Michael Jackson

It's been one year since the strange, magical, tragic, entertaining, controversial, fascinating, horrifying, and...yes...sometimes thrilling life of Michael Jackson ended. The death of the "king of pop" has been as full of murky intrigue and starry-eyed aggrandizement as his life (especially during the years when he was desperately trying to match the artistic and commercial juggernaut that was Thriller) became.

But, in the end, it probably won't be about any of the molestation charges (though those stand in the forefront of the memories of many) or the cosmetic surgeries or any of the other bizarre human circus trappings he wrapped himself in...it will, instead, be about the music. During the past year Michael Jackson was again what he fervently wanted to be...the biggest selling pop star on the planet.

Not sure it qualifies as a "happy ending"...the man was dead at 50 after all...but I think part of Michael Jackson would be pleased with outpouring of tributes and sales that have flowed so freely since his death.

Thriller

Happy Halloween :-)

Michael Jackson

The king is dead (in case you somehow hadn’t heard) and I think he would be pleased by the outpouring of coverage and consumption that has followed in the wake of his passing. Michael Jackson, by his own admission, just wanted to be loved…albeit loved on his own sometimes eccentric terms…and the breathless (and all too often lurid) media coverage, the lionization by fans (both those who stuck by the self-anointed “king of pop” through thick and thin and those who fell by the wayside along the way), and the booming sales of his music would have doubtlessly pleased him to no end.

In much of the world…and especially here in America…we regard our celebrities as royalty (something that proves a double edged sword for those put up on the pedestals) and no one reveled…and reviled…that status more than Michael Jackson.

His life was magical, strange, amazing, sad, imaginative, delusional, and, yes, thrilling…his death is something of a circus. But that’s par for the course and, again, I don’t think that he would see this as a bad thing.

The king is dead…and when all is said and done…when the circus has left town and the stranger aspects of his rollercoaster life have receded into the background…we’ll be left with the magic he strove so hard to present…with the astonishing dancing, with the quirky but entertaining videos and little films, with the often wondrous music. And when all is said and done, that’s cool with me.

Man in the Mirror

Michael Jackson's life was Michael Jackson's life but whatever one thought about as his eccentricities the man could sing and dance his butt off. Rest in peace.

Thriller - 25th Anniversary Edition

25 years ago Michael Jackson’s Thriller became such a cultural phenomenon that people kind of skipped past the fact that it was a really good album but not a really great album.

We all remember the highpoints…the silky, ominous throb of the amazing “Billie Jean”, the propulsive energy of “Wanna Be Startin’ Something”, the smooth and pleasing pop sheen of “Human Nature”, the paradoxically goofy and funky title track (major props to the late, great Vincent Price for his “rap”), and the snarling rock and roll marriage of Jackson’s voice and Eddie Van Halen’s guitar on the still-potent “Beat It”…with abiding (and well-deserved) fondness.

A lot of what made those songs even more indelible is not only that they were great tracks but also that most of them had interesting videos that were in heavy rotation on MTV (back when MTV…you know…played videos during most of the day and night.)

The rest of Thriller is, truth to be told, mostly just okay. “The Girl is Mine”, the duet with Paul McCartney, was and is a harmless pop trifle, “Baby Be Mine” was and is a generic Quincy Jones pop/soul mid-tempo jam, “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” was and is silly and annoying (yeah, I know it was a hit…I don’t care…it’s still silly and annoying), and “The Lady in my Life” (yes another “hit”) was and is a limp, unconvincing love ballad.

For the 25^th anniversary edition CD, the original album is supplemented with two outtakes and four remixes. None of this stuff adds much to the record. The best of the lot is an amusing 24-second clip from Vincent Price’s voiceover track work for “Thriller”. The other outtake is “For All Time”, a pleasant enough (though ultimately forgettable) love song that might have been left out because the melody sounds more than a bit like “Human Nature”.

None of the remixes comes close to improving on the originals. “Billie Jean 2008” featuring Kanye West (whose vocal contributions consist mainly of throwing in the odd “yeah, yeah” here and there) slows the tempo down and buries the track’s strongest feature, that tight bass line, in the mix while Akon adds nothing interesting to “Wanna Be Startin’ Something 2008”. “P.Y.T. 2008” is only made even more silly and annoying with the addition of will.i.am and the idea of turning “Beat It” into a duet between Jackson and Fergie may have seemed like a good one on paper (though I find that hard to believe) but it was a bad idea when executed.

Thriller is, flaws and all, still a remarkable pop record even if this anniversary edition really doesn’t add anything good to its legacy.