Album #141: Michael Jackson - Off The Wall

Michael Jackson

Off The Wall (1980)

The late Michael Jackson will forever be remembered for different reasons by different people. His army of loyal fans will choose to remember only his musical legacy, his undeniable stage presence and his incredibly array of dance moves; detractors will continue to highlight his questionable personal life, in particular the child sex allegations that haunted him from 1993 until his death, and which, even today, five years after his death, are continuing as others come forward claiming Jackson abused them.

Personally, I find his alleged actions abhorrent and sickening; and yes, I am aware that technically he was never convicted of any crimes....but where there's smoke there's fire, they say, and there's so much smoke around these things (still) that it's hard to accept that Jackson was completely innocent (even if he believed he was.) However, I do not think that devalues the musical work he did, and I do believe it is possible to listen to, judge and even enjoy Jackson's music without condoning his alleged actions.

With that rather lengthy disclaimer out of the way (and I have a horrible feeling it's going to trigger some debate), today's album is Off The Wall, Jackson's fifth studio album, but his first with Epic Records, where he did his finest, most career-defining work. 

The Album

Musically, the album covers an incredible range of influences. There's pop, soul, funk, R&B and disco scattered all over the place; there's even a tender ballad to top it all off. To make the album, Jackson enlisted the help of maestro producer Quincy Jones, the man with whom, in my view, Jackson did his finest work. He also worked with Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney and Rod Temperton (who continued to work with Jackson on his next album, Thriller), each of whom contributed songs to the album.

For Jackson himself, this was the album where he was let off the Motown hook, finally free to pursue a mature, adult approach to songcrafting and production. The results speak for themselves; Jackson proves to have a superb sense of musical craft, not to mention finally allowing himself to show the full range of his vocal abilities. It might have numerically been his fifth studio album but make no mistake - Off The Wall is the birth of Michael Jackson, King of Pop.

Opener Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough is a masterpiece - written solely by Jackson, and the first time in his career he had complete control over a solo piece. And holy crap, what a first time! Everything about this funk/disco odyssey just works - from the great strings and horn arrangements to the funky bass and disco/funk guitar...and there's Jackson's outstanding falsetto vocal for good measure. It sets the tone of the album perfectly, because it's disco/funk pretty much for the next twenty minutes. Rock With You heads more down the smooth R&B route but still has heavy elements of disco; Jackson drops his vocal back down to his usual smooth tenor and lends great gravitas to a rather good tune. Workin' Day And Night and Get On The Floor are more uptempo disco tunes; the former features some sublime horn work and a bedrock of electric piano, while the latter is a serious contender for the best track on the album; taking every conceivable cliche of disco (swales of string blasts, horns aplenty, a relentless backbeat, funk guitar) and fusing them together. The real hero though is bass supergenius Louis Johnson, whose slap bass work is not only funky as fuck but technically supreme.

The middle two tracks see a slight drop in quality and intensity. Off The Wall is a decent tune with a great hook, and more stunning bass work from Johnson; but in a rare display of compositional misstep, there's a grating falsetto shriek in the chorus which is rather offputting. Girlfriend is one of only two non-disco tunes, largely as it was penned by Paul McCartney. It's pure pop in sound and structure, but thanks to Quincy Jones it takes on more of an R&B feel. Following those is the ballad She's Out Of My Life (famous to Red Dwarf fans as the first song Dave Lister learned on the guitar), and while it continues the lull in intensity, it is an extraordinary song solely because of Jackson. It must surely rate as one of his finest vocal performances; his heart and soul pouring out of the speakers. The famous final seconds, where Jackson is breaking down in tears, are all thanks to Jones, who made the decision to leave that take in the final mix.

After this, Jackson clearly had had enough of all this wallowing, and closes by returning the aesthetic to cool disco-infused tunes. I Can't Help It is the Stevie Wonder-written tune and it's a smooth little R&B ditty with horns and electric piano aplenty; It's The Falling In Love and Burn This Disco Out close the album in much the same way it started, with funk/disco meeting R&B in a sweet, sweet fusion, even if these last two tracks don't quite have the same irresistible hookiness of the earlier songs.

The Verdict

I really, really enjoyed Off The Wall. This was my first listen to the album, although I'd heard all of Jackson's other Epic solo releases. If it wasn't for Thriller being so damn amazing I'd almost mount a case for this being the best one. Its greatest feature is that it blends the immense danceability of disco and funk music with oodles of pop sensibility, making it toetapping and entertaining.

Worth checking out.

My rating: 8.4/10

Standout Tracks

She's Out Of My Life

Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough

Get On The Floor

Album #110: The Style Council - Our Favourite Shop

The Style Council

Our Favourite Shop (1985)

After leaving seminal mod revival band The Jam in the early 80s, Paul Weller sought a new musical challenge. Eschewing the mod rock/punk sound of his previous group, Weller took on a brand new set of inspirations, namely soul, funk, jazz and synthy new wave. Pairing up with former Dexy's Midnight Runner, keyboardist Mick Talbot, Weller formed The Style Council, a new group with a new sound.

The band was also a vehicle for Weller's political viewpoints. Disgusted with the state of Thatcherite Britain, especially if you weren't in the elite upper class, Weller used The Style Council as a conduit for his most politically biting, occasionally savage, lyrics. 

Our Favourite Shop, the album Weller himself describes as the 'culmination' of the band's musical visions, is up there with any punk album (if not exceeding them) in terms of sheer 'fuck you'-ness, even if, musically, it is anything but punk.

The Album

There's quite a range of styles and sounds on Our Favourite Shop - a veritable council of styles, if you will (OH I CANNOT BELIEVE I WENT THERE.) The only common thread is that all the songs, even the not so good ones, are pure pop; there's nothing aggressive or harsh, it's all sweetly produced with lots of jangly guitar, Hammond organ and piano, with other instruments added for extra emphasis.

Featuring on the album are several jazz numbers (Homebreakers and the instrumental title track are straight up jazz, while Down By The Seine is French flavoured, right down to the French accordion, and With Everything To Lose takes a more Latin jazz turn), some new wave tunes (the synthy The Lodgers and the Simply Red new wave/funk/R&B hybrid Boy Who Cried Wolf), by the numbers pop (Luck and Shout To The Top), a touch of reggae (All Gone Away) and even a few sonic nods to Weller's past life (the rocking, uptempo Walls Come Tumbling Down, the Kinksish Come To Milton Keynes, resplendent with strings, harps and horns, and A Man Of Great Promise).

As if that wasn't enough, the band even fits in an Eleanor Rigby clone, right down to the arrangement of solo vocal over string section (A Stone's Throw Away).

As I said, covers a lot of territory.

It's lyrically where this album shines, however, and interestingly, the anger, bitterness, disillusionment, hopelessness, despair and rage that Weller's lyrics (and drummer Steve White's on one song) convey are rarely, if ever, matched by the music. Musically, it's all sweetness and light while Weller's words snarl underneath. Take, for example, the first three tracks. Homebreakers takes aim at the Conservative government of the time, snarling about taking revenge on "whoever came up with this economy plan" and pointing out the sheer detached snobbery of the Tories' dismissive "move if there's no jobs in your town" approach to rising unemployment of the working classes. Yet the music is smooth, smoky jazz pop that is quite easy listening. All Gone Away is jangly, jaunty reggae; the lyrics talk about the desolation of a northern mining town (assumed to be Bradford) when there's no work for the town's main industry. Come To Milton Keynes is all optimism and light, as are the lyrics for the most part; however the song's denouement unveils the satire behind the curtain, pointing out that the optimistic New Town schemes were, really, doomed to failure (or at the very least sorely detached from reality.)

The politically charged theme continues from there, though not quite as obviously contrasting with the music. Internationalists essentially acts as a detailing of the socialist manifesto, A Stone's Throw Away bemoans 80s Britain's decent into police and political violence against disgruntled citizens, The Stand Up Comic's Instructions (featuring an enthralling guest vocal from comedian Lenny Henry) chides the white 80s comic set for their casual racism, The Lodgers attacks the conservative exploitation of aspirationalism.....by the end of the album you're in no doubt where Weller's loyalties lie.

The undoubted highlight - the perfect maelstrom of supercharged lyrics with supercharged music - comes in the form of Walls Come Tumbling Down. From the outset, with Weller's growled "You don't have to take this crap" directed to the listener, we have the scene set. Weller produces a vocal performance worthy of the attack-dog lyrics, passionate and angry, while the song's tempo and horn section act as a rousing call to arms. It's a great tune and it comes right at the end of the album....the wait is worth it.

The Verdict

It won't set your ears alight musically, but for diversity of styles and for observing a lyrical master at work, Our Favourite Shop is a rather good album. As a perfect encapsulation of the time of its recording, it works beautifully, and given the current conservative political climate, some of the lyrics go to show that, even thirty years later, some leopards never change their spots.

However, there are other themes that are peculiarly British (a charge that Weller has always had laid at him, and may be part of the reason he's never been overly successful outside of Britain) which can make it tough to connect to some tunes, especially if you have no knowledge of the political and social climate surrounding the album.

Nevertheless, it's decent, and it contains some songs that are among Weller's finest efforts.

My rating: *** and a half

Standout Tracks

Walls Come Tumbling Down

Homebreakers

Internationalists

Album #22 : Prince - Sign o' The Times

Prince

Sign o' the Times (1987)

Okay. Um.....look, in lieu of a written introduction to the artist and album, I'm just gonna put this here for you to watch.

I don't think anymore needs to be said.

The Album

Stylistically, the album covers so much musical ground it isn't funny. The overarching mood of the album though is a funky one. Prince spends a great deal of time proving why he was the ultimate successor to funk leaders like James Brown and Parliament. There are moments on the album that serve as respectful homage to those legends of funk, while others are just straight up mimicry. However, there's also healthy dollops of R&B, soul, pop and even garage rock (yes, you read that correctly).

I also should note that, apart from a handful of tracks, Prince plays every instrument on this album.

Well.

Dude's a straight up musical genius.

Highlights of the album are numerous. Opener Sign o' The Times is a sparsely arranged song with a funky feel and heavily reverbed drums. Its somewhat downbeat tone is underlined by the cynical lyrics, where Prince bemoans the times he lives in; where a woman's poverty can cause her child to die despite exorbitant government spending on frivolities, where a 'big disease with a little name' is running rampant, spread by needle sharing (AIDS, obviously), and where drug addiction is a real issue of concern. Play In The Sunshine is catchy as all hell. 80s synthesised dance pop with some highly impressive guitar work from Prince. Housequake is a pure party dance tune, almost entirely electronic with a sped-up vocal. 

(Incidentally, the album features a number of songs with sped-up vocals. These were all intended for a project called Camille, where Prince would credit the album to a 'female' alter-ego. The project was incorporated into a triple album called Crystal Ball. When Prince's record company trashed the triple album, it was trimmed into a double album...this one.)

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, highlights. Starfish and Coffee is intriguing from a production point of view. The vocals, piano and main drums are running forwards normally; but the bass synth line, and a supporting percussion track, are played backwards underneath. It's also another catchy pop song. Hot Thing and Forever In My Life are extremely minimalist compositions; the former an extremely funky electronic song about Prince seducing a hot chick, and it features a kickass saxophone solo that SMASHES THE FUNK IN YOUR FACE, while the latter is remarkable - the drums and bass play the same beat and note for the whole song, while Prince trades vocals with himself. The vocals provide all the melody in this song, save for the last 20 seconds when there is an acoustic guitar break. It's compelling listening because of that amazing Prince vocal battle. And Slow Love is a smooth, sexy ballad in the style of 50s balladeers The Platters, but with a modern vibe with horns and synthesisers. 

And that's just Disc 1.

On Disc 2, the standout track is The Cross. Prince channels the spirit of Neil Young (stay with me here), giving us a dirty garage rock track. Acoustic guitar and vocals at the start, distorted guitar riff and lead guitar melody as the song closes, and a rough, gravelly, pure wail - it's absolutely positively 70s guitar music. BY PRINCE.

Other great songs on Disc 2 are album closer Adore, a burning slow R&B jam that is a soulful, yet powerful ballad; It's Gonna Be A Beautiful Night, where Prince is joined by The Revolution (his early to mid 80s rock/funk band) in a live recording that basically acts as a testament to all that is good about P-Funk and James Brown. Everything from the groovy rhythm section to the punchy horns to the call and response with the backing vocalists simply screams 70s funk; and I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man, a surprisingly upbeat guitar pop song about Prince rejecting a one night stand because the woman would not be satisfied with that.

To be fair, there isn't a bad song on Disc 2. Not one. The only songs on Disc 1 that left me a bit cold were It and The Ballad of Dorothy Parker, and neither of those were particularly bad per se, they just pale in comparison.

It really is that good.

The Verdict

"Prince's best album", it has been called. "Arguably the best album of the 80s", somebody else claims. Don't know about the latter yet, but the former is absolutely undeniably true.

Sign o' The Times is an absolute belter. It is Prince as experimental songwriter, as daring arranger, as masterful musician. Its weaknesses are very few. You could argue that at 80 minutes, it goes on a bit too long; I personally disagree as almost all of the sixteen songs are so fantastic, its length is unimportant (it will be hard to narrow my Standout Tracks down to only three, let me put it that way). You could also argue that it doesn't have a killer single, like Purple Rain had; I would say that what it lacks in killer singles it more than makes up for in execution, experimentation and musicianship. 

Like The Soft Bulletin, I think this is an album everybody should listen to at least once. Marvel at the talents of a man whom I don't believe gets the recognition for his musical abilities that he deserves; witness Prince, more than just a songwriter, but a truly gifted musician.

GAME. BLOUSES.

My rating: *****

Standout Tracks

Forever In Your Life

The Cross

Adore

Tomorrow, the first of two slightly more modern releases; I take on an album released last year to widespread acclaim. It will either be a great listen or another chance to hang shit on Triple J for undeservedly wanking on about musicians who don't match their overblown hype.

WHICH WILL IT BE? Find out tomorrow!