reeling," on the other hand, is an indie dance club anthem just waiting to happen. Its stuttering synths in the introduction give lead to one of the jumpiest tracks on the album, and that’s saying a lot based on the saccharine-filled nature of the tracks on “Manners." It has a great buildup to the chorus that, once again, has the stuttering synths of the introduction but is now backed up by Angelakos’ falsettos, that add musical depth and that bubble-gum catchiness that will get you singing the chorus for the rest of the day.

Despite my decision to set those two tracks apart, the rest of the album does not lag behind, in any shape or form. “Moth’s Wings” is an ambitious tune, with grand, open, piano chords, while “Swimming in the Flood”, the album’s slowest track, is a solid and masterfully produced power ballad, just to name two more.

Passion Pit’s first record is fresh, masterfully produced, danceable and, so far, one of the year’s greatest surprises. If you can handle the high doses of falsettos and synthesizers, “Manners” will not only be constantly spinning in your bedroom but also inside your turntables. 

Also a big shoutout to Jessica Stewart for helping me MAJORLY out with this post, the last post, and for noticing the similarities between Angelakos and this guy.