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Poll: Michael Jackson's Greatest Album Opener

Michael Jackson's Greatest Album Opener

  • Don't Stop Til' You Get Enough

    Votes: 25 37.9%

  • Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'

    Votes: 21 31.8%

  • Bad

    Votes: 12 18.2%

  • Jam

    Votes: 22 33.3%

  • Scream

    Votes: 9 13.6%

  • Blood On The Dancefloor

    Votes: 5 7.6%

  • Unbreakable

    Votes: 6 9.1%
  • Total voters
    66

Psychoniff

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So as you can see from the options, MJ has a great ear for the exhilarating, pulsating, unrelenting and energy-infused first track cuts. But which one defines the album, it's era and ultimately MJ's artistry the best? Please expand on what it is about song itself, it's lyrics, arrangement, production that you like.
 
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Silverstone said:
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough get's my vote,that disco funky build up and that "Aaoow" that takes us into the beat is simply fantastic.
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Sure, but anything else? what about it's importance in other ways?
 
Don't Stop Til You Get Enough because of the build up

And BAD because that just hits you full force without pulling any punches
 
Psychoniff said:
Why? Please elaborate, I want to know what about your selection makes it stand out from the rest of album, it's era and ultimately how it reflects MJ's artistry.
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They are better songs in my opinion. Hard to explain why. I just like listen them more. :)
 
Psychoniff said:
Sure, but anything else? what about it's importance in other ways?
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Importance?Well I guess the fact it was MJ's first main solo project and that single was a worldwide hit which helped send him onto super stardom and another step towards being the music icon that he became.
 
For me, Jam. Why? It's explosive entry sets up the rest of the album I think. It signifies the beginning of a new era of musical style for Michael and the peak of his artistry.
 
Don't Stop Til' You Get Enough, Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' and Jam.
 
Don't Stop Til You Get Enough, if this single was released in 2015 instead of 1979, it would be even more successful considering how R&B music has declined over time, and how fast it has.....best anticipation leading up to a song intro ever recorded....and the real dela creme was the fact when Michael performed this song during the Triumph Tour, it was all live vocals......
 
For me it's this way:
1. Scream
2. Unbreakable/Jam
3. Bad
4. WBSS
5. DSTYGE
6. BOTD
 
You forgot Ain't No Sunshine, Ben (one of my personal all time favorites), With a Child's Heart, and We're Almost There.
 
Bringing Brighter Days said:
Don't Stop Til You Get Enough, if this single was released in 2015 instead of 1979, it would be even more successful considering how R&B music has declined over time, and how fast it has.....best anticipation leading up to a song intro ever recorded....and the real dela creme was the fact when Michael performed this song during the Triumph Tour, it was all live vocals......
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Yes it was electric and still very relevant today. That just goes to show you what great ears he had for arrangements, it's all about the arrangement with that song.
 
Zack44 said:
You forgot Ain't No Sunshine, Ben (one of my personal all time favorites), With a Child's Heart, and We're Almost There.
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Yes, I was contemplating those too, but though it made no sense placing them in poll with songs MJ crafted himself. Out of those, We're Almost There is my favorite by a country mile.
 
Psychoniff;4098695 said:
Yes it was electric and still very relevant today. That just goes to show you what great ears he had for arrangements, it's all about the arrangement with that song.
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With ‘Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough’ MJ introduced himself as a solo artist in a very emphatic/unmistakable way.
 
MattyJam;4098796 said:
Jam for me is the quintessential MJ album opener. To me, Dangerous is all about Jam and Who Is It. These songs epitomise what was so great about that album. A good opener should set the tone for what's to come and build suspense and Jam achieves both of these things. From the moment you hear the smashed glass which opens the album, you know this is going to be something a bit more edgy for Michael than what had come before. Lyrically it is one of his best songs, it touches on so many themes and takes a very stream-of-consciousness approach, which kind of adds to the sense of drama and chaos. And it is just the best song to dance to ever. I love everything about Jam. Love it love it love it.
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Lyrically it is a masterpiece. It is nuanced from his other 'unity' songs that came before in that he is urging rather persuading the people.

The thing I love most about "Jam" is that it so nuanced from his earlier attempts a call for world unity. Think "Can You Feel It", "We Are The World", "We Are Here To Change The World" and "Another Part Of Me". In those songs writes from the perspective of a calm and patience believing a gentle call with unite the peoples to prepare each other against any impeding doom. However, in Jam, he realises that due to complacency and ignorance that divides the people has come haunt them. The house is now on beginning to shake and will inevitable collapse and crush everyone inside. So now is the rallying cry for unity in the time of great disaster. But as we see in both "Be Not Always" (Cold War) and "Earth Song" (environmental disaster), it was too late.

Another think I noticed in all these songs is his use of vocal delivery to convey not only the message but the context of situation. In the songs before the disaster like "Can You Feel It" right up to "Another Part Of Me", he sings melodically and harmonises the lyrics so as to convince the peoples about what could be their doom in distant future. How ever by "Jam" he realises the this method has not galvanise his full support as the house starts to shake, so injects his signature staccato, percussive and throaty vocal style to emphasis the fierce urgency of the situation. With the world in full blown warfare in"Be Not Always", he tenderly and somewhat hopelessly sounding voice quivers over the lyrics to emphasis the that as watched to disaster unfold he has hopelessly tried but failed. In "Earth Song" he screams out the last third of the lyrics indicating frustration and the waste of land that lays before him. "They Don't Care About Us" and "Stranger In Moscow" represent the post-apocalyptic world.

mj_frenzy;4098811 said:
With ‘Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough’ MJ introduced himself as a solo artist in a very emphatic/unmistakable way.
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Yes! The unmistakable falsetto, and the unforgettable spoken word intro. "The guitars chopping like African Kalimba".
 
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A really hard question to ask. I chose Jam first and then changed my mind to Bad, but it accepted both answers!

Any of the first four would be a good answer for me, Don't Stop is an absolutely iconic single and discoey dance cut. Wannabe starting something is really cool as well and the Manu Dibango Soul Makossa chant is very catchy too. Bad is an epic from start to finish and so is Jam. Scream is almost as good, but I feel it is abit silly in parts and is not quite as catchy as the other 4.

Blood on the Dancefloor is pretty great too, but the sound like Rock my world really repeats Dangerous era material. Unbreakable is an okay song, but a rather different one to open an album with. So I know I chose two, but I will stick with Bad and then Jam. Don't Stop is a close 3rd and Wanna be is a very close 4th, Blood 5th, Scream 6th and Unbreakable a distant last.
 
mjprince1976;4099127 said:
Unbreakable is an okay song, but a rather different one to open an album with.
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‘Unbreakable’ was too long to be an album opener.
 
Jam. Because it's a stunner and so different from anything he did before.

From that glass smashing first note that scared the shite out of me when I first hit play to the second it ends...its urgent, frantic, funky and phenomenal.
 
Tony R said:
Jam. Because it's a stunner and so different from anything he did before.

From that glass smashing first note that scared the shite out of me when I first hit play to the second it ends...its urgent, frantic, funky and phenomenal.
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Totally, the glass gets your attention and then there is the unforgettable beat and chorus, JAM, it ain't too much, it aint too much to do now JAM! uh huh, Jam aint to hard for me to jam - don't stop aow!. Gets stuck in your head and that is even before Michael's Frenetic rap like delivery with the conscious lyrics. A deep and thought provoking song that can also call you straight to the dancefloor.
 
mjprince1976 said:
Totally, the glass gets your attention and then there is the unforgettable beat and chorus, JAM, it ain't too much, it aint too much to do now JAM! uh huh, Jam aint to hard for me to jam - don't stop aow!. Gets stuck in your head and that is even before Michael's Frenetic rap like delivery with the conscious lyrics. A deep and thought provoking song that can also call you straight to the dancefloor.
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Stream of consciousness - Stream of consciousness is a narrative device that attempts to give the written equivalent of the character's thought processes, either in a loose interior monologue (see below), or in connection to his or her actions. Stream-of-consciousness writing is usually regarded as a special form of interior monologue and is characterized by associative leaps in thought and lack of some or all punctuation. Stream of consciousness and interior monologue are distinguished from dramatic monologue and soliloquy, where the speaker is addressing an audience or a third person, which are chiefly used in poetry or drama. In stream of consciousness the speaker's thought processes are more often depicted as overheard in the mind (or addressed to oneself); it is primarily a fictional device.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stream_of_consciousness_(narrative_mode)

Lyrical Dissonance

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LyricalDissonance

He was the master of paradox with songs like Beat It, Billie Jean, Can You Feel It, Smooth Criminal, Wanna Be Startin Somethin etc employed this same technique.
 
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Silverstone said:
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough get's my vote,that disco funky build up and that "Aaoow" that takes us into the beat is simply fantastic.
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:punk: :girl_dance: YES!! I chose the same song for those reasons, plus it being Mike's post-Motown/first adult solo album and the strong "hello, grown up Michael is HERE" impact it made when it was released. I was 13 when that album dropped AND dancing to that song in a nightclub was a first for me, LMAO! To this day the opening bars of that song will instantly drive people to the dance floor in droves!

The 70s: Where 13 year olds could dance the night away in a club and it was safe to do so, especially when you're being snuck in by your older sisters (who knew the bouncers and night club owners)... :fear: :crackingup: :cheers:
 
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