With hindsight, it's hard not to see the songs from Bad in an unflattering light. In light of what Disc One offers, Disc Two will invariably disappoint, just as the 8x platinum Bad was a disappointment in the wake of the unparalleled success of Thiller.
Of course, the title track's success came in the wake of a song that goes from a refrain of "You're just a buffet/ You're a vegetable" to a coda of tribal chanting, which goes to show how off-the-wall Thriller actually was. Hearing "Thriller" away from the zombie chorus line is interesting, though, if only because one comes to realize that a song about being pursued by 40-eyed behemoths actually made CBS a boatload of cash. Thriller does manage to make the Beatles and heavy metal (and, um, monster movies) hold hands like BFFs- no easy feat in the early 1980s, regardless of who's doing it- but it could take years of distance and brainwashing for "Beat It" or "Billie Jean" to shake off their played-out flavor.
The triple-threat of "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough," "Rock With You", and "Off The Wall" hinted at the effortless pop hopscotch Jackson would execute on the next record. alone, ushered in the age of milking albums for all they're worth, helped dimwits at MTV realize that having popular black artists on their nascent network might be a good idea, gave John Landis a chance to do more werewolf stuff- but it's the Off The Wall tracks that shine brightest. The importance of Thriller can't be understated, musically or otherwise- 27x platinum in the U.S. The final 12 tracks of Disc One are comprised with cuts from Off The Wall and Thriller, including all seven Top Ten singles from the latter album. Yay for the skip button, because right after that roadblock comes great unsung tracks from the Jacksons, like "Blame It On the Boogie", and the ubiquitous Quincy Jones collaborations that made Jackson a legend. And then there's "Ben", a song about a boy and his homicidal rat that touched the lives of both Crispin Glover and Eddie Vedder. Of course, as much as Jackson is all about the finger-snapping funky dance stuff, he's also about the treacly ballad, so instead of "I'll Be There", there's "Got To Be There", which really shouldn't be anywhere. Pitchfork staffer Tom Breihan will be happy to know that "The Love You Save" is included- it's the J5 #1 that never gets any play, and it might be the best of the bunch. Anyone that doesn't know "ABC" or "I Want You Back" must be deaf, and anyone that doesn't enjoy these songs must be dead. The disc covers the meat of Jackson's career, starting with the Jackson 5, and ending with the title track from Thriller.
For most folk, Disc One might be more than enough MJ.
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