Legendary! (Michael Jackson in general)

Member Name: zOOm

Product:	Michael Jackson in general
Date:	23/10/01 (699 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great artist

Disadvantages: None

So, another MJ album release and lots of publicity. MJ? Michael Jackson? Wacko Jacko? Weirdo? However you’d like to refer to him (and I have heard all of these on radio stations) he is THE BEST ARTIST EVER.

Now, now, before you go off dismissing me as a “Wacko Jacko lover” let me list the reasons why I think this way.

Firstly:

30 Years in the music industry! This man has given his life to music! He has won many awards and is recognised all over the world. He IS the most famous person in the world. He is not here just to make a few bucks and have sex with all his groupies. Music is his life. He is as famous today as he was back 20 years ago.

Let me clarify that: I have cousins who are 15 & 18 years old. They weren’t even born when Thriller had come out. Still, they know the songs in the album and they have even purchased the album.

When I asked them whether they know the song “La Isla Bonita” - by Madonna (a huge hit in 1986) they say “huh? Didn’t know Madonna sang a song like that!”. I get similar responses from other youngsters. They know MJ but not many other artists that were around back than.

I have also travelled around the world quite a bit, and everywhere I go, you can be sure to find MJ albums, even old ones, but you’d have to order previous albums of people like Madonna, Whitney Houston, Tom Jones, The Beatles, etc.


Second:

Innovator! A Michael Jackson music video is never short of amazing! He started it with Thriller and is still continuing. Before him all the music videos were boring takes of artists miming the words to their songs. With MJ, a new album brings with it amazing video clips. Even if you do not like the song, you’ll be amazed with the video. Examples: “Thriller”, “Bad”, “Do you Remember The Time”, “Black or White”, "You Rock my World" and my al
l-time favourite music video “Smooth Criminal”

I’ve heard most people say that “Moon Walker” was a very crappy movie. And I have to admit that when I was younger I thought the same. But when I think about it now, “Moon Walker” was the BEST self-promotion any artist has ever done! (I have not seen “In bed with Madonna” and from the bits of it that I have seen I refuse to subject myself to watching that kind of cr*p).

“Moon Walker” used sci-fi and “love” as it’s theme (love of all humans - not just towards the opposite sex) whereas most of Madonna’s and other people’s productions concentrate on the opposite sex (love, lust, whatever takes your fancy…).

So, to take something as “boring” as global love of all humans and actually achieve something should not be taken lightly in my opinion.


Third:

The effort! Look at the way this man works. He spends years writing songs, recording them and still does not put them in an album until HE is satisfied with the work that he does! Who else does that? Robbie? Steps?

The story with “Invincible” is that he recorded 60 songs before settling on the final 16 for the album. That is amazing! Most of your “I love myself so much I think I will stay in bed today” type of celebrities would not be bothered recording one extra song, let alone 44!!!!

Apparently he has even taken singing lessons to see how he can add more range to his voice (i.e. deepen it). Which world famous artist would bother with that these days? Again, I see this as a sign of a man trying his hardest to produce music better than he has ever done. Other cynics see this as “an attempt by a ‘has been’ to try to recapture the success of his youth”. I think I am right, you can decide for yourself.

Have you ever been to one of his concerts?
It’s amazing! I’ve only been to his History concert and seen the others on video. For the History tour he had 30 semi-trailers (for those that don’t speak Australian, that is an 18-wheeler truck or “lorry” as you guys seem to call them here, or a “freighter” for the Americans) to transport the set. At one stage there was even a TANK on the stage. Not because of sensationalism (i.e. unlike Brittney Spears’ “look at me, I have a snake around may neck” show) but to blend in with the story. The tank came on stage during “Heal the World”.

Yes, I know, other people have dancers too, but they do not have the same extravaganza as Michael. There were no mistakes, nothing went wrong and everyone had a great time. You cannot tell me any concert even comes close visually!

PS: At the start Michael just stood still for 10 minutes after going on stage and the cheering did not stop at all… Anyone else able to achieve that?


Generosity:

He has donated so much to charities that I do not think anyone comes close to it. I remember seeing a photo of him donating $100,000 to UNICEF! That was at one go! Who else has given that much?

He co-wrote and organised the “We are the World” aid for Africa song. Someone else might have been able to do this, but I do not think that they would have had the success that Michael had.

Anyone remember Weird Al Yalkovic (“Eat It!” and “Fat”)? I watched an interview with him and when asked who was the best person he had ever worked with, he said Michael Jackson. The reason: When he wanted to do “Fat” and “Eat it” not only did Michael give him the permission, but he also helped Weird Al get the same dancers and the same studio where the video clips for “Beat it!” and “Bad” were made. Apparently the worst person to work with was PrinceR
30; in Weird Al’s words “the purple loving midget” would not allow him to use the music, let alone the sets!


Stars

It seems like anything MJ does has legendary status. Stars want to be involved with things that Michael does. It's sort of like every female model wanting to be a "Bond girl". Michael has always had other stars in his albums, and not just the ones that you'd think he'd normally invite.

Thriller - Paul McCartney
Bad - Eddie van Halen
Dangerous - Super Model Iman, Eddie Murphy, Magic Johnson, Slash (Guitarist of Guns 'n Roses)
Invincible - Marlon Brando, Chris Tucker, Michael Madsen

I would like to see any other band being able to get these stars to perform with them or appear in their videos.


Bad points?

Fine, he loves children and acts like a child (by the way, I do not believe those allegations of child abuse), so what does the world do? Call him a weirdo. On the other hand Madonna who reportedly has had sex with every man and his dog and his sister, is an icon! The woman who goes on stage topless (one way to make people attend your concert), burns crosses in her video clips is the greatest female role model on the planet! Yes, those cynics are right, Michael is the bad bad man, don’t go anywhere close to him!

Then there are the arguments about his color: Black or white? Who gives a shit?! He says he has a disease and I believe him. Some idiot said something about “bleaching” his skin. That is not possible… so says many professors.

The plastic surgery…. Fine, I will admit that I think he has completely stuffed up his appearance. I’d say he looked his most natural when he released “Thriller”, but then, what do I care? It’s his face! It’s his life! He is not a calendar pin-up boy! He is a singer and I pay money to listen to his songs not to watch his face. S
o, what is the problem?


Invincible?

Listed above, are the reasons why I will buy the Invincible album on the day that it is released. I refuse to pay £14.99 to buy CD’s by so called “artists” who are nothing more than pretty faces, massacring beautiful songs by their lame style. But I will pay the money to purchase an album of someone who has put in the effort and the energy to produce the best he can. You may not like his songs, but you have to admit that if every other “artist“ tried as hard to please his/her audience as Michael does, then we would have much more quality music!

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