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When did Michael start using his Gritty voice?

analogue

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I'm talking about the way Michael sings songs like She Drives Me Wild and Do You Know Where Your Children Are. The first time i recall him using his gritty voice was on State Of Shock. Anyone know if he used it before then?

From the Bad album onwards he seemed to use it more and more.
 
Well, his voice obviously went through a transition of some sort from Thriller to Bad, that's for sure. His voice became much more powerful, smooth, and gritty all at the same time.

Like someone previously said before, Michael is like a fine aged wine, he keept getting better with time, at least that's my opinion.

And yeah, it was around the Victory when he started using his gitty voice. He also uses his gitty voice in various parts from his backing vocals from Eaten Alive, it seems.
 
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It was really really gritty during Invincible, Dangerous-HIStory was basically the same, Bad was the real grittyness.

Oh and yeh, that's when Michael started using a light gritty voice during Victory, but Bad was when it was real gritty. I saw a performance on Bad tour of "Lovely One", when he goes "YOU ARE MY DOGGONE LOVAR!". I was like daayuumn that's some gritty stuff going on right there.
 
^ definitely as a child....actually, I noticed it heavily used on the Live at the Forum album....
 
I find in 1986 with Captain Eo (We Are Here to Change the World) is when there was a pretty substantial change in the Grittyness..Michael's voice got better as he aged..It got more and more powerful while still having his unique qualities..I've always found it very cool how it changed over the years :D ..For some other singers it just gets worse but his always improved..
 
I love his gritty voice. There was nothing he couldn't do when it came to singing: falsetto, grit, smooth, sexy :wub:
 
Can someone pls. educate me on what "gritty" really means and what songs or lyrics he has this gritty style?

I know in Invincible his voice was lower and when he sang Privacy his voice sounded hoarse in a way, is that what you mean by gritty?

I just can't hear grittiness in BAD at all. In Smooth Criminal his style is more of a breathy type style which he didn't use previously. Thanks!
 
^^ to me, it's almost like his James Brown type of influence that comes out, that gritty, raw type of voice...
 
Yeah, I would say somewhere between Thriller and Bad is when it really started coming out more. I think the song We've Had Enough is the grittiest. :D
 
For me his real grit was in Dangerous and HIStory.. like Why You Wanna Trip On Me, Jam, DS.. but then there was some grit in Smooth Criminal and Dirty Diana
 
I think Tell Me I'm Not Dreaming shows some early signs of that more gritty style MJ transitioned into between Thriller and Bad.

Get It is indeed very gritty too. So are the adlibs at the end of I Just Can't Stop Loving You. "Know I do giiiirl." I also agree that Dangerous and HIStory are when he really started getting into it.

Was just listening to Keep the Faith and there's some great grit on that one too. Man. "Wooork ooon it brotha," "Some things in life you best just leave them aloooone"..
 
^^ Love both of those! Stunning vocalist even at that age.
 
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I think Michael started using his gritty voice very very early in his career

It's amazing what this little, sweet adorable child could do with his voice and how he could performe any song.

It's a long list of songs wich I think shows this

Love Gone Bad
25 Miles
You Ain't giving Me What I Want
Just A Little Misunderstanding
It's Your Thing
I'll Bet You
I Can't Quit Your Love
I Was Made For Love Her

and the list colud go on
 
Ever since he started singing.
Arklove said:
^ definitely as a child....actually, I noticed it heavily used on the Live at the Forum album....
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Yes, and before that as well. His gritty tone was always there in his voice.

You can hear his gritty voice in so many songs he sang when he was a child.
Maria, Ain't No Sunshine, Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day, off the top of my head.

It's just that he preferred to use other tones as well depending on the type of songs. Even when he chose to sing in a light tone, you can still hear the grittyness here and there. You can change your tone as you please when you're a great singer, but you can't change your voice altogether.
 
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helena22 said:
Ever since he started singing.

Yes, and before that as well. His gritty tone was always there in his voice.

You can hear his gritty voice in so many songs he sang when he was a child.
Maria, Ain't No Sunshine, Shoo-Be-Doo-Be-Doo-Da-Day, off the top of my head.

It's just that he preferred to use other tones as well depending on the type of songs. Even when he chose to sing in a light tone, you can still hear the grittyness here and there. You can change your tone as you please when you're a great singer, but you can't change your voice altogether.
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Oh, of course! Natural born all the way!
 
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