Album review : Michael Jackson family today and his top songs: If Michael danced in the studio, it meant that a track sounded right. No matter what, Jackson ensured that the melodies were his own, while Riley sought to merge his trademark New Jack Swing with Quincy Jones’ baroque pop. At one point, L.A. Reid and Babyface were brought in to help produce, but none of their contributions made the final cut. Over 60 songs wound up being written over a period of 18 months. It cost $10 million in total, not counting video costs. When Jackson revealed the final tracklist to Riley, the latter expected to see his name once or twice. Instead, Riley produced six of the 14 songs—arguably all the material that has aged the best. As a result of his contributions, you can convincingly argue that Dangerous is Jackson’s final classic album and the best full-length of the New Jack Swing era. As soon as you pressed play on the tape, Riley’s drums attacked with Scud-era force. “Jam.” The sound of glass breaking, bells reminiscent of LL Cool J’s “Jingling Baby,” funky drums that knock like Clyde Stubblefield was behind the kit, and roaring saxophone licks. The words “you want to get up and jam” are initially buried in the mix, but the vocals are as acrobatic as a highlight reel, so it only made sense that the Chicago Bulls used it in their 1992 championship video. Starring Michael Jordan and Kris Kross, the “Jam” clip became almost as iconic as “Black or White.” Filmed in an abandoned rat-infested armory on the South Side of Chicago, it finds Michael Jackson teaching Jordan how to dance and the other MJ teaching him to hoop. Through the wonders of special effects, Jackson ultimately swishes shots that not even Steph Curry can hit; but not even the greatest dancer of the last half-century can teach Jordan how to dance. Point Jackson.
On the whole, Michael feels rather dull. Vocally, he’s on target the majority of the time, with the exception of the still manufactured-sounding, “Breaking News”, but musically it’s far from impressive. So many of the beats sound so derivative that it lacks any evolution, which is what Jackson was always about. Look at the transition between Off the Wall and Thriller, or better yet, Bad to Dangerous. He went from disco to ’80s synth, from hair metal aesthetics to New jack swing. What’s more, he always surrounded himself with the most top notch, key players in any industry. Do you think it was by chance that Jackson hired the likes of Macaulay Culkin or Michael Jordan for his videos? Remember, it was the early ’90s, those guys were just as much royalty as he was. The same went for Slash, or Eddie Van Halen, or Martin Scorcese, or Teddy Riley. That’s what’s missing on Michael.
Ben (1972): Yeah, laugh this one off as “the rat record” if you want – you’re missing a treat. Obviously the standout here is the title track, MJ’s first solo hit and yeah, a song about a rat from a movie. But look beyond that track and you’ll find endearing soul and infectious pop records that were dazzling at the time and still hold strong today. Forgotten Favorites: “Ben,” “Greatest Show on Earth,” “What Goes Around Comes Around”.
Michael Jackson family: Mocienne Petit Jackson’s (Michael Jackson’s daughter) books are now available in french! For our dutch guests: We komen meer te weten over de vele traumatische ervaringen van de hoofdpersoon, haar depressies en talrijke worstelingen om alle ellende te verwerken en achter zich te laten. De schrijfster geeft ons duidelijkheid door middel van verschillende flashbacks. Mocienne blijft het reilen en zeilen van Michael Jackson voortdurend volgen. Zo komt zijn – vermeende – kindermisbruik voorbij, komen de vele rechtszaken die er rondom zijn persoon hebben plaatsgehad aan bod, zijn twee mislukte huwelijken, zijn metamorfose, de geboorte van zijn drie kinderen en – last but not least – zijn voortijdige dood. Mocienne komt langzaam maar zeker tot de verbijsterende conclusie dat de maffia een grote en destructieve rol in zijn (én haar) leven heeft gespeeld, waarbij dient te worden aangetekend dat zijn familie, en in het bijzonder zijn moeder en vader, in dit opzicht veel te verwijten valt. Tot op heden heeft Mocienne geen enkele medewerking van de familie Jackson gekregen om een DNA-test te doen, teneinde te kunnen bewijzen dat zij wérkelijk Michaels dochter is. Lees het boek hier The dark side of the Netherlands (Volume 2) (Dutch Edition).