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Is Triumph the best Jacksons album?

MJInTheMirror

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I've bought this album recently and I've been listening to it non-stop (though I knew some tracks for a long time) and I honestly think it's one of his best (including his solo stuff). I read in this forum somewhere that this era has his best vocals, and I didn't believe that, but after listening to the album I do!
So, I have a couple of questions:
- Do you think Triumph is the best Jacksons album?
- Where would you rank it among his solo stuff?
- Is it better than Off The Wall?
 
It is sad how overlooked those Jacksons albums are even by many fans when in fact they are as much MJ albums as any of his solo work IMO - especially Destiny and Triumph. When you look at the level of his contribution - he actually wrote more songs on Triumph than on OTW. So it is not any less of an MJ album to me than his solo works.

- Do you think Triumph is the best Jacksons album?
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It varies between Destiny and Triumph to me. Lyrics wise I LOVE Destiny and IMO it is MJ's most personal album up until Dangerous. Just listen to the lyrics, he bares his soul naked on that album, like never until Dangerous and HIStory. Musically probably Triumph is better though, but I like Destiny and Triumph equally. Those two albums are definitely the peak products of the Jacksons.

- Where would you rank it among his solo stuff?
- Is it better than Off The Wall?
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I don't want to pit Triumph and OTW against each other - to me they are both great albums. Nor do I feel the point in pitting it against any other solo MJ album as they are all different with different purposes. I just think Triumph gets relatively overlooked because it isn't a solo album, but fans who do that are definitely missing out.
 
For me, both Destiny and Triumph were both exceptionally well produced albums. His artistic progression from Destiny, to Off The Wall to Triumph and Thriller is second to none.
 
Personally, I used to think that Victory was the best Jacksons album when I was a kid because it has all 6 brothers on it and they all sing lead vocals on at least 1 track. Nowadays, I know that the album was rushed so that the brothers could tour and ride on Thriller's wave of success.

Triumph is my favorite Jacksons album now. Heartbreak Hotel is absolute genius. Walk Right Now is funky as hell. Wondering Who has Jackie on lead vocals, Can You Feel It has a good message and is the definitive concert opener for the group. I could go on and on about the tracks.

I also think that MJ's contributions to Triumph expand on his songwriting capabilities. MJ wrote Heartbreak Hotel own his own and arranged it on his own.
 
Triumph was the last Jackson album that it was not obvious if Michael was doing the project out of emotional obligation or desire.. So for that it reflects.. The tracks that Mike worked on post Triumph were good but by that time the albums as a whole were not the same.. They couldn't even get Mike in the Torcher video... lol! had to go so far as to put a wax MJ... haha
 
I don't know if it's the best Jackson album or not, but I sure do love it and I listen to it a lot.
Just as I do Destiny and Victory. And I agree with Respect, I simply cannot and will not pit them against
OTW or any of the solo material. Those albums play a pivotal part in my musical history and have earned and
proven to hold their own. :D
 
I'd rank Triumph better than all other Jackson albums, and behind Thriller,Off The Wall and Bad in his solo catalogue
 
Lovely one and Give it up and This place-heartbreak hotel are my favorite songs from this album. And The Jackson especially Michel looked SOOOOOOOOOO Good!!
 
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terrell said:
Lovely one and Give it up and This place-heartbreak hotel are my favorite songs from this album.
And The Jackson especially Michael looked SOOOOOOOOOO Good!!
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I SOOOOOOOOO agree! Lol!

And for sure! All those songs are off the chain!

Could it be safe to say, I love this whole album?! Yep! :happy:
 
I personally prefer Destiny, because of how personal the album is. Somebody already mentioned it, that Destiny is Michael's most personal album up until Dangerous.

Look at the following verses from Bless Your Soul:
"Sometimes I cry 'cause I'm confused, Is this a fact of being used, There is no life for me at all, 'Cause I give myself at beck and call."
These verses perfectly sums up Michael Jackson's life. He didn't have much of a life, being hassled by the paparazzi and hysterical fans, everytime he went out. And we all know that many people took advantage of him and used him.

The song 'That's What You Get (For Being Polite)' describes a boy named Jack and how he was lonely and wanted love badly in his life. I think we can all agree that Jack is Michael Jackson and we all know that MJ wanted love from someone. He wanted to be accepted by someone and that's why he got close to the wrong families that took advantage of his politeness. The Arvizo, Chandler and Cascio families are the perfect example of such families, that took advantage of Michael's kindness.

Destiny is another song, in which Michael taks about how he doesn't enjoy the material things that comes with being a celebrity. He doesn't enjoy the city life and how he dreams of distant places. This concept of Escapism is something Michael would explore again in his later songs such as Xscape, A Place with no Name and Days in Gloucestershire. Michael never enjoyed the celebrity life, we all know that. He wanted to escape spotlight and try to live a normal life.

I think these three songs are easily some of Michael's most personal songs and that's why I love the Destiny album so much, because this album perfectly describes Michael's life and the sad events that would unfold in his life, later on.

Having said that, Lovely One and Heartbreak Hotel are my two all time favorite Jacksons songs. But Destiny >> Triumph for me always.
 
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Nite Line said:
I personally prefer Destiny, because of how personal the album is. Somebody already mentioned it, that Destiny is Michael's most personal album up until Dangerous.

Look at the following verses from Bless Your Soul:
"Sometimes I cry 'cause I'm confused, Is this a fact of being used, There is no life for me at all, 'Cause I give myself at beck and call."
These verses perfectly sums up Michael Jackson's life. He didn't have much of a life, being hassled by the paparazzi and hysterical fans, everytime he went out. And we all know that many people took advantage of him and used him.

The song 'That's What You Get (For Being Polite)' describes a boy named Jack and how he was lonely and wanted love badly in his life. I think we can all agree that Jack is Michael Jackson and we all know that MJ wanted love from someone. He wanted to be accepted by someone and that's how he got close to the wrong families that took advantage of his politeness. The Arvizo, Chandler and Cascio families are the perfect example of such families.

Destiny is another song, in which Michael taks about how he doesn't enjoy the material things that comes with being a celebrity. He doesn't enjoy the city life and how he dreams of distant places. This concept of Escapism is something Michael would explore again in his later songs such as Xscape, A Place with no Name and Days in Gloucestershire. Michael never enjoyed the celebrity life, we all know that. He wanted to escape spotlight and try to live a normal life.

I think these three songs are easily some of Michael's most personal songs and that's why I love the Destiny album so much, because this album perfectly describes Michael's life and the sad events that would unfold in his life, later on.

Having said, Lovely One and Heartbreak Hotel are my two all time favorite Jacksons songs. But Destiny >> Triumph for me always.
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I agree. DESTINY for me.
 
not for me at all. I find it to be plagued with anxiety and depressing :cry:. only 3 songs depart from the main theme of heartbreak and distrust in women. i'm all for lyrical honesty, but it has to be pleasing to my ears ('startin' somethin' and 'billie jean' achieve this balance). otherwise i'd rather read about it in a essay or book. the odd and loud arrangements swallow up Michael's falsetto ('give it up'). though I must say that his regular voice sounds amazing here ('lovely one' 'can you feel it'). some songs are clearly re-treads or leftovers from 'off the wall' ('time waits for no one - 'she's out of my life'. 'everybody - 'get on the floor', though I do prefer 'everybody' for the brightness and bridge). strangely enough, a lot of the same musicians from the solo albums are here, yet it's still lacking that polish to make it all pop.


knowing how I feel about albums in general :fear:, my favourite would have to go to 'goin' places'. the title track, along with 'jump for joy', 'do what you wanna' (written by the jacksons), and 'even though you're gone', all deserved to be big hits. there are a variety of styles, yet overall it's optimistic and vibrant. the feeling of young people on the verge of discovering something new and exciting! :clap: great messages, and I like hearing them harmonise as a unit to give a nice full sound. it sounds like a perfect continuation of their catchy early Motown releases. not old before their time like some of their later material, including their previous self titled debut.

had the jacksons been allowed to keep their original name of 'Jackson 5', I believe they would have been more successful. however, it's *this* album that is underrated in my opinion.
 
I am obsessed with the Jacksons' album Goin' Places right now. I am ashamed to say that as a lifelong MJ fan I only now really discovered this Jacksons jewel... shame on me, I know. What a revelation though! Ordered it on vinyl.

 
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Michael's Essence said:
my favourite would have to go to 'goin' places'. the title track, along with 'jump for joy', 'do what you wanna' (written by the jacksons), and 'even though you're gone', all deserved to be big hits. there are a variety of styles, yet overall it's optimistic and vibrant. the feeling of young people on the verge of discovering something new and exciting! :clap: great messages, and I like hearing them harmonise as a unit to give a nice full sound. it sounds like a perfect continuation of their catchy early Motown releases. not old before their time like some of their later material, including their previous self titled debut.
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I feel the same way. The album is flawless really imo.
 
When it comes to the Jacksons and Jackson 5 albums "Skywhriter", "The Jacksons", "Going Places" and "Destyiny" are on number one for me cause I looooove every song on this four albums and the feelings they gave me veeeery much!!!
Triumpf is number two cause I'm not a fan of "Wondering Who" and I always prefer "Get on the floor" before "Everybody".
So I don't listen to this two songs often.
 
All Jacksons albums have their highlights but none of them come close to off the wall and thriller. MJ clearly kept his strongest material for himself in that era.
You can make 1 killer album out of all those songs though

Fave songs: strength of one man, show you the way to go, style of life, even though you're gone, music's taking over, man of war, push me away, things I do for you, shake your body, destiny, that's what you get for being polite, can you feel it, lovely one, your ways, time waits for no one, be not always, state of shock, wait
 
Nite Line;4229803 said:
I personally prefer Destiny, because of how personal the album is. Somebody already mentioned it, that Destiny is Michael's most personal album up until Dangerous.

Look at the following verses from Bless Your Soul:
"Sometimes I cry 'cause I'm confused, Is this a fact of being used, There is no life for me at all, 'Cause I give myself at beck and call."
These verses perfectly sums up Michael Jackson's life. He didn't have much of a life, being hassled by the paparazzi and hysterical fans, everytime he went out. And we all know that many people took advantage of him and used him.

The song 'That's What You Get (For Being Polite)' describes a boy named Jack and how he was lonely and wanted love badly in his life. I think we can all agree that Jack is Michael Jackson and we all know that MJ wanted love from someone. He wanted to be accepted by someone and that's why he got close to the wrong families that took advantage of his politeness. The Arvizo, Chandler and Cascio families are the perfect example of such families, that took advantage of Michael's kindness.

Destiny is another song, in which Michael taks about how he doesn't enjoy the material things that comes with being a celebrity. He doesn't enjoy the city life and how he dreams of distant places. This concept of Escapism is something Michael would explore again in his later songs such as Xscape, A Place with no Name and Days in Gloucestershire. Michael never enjoyed the celebrity life, we all know that. He wanted to escape spotlight and try to live a normal life.

I think these three songs are easily some of Michael's most personal songs and that's why I love the Destiny album so much, because this album perfectly describes Michael's life and the sad events that would unfold in his life, later on.

Having said that, Lovely One and Heartbreak Hotel are my two all time favorite Jacksons songs. But Destiny >> Triumph for me always.
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Bless Your Soul makes me cry every single time I hear it.
The fact that it’s Jackie and Michael singing together is probably what makes me emotional.

I can’t pick but I love both Triumph and Destiny and feel that fans have to listen to those two albums (even the Jacksons album) to understand his growth as an artist.
 
I think Triumph could be the best! The Tour was amazing! And some of the songs on it were performed up until Bad Tour! That’s what I call the best! (y)
 
I agree, for me Triumph is the best Jacksons album as well.

The previous albums are full of mediocre music writing and that cookie cutter happy disco sound that (apart from some exceptions of course) I find pretty boring.

Triumph is on a whole other level. About every song is a jewel, and many have a little more edgy / darkish moods, which makes it much more interesting for me.

Triumph came between Off The Wall and Thriller, so a bit of the magic and quality level of those must have inspired that album.
 
Destiny and Triumph are equal to me: I can't choose between them. I love them more than Off the Wall: they're rawer and funkier, less mannered and commercial than OTW, and the songwriting is some of the most mature and polished MJ (and his brothers) would ever do. Songs like Bless His Soul or That's What You Get (For Being Polite) are as sophisticated as anything the best professional songwriters of Motown ever wrote for the brothers. I mean, who would have thought that Jackie Jackson would have in him a song like Time Waits for No One? That's a song that any professional tunesmith would be proud of having come up with. Listen to that ending!


MJ fans who don't know these two albums or who think it all starts with OTW and end with Invincible are missing out big time.

I'll go even further: late-era Jackson 5 LPs like Get It Together, Dancing Machine, Moving Violation and Joyful Jukebox Music, as well as the two records they did with Gamble and Huff, are essential listening. Sure the brothers didn't write the songs (with a couple exceptions on those Gamble and Huff albums), but the music is often flawless, and in many ways, MJ's voice was never again as pure and rich and beautiful as right after he hit puberty. He became a much more distinctive vocal stylist afterwards -- he hadn't invented any of his vocal trademarks yet -- but MJ's voice itself, taken on its own, was marvelous back in those days. And the interplay between him and Jermaine (and later Jackie) on many of the songs creates great dynamics that again would be missing from his solo albums.


Destiny and Triumph point to an alternate timeline: they are what MJ's career might have been like had Thriller not been the phenomenon it was. Without Thriller, MJ would have maybe kept working with his brothers, as a self-contained songwriting/producing unit. His brothers never got to build on the songwriting and production skills they exhibited on Destiny and Triumph because Michael-mania put an end to the Jacksons as a creative unit.
 
I love Triumph because one of my favourite songs is in that album (can you feel it) but I also love Destiny as well as the previous albums. I don´t think its the best because for me all of them have quality, and especially Destiny and Triumph show what kind of music Michael created later. Off the Wall to me sounds a bit like Destiny because some songs written in 1978 are in Off the Wall, and Wanna be startin something is in Thriller.
To me ALL the albums are perfect because all of them show a different Michael.
 
i haven't heard all the songs off this album yet so i can't say which one i like best. i'll make sure to put it on my bucket list. :)

i had no problem with them changing their name. they wasn't kids anymore they were young adults starting something new in their lives without people telling them what to do or write.

terrell said:
Michel looked SOOOOOOOOOO Good!!
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hahahaha. he young, happy, and full of energy. he was ready to go. lol. bless him we miss him so. it's wasn't a party until Michael came in. :laughing: it's time for everyone to sit down. :laughing:

i wouldn't compare Off the wall and these albums. i think Michael is somewhat a different person when he's solo. yes some songs from the Off the wall album is song with his brothers and on tours but i still wouldn't compare those.

KOPV said:
Triumph was the last Jackson album that it was not obvious if Michael was doing the project out of emotional obligation or desire.. So for that it reflects.. The tracks that Mike worked on post Triumph were good but by that time the albums as a whole were not the same.. They couldn't even get Mike in the Torcher video... lol! had to go so far as to put a wax MJ... haha
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LOL! i didn't know that was a wax figure. LOL! i just learned something "new" today. :hysterical:

like i said i haven't heard this whole album yet but yes i agree Michael voice is awesome here not saying later in his life his vocals wasn't good. Michael was in his early 20's during this time so i wouldn't say it wasn't actually age that made his voice change. Michael knew how to change his vocals. i guess as he move on his vocals changed.:)

fans who don't listen to these albums need to. everyone has their own taste but before judging these albums they need to listen to them before saying they don't like them or not.

i like solo Michael too but i have to admit i like him too when he was in a group with his brothers even though i'm not fan of his bros.
 
Jackson 5 2 Jacksons

NatureCriminal7896 said:
i had no problem with them changing their name. they wasn't kids anymore they were young adults starting something new in their lives without people telling them what to do or write.
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That isn't why they changed the group's name. It was because Motown sued them when they left for Epic and said they owned the Jackson 5 name. So they had no choice but to change it, since Motown registered the J5 name as their trademark. Also the lineups were different. Jermaine quit the group to remain at Motown, and Randy was made an official member of The Jacksons at Epic/CBS Records. A similar situation happened with a soul group called The Moments. When they switched labels, their original label didn't allow them to use the name. So they renamed themselves using the members last names as the group name (Ray, Goodman, & Brown).
 
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