Off The Wall was Michael Jackson's 1979 debut solo album that was not released as part of the Jackson 5 franchise. The fact that he had several years of experience in the music industry with his family as a member of the Jackson 5, and 4 previous solo albums surely served as a solid foundation for this album. Aided by Quincy Jones in the production studio, this album has a lot of raw appeal in terms of Jacko as a solo performer. It may not be the greatest album he has ever released, but it has raw talent and throughout, with even some of the weaker tracks showing positives.

Don't Stop Til You Get Enough is a great, upbeat classic track. It is a clever track to a debut album, relying heavily on the sound of the track as opposed to particular vocal performance from MJ. This style is followed on in Rock With You, where the beat and backing vocals support his lead vocals.

Safely into the album, the vocals start coming on a bit stronger, with themes firmly around letting yourself go and having fun, loosening up and dancing the night away. Romance is also a theme, and the hit ballad She's Out Of My Life certainly shows this, and showcases MJ's vocal power. It is wonderfully sung, and note perfect, for me. However, I don't like it as a song. Lyrically, it's good, vocally, it's excellent, but the song itself isn't one of my faves at all.

Indeed, the second half of the album, even with some of MJ's raw talent, just seems a bit weak compared with the first half. Once the title track Off The Wall is finished, it's almost like the effort seems to go. Burn This Disco Out has its moments, but failed to impress me, while Girlfriend really doesn't do anything new and falls short on most fronts.

However, it's rare to get a perfect album once you go it alone, and some of the raw talent was taken on from here and is visible in albums such as Bad and Thriller, where Jackson has obviously evolved as a songwriter, no matter the genre he attacks, and his music continues to impress. Off The Wall is a good insight, lyrically, into Jackson's breaking free moment from the Jackson 5, and also in his discovery of things an adult experiences. It's on the whole a very good album, just with some weaker tracks towards the end.

The track listing:

1. Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough
2. Rock with You
3. Working Day and Night
4. Get on the Floor
5. Off the Wall
6. Girlfriend
7. She's Out of my Life
8. I Can't Help It
9. It's the Falling in Love
10. Burn This Disco Out