Michael Jackson

nuckeythompson

Was this guy overrated or underrated? Please keep this topic on his music and not what he accussed of please

Charlie19

Musically brilliant and I don't think three or five nights would of bothered him.

stefan idiot jones

His record sales says it all. Superb Entertainer.

Music?

Well I would start with this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PivWY9wn5ps

Then a bit of Slash

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ7qXHjxj_0

Then an anthem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_D3VFfhvs4

Then there's there's this sweet little one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzZ_urpj4As

Then in 2001 he was still able to this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-7ABIM2qjU

So answer your question, there is no way to overrate him.


Haven't even gone through half of his best songs with this post. :pac:

Charlie19

Fair play to Timberlake to put his name towards this track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG08ukJPtR8

krudler

Motown stuff was great, Thriller was amazing, all downhill after that give or take a few decent tracks. Hated all the we are the world guff, more funk less wishy washy stuff. Will say this though, Don't Stop Til You Get Enough is probably the most well produced disco track of all time. It sounds amazing even now.

krudler

krudler wrote: »

Motown stuff was great, Thriller was amazing, all downhill after that give or take a few decent tracks. Hated all the we are the world guff, more funk less wishy washy stuff. Will say this though, Don't Stop Til You Get Enough is probably the most well produced disco track of all time. It sounds amazing even now.

Ya say "give or take" but there were half a dozen excellent tunes amongst that.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Great songwriter and performer can't deny that, I find sometimes people don't realise that he wrote most of his solo hits himself.

Charlie19

Love him or not, I'll always remember when I got told the news of his death.

Have to admit, I was expecting a punchline.

DEFTLEFTHAND

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Great songwriter and performer can't deny that, I find sometimes people don't realise that he wrote most of his solo hits himself.

It's actually incredible how much he wrote himsel.

Charlie19 wrote: »

Love him or not, I'll always remember when I got told the news of his death.

Have to admit, I was expecting a punchline.

The internet almost crashed when he died. Never happened before and won't happen again. We all spent a few hours exchanging excellent jokes obviously. :P



All the innuendo etc., it's funny, anyone can see that any inappropriateness was purely accidental. I was about 10 years too late to see it in real time with a proper perspective on it but anyone who was the right age would probably agree.

In fairness my experience of when he died was an amazing bit of history. Everyone was texting jokes, everyone was having a laugh. But somehow there was a sombre-ness behind it all. All the music channels played his songs. The internet slowed to a crawl. People over a certain age talked about him as a kid. People below that age sang his disco hits. People younger than that knew all his pop songs. A properly amazing artist.


I was annoyed at the concept of "This Is It" but it's actually a beautifully made film. It's not as perfect as he would've liked but ****ing hell it showed he still had it in every way.

suicide_circus

EEEEEEHHEEEEEE!

suicide_circus

suicide_circus wrote: »

EEEEEEHHEEEEEE!

I'm one bad, invincible, fish-suit-wearing mother****er! Hee-hee-hoo!

DEFTLEFTHAND

This is my fav solo hit he wrote.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yURRmWtbTbo

Girly voice but yet so smooth. :pac:

Banjo String

His greatest song had to be I'm forever blowing bubbles.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

Legendary performer.

I remember being very upset at the time of his death, and the poignant scene of the Jackson family carrying his coffin.

I'd thought it was Cool Runnings on telly, and that's my favourite film.

KungPao

A proper legend, the likes of we'll never see again.

biko

He was alright like.

whirlpool

Charlie19 wrote: »

Fair play to Timberlake to put his name towards this track.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG08ukJPtR8

Fun fact: The guy who Britney Spears cheated on Justin Timberlake with came out and said last year that he was one of Michael's abuse victims.

A year later, Justin releases a duet with Michael.... http://proplayerinsiders.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/but-thats-none-of-my2.jpg

dd972

Was totally indifferent to his music when he was alive, however his first two solo albums stand up as peerless pop classics, just a shame how he got messed up psychologically.

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo

He‘s no Gary Glitter, that's for sure.

BBDBB

meh

Rothko

stefan idiot jones wrote: »

His record sales says it all. Superb Entertainer.

Record sales are no indication of quality.

Anyway, I find him overrated although I do love some of his songs.

Skylinehead

I'm not sure it's possible for Michael Jackson to be underrated.

Hank Scorpio

Legendary, his songs always wake me up during a session and bring out the feel good factor. No matter what age you are
you just gotta admit his iconic status is deserved

takamichinoku

I'd say he has about 20 songs I'd consider listening to again, fortunately a fair few of them are spectacular, but it's still not a lot for me to care much about him. Doesn't help that my first memories of him were the HIStory marketing campain, those big giant Jackson statues being revealed to crowds of adoring people... even 5 year old me thought he must've been shockingly lacking in self awareness or pretty weird or something.



Anyways, for someone who peaked at 11 (I Want You Back's a perfect song), he had a pretty damn solid career.

Macavity.

Not my thing at all but I respect that he wrote most of his own material, and he was clearly a very talented singer. I don't think he's under rated at all though, he seems to get the recognition he deserves.

Hotfail.com

Wouldn't be his biggest fan, but Billie Jean and I Want You Back are absolute tunes.

Da Shins Kelly

Definitely not underrated, no, but I don't think he's overrated either. I don't think many would doubt his talent or the immeasurable influence he has had on pop music. Personally, I wouldn't call myself a huge fan of his music (I wouldn't turn it off, but he wouldn't be one of my go-to artists either, if that makes sense), but the guy had one of the best voices ever in pop music, no doubt about that. I Want You Back is vocally brilliant and he was only 11 or something when he recorded it. He was a total prodigy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3Q80mk7bxE

Lenin Skynard

Overrating Michael Jackson is impossible. The man was the greatest musician/songwriter of a generation. Sorely missed.

purplepanda

Lenin Skynard wrote: »

Overrating Michael Jackson is impossible. The man was the greatest musician/songwriter of a generation. Sorely missed.

Greatest Musician? He denied being able to play any musical instrument during a court case where he was accused of stealing another artists composition.

He was talented but don't start the historical revisionism stuff. :pac:

Da Shins Kelly

purplepanda wrote: »

Greatest Musician? He denied being able to play any musical instrument during a court case where he was accused of stealing another artists composition.

He was talented but don't start the historical revisionism stuff. :pac:

Actually Michael Jackson had a pretty incredible way of writing music. He couldn't play instruments all that proficiently, but he built chords, harmonies, melody, bass and rhythm with only his voice on the demos for his songs and came up with the lyrics as he wrote the music. He didn't write in a traditional way at all with a pen, paper, guitar, etc., but the way he did write was pretty damn impressive. He wasn't your traditional musician, but the man had amazing musicality.

ardle1

Charlie19 wrote: »

Musically brilliant and I don't think three or five nights would of bothered him.

Gobbly gook....
I think that if He, his management, and the whole fcukin planet had prepared for 5 nights,, then he would, annnnd should expect 5 nights.
Thank you, hope I have made an enormous impact to this Thread.

Hotfail.com

purplepanda wrote: »

Greatest Musician? He denied being able to play any musical instrument during a court case where he was accused of stealing another artists composition.

He was talented but don't start the historical revisionism stuff. :pac:

Pfft, anyone can play an instrument to a reasonable degree if you give them enough time. You're either born with his kind of talent or you're not.

Lenin Skynard

purplepanda wrote: »

Greatest Musician? He denied being able to play any musical instrument during a court case where he was accused of stealing another artists composition.

He was talented but don't start the historical revisionism stuff. :pac:

Got to be the stupidest comment I've ever read on this forum. Jackson could probably play several instruments to the highest level, his vocals and songwriting speak to that.

purplepanda

Lenin Skynard wrote: »

Got to be the stupidest comment I've ever read on this forum. Jackson could probably play several instruments to the highest level, his vocals and songwriting speak to that.

If he was such a great musician why didn't he play a musical instrument on his many recordings? :pac:

You obviously don't have a understanding of the term "greatest musician" and you have the front to call me stupid :rolleyes:

I don't see any evidence that Jackson was a great musician, he even denied having such any such ability in a legal case, yet some fans attribute powers to him that he didn't possess! :eek:

Calling Jackson the "greatest musician" of his generation is laughable. :rolleyes:

Dolbert

^Your voice can be an instrument.

Links234

wouldn't be my type of music but he was an absolute legend

Tipsy McSwagger

Billie Jean is the greatest song of all time.

purplepanda

Dolbert wrote: »

^Your voice can be an instrument.

That won't make you the "greatest musician" of a generation in comparison to others who can sing, write songs & also play musical instruments! :pac:

For example Prince or symbol ^*(^&%)^ or whatever he calls himself nowadays

topper75

Everything he did musically was derivative. He never pushed the envelope really. To be great you MUST be a true innovator.

Dancing and performing was another matter. He was, and still is, the king in that regard.

Disturbing number of people out there equating 'popular' with 'good'. They need to meditate on flies swarming around a pile of dung. I discount record sales in evaluating an artist.

One thing I'm happy to give to MJ is he is from that glorious time when, if there was a mania about you, you had the talent to justify it. He was strange but he had a magic. He had a rough youth and deserved a happy old age. Shame about that.

Duggy747

One of the greatest entertainers who ever was, almost impossible not to sing along or tap a beat to one of his finer tunes.

bystarlight

purplepanda wrote: »

If he was such a great musician why didn't he play a musical instrument on his many recordings?

Where are you getting your info from??????

On Michael Jackson's HIStory album he played guitars, keyboards and synthesizers, drums and percussion.

He also did the string, vocal and keyboard arrangements on most (if not all) of his solo albums.

purplepanda

bystarlight wrote: »

Where are you getting your info from??????

Court case details here, he denied being able to play any instrument with sufficient skill. http://www.factfiend.com/michael-jackson-shot-plagiarism-suit-singing/

Yet some proclaim him the "greatest musician of his generation" :rolleyes:

Dolbert

purplepanda wrote: »

Court case details here, he denied being able to play any instrument with sufficient skill. http://www.factfiend.com/michael-jackson-shot-plagiarism-suit-singing/

Yet some proclaim him the "greatest musician of his generation" :rolleyes:

Is it the term 'musician' you're objecting to? Are you saying that someone who writes, arranges and performs their own music can't be considered a great musician, because their primary instrument is voice? Your definitions are all wrong I'm afraid

whirlpool

bystarlight wrote: »

Where are you getting your info from??????

On Michael Jackson's HIStory album he played guitars, keyboards and synthesizers, drums and percussion.

He also did the string, vocal and keyboard arrangements on most (if not all) of his solo albums.

In fairness, a lot of the credit attributed to artists in sleeve-notes is falsified.

And I'd definitely be inclined to believe what he says in court about being able to play instruments over what's written in sleeve notes.

bystarlight

purplepanda wrote: »

Court case details here, he denied being able to play any instrument with sufficient skill. http://www.factfiend.com/michael-jackson-shot-plagiarism-suit-singing/

Yet some proclaim him the "greatest musician of his generation" :rolleyes:

But you said he didn't play instruments on his many recordings.

That's not true. He did.

That court case was in 1994, he didn't die until 2009, 15 years later. He did play instruments on his later albums, HIStory (1995) and Invicible (2001). There's also pictures of him playing guitar and drums in the studio with the Jackson 5.

And not being able to play with sufficient skill, doesn't mean you can't play at all.

A voice IS an instrument, and song writing/arranging is certainly a form of musicianship, both of which he was brilliant at. He's wrote some of the best pop songs of the last few decades so I can understand why he is considered one of the "greatest musicians of his generation."

When people refer to his musicianship I don't think they're referring to his ability to play an instrument - musicianship isn't limited to playing instruments; there's composing, arranging, singing etc etc

I play guitar and piano, it certainly doesn't make me a better musician than Michael Jackson.

4Sticks

Out and out rock fan myself , my hereos being Led Zep , Stones, Rory Galagher , ACDC, the Doors etc.
I cannot deny Jacksons genius even if I would not buy his stuff.

Billy86

topper75 wrote: »

Everything he did musically was derivative. He never pushed the envelope really. To be great you MUST be a true innovator.

I guess we can also discount this guy, in that case:

Hotfail.com

purplepanda wrote: »

If he was such a great musician why didn't he play a musical instrument on his many recordings? :pac:

You obviously don't have a understanding of the term "greatest musician" and you have the front to call me stupid :rolleyes:

I don't see any evidence that Jackson was a great musician, he even denied having such any such ability in a legal case, yet some fans attribute powers to him that he didn't possess! :eek:

Calling Jackson the "greatest musician" of his generation is laughable. :rolleyes:

Anyone can play an instrument, anyone.

If anything it's a testament to his musicianship that he managed to write all those songs without being able to play anything.

grundie

I always thought of him as a great producer. Someone who was very good at surrounding himself with the best talent and being able to use their skills to make million selling records.

That being said, I could never see the appeal and I found it impossible to understand what he was saying.