okay lol
― now I have to imagine your penis (DJP), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:14 (twelve years ago) link
I predict a landslide for "[/i]"
― now I have to imagine your penis (DJP), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:15 (twelve years ago) link
isn't that a Magnetic Fields record title?
― a 'catch-all', almost humorous, 'Jeez' quality (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:16 (twelve years ago) link
human nature
― horseshoe, Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:26 (twelve years ago) link
my top 3 is Wanna Be/PYT/title track, #1 changes on any given day.
― ✇ ruehl (some dude), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:29 (twelve years ago) link
actually no "Baby Be Mine" clicked for me in a big way a few years ago too, damn this hard.
― ✇ ruehl (some dude), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:30 (twelve years ago) link
my top three are Wanna Be/Human Nature/(rotating wild card depending on which of these I've heard most recently: "Beat It"/"Billie Jean"/"Thriller")
― now I have to imagine your penis (DJP), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:31 (twelve years ago) link
most impossible poll ever obv, but i voted for 'baby be mine' as an underdog (only non-single, right? but so great).
xp
― hardcore oatmeal (Jordan), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:31 (twelve years ago) link
"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'".
I can't get over the fact that his stated intention at the outset was to make the biggest-selling album ever, and despite many factors being beyond his (or anyone else's) control, he fucking did it.
― shake it, shake it, sugary pee (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:32 (twelve years ago) link
without hearing the less famous album tracks in years, for me it's bj vs wanna be startin something
― a lil weezy goes a long way (will), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:32 (twelve years ago) link
I honestly didn't realize how many writing credits he had on this album
― now I have to imagine your penis (DJP), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:33 (twelve years ago) link
p.y.t.
― am/sand (Lamp), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:34 (twelve years ago) link
PYT
― Spottie_Ottie_Dope, Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:35 (twelve years ago) link
"Baby Be Mine" and "The Lady In My Life" were the 2 nonsingles
― ✇ ruehl (some dude), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:35 (twelve years ago) link
By the late 1970s, Jackson's abilities as a vocalist were well regarded; Allmusic described him as a "blindingly gifted vocalist".[7] Rolling Stone compared his vocals to the "breathless, dreamy stutter" of Stevie Wonder. Their analysis was also that "Jackson's feathery-timbred tenor is extraordinary beautiful. It slides smoothly into a startling falsetto that's used very daringly".[8] With the release of Thriller, Jackson could sing low—down to a basso low C—but he preferred to sing higher because pop tenors have more range to create style.[32] Rolling Stone was of the opinion that Jackson was now singing in a "fully adult voice" that was "tinged by sadness".[33] "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)", credited to James Ingram and Quincy Jones, and "The Lady in My Life" by Rod Temperton, both gave the album a stronger R&B direction; the latter song was described as "the closest Jackson has come to crooning a sexy, soulful ballad after his Motown years" by Taraborrelli.[28] The singer had already adopted a "vocal hiccup" which he continued to implement in Thriller. The purpose of the hiccup—somewhat like a gulping for air or gasping—is to help promote a certain emotion; be it excitement, sadness or fear.[34]
holy shit
― now I have to imagine your penis (DJP), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:35 (twelve years ago) link
that's like a 4-octave range excluding his falsetto
― now I have to imagine your penis (DJP), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:36 (twelve years ago) link
That's amazing.
I have to say, though, while the hiccup works brilliantly on Thriller, by Bad it sounded like a tic.
― shake it, shake it, sugary pee (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:37 (twelve years ago) link
ah yes i remember well in the late 1970s when Allmusic praised Michael's vocals
― ✇ ruehl (some dude), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:37 (twelve years ago) link
hahaha I was so busy boggling at the low C that I glossed over that
lol @ u Wikipedia
― now I have to imagine your penis (DJP), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:39 (twelve years ago) link
also I guess it's a 3-octave range (4 Cs: high C, middle C, low C, bass C)
― now I have to imagine your penis (DJP), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:40 (twelve years ago) link
listening to "The Girl Is Mine" and boggling that MJ is dead and Paul McCartney is still alive
― now I have to imagine your penis (DJP), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:43 (twelve years ago) link
she told him that he's her forever lover, don't you remember
― ✇ ruehl (some dude), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:43 (twelve years ago) link
I don't believe it.
― shake it, shake it, sugary pee (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:44 (twelve years ago) link
oh my god is the low voice about 2:45 into this Michael and not Paul????????
― now I have to imagine your penis (DJP), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:45 (twelve years ago) link
I sort of hate this album
― satisfying punishment for that thing he said about lesbians (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:46 (twelve years ago) link
like I roll my eyes at it the way lex probably rolls his eyes at the Beatles
― satisfying punishment for that thing he said about lesbians (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:47 (twelve years ago) link
we know, Shakey in SFC
― now I have to imagine your penis (DJP), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:47 (twelve years ago) link
oh no way
xp to djp
― hardcore oatmeal (Jordan), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:48 (twelve years ago) link
here's a really great/underrated vocal performance from young mj (doing stevie): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJ3Gm3DORaM
― hardcore oatmeal (Jordan), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:49 (twelve years ago) link
regardless of which one it is, it's pretty impressive how low they get on the last phrase, which is like Russian bass territory
― now I have to imagine your penis (DJP), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:49 (twelve years ago) link
coming of age in the Bad/Dangerous era makes me kind of jealous of people who got to be ridiculously overexposed to Thriller instead
― ✇ ruehl (some dude), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:50 (twelve years ago) link
this is a remarkably good headphones album
there are a lot of neat panning tricks and production details I've never noticed before, esp. with dropped-in percussion enhancements and small background asides in either the background vocals or instruments
― now I have to imagine your penis (DJP), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:52 (twelve years ago) link
Might vote "Beat It" - his singing is phenomenal on that.
― timellison, Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:56 (twelve years ago) link
the "oh no" after the "eyes looked like mine" line low in the right ear on "Billie Jean"... wau
― now I have to imagine your penis (DJP), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:59 (twelve years ago) link
love "beat it." "they'll kick you then they beat you and they tell you it's fair" always makes me sad these days.
― horseshoe, Tuesday, 30 August 2011 17:59 (twelve years ago) link
As a stubborn fourth-grader, I held back for so long. I was a Men at Work man, fan of Billy Joel and the Police. Not really into this dance music.
I finally relented and I remember riding home from Wal-Mart, looking at the cassette and thinking, Okay, we'll give it a chance.
Then I opened it up and went, Ooh! A tiger!
― http://youtu.be/4TuA2n4Hqu4 (Pleasant Plains), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 18:02 (twelve years ago) link
The least likely song I'd vote for is "Lady in My Life."
― a 'catch-all', almost humorous, 'Jeez' quality (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 18:02 (twelve years ago) link
i could choose either Gonna Be, PYT, Billie Jean or Beat It and live with the decision. choosing between them is impossible
― excuse me you're a helluva guy (m coleman), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 18:04 (twelve years ago) link
also the least like song you'd write (xpost)
― ✇ ruehl (some dude), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 18:05 (twelve years ago) link
I would write "The Girl is Mine," however.
― a 'catch-all', almost humorous, 'Jeez' quality (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 18:08 (twelve years ago) link
"The Girl Is Mine" is the only song I would for sure never ever vote for. Usually I toss a vote to "Baby Be Mine" for its gloss.
― Gus Van Sant's Gerry Blank (Eric H.), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 18:10 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah, I've heard it all before, Michael. She told me I was her forever lover.
― Axolotl with an Atlatl (Jon Lewis), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 22:15 (twelve years ago) link
shit idk -- PYP
― J0rdan S., Tuesday, 30 August 2011 22:17 (twelve years ago) link
lol PYT
this is impossible
― Red Hot Chili Peppers ‘I’m With You’ is a buffet of preposterous noise (crüt), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 22:17 (twelve years ago) link
I wanna love you, my Pleasant Young Plains
― Red Hot Chili Peppers ‘I’m With You’ is a buffet of preposterous noise (crüt), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 22:18 (twelve years ago) link
voted "Human Nature", one of my favorite songs in the universe as I've probably blabbed about elsewhere on ILM; obv the singing is incredible but that closing keyboard riff, with the little "cha cha" (is that a drum machine or is that Michael scatting?) is unearthly. plus the vibe of the song never fails to disorient me; even as an eight-year old I found the "I like living this way / I like loving this way" liberating & couldn't figure out if Michael meant it or not, & that's part of its attraction to me still.
― Euler, Tuesday, 30 August 2011 22:19 (twelve years ago) link
This poll is harder than fuck. The palm muted guitar on "Wanna Be..."!!! The synth trumpet on "Billie Jean"!!! Everything about "Beat It"!!! The total cocoon-womb of "Human Nature"!!!
― Axolotl with an Atlatl (Jon Lewis), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 22:29 (twelve years ago) link
i lent this to a family friend when i was little and he drew stubble and a moustache on MJ in ballpoint pen - i have seriously never forgiven him for that
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 22:38 (twelve years ago) link
You say pnuematic, I say propulsive.
― Gus Van Sant's Gerry Blank (Eric H.), Saturday, 3 September 2011 22:35 (twelve years ago) link
Leave Me Alone was on the uk CD fyi. that's the version we all taped off our parents back in the day.
― piscesx, Saturday, 3 September 2011 23:34 (1 minute ago) Bookmark
it wasn't on mine. maybe cos i had the cassette or something w/e.
― second only to popcorn (or something), Saturday, 3 September 2011 22:38 (twelve years ago) link
You say pnuematic, I say propulsive
I say go go go
― Anakin Ska Walker (AKA Skarth Vader) (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 3 September 2011 22:40 (twelve years ago) link
it was cd only worldwide afaik
― Jamie_ATP, Saturday, 3 September 2011 22:41 (twelve years ago) link
worlwide apart from the uk yeah?
― second only to popcorn (or something), Saturday, 3 September 2011 23:01 (twelve years ago) link
which still seems weird. no vinyl or cassette in u.s.?
― second only to popcorn (or something), Saturday, 3 September 2011 23:02 (twelve years ago) link
no i mean Leave Me Alone was CD only
― Jamie_ATP, Saturday, 3 September 2011 23:27 (twelve years ago) link
apologies, rather the worse for wear..
― second only to popcorn (or something), Sunday, 4 September 2011 00:07 (twelve years ago) link
Terry Riley co-produced a Michael Jackson record? That would be kind of insanely incredible.
Oops. Not Terry Riley. :)
― Hongroe (Geir Hongro), Sunday, 4 September 2011 01:29 (twelve years ago) link
Regarding "Dangerous", it probably would have worked better had it been 30 minutes shorter. Particularly some of the ballads might have been trimmed away, but also some of the dance numbers sound a bit too alike.
― Hongroe (Geir Hongro), Sunday, 4 September 2011 01:31 (twelve years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Thursday, 8 September 2011 23:01 (twelve years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Friday, 9 September 2011 23:01 (twelve years ago) link
surprised there was a track with no votes!
― Battlestar Gracián (crüt), Friday, 9 September 2011 23:56 (twelve years ago) link
especially considering it wasn't The Girl Is Mine
― Jamie_ATP, Saturday, 10 September 2011 00:48 (twelve years ago) link
[/i] 12
lol
― Tal Berkowitz - Vaccine advocate (DJP), Saturday, 10 September 2011 15:49 (twelve years ago) link
feel like everyones gonna rep for dif songs then billie jean will crush all
― ice cr?m, Wednesday, August 31, 2011 7:31 AM (1 week ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
ILM seems like a place where "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" or "Human Nature" could stage an upset imo
― ✇ ruehl (some dude), Wednesday, August 31, 2011 7:38 AM (1 week ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
nailed it
― some dude, Saturday, 10 September 2011 15:59 (twelve years ago) link
I'd have thought more of ILX would rep for Baby Be Mine, the archetypal hidden-in-plain-sight sleeper. Just listen to the verses ffs; sensual and graceful but inapproachable at the same time, draped in cold velvet silhouette, and so very tantalizing.
― ascai, Monday, 12 September 2011 02:07 (twelve years ago) link
that's precisely why I didn't vote for it
― Anakin Ska Walker (AKA Skarth Vader) (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 12 September 2011 02:13 (twelve years ago) link
it's MY secret
― Anakin Ska Walker (AKA Skarth Vader) (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 12 September 2011 02:14 (twelve years ago) link
I like the Stanley Jordan version of "lady in my life". I know it's muzak-y, but still.
― Monkey tennis? (Solrac), Monday, 12 September 2011 15:29 (twelve years ago) link
i wanted to vote for "Baby Be Mine" but i wanted "Startin'" to beat "Billie Jean" more
― ibiza bloodfarty rock anthem (some dude), Monday, 12 September 2011 15:45 (twelve years ago) link
off the wall > thriller > dangerous > bad
This changes daily for me.. i'm not sure how anyone can definitely say "this is the best, this is the least" out of these 4.. they all have something great and different about them.
― billstevejim, Monday, 12 September 2011 15:47 (twelve years ago) link
I hear you, mostly, but for me at least Bad is easily the worst of them. Don't know if I would have said that even five years ago, but time has not been kind to that record.
― Melle Mel and the Coconuts (thewufs), Monday, 12 September 2011 15:52 (twelve years ago) link
I still like it tho, just not a patch on the others
― Melle Mel and the Coconuts (thewufs), Monday, 12 September 2011 15:53 (twelve years ago) link
god i don't know why people think that, "dirty diana" running right into "smooth criminal" makes me all breathless and shit, still
― mutant slow drum (BradNelson), Monday, 12 September 2011 20:04 (twelve years ago) link
funny (and geeky) thing : now, "baby be mine" (which is an amazing track and I can't understand those who see it as a minor track) reminds me of cruising in "miami" in GTA vice city at sunset (I know. I said it was geeky).
― AlXTC from Paris, Monday, 12 September 2011 21:00 (twelve years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3oiDmaCL9c&NR=1
once you get back to the initial groove of it, even "the girl is mine" is kinda cool, actually !
― AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, 20 September 2011 20:46 (twelve years ago) link
Did Thriller really sell a hundred million copies?
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 6 January 2013 14:43 (eleven years ago) link
Wyman was decidedly more cynical about Jackson's purported sales figures in the days after Michael's death (on Wyman's now-defunct Hitsville blog):
[Thriller was the best-selling album ever in the U.S.] until Their Greatest Hits by the Eagles supplanted it. Now, you’ll, note, everyone talks about how Thriller is the largest selling album worldwide. It probably is, but it’s a conveniently uncheckable factoid; in some twelve days of almost constant coverage, I’ve yet to hear someone say that Thriller is the second best-selling album in U.S. history.
Nice to know it only took him three and a half years to check the "conveniently uncheckable."
― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Sunday, 6 January 2013 15:06 (eleven years ago) link
pyt
― i wanna be a gabbneb baby (Hungry4Ass), Tuesday, 23 July 2013 18:14 (ten years ago) link
TLC
― Boven is het stil (Eric H.), Tuesday, 23 July 2013 18:16 (ten years ago) link
Don't get all the hate for Bad; to me, it's his best album.
― arctic mindbath (President of the People's Republic of Antarctica), Tuesday, 23 July 2013 18:31 (ten years ago) link
Wow, this is maybe the most OTM poll result spread ever, except for "Baby Be Mine" beating "The Girl Is Mine" and "bracket slash i bracket" beating "Beat It."
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 23 July 2013 18:49 (ten years ago) link
― it itches like a porky pine sitting on your dick (Phil D.), Tuesday, 23 July 2013 18:53 (ten years ago) link
Nah, swap "The Girl Is Mine" with "The Lady in My Life."
― Boven is het stil (Eric H.), Tuesday, 23 July 2013 18:56 (ten years ago) link
^
― suggest bando (The Reverend), Tuesday, 23 July 2013 20:42 (ten years ago) link
weird that thriller itself scored so low imo; i mean human nature's nice but fuckin thriller y'all
― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 23 July 2013 20:54 (ten years ago) link
just read Nelson George's Thriller book on the plane ride from Chicago.
― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 23 July 2013 20:56 (ten years ago) link
tracer otm. also the girl is mine shouldn't have gotten any votes
― i wanna be a gabbneb baby (Hungry4Ass), Tuesday, 23 July 2013 22:00 (ten years ago) link
now Hungry4Ass we're really not gonna fight about this, ok?
― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 23 July 2013 22:01 (ten years ago) link
Really wasn't sure whether I wanted to write about this, but in the end I decided better done than not done: http://nobilliards.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/michael-jackson-thriller.html
― Here he is with the classic "Poème Électronique." Good track (Marcello Carlin), Sunday, 15 December 2013 17:54 (ten years ago) link
Aha awesome! I'm glad you did, MC.
(Saves link to Pocket, brews another PG Tips).
― yes, i have seen the documentary (Jon Lewis), Sunday, 15 December 2013 18:07 (ten years ago) link
guys i just uploaded this for you cause its so dope yw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTBQilmQhjI
― lag∞n, Sunday, 15 December 2013 18:18 (ten years ago) link
this is wayyyyyy better than the released version!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFWmSULkvXU
― steendriver dysphoria hoos (The Reverend), Sunday, 11 May 2014 11:10 (ten years ago) link
you're right; that version is much better.
― Daniel, Esq 2, Sunday, 11 May 2014 11:19 (ten years ago) link
Are the drums on Billie Jean played by a human or a machine?
― calstars, Thursday, 1 October 2015 16:20 (eight years ago) link
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_%22Ndugu%22_Chancler
― The Reverend, Friday, 2 October 2015 10:09 (eight years ago) link
thanks. the beat is so solid, I thought it was a machine. And the sound of that snare is great - instantly recognizable. so crisp.
― calstars, Friday, 2 October 2015 12:53 (eight years ago) link
Yes, for many years I also assumed that the drums were sequenced samples. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that a human being could play with such extraordinary precision.As to the sound of Chancler's kit, it's apparently down to a special wooden platform constructed in the studio by the engineer on the Thriller sessions, Bruce Swedien.
― Vast Halo, Friday, 2 October 2015 20:22 (eight years ago) link
No, those are definitely acoustic drums, just very well engineered, as you'd expect!
― Turrican, Friday, 2 October 2015 23:20 (eight years ago) link