Michael Jackson
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SundaySpotlight: MJ

Artist reviewed by:
SongBlog

Thursday, 25th of June 2009. The king of pop has left us because his heart couldn't go on anymore. It is the same heart that got through his father's abuse, millions of dance moves and vocal sections, massive hysteria surrounding the album Thriller, endless anaesthetic substances before and after the aesthetic surgeries, lawsuit, debts, life in the hourglass. What a heart that was! At the end, it doesn't matter why that heart stopped working, because when it worked, it worked for the whole world.

Born in Gary in Indiana, Michael was attached to music ever since he was able to walk and talk. When he was six years old, he was a part of family band Jackson Brothers (Jacksons 5) alongside Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon. They were performing at various events, they even opened striptease nights. Pretty soon, his talents are becoming noticed by Rolling Stone magazine, and he became a lead singer of Jacksons 5 around the same time. The series of successful albums I Want You Back, ABC, and I'll be there made them the most relevant band at that time.

At the age of 14, Michael released his debut album Got To Be There that ended up in top 20 on Billboard Album Charts. The following album Ben was promoted with the single of the same title that sold one million copies. He wasn't even fifteen when he convinced the head of Motown record label to record his own songs, just as it was allowed to Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. He didn't succeed in it. Instead, his third album comes out supported by a successful single With A Child's Heart, a cover of Stevie Wonder's classic. Stevie Wonder will have a huge influence on Jackson's music development. While Stevie Wonder was a wizard in the studio, Jackson was more into stage (dance and performance). Michael's voice started mutating right before he dived into polished soul.

In collaboration with Quincy Jones, Michael perfected Wonder's production ideas, adding more shine to them. Jackson's voice was also a special story: super sexy, smooth, angelic and innocent. The second artist who helped Michael to become the king of pop was Paul McCartney, the king of pop melodies. Their collab started on the album Off The Wall and it continued on the blockbuster Thriller on a song The Girl Is Mine. The third man is Rod Temperton, composer of Jackson's hits Off The Wall, Rock With You and Burn This Disco Out.

Since Thriller and Bad were an absolute zenith of Michael career, I will primarily focus on that section of his discography. Released in 1982, the album represented dance melting pot of all music genres and it is one of the most popular pieces of music ever made. The album contains nine songs, and seven of them entered top 10 on Billboard Hot 100. The promotion of the album was spurred by incredible music videos and demanding choreographies. Still, you will have to agree that there is no music video or choreography that would sell a bad album in 47 million copies. Right after Thriller, his physical image started changing. He was becoming more and more white. Rumours about plastic surgery and anorexy started spreading around, alongside that blasphemic gossip about his love of young boys. Contrary to Michael's mental health, his career seemed stable. Bad dropped in 1987 and it was also highly influential and successful, selling over 30 million copies worldwide. What about Dangerous and its 32 million copies?

I will leave the rest of Michael Jackson's discography for you to discover it, as I usually do in SundaySpotlight, although I am pretty sure everyone is already familiar with his work.

Michael Jackson's albums reviewed
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