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
ugly young thing!
― a 'catch-all', almost humorous, 'Jeez' quality (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 22:40 (twelve years ago) link
The guitar playing on this whole record is fucking awesome tbqh...
― Axolotl with an Atlatl (Jon Lewis), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 22:47 (twelve years ago) link
All credit to Toto and (on "Beat It") Eddie Van Halen.
― a 'catch-all', almost humorous, 'Jeez' quality (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 22:48 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah, well! Toto, when employed in the service of good, can be an amazing thing.
― Axolotl with an Atlatl (Jon Lewis), Tuesday, 30 August 2011 22:51 (twelve years ago) link
Billie Jean for me please!
just putting this here, in case you may be a fan of Thriller yet have perhaps never heard it. often referred to by MJ fans as being the beginning of that whole 'hiccup'y vocal era referenced upthread.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Yt-bKGeeP8
― piscesx, Tuesday, 30 August 2011 22:57 (twelve years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2zx9uukY-s
always liked this demo
― Jamie_ATP, Tuesday, 30 August 2011 23:02 (twelve years ago) link
also a good documentary on how it was recorded
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8if4LV_SzE
― Jamie_ATP, Tuesday, 30 August 2011 23:05 (twelve years ago) link
i never heard "Heartbreak Hotel" before he died but it's been a staple of posthumous radio tributes i've listened to, both in '09 and earlier this week, awesome song.
― ✇ ruehl (some dude), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 00:20 (twelve years ago) link
"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'." Hate "Beat It," got tired of "Billie Jean" long ago. I like "Human Nature," love SWV's "Right Here."
― clemenza, Wednesday, 31 August 2011 00:28 (twelve years ago) link
sophie's choice.
human nature v. beat it
― notorious ilx wet noodle (remy bean), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 00:34 (twelve years ago) link
And Though You Fight To Stay AliveYour Body Starts To ShiverFor No Mere Mortal Can ResistThe Evil Of The THRILLER
― Hongroe (Geir Hongro), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 01:47 (twelve years ago) link
voted "human nature." really wish thriller had gotten thishttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLEhh_XpJ-0and pipes of peace got "the girl is mine"
― reggie (qualmsley), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 01:54 (twelve years ago) link
otm "say say say" is so much better
― ✇ ruehl (some dude), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 01:56 (twelve years ago) link
We all agree!
"The Girl is Mine" vs "Say Say Say"
― a 'catch-all', almost humorous, 'Jeez' quality (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 02:05 (twelve years ago) link
"The Girl is Mine" is the sound of noticing you have erectile dysfunction syndrome for the first time while sitting in lukewarm water.
― Z S, Tuesday, December 18, 2007 12:17 AM (3 years ago) Bookmark
^otm
― reggie (qualmsley), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 02:12 (twelve years ago) link
and Linda McCartney harmonies are the lukewarm water.
― a 'catch-all', almost humorous, 'Jeez' quality (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 02:13 (twelve years ago) link
Human Nature is so gorgeous, I never get tired of hearing it. The lyrical imagery is so great.
― corey, Wednesday, 31 August 2011 02:17 (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
lol
― 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