Here's a creepy coincidence: I ordered this CD on June 19, 2009, it was shipped June 23 and was in transit when Michael Jackson died unexpectedly on June 25. I can't remember what prompted me to buy the disc, but its purchase was certainly timely. I can't overstate the importance of Quincy Jones to Jackson's work. Jackson would have made it big, but I doubt he would have become the international superstar without Jones' musical genius. This was the first of Jackon's big three with Jones. It's interesting to look at the photo on the back on the CD because it looks like MJ is holding a piece of chalk that looks like a cell phone which, of course, wouldn't have been around in 1979.
Update: In its 2020 list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, Rolling Stone ranked Off The Wall at #36.
Press of the time:
- Rolling Stone: "A triumph"
- Musician: "Jackson has yet to establish an identity separate from its indisputedly superior material and innovative production.
- Billboard: "the emphasis is definitely on brassy arrangements"
- CashBox: "lots of highpoints"
- Smash Hits: "Best disco album since the last Chic."
- Robert Christgau (A): "the dance groove of the year"
Album chart peaks:
- US Billboard Top 200: #3
- Billboard R&B: #1 (16 weeks)
- CashBox: #2
- Rolling Stone: #4
Tracks: Check your pulse if you can sit still during Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough. It's a good thing they put Rock with You in the #2 spot because going directly from Don't Stop to Workin' Day and Night might be too exhausting to listen to back-to-back. And I have to admit that I like She's Out of My Life even though I think the voice cracking at the end is a bit much. The 9 bonus tracks which include demos and commentaries are interesting, but only need to be heard once.
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: Rock with You reminds me of eighth grade at McAllister School while She's Out of My Life reminds me of Eddie Murphy's mocking version on Delirious. In 8th grade, I had a crush on a brunette that loved the song Rock with You so of course I had to love it as well.
I haven't stopped listening to this one that is all that needs to be said.
ReplyDeleteI have almost all of Michael Jackson's solo albums from this one through Invincible (I don't have Blood On the Dance Floor or the two posthumous releases), but I feel so conflicted about listening to them. It's come to the point where it seems to me that the evidence pointing to him being a pedophile is overwhelming. I don't have them on my CD rack in the 'J' section, they're just sitting by themselves until I decided what to do with them. :(
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