Off The Wall

For every artist that finds massive success in the music market (and for this review’s purpose, more “definitive” acts), there’s usually a specific album that propels them into the public eye and an audience with wide-open arms. Nevermind helped make Nirvana huge seemingly overnight, and established them as one of the biggest names in grunge. The hiring of almighty Bruce Dickinson coupled with the release of The Number of the Beast would transform Iron Maiden from a “quite successful” band to the definitive metal juggernaut they are now.* And although rapper Jay-Z made his best album the first time (in 1996), it was five years later when The Blueprint would re-establish him as one of most critically and commercially successful hip-hop artists. After being part of the Jackson Five for more than half a decade (and being recognized as a musical prodigy by Rolling Stone, among others), Michael starred in a musical adaptation of The Wizard of Oz (“The Wiz”) and formed a relationship with composer Quincy Jones, who agreed to produce Jackon’s solo debut. Off the Wall would be the first album to generate four top 10 singles, and set the stage for Jackson to cement his place in history with the follow-up Thriller. A few listens to Off the Wall should leave no doubt as to why it became such a huge success. Save for one exception, the album consists of bouncy and energetic R & B influenced pop (or quite poppy R & B) with close to no filler. Much like Thriller, it opens in grand fashion. “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” wastes almost no time in grabbing your attention, with horns, strings, and guitar forming a rhythmic foundation for Jackson’s calm falsetto. At the two and a half minute mark, another horn section gives way to a short guitar solo. Although it does get repetitive to a slight degree, “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” nonetheless accomplishes a feat that seems so uncommon in pop music – a high quality song with a running time just over six minutes. None of the nine tracks following it will quite match this opener, but rest assured that several of them come close. Not only does “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” open Off the Wall on a high note, it exhibits all the major strengths of the album. Horns, strings, electric guitar, and real drums are among the various instruments forming the sonic template for nearly the entire album, which means that Off the Wall doesn’t suffer from poor production – it’s quite the opposite. Not only does it sound excellent from a this production standpoint, but there are also enough instrumental hooks to make the music almost work well without a strong vocal performance. However, there’s no reason to worry about that. As good as the music is, it’s Michael’s performance that truly elevates the pop here from good to excellent. There’s an irresistible charm that Jackson exudes almost every second that he’s singing, and a bare minimum of one great hook to be found in each song (save “She’s Out of My Life”). Jackson’s rather natural falsetto is far from annoying, his singing voice is far above average, and his delivery is spot on. Off the Wall sounds like the man is just having fun, and doing one heck of a job in the process Although Michael Jackson the performer is much better than Jackson the songwriter, that doesn’t mean the songs he writes are weak in any form. On the contrary, his two songwriting contributions to Off the Wall, “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” and “Workin’ Day and Night”, are both standout tracks, and “Get on the Floor” (co-written by Louis Johnson) is pretty good as well. Yet another comparison to Thriller is the star power present (or rather, behind) two of the songs. “Girlfriend” and “I Can’t Help It” are written by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder respectively; the former is a lighthearted song that might have fit in on an album like Help!, and “I Can’t Help It” kicks off the final trio of songs after the lone ballad “She’s Out of My Life”. There’s one exception to almost every strength of Off the Wall, and that is “She’s Out of My Life”. Here, Jackson and his songwriting team opt for the ballad route, and the results are pretty average at best. The lyrical theme of a man heartbroken has potential, but instead of being emotional and heartfelt, Jackson sounds whiny, almost like a child who just needs a couple minutes to get over a slight physical injury. Backing synths don’t really help either, and thus “She’s Out of My Life” sticks out like a sore thumb placed in the middle of the album. The last great strength of Off the Wall – consistency – is also the reason it’s bettered by Thriller. As mentioned before, nothing quite matches the opener “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough”, but the rest of the album stays at such a high quality you don’t necessarily notice. But even the best song isn’t able to reach the benchmark set by the 15-minute midsection of “Thriller”, “Beat it”, and “Billie Jean”. Superior or not, it should be obvious why the album made Michael Jackson a pop superstar: it’s catchy, fun, and well written, and with a running time shortly over 42 minutes, it’s too short to really get tedious. It’s not his best, but it still comes fairly close, and considering the artist in question, that’s saying a lot.

Hearing this album for the first time back to back was quite the experience, so to be able to do that again on vinyl just made the album twice as good as the first time I heard it. The vinyl came in great condition and packaging wasn’t damaged upon arrival and the record itself wasn’t warped at all. Back when I was a younger MJ fan I never cared about the deeper cuts like, for example, the title track, “Burn This Disco Out”, “Workin’ Day and Night” or “She’s out of my Life”, fast forward almost a decade later and here I am with more knowledge and willingness to listen to more than just the hits. Michael truly was a musical genius in my opinion as well as one of the greatest artists of all time, and he remains my primary musical inspiration and influence next to Freddie Mercury and Elton John. With my record player (Crosley Cruiser Plus) I had an amazing listening experience with this album, with pitch control I can turn the pitch up just a hair for my music and I love it that way, so for Off The Wall, it really worked and made the music a million times better in my opinion. Years ago I originally wanted this vinyl for only one song (Rock With You) but after hearing the album back to back, I wanted the vinyl for the entirety of the album and I knew it would go well with the pitch control functionality I have on my record player. Whether you’re a vinyl collector, listener, Michael Jackson fan or just starting out as any of those this album is a great choice (and great choice to start) in my opinion. Make sure to listen to the whole thing!! ;p Though he was just starting out with Quincy Jones, Michael really made a great album and went on to continue making great music, even in death he is still breaking records!! But yes, great album, great sound and some really amazing tracks by Michael. Five Stars

I received the cd today ❤️I am so happy 😁 and grateful.I recommend the seller 200% Fast shipping and fast delivery 🤗🤗and the item is perfect 👍❤️❤️ Thank you so much 😊

Excellent LP, sound quality is perfect!

Amazing album. Its so good and iconic theres no skips in this whole album, every song is so unique and good in its own way. The presentation on this album is incredible from the album cover to the song list. Everything about this album is amazing.

This CD is great. All if Michael's music just makes my day. Get it while you can.

Love MJs disco era! Amazing record!

I like it and no scratches

Muy bien. Lo esperado

Es un CD muy bonito, la calidad de audio es excelente. Sinceramente vale la pena pagar por él. Ya lo escuché, ya le extraí las canciones con EAC y todo bien. Directo a la colección. Compré este junto al de Invincible, lo único a cuidar por parte del vendedor es que embale los productos como debe de ser, usando burbujas de plástico porque estos dos CD venían sin protección. El CD Off the Wall llegó en perfecto estado. :D ¡Viva el Rey del Pop!

Very happy with my purchase. Off The Wall is a great album.

マイケル・ジャクソンの出世作『Off The Wall』が発売された1979年、私は小学4年生でした。本作を実際に手にしたのは、マイケルの訃報に接した2009年のことです。 1983年、中学2年生の時に『Thriller』と『ベストヒットUSA』の直撃を受け、私の洋楽人生は始まりました。しかし、次々と現れる新譜やビートルズの深淵に触れているうちに、この「前作」を聴き逃したまま長い歳月が流れてしまいました。2009年6月、マイケルの急逝を機に、追悼の想いを込めて未聴だった作品群をCDで一気に購入。その中の一枚が本作でした。現在は、それらをすべてアナログ盤で揃え直しています。 初めて聴いた当時、衝撃を受けたのはその構成でした。後の『Thriller』が、実は本作の完璧な構成を忠実に踏襲していたのだと気づかされたからです。さらに驚いたのは、その手触りです。『BAD』のような鋭いエッジはなく、驚くほどメロウでスムース。世界を揺るがした『Thriller』以上に、ブラック・ミュージックとしての芳醇な香りが漂っていました。 改めて、レコードの針を落としてみました。 「Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough（今夜はドント・ストップ）」の躍動感、至高のメロウ・グルーヴ「Rock With You」。そして、白眉の名バラード「She's Out Of My Life」。 マイケルはとかく「希代のエンターテイナー」としての側面にスポットが当たりがちですが、この「She's Out Of My Life」の剥き出しの歌唱を聴いたとき、私は彼の本質が何よりも「稀有なシンガー」であったことを改めて痛感しました。西寺郷太氏の著書で、久保田利伸さんが人生で最も聴いた3枚の一枚に挙げているのも、この純粋な歌の力に魅了されたからではないでしょうか。 個人的には、ジャンルの枠を越えた「Billie Jean」や「Beat It」のような決定打を求めるなら『Thriller』を、そして純粋に心地よいブラック・ミュージックの神髄と、彼の「歌」そのものを味わいたいなら、迷わず本作を勧めます。 社会現象という巨大な渦に飲み込まれる直前。若きマイケルの瑞々しい才能が、クインシーの魔法によって結晶化した、奇跡のような一枚です。

Good quality recording its my dream colection vinyl and shiping very fast tanks for saler