The Michael Jackson thread, v. Shamone

[Accelerando]

To me, Dangerous was already the beginning of the end. In OTW, Thriller and Bad he was essentially operating in his own musical genre, and he completely owned it. With Dangerous he started trying to "stay relevant", foraying into rap and other musical styles. The songs weren't bad, but the influences felt forced and calculated.
The album overall was still pretty good, but in the overall timeline of his career, I feel Dangerous was the moment where the King of Pop was no longer invincible.

Agree to disagree, but that album for me is HIStory. Set aside three songs, which happens to be three of favorite MJ song...They Really Don't Care About Us, Stranger In Moscow, and Earth Song....it wasn't a very good album

I never cared for MJ's singing style. Too many extraneous sounds, or non-words.

Those vocals hiccups and hee-hees and deliberate mispronunciation of “come on” didn't really start until Bad. From Got To Be There to Thriller, he sang cleanly, going from Soprano to Tenor as he grew up

[Accelerando]

I also revived this thread because I just came back from a trip to Vegas, and we went saw Cirque du Soleil Michael Jackson: One at the Mandalay Bay Resort.

I have to say, it absolutely exceeded my expectations. Like all Cirque shows, they have the trope in the beginning of the where, its sort of a pre-show, and performers from the show are in the audience dressed like casual audience members and they do a bit, and they slowly become part of the actual show. In this shows case, each performer represented the personality of Michael, which was from I gathered Courage, Love, Playfulness, and Agility.

This is was more than a celebration of Michael's music. It is a strikingly beautiful and emotional that was collective drive of vulnerability, wonder and striving for rebirth. They treated Michael's music with such care. There are his hits like "Thriller" but also they included some of his deep cuts like "Can You Feel It" and "Stranger In Moscow". The stunts, dancing, and tricks from the performers absolutely complimented the music and story they were trying to tell.

If you ever end up in Vegas and want to see a show, I highly recommend Michael Jackson: One. It made my buddy, who was a casual listener of MJ, fall in love with his music again.